Motorola E4 Plus review. Inexpensive phablet with a high-capacity battery. Review of Motorola Moto E4 Plus - the company's most balanced smartphone Case design and materials

There is no shortage of top-end devices in the smartphone market today. When it comes to budget devices, they all offer the same expected features, but their quality can vary significantly. Today we will introduce you to the new budget Motorola smartphones presented in mid-June - Moto E⁴ and Moto E⁴ Plus. The Moto E line is positioned as affordable smartphones a little higher than the cheapest Moto C and a little lower than the mid-range Moto G devices.

In Russia, Moto E⁴ and Moto E⁴ Plus were presented on and are already on sale.

Design of Moto E⁴ and Moto E⁴ Plus

In fact, Motorola has launched almost all of the Moto E⁴ and Moto E⁴ Plus brands different devices for different markets, they differ in both processors and rear panel design. We tested the Moto E⁴ and Moto E⁴ Plus smartphones intended for the Russian market. Both smartphones have a chassis made of plastic with a back panel made of metal and plastic.

The back panels of smartphones are removable; after removing the panel, we see connectors for installation SIM cards(both models support dual SIM cards) and a memory card that can be installed instead of the second SIM card.

To install SIM cards and a memory card in Moto E⁴, you need to remove the battery, it can be replaced by the user, the Moto E⁴ Plus battery is secured with screws and to replace it, it is better to contact an authorized service center.

There is an NFC antenna on the back of the Moto E⁴ Plus, but the Russian version of the Moto E⁴ does not have NFC support.

At the top of the front panel of the Moto E⁴ and Moto E⁴ Plus there are front cameras with a resolution of 5 megapixels with an LED flash, an LCD indicator, sensors and an earpiece. At the bottom there is a fingerprint scanner. The rear panel houses the main cameras, the Moto E⁴ has a resolution of 8 megapixels, and the Moto E⁴ Plus has a resolution of 13 megapixels, with dual-tone LED flashes. The speaker grille of the Moto E⁴ is also located on the rear panel, and on the Moto E⁴ Plus it is located on the bottom end of the case.

Both smartphones received a Micro USB connector and a microphone located at the bottom end of the case.

The 3.5 mm jack for connecting headphones is located on the top end of the device.

The volume and on/off keys are located on the right.

In general, both smartphones are built very high quality and look solid, there is not the slightest play or squeak. If it were not for the rather modest specifications and display resolution, they could easily be confused with Moto G series smartphones.

Moto E⁴ and Moto E⁴ Plus specifications

As we have already said, Motorola has released devices with different specifications under the Moto E⁴ and Moto E⁴ Plus brands for the European, including Russian and American markets. The American version of Moto E⁴ received either an eight-core Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 425 processor or an eight-core Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 427 processor operating at a frequency of 1.4 GHz, and Moto E⁴ Plus received a Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 427 processor operating at a frequency of 1.4 GHz. .4 GHz. The European version, including the version for Russia, is powered by an eight-core MediaTek MT6737 processor with a clock frequency of 1.3 GHz. You can argue for a long time about the advantages of Qualcomm or MediaTek, but the version for Europe and Russia received 3 GB random access memory, compared to 2 GB in the American version, which is a definite plus.

The main difference between Moto E⁴ and Moto E⁴ Plus is the size of the device, the diagonal and quality of the display, the resolution of the main camera and of course the battery. The biggest feature that sets the Moto E⁴ Plus apart is its huge 5000 mAh capacity, which will allow the smartphone to last up to two days on a single charge.

