Gadgetory

motorola moto e or motorola moto G if you're playing this particular game of alphabet-soup you've probably only got one thing on your mind cost at price points of one hundred and twenty-nine dollars versus one hundred and seventy nine dollars direct from Motorola the question becomes how much are you willing to give up for 50 bucks I'm Michael Fisher with PocketNow and I'm here to help you answer that question with motorola moto e versus motorola moto G you probably remember the Moto G from our full review a few months back where we called it an exceptional budget smart phone we should mention that the Moto G comes in a few different variants these days but sticking with our cost conscious assumption we're comparing the Moto e to the base level Moto G today the 8k GSM model with no LTE onboard it should come as little surprise that the Moto e is a step down in almost every conceivable way compared to the already pretty bare-bones Moto G if there's a specification you can name odds are it's been trimmed the e-sports four gigs of internal storage to the G's 8 or 16 with a smaller embedded battery a less capable camera with no flash and most notably a dual-core Snapdragon 200 processor to the Moto G's quad-core Snapdragon 400 the Moto e also brings a smaller display that's about as easy to read and direct sunlight but the much lower resolution poorer viewing angles very green tinted white and visible touch matrix on the glass make it very obvious that it's a cheaper component and there's no front-facing camera sitting above it on the e as there is on the G but this isn't a total smackdown on the spec sheet of note the Moto e brings microSD expansion sure it's only up to 32 gigs but it's something the Moto G doesn't have at this trim level also notice the chromed strips at top and bottom on the Moto e the top one is just the earpiece but the larger bottom strip marks the front firing speakers phone it's not necessarily louder than the G's but its location sure makes a lot more sense Motorola has kept its design language consistent from the Moto X on down but the e is probably the biggest break we've seen so far the chrome accents on the face play a part in that but in the hand it's the smaller footprint and added thickness that really sets it apart from the G just like the G felt chubby next to the X the e feels a little portly next to the G but the difference isn't unpleasant in fact about the only place the e feels inferior is in button travel which is mushy er than the satisfying click of the G's controls otherwise the soft touch paint job well distributed weight and distinctive Motorola dimple makes holding each a real pleasure if you're an outdoorsy kind of guy or gal Motorola's water-repellent nano coating protects each from a sprinkle and if monochrome colors are too dull for your exciting life each can be customized at Motorola comm for all the feel good balance of the build category you know the speck differences had to come into play sometime despite the common Kit Kat build the Moto e is substantially slower at well most everything it's not always easy to see in the video but with the e you're always waiting for a few fractions of a second longer on its own it's not too bothersome but considered right alongside the faster zippy or G it adds up you can really feel the processor hit the E is taken fortunately that doesn't rule out gaming on the slower device as long as you stick to titles that aren't too taxing but with only two gigs free on the e you'll be butting up against that storage ceiling in no time one factor of note if you're often in hazardous situations Motorola's new alert app with tools to keep you connected with an emergency contact and shortcuts to distress messaging and calling and a pretty loud alarm for now it's only available on the Moto e and the newer 4G Moto G we'll talk more about this in our full Moto e review for standard non-emergency calling on AT&T in greater boston reception has been on par and callers say we sound fine on each with slight variances in quality between earpiece and speakerphone though we certainly prefer the Moto e in the latter mode thanks to its front firing speaker and on the earbuds front we thought it important to test FM radio performance still an important aspect for many markets and we found that both the Moto e and the G offered better than average FM radio reception compared to other devices besides the software probably the biggest difference between these phones lies in the cameras the resolutions are the same yes and the lack of a flash on the Moto e is a pretty big deal if you're shooting photos at night but for us the number one handicap of the cheaper phone is the lack of autofocus you can still tap to set exposure on the Moto e but your focal point is always the same making close-up shots basically impossible and generally making the camera feel like something from five years ago you're still fine with distant shots and sometimes the Moto e is HDR mode actually kicks out a nicer looking photo than the Moto G can but the inability to set focus and the lower resolution and framerate of its video output means you only want to settle for the Moto ease camera if you have to we've only had a short time with the Moto e so we'll have more observations on things like battery life as we get closer to our full review that said we're not expecting a huge endurance Golf and performance between these devices we think the Moto e is lower res screen and lower power processor will more than compensate for that slightly smaller battery pack so what's it all boiled down to well the Moto e was built to be less expensive than the G and it is but not by all that much especially once you factor in the cost of a microSD card which you'll need if you want something more than a smartphone in name only the Moto G succeeded because it brought surprisingly little compromise to its price category by contrast the Moto E's compromises are laid out in broad daylight for all to see if its price tag was lower we might recommend it over its mid-range sibling here but with a difference in cost of only $50 the Moto G will be the smarter buy for anyone with the means and anyone serious about a longer-term smartphone investment for more on the Moto G Moto e and all the other smart phones and tablets we can get our hands on visit us at pocketnow.com be sure and subscribe here on youtube and follow us on social media where we talk text and tweet until next time this has been michael fisher with PocketNow thanks for watching and we'll see you real soon you