Motorola Moto E5 and E5 Plus smartphones: their advantages and disadvantages

The American company Motorola competed well with Nokia for the first place in the rating of quality phones in the 2000s. Not surprising, since they were once the best manufacturers. But with the advent of smartphones, the popularity of the models began to decline rapidly. The company did not manage to reorganize production in a short time.

Few people know, but Motorola is now the property of the Chinese corporation Lenovo. And it has nothing to do with the old brand and standard for a long time. Occasionally they produce inexpensive models for the delight of the nostalgic. And it is not clear whether the Chinese who have absorbed the brand want to completely mow down the Moto brand or will continue to produce one or two models a year and a half.

In 2018, manufacturers still introduced new budget phones from the E5 and E5 plus line. In general terms, we can say that the models are not bad. Not flagships, a weak camera and hardware does not differ in performance, but a very capacious battery and a good design. Maybe photographers and fans of new cool games will twist their noses at it, but lovers of autonomy will like it, and for the price it is very attractive and convenient to use.

Similarities and differences

Moto E5 and E5 plus are reliable smartphones in the budget price segment. The latest and stable operating system is installed - Android 8.0 Oreo. The aspect ratio of the display is 18: 9, the proportion is 26: 1. Both phones have a fingerprint sensor on the back. Also splash-proof, so you can talk on the phone without fear of rain. Good battery life and beautiful design. There are two colors to choose from: gray and silver.

In addition to the diagonal, the devices differ in their characteristics, maybe not radically. It is clear that the E5 plus is more powerful and the battery is capacious. The difference in price is about 2,000 rubles. We provide a detailed description below, after reading it, it will be clear which model is better to buy.

Specifications

Equipment

The smartphone and its components are packed in a dense cardboard box, gray-orange. The design of the box is simple, but not minimalistic like that of Samsung or Nokia. On the orange or gray cover, the logo and the corresponding inscription are drawn in the center. On the back there are pictures of phones and a description.

Under the booklet with instructions in several languages ​​and a card with a paper clip for removing the SIM tray, we find the shiny or matte candy bar itself. It comes with a colorless, soft, silicone case and a screen protector.

Next comes a portable charger - Grand GH-C01 with a USB type C cable, a Micro USB adapter and simple headphones, the cord length is 1 meter.

Design

The device, at first glance, is a long, wide and thick device. Heavy enough, its weight is about 200 grams. The case is glossy with rounded edges, surprisingly, but not easily soiled or slippery. As mentioned, it is found in two colors: gray and silver. There was also a golden motorola in the description, but so far no one has seen it. The case material is not particularly durable, so it is better not to drop it. Despite being drip-resistant, the phone is not waterproof, so keep that in mind.

The display occupies almost the entire front edge, with aspect ratios of 2: 1. Thin side frames. At the top of the screen there is a single speaker, a selfie camera module and a flash, at the bottom - the inscription "motorola". The back side is rounded and folds inward, making it comfortable to hold the device in hand. At the very top and in the middle we see a large circle in which the camera module, flash and laser are located. Below the circle is a gray fingerprint sensor, inside it is the company logo.

On the top side there is a headset jack and a noise canceling microphone, on the bottom - micro-USB and a microphone, on the right are the power and volume buttons, on the left are embedded card trays. We remind you that there are three trays, two for sim cards, one for a memory card.

In general, the phone looks nice, but a cheap device made of polymer is felt tactilely. And scratches are inevitable on the back cover. Therefore, it is better to get a good case.

Screen

The display is equipped with an IPS liquid crystal matrix. The coating is oleophobic, pleasant to the touch. There is a protective glass, reviews even say Gorilla Glass, but there is no confirmation yet. If you don’t make any effort, the screen won’t just get scratched.

The picture, with weak characteristics and low resolution, looks quite bright and saturated. The viewing angles are high. There are even functions for adjusting brightness, contrast and saturation. Unfortunately, the blue color adjustment was not included in the settings for viewing the screen at night, but the picture can be seen in the sun.

As mentioned above, the diagonal of E5 is 5.7 and E5 plus is 6.0, the screen resolution is 1440 × 720 and the pixel density is 282/268 ppi.

Hardware and functionality

A processor with a Snapdragon 425 chip is hardly nimble, ideal for active games. Still, devices on this chip were back in 2016. But for budget smart phones it is quite used. For programs, browsers, instant messengers and simple applications, the processor is quite powerful, but not suitable for resource-intensive games.

What can I say about memory, then 2 and 3 GB of RAM is not very dense. Since updates of operating systems, programs and applications require a resource. And one day it may not be enough. Permanent memory 16 and 32 GB - satisfactory. Three slots attract the most: for two SIM cards and a slot for a memory card.

Software and interface

The operating system is Android 8.0 Oreo, 32-bit. A clean android, without a bunch of pre-installed services and programs. Works properly, does not freeze. The only drawback is that the system will no longer be updated, and therefore it will not be possible to update to 9.0. On the other hand, not everyone wants and strives to update software and programs.