	Moto E⁴	Moto E⁴ Plus
Display	5” HD 720p (1280×720) Up to 16 million colors Pixel density 294PPI 2.5D protective glass	5.5” HD 720p (1280×720) Up to 16 million colors Pixel density 267PPI 2.5D protective glass
CPU	MT6737 Quad-core 1.3 GHz	MT6737 Quad-core 1.3 GHz
GPU	ARM Mali T720 MP1 650 MHz	ARM Mali T720 MP1 650 MHz
RAM	2GB	3GB
Built-in memory	16GB	16GB
MicroSD	Up to 128GB	Up to 128GB
Cameras	Main camera: 8MP ƒ/2.2 aperture 1.12 um microns 71° lens Autofocus Single LED flash Burst mode Panorama HDR Beauty mode Front-camera: 5MP ƒ/2.2 aperture 1.4 um microns 74° lens Fixed focus Single LED flash Burst mode HDR Beauty mode MPEG4 720P(30fps)	Main camera: 13MP ƒ/2.0 aperture 1.12 um microns 78° lens Autofocus Single LED flash Burst mode Panorama HDR Beauty mode Front-camera: 5MP ƒ/2.2 aperture 1.4 um microns 74° lens Fixed focus Single LED flash Burst mode HDR Beauty mode MPEG4 720P(30fps)
Battery	2,800 mAh	5,000 mAh
Connections and ports	802.11 b/g/n WiFi hotspot Bluetooth 4.2LE MicroUSB 3.5mm	802.11 b/g/n WiFi hotspot Bluetooth 4.2LE MicroUSB 3.5mm
Sensors	Fingerprint scanner Accelerometer Scattered light Approximations	Fingerprint scanner Accelerometer Scattered light Approximations
Networks	GSM B2/3/5/8 WCDMA B1/2/5/8	GSM B2/3/5/8 WCDMA B1/2/5/8 4G LTE (1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 20, 38, 40)
NFC	No	Eat
Water protection	Nano coating	Nano coating
operating system	Android 7.1.1 Nougat	Android 7.1.1 Nougat
Colors	Iron Gray Blush Gold Oxford Blue	Iron Gray Fine Gold
Dimensions and weight	144.7 x 72.3 x 9.3 mm 151 g	155 x 77.5 x 9.55 mm 198 g

Moto E performance⁴

Moto E⁴ Plus performance

Display of Moto E⁴ and Moto E⁴ Plus

The Moto E⁴ and Moto E⁴ Plus displays have the same HD 720p resolution of 1280×720 pixels, but due to the difference in display diagonal, the pixel density of the Moto E⁴ is higher than that of the Moto E⁴ Plus. However, the Moto E⁴ Plus display is brighter and has more contrast.

Moto E⁴ and Moto E⁴ Plus cameras

The younger model received a main 8-megapixel camera and a 5-megapixel front camera. The main camera of Moto E⁴ Plus received a resolution of 13 megapixels, and the front one remained unchanged with a resolution of 5 megapixels.

Photos taken with the main camera of Moto E⁴

Moto E⁴ and Moto E⁴ Plus batteries

As we already wrote, Moto E⁴ received a removable battery with a capacity of 2800 mAh, which allows the device to work throughout the day on a single charge. The biggest feature of the Moto E⁴ Plus is its huge 5,000 mAh removable battery, which allows the smartphone to last up to two days on a single charge. The only drawback of both devices is the MediaTek MT6737 processor, which does not support fast charging technology. So this somewhat reduces the benefits of the Moto E⁴ Plus's battery - if you forget to charge it overnight, you won't be able to refill the charge quickly - the Moto E⁴ Plus takes about six hours to charge.

Operating system Moto E⁴ and Moto E⁴ Plus

Both smartphones, out of the box, work on latest version operating system. In addition to the pre-installed Google application package, the Russian versions of Moto E⁴ and Moto E⁴ Plus received a pre-installed Yandex search widget, as well as a Yandex browser.

Moto E⁴ and Moto E⁴ Plus can already be purchased in Russia at prices of 9,990 rubles and 13,990 rubles.

Today we will tell you about one more Motorola smartphone from the 2017 E4 range. This is the older 5.5-inch version in the product line - . The device has a high-quality body, a MediaTek platform, and a large display. Does it have any other differences from the more compact 5-inch Moto E4? Read more in our review.

Specifications

CPU: MediaTek MT6737, 1.3 GHz

Display: 5.5 inches, HD

RAM: 3 GB

Flash memory: 16/32 GB

Camera: 8 MP

operating system: Android 7.1.1 Nougat

Contents of delivery

The phone is sold in an orange box, like its younger version E4. If you remember, the slightly more advanced G5/G5 Plus line was delivered in a similar box, only green. Brief specifications of the device are indicated on the back side. Inside you will find the following:

• phone with factory film
• white USB cable
• charging unit (voltage and current not specified)
• user manual
• white in-ear headphones with L-shaped 3.5mm audio output

For a smartphone priced around $215, the packaging is good and typical for Motorola.

