With customers tiring of forking out each year for a new flagship device, innovation in the smartphone industry has lately refocused on competent low-end phones. The Moto E was one of the first devices to try to blend a wallet-friendly price tag with hardware you may actually want to use.
Today, Motorola announced the E4 and E4 Plus, two well-specced phones with a modest price tag. The E4 has a 5-inch 720p display while the E4 Plus gets a 5.5-inch panel. Other than their respective sizes, both devices are largely the same underneath, although the E4 does see the 13-megapixel camera of the Plus swapped out for an 8-megapixel one.
Motorola Moto E4 / E4 Plus
Motorola
There’s a quad-core Snapdragon 425 or 427 processor, 2GB of RAM and up to 16GB of storage. Motorola has also included 4G cellular data and a giant battery for all-day longevity. The 2,800mAh unit in the E4 would be respectable itself. As it stands, it pales next to the E4 Plus though, a handset that will come with a huge 5,000mAh battery inside. This supports fast charging for “hours of battery life in minutes of charging.”
The E4 family also avoids a common issue with low-end smartphones. Motorola will include the latest version of Android, 7.1 Nougat, out of the box. The company has a good record for updates so you can expect to see regular security patches and the next version of Android later this year.
Motorola Moto E4 / E4 Plus
Motorola
In its announcement blog post, Motorola acknowledged that “there’s no shortage” of good-value smartphones in the market today. It said the Moto E4 and E4 Plus are distinctive enough to stand out from the crowds of rival devices launched in recent months. The E4 shoots even lower than most, aiming to appeal to people who can’t access the Moto G, the company’s main “budget flagship” phone.
“There’s no shortage of value-tier smartphones in today’s market,” Motorola said. “Many options include the common, expected features, and quality among these devices can differ.”
“With a sharp look and major upgrades, [the Moto E4 and E4 Plus] deliver the things you want – all day battery, outstanding display and advanced camera capabilities – at the price you want it for,” the company added.
Motorola Moto E4 / E4 Plus
Motorola
The demand from consumers for low-cost handsets with hardware that belies their price has created new competition among manufacturers. The shift towards the budget-friendly end of the market has benefitted all consumers by making powerful hardware more widely available across the pricing spectrum.
The Moto E4 and E4 Plus will launch later this month in various countries worldwide. The E4 will start at $129.99 in the U.S. with exclusive availability on Amazon Prime. European pricing will be €149. The E4 Plus will retail at $179.99 in the U.S. and €199 in Europe.
