When Motorola announced its comeback to the Indian market back in 2014, Moto E, a budget-friendly phone played a major role in its success. The company received a massive response to the first Moto E launch, even leading Flipkart servers to crash and units to go out of stock within minutes.
Well, Motorola did try the same strategy with its second-generation Moto E but didn't quite achieve the same level of success. And now here's the third generation of its budget-friendly smartphone and the first one post takeover. Lenovo has launched the third-generation Moto E dubbed as the Moto E3 Power, thanks to its bigger battery. But is it worth your money? Let's check it out.
In The Box
Motorola Moto E3 Power comes packed in a very neat and sober looking box with the Motorola logo in the top center and the Lenovo branding at the bottom right. Inside the box, the first thing you'll notice is the handset itself. Further down there's the 10W Charger, microUSB Cable, standard in-ear headphones, the star of the party a 3500 mAh Battery and interestingly a screen guard.
Look and Feel
The ridged plastic design of the Moto E3 Power adds a personality to the smartphone. It's distinctly Moto, but it won't feel like every other phone out there. Also, the back and battery are removable, which is quite rare in the world of non-removable batteries.
It's flat, mostly, and has curves around the edges, just so it's comfortable. It sits well in the hands and it stays there, without slipping away. The back panel, as I mentioned is removable, has this very fine textured finish that gives the phone a sophisticated look, and improves grip. This is a phone that you would love to hold in your hands and the five-inch form factor means it's also very comfortable to operate with one hand. Just like the Moto E of Motorola's culmination period, the Moto dimple on the back stays on, but the camera module now rests behind an oblong piece of glass-like plastic that is surrounded by a fine chrome lining.
At 153.5 gram and 9.5 mm, the Moto E3 Power retains the chunkiness of past Moto Es, which also means that it is still heavier and thicker than rival phones in the market. It also has those wide chunky bezels I had been missing after using the OnePlus 3.
Moreover, the Moto E3 Power also has a water-repellent nanocoating that protects the phone from accidental spills, splashes or light rain. Keep in mind, it is not exactly waterproof but it kind of helps.
The volume and power buttons are on the right, while the left is blank. The 3.5mm audio jack is on top, and the Micro-USB charging port is on the bottom.
The Moto E3 Power comes with a 5-inch HD IPS LCD display with a 720x1280 pixel resolution that roughly translates to 294ppi pixel density. Brightness levels are just about adequate and adaptive brightness works as it should. Viewing angles are just about adequate as well, with just a hint of discoloration when you tilt the screen sideways. The colors look rich and vibrant, and the display also is smudge-resistant so it is not very prone to smudges and fingerprints.
Specifications
The Moto E3 Power is powered by a 1GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6735 processor coupled with Mali T720 GPU and 2GB of RAM. It comes with 16GB of internal memory which is further expandable by up to 32GB via a microSD card slot. The dual-SIM phone supports 4G LTE (VoLTE-ready) and USB OTG. The phone comes with separate slots for two SIM cards and one microSD.
To not disappoint you further, the Moto E3 Power in no way is as powerful as Lenovo would want you to believe considering its name. The phone is in no way meant to be bought if you plan on gaming with it. Even basic games like Subway Surfers are receptive to a few lags, particularly during long periods of gameplay.
But the main USP of the phone is its battery life, and it's living up to it. The phone is backed by a 3,500mAh removable battery. Battery life is phenomenal. Lenovo had claimed it to last a day on this one. But some of my tests have shown it could last even longer using the phone's inbuilt battery saving option. Of course, Android Marshmallow's Doze functionality is to be appreciated for it.
The included fast charger is estimated to deliver up to 5 hours of power in just 15 minutes of charging, according to Lenovo. And the company sort off delivers its promise by delivering up to 5 hours of power in around 20 minutes of charging.
The front-firing mono speaker on the Moto E3 Power is fantastic. It gets really loud with little or no distortion at peak volume. Voice quality during calls made with the Moto E3 Power was also excellent.
The Moto E3 Power runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow with very minimal tweaks from the company. The unit that we played with had the Google Now launcher which was set as the default.
There are not many third-party apps installed on, the phone which is good for users as they get the most out of the 16GB of onboard storage. The phone supports storage expansion via a microSD card up to only 32GB. Additionally, Lenovo is also offering two years of free photo storage on the Google Photos app.
Camera
Well, the camera is a feature you always consider while buying a smartphone, right? The Moto E3 Power comes with an 8-megapixel camera on the rear with f/2.2 aperture, autofocus and LED flash. On the front, you get a 5-megapixel snapper.
Although focus and shutter speed are fairly respectable, quality of photos snapped with the Moto E3 Power's rear shooter is average at best. Photos clicked in good light come out well, with a decent amount of detail and mostly accurate colors.
The front camera, meanwhile, clicks average selfies. They would be just about sufficient for posting on Facebook and Instagram and nothing else. The rear shooter can record 720p videos but slow-motion and time-lapse videos are not supported.
Didn't read it all? Don't worry here's the verdict.
At Rs. 7,999, Lenovo's Moto E3 Power seems like a decent buy. But if you're planning on playing games on it, I'd advise you to add Rs. 1000 more to your budget and go buy the Moto G4 Play (even though it has a smaller battery).
The sole reason to buy the Moto E3 Power is its battery life. Though the Moto E3 Power doesn't provide the experience that Motorola promises and isn’t a worthy purchase, it does what it says to be doing and that's providing you a great battery with top-ups such as great display and a fairly excellent call quality.