Case design and materials

Moto E4 Plus has a metal body, a glass front panel with a cutout for the speaker and a fingerprint scanner. The case dimensions are as follows: height 155 mm, width 77.5 mm and thickness 9.55 mm. Thanks to the slightly rounded edges, the smartphone does not feel thick, although it is almost 1 cm thick. It weighs 198 grams and feels confident in the hand and better than its 151 gram smaller brother Moto E4.

The assembly here is perfect, just like other devices of this brand. The Moto E4 Plus case is disassembled: the back panel is removable. Immediately below it you will see the battery (non-removable as intended by the manufacturer), as well as three separate slots for two Nano SIM cards, as well as a microSD memory card. The lid is very difficult to remove and snaps literally tightly, very good quality adjustment of elements.

Let's go through the location of the main elements. In the E4 Plus, the main speaker has migrated from the back to the bottom; there are 6 round holes for it in the case. Now the device can be heard normally, no matter which side it is on. Next to the speaker there is a micro USB port in the center, as well as a conversational microphone.

On the front there is a glass panel with a 2.5D rounding, a small recess for a scanner, as well as a speaker on top, a front camera and an LED flash on the sides of the speaker. The left side is empty, and on the right there are two keys: a double volume rocker and a lock/activate button with a proprietary grooved coating for key recognition. On top there is a 3.5 mm audio output, and on the back is the main camera in a proprietary glass circle and the Moto logo.

The smartphone fits perfectly in the hand and the weight, dimensions and feel of the brushed metal are all excellent. The manufacturer managed to create a truly ergonomic case for a smartphone in a relatively inexpensive price segment. We had a Moto E4 Plus in gray for review.

Display and controls

The E4 Plus screen is made using IPS technology without an air gap (On-Cell); it uses an HD matrix with a diagonal of 5.5 inches. The resolution is 1280x720 pixels and the pixel density per square inch is 267 ppi. The display is of high quality, it has maximum viewing angles and natural color rendition.

The AnTuTu test shows support for up to 10 simultaneous presses, the sensor responds quite quickly to touches. Top installed protective glass with 2.5D rounding and oleophobic coating. The screen is pleasant to the touch, your finger glides across it quickly without hesitation. As for brightness, the maximum level is not high enough to make the phone comfortable to use in the sun. But with a minimum backlight level, it is convenient to read from the display in the dark and before bed.

The controls on the Moto E4 Plus are the same as on the lower-end Moto E4 and any other smartphone from the brand. Three touch translucent keys from native Android in the lower dock on the display, or touches and gestures on the fingerprint scanner. What is more convenient is the personal preference of each user. Personally, I liked controlling it better using the fingerprint scanner; it is fast and there is more usable area on the screen. A screenshot on the Moto E4 Plus is taken by standard pressing the lock key and volume down, and is saved in png format and 720p quality.

In the display settings, you can select the color display style (normal or bright), set the sleep mode from 15 seconds to 30 minutes, and also select the screensaver. There is also an option to quickly launch the camera from the lock screen double click to the activation key.

Processor, memory and performance

The heart of the Moto E4 Plus is mobile processor Taiwanese made MediaTek MT6737. It has a 64-bit architecture, 4 Cortex A53 cores with an operating clock frequency of 1.3 GHz and an ARM Mali-T720 GPU graphics system with a frequency of 650 MHz. For this price range, the processor is not bad, the phone copes with most of the tasks assigned to it. It's about about such undemanding processes as surfing the Internet, casual games, online videos, social networks and instant messengers. By the way, due to the HD display, video in the browser and applications is also played in 720p format.

The E4 Plus offers 3 GB of RAM, with 2.8 GB available to the user out of the box. After installing most popular applications, there is still about 1.6 GB left, which is normal. Flash memory in our modification is offered at 16 gigabytes, but thanks to a separate microSD slot, it can be expanded by an additional 128 GB. The main thing is that there is enough RAM offered.

For those who want to know more, here's a look at the performance of the Moto E4 Plus in the main benchmarks:

• AnTuTu: 30939 points
• Geekbench 4: 543 single-core, 1574 multi-core
• GFXBench: Manhattan 3.1 - 213 frames (3.4 fps), T-Rex - 597.6 frames (11 fps)

operating system

One of the main features of Moto E4 Plus is that this budget phone runs on Android 7.1.1 Nougat operating system. Essentially, when you buy a Motorola phone, you get a “Nexus” with timely system updates and the latest native Android features. The sample we reviewed boasts all the features of Android Nougat: multi-window mode, quick links for applications, new settings and a lower dock with all installed applications.