Games and other weighty applications open slightly slower than on more expensive smartphones. But they do very well with intensive tasks. Still, the device is budgetary and will not be able to satisfy the needs of fans of resource games, fans of different editors and applications. The interface looks nice and bright. The trademark combination of dark gray and orange has not gone away. Round badges, however, make the design itself a little older, but this is not for everybody.

There is no near field communication (NFC) technology, so it will be impossible to use the Google Pay payment system. The loss, of course, is not great, since this system is not applicable in all cities.

Camera

For a budget phone, the camera is pretty good, but you will hardly be able to get truly high-quality images. But the quality of the photos on the E5 plus is certainly higher, good focus and correct sharpness.

The rear camera on the E5 plus with 12MP and f / 2.0 aperture. In daylight and an abundance of sunlight, the photo turns out to be bright and saturated, with good detail. In the evening, the quality deteriorates, clarity and detail are lost, noise appears. The front camera is 8 megapixels and the aperture is f / 2.2. With a weak aperture that is not able to capture enough light, pictures are blurry.

Both cameras on the Moto E5 are weaker, but daytime shots are good too. Main camera at 13 megapixels and f / 2.2 with autofocus. As for selfies, despite the presence of a flash like in the E5 plus, at 5 megapixels you will not get anything sensible.

To understand in detail how both smartphones take pictures and compare the quality of their pictures, several pictures are provided:

• Sample photo in the afternoon:

• How to photograph at night:

The main problem of Moto's photo modules is the shutter lag when pressed, the photos are blurry and "dirty". For more or less high-quality pictures, you need to hold the smartphone firmly in your hand, in general, adapt. Of course, the E5 + shoots better, the pictures are clear with good detail, and the night scenes are slightly better, the aperture allows. But the selfie camera on both devices is unsuitable for high-quality photos, but just right for ordinary shots and video calls.

As for the video, due to the lack of stabilization, the videos are of poor quality and jerky. The processor is rather weak, so, unfortunately, there is no need to wait for high speed and perfect color rendering.

Battery

The budget novelties from Motorola pleased with their autonomy. Speaking of the E5 plus, the battery is huge - 5000 mAh. Coupled with a processor, although a bit old, but Qualcomm, energy saving is just a class. The autonomy test shows 20 hours of video and 5 days of music. If you do not load the smart navigator and other heavy applications for a long time, it will be more than enough for 2 days, even more. Therefore, with a full load, autonomy will last for about a day and a half.

Full charge time is 3 hours, 75% - 2 and 50% - 1 hour and 20 minutes. Fast charge supported - Motorola TurboPower, wireless is not supported.

The E5 has a battery capacity of 4000 mAh. Less, of course, than the E5 plus, but in comparison with new expensive smarts, there is a lot of capacity. Holds freely for 36 hours, at full load - a little more than a day. Charges faster than its brother, 100% charging time is two and a half hours. Fast charging technology is also supported.

Sound

The only speaker above the screen was very upset. Well, not seriously, because even the cheapest modern phone has two of them. Accordingly, the sound is not the loudest and cleanest. Fans of good and clean sound should not use the device as a speaker. Even an equalizer won't fix the situation.

The sound is much better and clearer in the headphones, but not in those that are included. The music is quiet, no noise reduction or isolation. Can be annoying.

Price

How much does this phone cost? At the presentation, the manufacturer indicated the price for this line. The price of the E5 plus was 170 euros, about 11,990 rubles. And the cost of E5 is lower - 9990 rubles or 150 euros. But the prices are likely to be 1000-2000 rubles higher.

It seems that the phone is good for the price and quality, but Xiaomi has a lot of popular models with better specifications at the same price. For example, Xiaomi Redmi Note 5, it has a more powerful and modern processor and a slightly better camera. But the autonomy is lower.

Naturally, choosing autonomy without being critical to the camera, performance and size, the E5 plus is ideal.

People often ask where it is profitable to buy a phone. On the one hand, online stores with very low prices also attract. But personally, I would be scared to buy from an unknown store. Since at best, you can run into a fake, at worst, be left without money and a product. Therefore, there are several options: a cell phone or household appliance store, an official website, or a well-known online store.

Advantages and disadvantages

Before choosing a suitable model, you need to familiarize yourself with the strengths and weaknesses, which will be listed below:

• Nice design;
• Clean operating system without unnecessary applications and add-ons;
• Decent performance
• Bright and rich picture at the display;
• Good battery life.

• Shutter speed;
• Weak cameras, especially front cameras;
• The OS will no longer be updated.

Before finishing the review, I will quickly go over the parameters of the phones. The strongest side of these devices is the battery and their autonomy. Going on a hike with such a smart is a nice thing. As for the appearance, it is not for everybody.

I liked the gray phone more, silver or golden - not very, too pretentious, albeit unusual. The display is bright, works with a bang, as does the fingerprint sensor. Performance is average, hardware is rather weak, more RAM could be added. Separate carriages for two SIM cards and a memory card are very pleasing.

The cameras are weak, although the main one is not bad for a budget phone. Of course, comparing with other models in the same price category, you can pick a phone with the best performance, camera or design. But in terms of battery capacity, they are inferior to Moto. Therefore, which company is better to purchase the device is up to you.