First impressions Motorola Moto E: All set to rock the budget segment

It’s only been a couple of hours with the Motorola Moto E and it’s already starting to grow on us. The most appealing factor of course is the rock solid build and feel, which makes it really hard to believe that it costs a shade under Rs 7,000. If you liked the Moto G, then you will love the feel of the Moto E. [caption id=“attachment_223871” align=“alignnone” width=“691”] Sturdy build and very good finish[/caption]   Even though it’s a bit chunky and slightly on the heavier side, it feels reassuring. The rubberised back flows over to the sides giving you a good, firm grip. The speaker placed on the front is loud enough for alerts as well as listening to music. The display is sharp and colours are quite punchy. Sunlight legibility is not very good though as the grid of touch points is clearly visible and can get distracting when trying to read the screen. Pixilation around icons is non-existent, however, jaggies are noticeable around rounded icons such as the one for QuickOffice. [caption id=“attachment_223870” align=“alignnone” width=“691”] The battery is non removable[/caption]   The back cover is a bit of a nightmare to remove as it snaps open with a loud crack. Thankfully, you won’t be doing this too often. The battery underneath is non-replaceable and both SIM and microSD card slots are hot-swappable. Officially, the Moto E can support up to 32GB but we tried using SanDisk’s Extreme 64GB SDXC memory card and it worked just fine. USB OTG doesn’t seem to be present however, as our SanDisk dual drive wasn’t detected. [caption id=“attachment_223869” align=“alignnone” width=“691”] 64GB cards works just fine[/caption]   Our one complaint about the build would be that the power and volume buttons are a bit too stiff. They don’t have the same tactile feel as the Moto G did. You need to apply more pressure to use them. [caption id=“attachment_223875” align=“alignnone” width=“691”] The bundle of the Moto E[/caption]   Stock Android is always a breath of fresh air and something that never gets old. The Snapdragon 200 and 1GB of RAM offers plenty of oomph for smooth functioning of apps and multi-tasking. We tried some demanding games like Rayman: Jungle Run, which ran very smoothly. We didn’t really notice any overheating issues either. In fact, the Moto E barely gets warm even while running benchmarks. [caption id=“attachment_223878” align=“alignnone” width=“691”] The 5MP shooter is a bit disappointing[/caption]   The 5MP camera is probably the most disappointing part of the Moto E and the culprit is the lack of auto-focus. The shooter take passable landscape shots but go to close to a subject for a macro and the results aren’t very pretty. The touch-to-focus gesture is still present like on the G and the X, but on the E, it’s only used for adapting to that area’s exposure. [caption id=“attachment_223897” align=“alignnone” width=“691”] Captures colours pretty well[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_223898” align=“alignnone” width=“388”] Another example of good colour capture[/caption] Having said this, the quality of photos is still a lot better than most shooters in this price segment. The Moto E also manages to capture colours quite accurately. If you just only wish to share stuff on social or take that occasional picture, then the camera is more than adequate. [caption id=“attachment_223874” align=“alignnone” width=“691”] The new budget king?[/caption]   It’s very easy to see why the **Moto E is proving to be a huge hit for Motorola** . It ticks all the right boxes for an optimum Android experience, which is what matters most. Entry-level droids were supposed to be for first-time smartphone users, made for those for who might think KitKat is only a candy bar and the Play Store a kids department store. Unfortunately, first timers have been subjected to the worst Android experience so far, which is why many turn to Windows Phone or even opt for Asha phones.   All that changes with the Moto E. If you’re someone who wants to test the waters of Android without spending too much, then the Moto E is what you should be looking at. It might not be very powerful or have the best camera, but then that’s not its primary job. The Moto E was designed to make Android likeable and we feel Motorola has done justice to that goal.   We will be bringing you the full review of the Moto E soon, along with real world battery life and performance, so hang tight. In the meantime, you can check out our **unboxing video right here** .