Due to the fact that the Moto E4 Plus has a 5.5-inch display, the shortcuts are built into 6 rows and 5 columns, rather than 4 columns like on the 5-inch E4. Because of this, the screen area is used more efficiently. The firmware works quickly and responsively; among the interesting pre-installed software there is the Moto application (for smartphone control settings) and the Dolby Atmos application for improving the sound quality in headphones.

Interfaces

The smartphone has a standard set of wireless interfaces: Bluetooth 4.2, Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n (2.4 GHz), as well as an NFC module, which, by the way, is not present in the younger version of Moto E4. There is a 3.5 mm audio output on top, and a micro USB port, not Type-C, on the bottom. Through this connector you can charge your phone and connect it to a computer, and it also supports hot plugging of third-party devices via USB OTG. The device also supports GPS, A-GPS and GLONASS navigation and FM radio with a connected headset.

Cameras and sample shots

Moto E4 Plus has two cameras, each with its own LED flash, both front and rear. The main module has a 13 megapixel sensor with dual LED flash. The photos it takes are quite good: the focus understands exactly what you want to capture, the photo has an evenly distributed quality, without any errors at the edges of the frame. What I liked is that even in a completely dark room, the main camera of the E4 Plus with flash takes good pictures.

The front camera has a 5 megapixel sensor and a powerful single flash with bright solid white light. Examples of pictures taken with this camera can be found below. One thing can be said: according to personal feelings, both cameras in the older version of the phone are noticeably better than in the younger Moto E4.

The application has the ability to select the photo resolution in megapixels, activate HDR mode, smile photo, timer and auxiliary grid. There is also a 4x digital zoom and the ability to leave a geolocation tag on the photo. The video is recorded in maximum quality HD 1280×720p 30 fps.

Photos taken with Moto E4 Plus

1 of 5

During the time that the phone was reviewed by us, we managed to drain its battery in 1 day, but it was a very busy day of tests, application installations and tests. So the average user can expect a typical 1.5-2 days of use. For those who value autonomy, we would recommend the Moto E4 Plus rather than its younger version E4 with a 2800 mAh battery

Advantages and disadvantages

The smartphone pleases with its pleasant design, outstanding battery life, and the latest version of the Android operating system. We really like politics Motorola and their budget "Nexus". This model has a good camera, sufficient 3 GB of RAM and a 5.5-inch HD display with good viewing angles. If you prefer contactless payments, the E4 Plus has an NFC interface. The only thing that can scare off the buyer is only 16 GB of internal memory, of which 11 GB is available to the user out of the box. True, this disadvantage is compensated by installing a microSD memory card in the smartphone. As a result, Motorola has created a very beautiful and balanced phone, both inside and out.

Price and where to buy

Moto E4 Plus is already on sale in popular stores in Ukraine and Russia. Its estimated cost is $211. For this money you get a phone with the same package as indicated in our review.

Modest filling, but large battery

In mid-summer, Lenovo introduced its new fourth-generation Moto E series budget smartphones. The new items out of the box have Android 7.1 OS, metal cases, and the front cameras are accompanied by an LED flash. Both new items turned out to be quite simple in total. technical characteristics, but the Moto E4 Plus is, as the name suggests, the most advanced of them all, so that's where we'll start.

Key Features of Moto E4 Plus (Model XT1771)

• SoC MediaTek MT6737, 4 cores ARM Cortex-A53 @1.25 GHz
• GPU Mali-T720
• operating room Android system 7.1.1
• Touch display IPS 5.5″, 1280×720, 267 ppi
• Random access memory (RAM) 3 GB, inner memory 16 GB
• Nano-SIM support (2 pcs.)
• MicroSD support up to 128 GB
• GSM/GPRS/EDGE networks (850/900/1800/1900 MHz)
• WCDMA/HSPA+ networks (850/900/1900/2100 MHz)
• Networks LTE Cat.4 FDD (B1/3/5/7/8/20), LTE TD (B38/40)
• Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n (2.4 GHz)
• Bluetooth 4.1, NFC
• GPS, A-GPS
• Micro-USB, USB OTG
• Main camera 13 MP, f/2.0, autofocus, 720p video
• Front camera 5 MP, f/2.4, fixed. focus, flash
• Proximity sensor, lighting sensor, accelerometer
• Battery 5000 mAh
• Dimensions 155x78x10 mm
• Weight 200 g

Contents of delivery

The Moto E4 Plus comes in a small box with a tacky design. The cardboard is simply folded along the folds in the manner of mailboxes without gluing.

