After launching the Moto E in India, Motorola has officially launched the device in the UK. Available unlocked for £89, the Moto E is the most affordable smartphone from Motorola yet.
After extensive customer feedback, Motorola said that it focused on four key factors when developing the Moto E: build, power, style and software. As such, the Moto E comes with a design that is reminiscent of the Moto G/X and features an edge to edge display. The device comes with a 4.3-inch qHD screen that offers a pixel density of 256 ppi.
Internal hardware is in the form of a Snapdragon 200 SoC that features two Cortex A7 cores clocked at 1.2 GHz. There is also an Adreno 302 GPU clocked at 400 MHz that delivers stellar gaming performance. The Moto E has 1 GB RAM, 4 GB of internal memory along with a microSD card slot that can extend storage a further 32 GB. The device also features a 5 MP camera at the back, but does not have a front-facing shooter. The 1,980 mAh battery is touted to last an entire day on a single charge.
Customization is also an area that Motorola has lavished its attention on. The Moto E will be available in nine color variations and will feature five grip shells that will be sold as accessories.
On the software side of things, you get Android 4.4 KitKat along with a few Motorola exclusive utilities like Motorola Alert. With Motorola Alert, you can set a location status to notify friends and family of your current location. Motorola Alert also has an Emergency Mode feature that sounds an alarm or notifies someone in the case of an emergency.
During the announcement, Motorola called out fellow handset manufacturers like Samsung, HTC and LG for delaying rollout of newer versions of Android. For instance, Samsung took 106 days to roll out Android 4.4 KitKat to the Galaxy S4, while HTC took 92 days to update the HTC One and LG took 116 days to bring KitKat to the G2. Meanwhile, Motorola rolled out KitKat in 19 days to the Moto X.
With the launch of the Moto E, Motorola is signifying an end to the featurephone, even going so far as to create a "Goodbye dumbphone" website in which the manufacturer states, "Life before mobile apps should be a thing of the past. Introducing the Moto E. Made to last. Priced for all."
Reader comments
Moto E announced in the UK, priced at a low £89
Hmm. 89 pounds is $150 USD, which is not too far from the Moto G (non-4G version) at all. Was expecting a bigger price difference.
US pricing will be $129.
In general electronics are more expensive in the UK than the US, partly because of the hefty VAT included in the price, among other reasons. The Moto G list price is £135, (about $230 at current exchange rates) in the UK, for example. Expect the Moto E to be $100 to $120 or so in the US.
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Thanks for the explanation.
Do you know when Moto might announce availability/pricing for other regions?
Official pricing:
US: $129
Mainland Europe: €119 (= $163)
UK: £89 (= $150)
India: INR 6,999 (= $117)
Well, for that price, it looks to be extremely good value.
The website seems to muddle most of the specs with the moto g even mentioning the 720p screen and flash on the back
Posted via Android Central App from my Motorola Moto G 16GB with stylish blue flip cover
That is definitely a decent price to pay. Now I can get a cheap smartphone that isn't running gingerbread
Also, phones like this are going to definitely make it better for am average consumer
Damn. That's a great price for a low spec phone. I was going to pick a back up off Kijiji, but for that price might as well buy new.
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" Motorola called out fellow handset manufacturers like Samsung, HTC and LG for delaying rollout of newer versions of Android."
That's funny, I thought it was Verizon's fault
the chart is BS. I had KK after about 5 Weeks on my european S4.
Also: "edge to edge display"? What? Where? Sorry - but i see big bezels left and right...
Wow this phone is awesome.Very impressive budget phone at such a low price.Its a true competitor to my Lumia 520.I will definitely get this phone just because how cheap it is and because Motorola is such a great company once again.No other companies offer better budget phones than Nokia and Motorola.
it would be great if they manage to do international pricing as what may be really cheap in the states or europe turns out to be expensive elsewhere, for instance moto g 16gb unlocked in argentina is 400u$s, and that is by no means cheap here.