Motorola Announces Moto E (2015): Cortex-A53 + LTE For $149
by Andrei Frumusanu on February 25, 2015 3:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Motorola
- Mobile
- Moto E
- Moto E (2015)
Today Motorola has announced the launch and immediate availability of the 2015 version of the Moto E, the latest member of the company’s line of low-end smartphones.
The 2015 edition of the Moto E is a pretty hefty upgrade of a phone launched just 9 months ago. In terms of design the new Moto E is generally a bigger, more powerful version of its predecessor, retaining the same rounded plastic design while enlarging the overall body slightly to house the larger 4.5" screen. Meanwhile Motorola has iterated on the 2014’s swappable back covers, with the 2015 featuring the ability to swap in one of the company’s newer grip shells, or the phone’s colored bands can be swapped out separately.
| Motorola's 2015 Low-End Smartphone Lineup | ||||||
| Motorola Moto E (2015) | Motorola Moto E (2014) | Motorola Moto G (2014) | ||||
| SoC | Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 (MSM8916) 4x Cortex A53 @ 1.2GHz Adreno 306 at 400MHz (LTE model XT1527) or Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 (MSM8x10) 4x Cortex A7 @ 1.2GHz Adreno 302 at 400MHz (3G models) |
Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 (MSM8x10) 2x Cortex A7 @ 1.2GHz Adreno 302 at 400MHz |
Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 (MSM8x26) 4x Cortex A7 @ 1.2 GHz Adreno 305 at 450MHz |
|||
| RAM/NAND | 1GB LPDDR3 8GB NAND & MicroSD |
1GB LPDDR2 4GB NAND & MicroSD |
1GB LPDDR3 8/16GB NAND & MicroSD |
|||
| Display | 4.5" 960x540 LCD | 4.3" 960x540 LCD | 5" 1280x720 IPS LCD | |||
| Dimensions | 129.9 x 66.8 x 12.3mm 145g |
124.38 x 64.8 x 12.3mm 142g |
141.5 x 70.7 x 11.0 mm 149g | |||
| Camera | 5MP (2592 х 1944) Rear Facing w/Auto Focus, F/2.2 aperture VGA (640x480) Front Facing |
5MP (2592 х 1944) Rear Facing w/Fixed Focus | 8MP (2592 х 1944) Rear Facing 2MP (1280x720) Front Facing |
|||
| Battery | 2390 mAh (9.08 Whr) | 1980 mAh (7.52 Whr) | 2070 mAh (7.87 Whr) | |||
| OS | Android 5.0 | Android 4.4.2 | Android 4.4.4 | |||
| Connectivity | 802.11 b/g/n + BT 4.0, USB2.0, GPS/GNSS | 802.11 b/g/n + BT 4.0, USB2.0, GPS/GNSS | 802.11 b/g/n + BT 4.0, USB2.0, GPS/GNSS | |||
| SIM Size | Micro-SIM | Micro-SIM (Dual SIM SKU) |
Micro-SIM | |||
The phone is being released in two versions. The first being the LTE model which primarily targets the US market in its LTE frequency bands. There are also a pair of 3G versions, with one again targeted at the US and the other more globally, with the big difference being the US 3G version's support of the 1700MHz AWS frequency bands for HSPA+.
| Motorolla E (2015) Model Breakdown | ||||||
| Region | GSM | UMTS/HSPA+ | LTE | |||
| 4G LTE - US GSM (XT1527) |
850, 900, 1800, 1900 | 850, 1700, 1900 | 2, 4, 5, 7, 12, 17 | |||
| US GSM (XT1511) | 850, 900, 1800, 1900 | 850, 1700, 1900 | - | |||
| Global GSM (XT1505) | 850, 900, 1800, 1900 | 850, 900, 1900, 2100 | - |
|||
Priced at $149, the LTE version features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 processor, which supplies both the quad-core Cortex-A53 CPU and the Category 4 LTE modem. The 3G versions will be launching later at $119 – the biggest difference here is the use of a Snapdragon 200 series SoC with a quad-core Cortex-A7 CPU instead of the newer A53 Snapdragon 410. Having received the LTE version from Motorola, for our purposes we’ll be focusing on the LTE version.
Likely the single biggest draw for the 2015 Moto E over the 2014 is the inclusion of LTE support, which is a first for a low-end Motorola phone, and in fact is something even the higher-tier 2014 Moto G did not include. Driven by the 9x25 modem integrated into the Snapdragon 410, this gives the Moto E Cat 4 LTE capabilities along the most common North American bands.
Meanwhile users of either version will also quickly notice the larger screen, which sees a slight bump to 4.5”, up from 4.3” in the 2014 version. Though larger, the resolution though remains entry-level at qHD (960x540) pixels, so pixel density has decreased some compared to the 2014 version. Helping to drive this larger display and to take advantage of the larger phone body is a 2390mAh battery, 410mAh more than in last year's model. Even accounting for the larger screen battery life should be improved over the 2014 version – particularly stand-by time – however we’ll have to give the phone a complete rundown to see what the real-world gains are.
Next to the screen and new to this year’s version is a front-facing VGA (640x480, 0.3MP) camera. The 2014 model skipped out on a camera entirely for cost reasons, and while this camera is of limited use, it should be reasonable enough for selfies and video chat on an entry level phone. Meanwhile the rear facing camera is still 5MP, however it’s now capable of auto focus versus last year’s fixed focus camera. As for video recording, this camera is used to record at 720p30, a significant step up from the 2014’s FWVGA (854x480) recording capabilities.