The kit consists of a connecting cable, a power adapter with an output current of 2 A and a maximum voltage of 5.2 V, as well as useless plastic headphones without rubber pads that do not stay in the ears.

Appearance and ease of use

Moto E4 Plus looks quite decent for its level, and maybe even more expensive than it is. The device has a simple but neat design, a body with a metal removable cover, a modern oval touch button with a fingerprint scanner on the front panel. All elements are organically combined, nothing causes rejection.

The Motorola logo is on the back wall; it goes well with the round camera module. The familiar plastic end inserts are attached to the metal of the lid at the top and bottom. Thus, the lid is not solid, which means it is not that durable. The holes for all interface connectors are made here in plastic, not metal.

The smartphone was very large, quite thick and so heavy that it was downright uncomfortable to carry it in your pockets. The weight of 200 g is due to the installation of a large 5000 mAh battery. Smooth, streamlined on all sides and very heavy, the body tends to slip out of your hands; the matte metal surfaces are quite slippery.

SIM cards are inserted into slots located under a removable cover. There are two slots for Nano-SIM and one for a microSD memory card. The battery is securely covered with a casing and is not accessible for self-removal.

The round camera module with dual LED flash does not protrude beyond the rear wall of the case. The flashlight shines very brightly. Here you can also see a small hole for the auxiliary microphone.

The front panel is covered with protective 2.5D glass with sloping edges. Above the screen you can see the front camera peephole with its own LED flash. There is also an LED event indicator at the top.

There is only one button under the screen - more precisely, it’s not even a button, but a recess in the glass; you can’t press it. However, it has a built-in fingerprint scanner, and this pad can also be used as a micro-touchpad. The navigation buttons are displayed on the screen; you can use this button panel as standard. However, if you enable the corresponding functions in the settings, you will be able to perform all standard navigation actions (return to the previous screen, go to the home screen, open a list of recently running applications) using just one hardware central button - gestures.

The buttons on the right side have different textures: one is smooth, the other is grooved. The keys have a soft stroke and are easy to feel blindly.

The universal Micro-USB connector, speaker output and conversational microphone are located at the bottom end.

The top end is completely devoted to a 3.5 mm headphone output jack.

The Moto E4 Plus smartphone comes in two color options: Iron Gray and Fine Gold. In both options, the front panel matches the overall color of the case, which makes the image more holistic and complete.

Screen

The Moto E4 Plus features an IPS display with physical dimensions of 68 x 122 mm and a 5.5-inch diagonal. The resolution is 1280x720, the pixel density is only about 267 ppi. The frame around the screen is wide: about 4.5 mm on the sides, 17 mm on the bottom and top.

You can manually adjust the display brightness or set automatic settings based on the ambient light sensor. The AnTuTu test diagnoses support for 10 simultaneous multi-touch touches.

A detailed examination using measuring instruments was carried out by the editor of the “Monitors” and “Projectors and TV” sections Alexey Kudryavtsev. Here is his expert opinion on the screen of the sample under study.

The front surface of the screen is made in the form of a glass plate with a mirror-smooth surface that is scratch-resistant. Judging by the reflection of objects, the anti-glare properties of the screen are no worse than those of the Google Nexus 7 (2013) screen (hereinafter simply Nexus 7). For clarity, here is a photo in which a white surface is reflected in the switched off screens (on the left - Nexus 7, on the right - Moto E4 Plus, then they can be distinguished by size):

The screen of the Moto E4 Plus is slightly brighter (brightness according to photographs is 116 versus 112 for the Nexus 7). The ghosting of reflected objects in the Moto E4 Plus screen is very weak, this indicates that there is no air gap between the layers of the screen (more specifically, between the outer glass and the surface of the LCD matrix) (OGS - One Glass Solution type screen). Due to the smaller number of boundaries (glass/air type) with very different refractive indices, such screens look better in conditions of intense external illumination, but their repair in the case of cracked external glass is much more expensive, since the entire screen has to be replaced. The outer surface of the screen has a special oleophobic (grease-repellent) coating (about the same efficiency as the Nexus 7), so fingerprints are removed much easier and appear at a lower speed than with regular glass.

