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

The American company Motorola competed well with Nokia for the first place in the ranking of quality phones in the 2000s. No wonder, because once they were the best producers. But with the advent of smartphones, the popularity of models began to decline rapidly. The company did not have time 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, inexpensive models are released to 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 in a year and a half.

In 2018, manufacturers nevertheless introduced new budget phones of the E5 and E5 plus line. In general terms, we can say that the models are not bad. Not flagships, a rather 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 turn their noses at him, but lovers of autonomy will like it, and for the price it is very attractive and easy to use.

Similarities and differences

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

In addition to the diagonal, devices differ in their characteristics, maybe not dramatically. It is clear that the E5 plus is more powerful and the battery is capacious. The difference in price is about 2000 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 thick cardboard box, gray-orange. The design of the box is simple, but not minimalist like Samsung or Nokia. The orange or gray lid has a logo and a corresponding inscription in the center. On the back side of the picture of phones and description.

Under the book with instructions in several languages ​​and a card with a paperclip to remove the SIM tray, we find the shiny or matte monoblock itself. It comes with a colorless, soft, silicone case and a protective film on the screen.

Further attached is a portable charger - Grand GH-C01 with a USB type C cable, an adapter to Micro USB and simple headphones, the cord is 1 meter long.

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 and not 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 body material is not particularly durable, so it's better not to drop it.Despite the drop protection, the phone is not waterproof, so keep that in mind.

The display occupies almost the entire front face, with aspect ratios of 2:1. Thin side frames. At the top of the screen 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 your hand. At the very top and in the middle we see a large circle in which the camera module, flash and laser are located. Under 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 there is a micro-USB and a microphone, on the right side there are power and volume buttons, on the left side there 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 beautiful, but the cheap polymer device is tactile. And scratches are inevitable on the back cover. Therefore, it is better to purchase a good case.

Screen

The display is equipped with an IPS liquid crystal matrix. The coating is oleophobic, pleasant to the touch. Protective glass is present, reviews say even Gorilla Glass, but there is no confirmation yet. If you do not make an effort, the screen just will not be scratched.

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

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

The processor with the Snapdragon 425 chip is hard to call nimble, ideal for active games. Still, there were devices on this chip back in 2016. But for budget smarts it is quite usable. For programs, browsers, instant messengers and simple applications, the processor is quite productive, not suitable for resource-intensive games.

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

Software and interface

Installed operating system Android 8.0 Oreo, 32-bit. A clean android, without a bunch of pre-installed services and programs. Works fine, doesn't freeze. The only negative is that the system will no longer be updated, and therefore it will not work to upgrade to 9.0. On the other hand, not everyone wants and strives to update software and programs.

Games and other powerful applications open a little slower than on more expensive smartphones. But with intensive tasks they cope very well. Still, the device is budgetary and will not be able to satisfy the needs of fans of resource games, lovers of various editors and applications. The interface looks nice and bright. They did not depart from the corporate combination of dark gray and orange. Round icons, however, make the design look a bit old, but this is not for everybody.

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

Camera

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

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

Both cameras on the Moto E5 are weaker, but daytime shots are just as good. Main camera at 13 MP and f / 2.2 with autofocus. As for selfies, despite the presence of a flash, like the E5 plus, at 5 megapixels you can’t take anything sensible.

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

• Sample photo during the day:

• How to photograph at night:

The main problem with Moto photomodules 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, get used to it. Of course, the E5 + takes better pictures, the pictures are clear with good detail, and the night ones are a little better, the aperture allows. But the selfie camera of both devices is unsuitable for high-quality photos, but just right for ordinary pictures and video calls.

As for the video, due to the lack of stabilization, the videos are of poor quality and twitchy. The processor is rather weak, so, unfortunately, it is not necessary to wait for high speed and perfect color reproduction.

Battery

Budget news from Motorola pleased with their autonomy. If we talk about E5 plus, the battery is just huge - 5000 mAh. Coupled with a processor, albeit a little old, but Qualcomm, energy saving is just 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, at 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. Supports Fast Charging - Motorola TurboPower, Wireless not supported.

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

Sound

I was very upset by the only speaker located above the screen. Well, not seriously, because even the cheapest modern phone has two of them. Accordingly, the sound is not the loudest and clearest. Fans of good and clear sound should not use the device as a speaker. Even the equalizer will not fix the situation.

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

Price

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

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

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

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

• Cute design;
• Clean operating system without unnecessary applications and add-ons;
• Good performance;
• Bright and rich picture on the display;
• Good autonomy.

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

Before finishing the review, I will quickly go over the parameters of the phones. The strongest point of these devices is the battery and the time of their autonomy. Going on a hike with such a smart is a sweet thing. As for the appearance, then an amateur.

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

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