Today, Motorola took the wraps off of three new Moto E variants, as part of its fifth-generation of the lineup. It introduced the Moto E5, Moto E5 Play, and Moto E5 Plus. The three smartphones do actually have a few differences, but these are all part of Motorola’s low-end lineup, with the Moto E5 starting at €149, and the Moto E5 Plus being priced at €169. This also marks the first time that Motorola has put a tall display on the Moto E lineup with the Moto E5 and Moto E5 Plus.
Moto E5 Specifications
The Moto E5 and Moto E5 Plus both sport 18:9 aspect ratio displays, at 5.7-inches and 6-inches respectively. These are HD+ displays, that means you’re getting a resolution of 1440×720 here. Meanwhile the Moto E5 Play sports a 5.2-inch display at the usual 16:9 aspect ratio, with a 1280×720 resolution display. So all of these are 720p or HD panels, essentially. Under-the-hood, the Moto E5 and Moto E5 Play sport a Snapdragon 425 or Snapdragon 427 depending on the region with 2GB of RAM. While the Moto E5 Plus will sport the slightly higher-end Snapdragon 435 and is paired with 3GB of RAM. There’s also 16GB of storage available here, with the Moto E5 Plus getting bumped up to 32GB of storage. The Moto E5 has a 4000mAh capacity battery, 5000mAh capacity in the Moto E5 Plus and a 2800mAh capacity in the Moto E5 Play.
When it comes to cameras, Motorola has not put its most high-end cameras on this one, but there are pretty good single-camera setups here. The Moto E5 has a 12-megapixel camera with a f/2.0 aperture and there is phase detection auto-focus available. On the front, there is a 8-megapixel camera. The Moto E5 Plus gets a 13-megapixel rear-camera with a f/2.0 aperture. There is also phase detection auto-focus and laser auto-focus here. With the front-facing camera being a 8-megapixel camera. Finally, the Moto E5 Play has a 8-megapixel camera with a f/2.2 aperture on the back. The front-facing camera is a 5-megapixel unit. All three smartphones do sport micro USB connectors and a 3.5mm headphone jack. These also all run on Android Oreo – though the exact version is not specified.
Moto E5 Design
The design on the Moto E5 lineup is actually quite different from each other. The Moto E5 Play is a plastic-backed smartphone, it actually looks like the Moto E4 from last year, but with a new camera module. The regular Moto E5 appears to be a metal (or at least faux metal) backed smartphone, while the Moto E5 Plus has a glass back. All of them have slightly curved backs, so that they feel nicer in the hands. The camera modules have changed on the Moto E5 lineup. With the Moto E5 and Moto E5 Play, you get the camera and flash in a vertical lineup with it being horizontal in the Moto E5 Plus. Otherwise, the design of the module looks really similar to the Moto X4’s from last year.
The Moto E5 Play does still have a fairly large bezel, especially at the top and bottom. This is quite common with the Moto E lineup, as it is a cheaper smartphone, so there’s not as much attention paid to the details as with a high-end flagship like the company’s Moto Z2 Force. It’s also still a 16:9 aspect ratio display here. Whereas the Moto E5 Plus and Moto E5 both have 18:9 aspect ratio displays. Though there are still sizable bezels on those two models as well. There’s a Motorola logo at the bottom on all three models, with the earpiece, camera and flash at the top.
Moto E5 Cameras
The cameras here are technically all different, but still have a lot of the same features. While the Moto E5 Plus has the most “high-end” camera out of the bunch, with a 13-megapixel sensor that also has a f/2.0 aperture along with phase detection and laser auto-focus here. The Moto E5’s camera won’t be far behind. It has a slightly lower megapixel count at 12-megapixels, but the same f/2.0 aperture and there is phase detection auto-focus here. Finally, the Moto E5 Play’s camera is the lowest-end of the bunch, with a 8-megapixel sensor that has a f/2.2 aperture. These cameras should all perform somewhat decent, but don’t expect these to replace your DSLR like a Galaxy S9 or Moto Z2 Force might.
Moto E5 Battery Life
In the past, the “Play” moniker was used for the model that had the best battery life, but with the Moto E5 series, it looks like that’s not the case. The Moto E5 Play sports a 2800mAh capacity battery, versus 4000mAh capacity in the Moto E5 and 5000mAh capacity in the Moto E5 Plus. All three should sport great battery life, especially given the fact that these are all sporting 720p displays here, and Snapdragon 425 or 435 processors – which are really good at sipping on the battery. Motorola is promising “all-day battery life” here on all three Moto E5 smartphones. Which is something Motorola has promised on just about every smartphone for the past six years or so. The capacities here should be enough to get you through a full day, and Motorola does include its TurboPower charger here, so you can recharge these pretty quickly.
Moto E5 Software
On the software front here, we’re still looking at a stock version of Android Oreo. That has been Motorola’s approach for quite a few years now, and that continues with the Moto E5 series this year. It’s running on Android Oreo and should get updated to Android P at some point, though Motorola has not yet confirmed that. Aside from the usual Android features, Motorola has also added in some gestures that will work quite nicely on the Moto E5, Moto E5 Play and Moto E5 Plus. This includes gestures to quickly jump to the camera, turn on the flashlight, see messages and more.
Moto E5 Security
This year, Motorola is bringing fingerprint sensors to the Moto E5 series. The fingerprint sensor is located on the back of the phone, within the Motorola batwing logo. So it’s discreetly there and out of the way. In fact, many people may not even see it. It’s in a good position, below the camera, but not to close to the camera to where you would touch the lens by mistake. Always a good thing there. This allows you to keep your phone secure without needing to remember or enter your passcode each time. There’s no word on Face Unlock for the Moto E5, that will likely be left for the higher-end Moto Z3 when that launches later this summer.
Moto E5 Availability
Motorola is pretty vague on pricing and availability right now. But the Moto E5 is slated to be priced at €149 and the Moto E5 Plus at €169, there’s no price mentioned for the Moto E5 Play. The Moto E5 won’t be available in all regions, like the US. According to Motorola, the Moto E5 will be rolling out to countries within Europe, Asia and Latin America in the coming months. The Moto E5 Play will be rolling out in North America soon. Finally the Moto E5 Plus will be coming to Asia, Europe, Latin America and North America in the coming months. No firm release dates here, but these should all start launching this summer.
Moto E5 Gallery
Moto E5 Play Gallery
Moto E5 Plus Gallery