When manually controlling the brightness and displaying the white field in full screen, the maximum brightness value was about 380 cd/m², the minimum was 8 cd/m². The maximum brightness is low, but given the good anti-glare properties, readability even on a sunny day outdoors should be at an acceptable level. It is also possible to increase the brightness above this limit (see below). In complete darkness, the brightness can be reduced to a comfortable value. There is automatic brightness adjustment based on the light sensor (it is located to the right of the front speaker slot after the front camera eye). In automatic mode, as external lighting conditions change, the screen brightness both increases and decreases. The operation of this function depends on the position of the brightness adjustment slider. If it is 100%, then in complete darkness the auto-brightness function reduces the brightness to 140 cd/m² (too bright), in an office illuminated by artificial light (about 550 lux) it sets it to 320 cd/m² (also a lot), in a very bright environment (corresponds to lighting on a clear day outdoors, but without direct sunlight - 20,000 lux or a little more) brightness increases to 510 cd/m² (which is higher than the maximum with manual brightness adjustment); if the adjustment is approximately 50%, then the values ​​are as follows: 12, 220 and 380 cd/m² (suitable values), the regulator at 0% is 6, 80 and 370 cd/m² (the first two values ​​are underestimated, which is logical). It turns out that the auto-brightness function works adequately and to some extent allows the user to customize their work to individual requirements. At any brightness level, there is no significant backlight modulation, so there is no screen flicker.

This smartphone uses an IPS matrix. The microphotographs show a typical IPS subpixel structure:

For comparison, you can see the gallery of microphotographs of screens used in mobile technology.

The screen has good viewing angles without a significant color shift even with large deviations of the view from perpendicular to the screen and without inverting (except for the very darkest when deviating along one diagonal) shades. For comparison, here are photos in which the same images are displayed on the screens of the Moto E4 Plus and Nexus 7, while the brightness of the screens was initially set to approximately 200 cd/m², and the color balance on the camera was forced to switch to 6500 K.

There is a white field perpendicular to the screens:

Note the good uniformity of brightness and color tone of the white field.

And a test picture:

Color saturation on the Moto E4 Plus screen is normal, colors are close to natural, but color contrast is slightly increased. The color balance between the Nexus 7 and the screen we tested was slightly different.

Now at an angle of approximately 45 degrees to the plane and to the side of the screen:

It can be seen that the colors did not change much on both screens, but on the Moto E4 Plus the contrast decreased to a greater extent due to the strong bleaching of blacks.

And a white field:

The brightness at an angle of the screens decreased (at least 5 times, based on the difference in shutter speed), and decreased approximately equally. When deviated diagonally, the black field brightens greatly and acquires a bluish or reddish tint. The photographs below demonstrate this (the brightness of the white areas in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the screens is the same!):

And from another angle:

When viewed perpendicularly, the uniformity of the black field is good:

The contrast (approximately in the center of the screen) is high - about 1050:1. The response time for the black-white-black transition is 25 ms (13 ms on + 12 ms off). The transition between halftones of gray 25% and 75% (based on the numerical value of the color) and back takes a total of 39 ms. The gamma curve, constructed using 32 points with equal intervals based on the numerical value of the shade of gray, did not reveal any blockage in either the highlights or the shadows. The exponent of the approximating power function is 2.41, which is higher than the standard value of 2.2. In this case, the real gamma curve deviates little from the power-law dependence:

We did not detect the presence of dynamic adjustment of the backlight brightness in accordance with the nature of the displayed image, which is very good.

Color gamut is close to sRGB:

The spectra show that the matrix filters moderately mix the components with each other:

As a result, visually the colors on this screen are almost no different from natural ones. The balance of shades on the gray scale is slightly compromised, since the color temperature is significantly higher than the standard 6500 K, but the deviation from the blackbody spectrum (ΔE) is below 10, which is considered an acceptable indicator for a consumer device. At the same time, color temperature and ΔE do not change much from hue to hue - this has a positive effect on the visual assessment of color balance. (The darkest areas of the gray scale can be ignored, since color balance there is not very important, and the error in measuring color characteristics at low brightness is large.)