Storage has also seen a bump up, going from 4GB on-board to 8GB on-board, and users still looking for more can add more storage via microSD. The accompanying RAM on the other hand remains at 1GB, though it’s now LPDDR3 as opposed to LPDDR2.
Finally, the phone is shipping with Android 5.0 Lollipop, making it the first Motorola-branded phone to ship with Android 5.0 out of the factory and joining Motorola’s other phones which recently received the OS as an update. Motorola doesn’t specify whether they’re using a 32-bit or 64-bit version of the OS, however a quick check of the phone finds that it's running the 32-bit version of Android. Which given the fact that the 2015 Moto E is available with both Cortex-A53 and Cortex-A7 based SoCs, it makes sense that the company is sticking to 32-bit throughout.
We will be putting the new Moto E through its paces in the coming weeks, but so far it looks like a solid update to the Moto E lineup. At $149 for the LTE it does end up debuting at $20 more expensive than the previous version in what’s a very price sensitive market, so it will be interesting to see how consumers respond to the higher price. But LTE tends to be a big draw.
Shipping today, US customers can order the LTE version of the phone from Motorola’s website. Meanwhile international customers can look forward to Motorola rolling out the phone to more than 50 countries in the Americas, Europe, and Asia.
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Source: Motorola
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Gunbuster - Wednesday, February 25, 2015 - link
Dear Microsoft,It is time to drop the prices on the Lumia 730 and 830.
Sincerely phones with similar hardware selling for $149
Daniel Egger - Wednesday, February 25, 2015 - link
Not sure where you got this from. Actually the CPU of the Lumias is pretty lame but display and cameras at least one notch over the E -- they don't compare at alljjj - Wednesday, February 25, 2015 - link
Moto failed to understand that they need to keep the pace with how specs/price evolve in time.This is a lesser device now than the first E was at launch, same goes for the G.A bigger issue is that 150$ is way too much especially with the recent currency fluctuations. They are not targeting the US with such devices so it's very relevant what the pricing is elsewhere. Even at 100$ this wouldn't be exciting anymore in international markets, at 150$ it's more or less in the price band where Moto G used to be (without even factoring in the evolution for price/specs). In Europe for example with 19 to 25% VAT, pricing would be 177-186$ (156- 164 Euros) so hopefully they adjust prices outside the US.
fic2 - Wednesday, February 25, 2015 - link
"This is a lesser device now than the first E was at launch, same goes for the G."Faster processor, more flash, LTE, auto focus rear camera, new front camera, same screen resolution.
Just how is this a "lesser" device than the first E?
I'll give you that on the 2nd gen G since the first gen has LTE and expandable flash, but it looks to me like the new E is an upgrade in just about every way.
nikaldro - Wednesday, February 25, 2015 - link
well, the first moto E packed decently good specs for the price, but this model is just slightly better while the competition got much better. Here in italy you can find a zenfone 5, the 2/16GB model, for 180 bucks, and it totally wrecks this "new" moto Ejjj - Wednesday, February 25, 2015 - link
Unfortunately you failed to understand the meaning of what i was saying, guess it's in part my fault for not being more explicit.It is a lesser device when you put it in context, the specs are better but not by enough to keep up with what the current offering is and keep the device in the same league the previous model was at launch.
Parts get better and cheaper and that's how we get better and better specs. Screen prices dropped some 30% or so in the least year. LTE is not a premium feature anymore, it's the norm now that a few SoC makers are offering it. NAND prices are always declining in a decent way, RAM maybe less so lately. In 2014 there have been fierce competition in the camera sensor area so prices got a lot better and so on.
Sure they do have a low clocked A53 and for now not that many devices are using A53 but that's only because the SoC are fairly fresh and just starting to take over. Soon enough a lot more devices will use A53 SoCs and many higher clocked.
The currency makes things way worse,for example 1 year ago 1 euro was almost 1.4$, now it's about 1.14$. So if they wouldn't adjust pricing and just convert plus add taxes you would have ,lets say in Germany , 1 year ago Moto E at 129$+19% VAT divided by 1.39= 110.4 euros vs now 149+19% divided by 1.14 =155.5 euros so a price increase of about 41%. So they really need to adjust international pricing. And if it matters the old Moto E right now on Amazon Germany is 92 euros since the price declined a bit since launch.
jjj - Wednesday, February 25, 2015 - link
Got to double post here , just checked Moto's site and pricing for the LTE version in a few EU markets. In Germany it is 129 euros, in UK 109 pounds amd in France 139 euros so they adjusted prices lower for international markets.You would think that was important enough to highlight when they released the info.
psychobriggsy - Thursday, February 26, 2015 - link
It's got twice as many cores and twice the storage, a front camera and a better back camera, and now comes in variants (LTE and 3G) depending on your budget. Also it has Lollipop.And the LTE version *is* targeting the US.
OTOH this doesn't bode well for the 2015 Moto G's pricepoint.
Maxpower2727 - Thursday, February 26, 2015 - link
Except the article explicitly states that they're targeting the US with this device. So there's that.code65536 - Wednesday, February 25, 2015 - link
Correction for your comparison table: The Moto G 2014 has Micro SD too. (only the first-gen non-LTE Moto G lacked a card slot; all subsequent Moto Gs have card slots)