This device allows you to choose one of two profiles:

However, in the profile Bright color contrast is greatly exaggerated, distorting photographic quality images. It's better to stay on the profile Ordinary.

To summarize: the screen has a high maximum brightness (in automatic adjustment mode) and has good anti-glare properties, so the device can be used outdoors without any problems, even on a sunny summer day. In complete darkness, the brightness can be reduced to a comfortable level. It is also possible to use a mode with automatic brightness adjustment, which works adequately. The advantages of the screen include an effective oleophobic coating, the absence of air gaps in the layers of the screen and flickering, good uniformity of the black field, high contrast, a color gamut close to sRGB and an acceptable balance of shades. The disadvantages are the low stability of black to the deviation of the gaze from perpendicular to the screen plane. Nevertheless, taking into account the importance of characteristics for this particular class of devices, the quality of the screen can be considered high.

Camera

The front module of the Moto E4 Plus has a 5 MP sensor and a lens with an f/2.4 aperture, fixed focus and its own front LED flash. Naturally, there is a portrait beautification function (with seven levels of adjustment in manual mode), and it also supports gesture shooting and smile tracking. The quality itself is average: the image is clear, there are no complaints about color reproduction, but these are the only advantages. Dynamic range The matrix is ​​narrow, there are underexposed and fully highlighted areas, and the detailing also leaves much to be desired.

The main camera of the Moto E4 Plus uses a module with a 13 megapixel matrix with a pixel size of 1.2 microns and a lens with an f/2.0 aperture. There is a leisurely autofocus and a dual very bright flash. There is no stabilization system.

The camera is quite simple in its capabilities, the settings menu is convenient and concise. There is no manual pro mode, all settings are collected in a single scroll that slides out with a gesture on the side. Enabling HDR is placed on the top of the screen as a separate mode and is always available for quick access.

The Moto E4 Plus camera can shoot video at a maximum resolution of only 720p, there is no Full HD, and there is no stabilization function either. With such a resolution, it is useless to wait for a detailed and rich picture. The image is loose and dark, and the hero of the review is not doing well with video shooting. But by the way, there are no complaints about the sound recording; the sound is high-quality, clear and loud, without noticeable distortion or extraneous noise.

• Video No. 1 (20 MB, 1280×720@30 fps, H.264, AAC)
• Video No. 2 (29 MB, 1280×720@30 fps, H.264, AAC)
• Video No. 3 (18 MB, 1280×720@30 fps, H.264, AAC)

As you can see, the camera copes well with shooting close-up objects, but there are problems with shooting wide shots. Perhaps this is a defect in the lens, but sometimes the camera apparently cannot focus at infinity, although sometimes it still manages to do so. Large areas of blur are almost always noticeable at the edges of the frame, and in medium plans the program begins to spoil the details. As a result, the camera will cope well with undemanding documentary shooting, especially if it is dominated by texts and macro.

Telephone and communications

The communication capabilities of the Moto E4 Plus include support for LTE Cat.4 (up to 150 Mbps), a number of LTE FDD and TDD frequency bands are supported, including all 3 FDD LTE bands of interest to us (band 3, 7, 20). In the city limits of the Moscow region, the device behaves confidently, the quality of signal reception does not cause any complaints.

The smartphone supports only one Wi-Fi band (2.4 GHz), but somewhat unexpectedly it has an NFC module, which, among other things, can work with travel cards. You can standardly organize a wireless access point via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth 4.1 channels. The Micro-USB connector supports connecting external devices in USB OTG mode. The navigation module works with GPS (with A-GPS). During a cold start, the first satellites are detected within a minute, and the positioning accuracy is quite good. But, unfortunately, the smartphone was not given a built-in magnetic field sensor for compass operation, which is bad.

Moto E4 Plus does not support both SIM cards in 3G/4G mode at the same time. That is, when one card is assigned to transmit data in 4G, the second one can only work in 2G. The interface does not allow you to select a specific SIM card for voice calls and SMS in advance - only during the connection. You can preset a card only for data transfer. The cards operate in Dual SIM Dual Standby mode, there is only one radio modem. Also, for user convenience, the manufacturer has added several ready-made operating modes for the two cards.

Software and multimedia

As a software platform, Moto E4 Plus uses the latest version of Google Android 7.1.1 with its own proprietary Moto Experiences shell. The interface is much closer to stock Android versions what is it in appearance, and in terms of capabilities than all versions of Lenovo’s own shells. Software-wise, Lenovo Moto smartphones now resemble pure Google phones more than many others.

However, it also includes support for gestures, the ability to reduce the entire working area of ​​the screen for ease of control with the fingers of one hand, and a multi-window operating mode. Conveniently, when you approach the device lying on the table, it instantly displays basic information (time, date, charge percentage) in monochrome on the locked screen. The interface as a whole is simple and calm in design, easy and fast to use. There are practically no third-party programs; everything necessary is implemented here with using Google Apps.

To listen to music, the standard Google Music player with sound settings and Dolby Atmos system presets is used. Both in headphones and through the speaker, the device sounds average: the volume of the sound in general is enough not to miss a call, but the sound is not of the highest quality, not very clear and not as bright and rich as, for example, the older model Moto Z2 Play with its two stereo speakers, although it doesn't have Dolby Atmos support. There is also an FM radio, but there is no built-in voice recorder in the device.

Performance

The Moto E4 Plus hardware platform is based on the MediaTek MT6737 SoC, made using a 28 nm process technology. The 64-bit platform configuration includes 4 Cortex-A53 processor cores operating at frequencies up to 1.25 GHz. The Mali-T720 video accelerator is responsible for graphics processing. The RAM capacity is 3 GB and the user storage is 16 GB. Of these, in reality, about 1.8 GB of RAM and approximately 10.5 GB of storage are free. It is possible to connect external flash drives in USB OTG mode.

MediaTek MT6737 is one of the simplest modern platforms for mobile devices in terms of capabilities entry level. It is quite weak, aimed at the ultra-budget class of devices, and to be honest, Lenovo, of course, is very greedy, offering for 14 thousand rubles a device on one of the cheapest and most useless modern SoCs. It is curious that on the site for North America the company is based on the Qualcomm platform (Snapdragon 427), and this is a more interesting option.

There is no point in expecting high performance indicators from SoC MT6737; the hero of the review demonstrates only about 30K points in AnTuTu. The hardware capabilities of the smartphone are minimal; it shows low levels in all tests. Demanding games, such as Mortal Kombat X, and graphics tests noticeably slow down. This device does not have any reserve power for the future.

Testing in comprehensive tests AnTuTu and GeekBench:

For convenience, we have compiled all the results we obtained when testing the smartphone in the latest versions of popular benchmarks into tables. The table usually adds several other devices from different segments, also tested on similar latest versions benchmarks (this is done only for a visual assessment of the obtained dry figures). Unfortunately, within the framework of one comparison it is impossible to present the results from different versions of benchmarks, so many worthy and relevant models remain “behind the scenes” - due to the fact that they once passed the “obstacle course” on previous versions test programs.

Testing the graphics subsystem in gaming tests 3DMark, GFXBenchmark and Bonsai Benchmark:

When testing in 3DMark, the most powerful smartphones now have the ability to run the application in Unlimited mode, where the rendering resolution is fixed at 720p and VSync is disabled (which can cause the speed to rise above 60 fps).

	Moto E4 Plus (MediaTek (MT6737)	Micromax Canvas Juice A1 (Qualcomm Snapdragon 210)	Honor 6C (Qualcomm Snapdragon 435)	HTC One X10 (MediaTek Helio P10 (MT6755))	Honor 8 lite (HiSilicon Kirin 655)
3DMark Ice Storm Sling Shot ES 3.1 (more is better)	99	—	254	421	398
GFXBenchmark Manhattan ES 3.1 (Onscreen, fps)	3	—	11	5	5
GFXBenchmark Manhattan ES 3.1 (1080p Offscreen, fps)	1	—	5	5	5
GFXBenchmark T-Rex (Onscreen, fps)	11	9	28	17	19
GFXBenchmark T-Rex (1080p Offscreen, fps)	6	5	16	17	18

Browser cross-platform tests:

As for benchmarks for assessing the speed of the javascript engine, you should always make allowance for the fact that their results significantly depend on the browser in which they are launched, so the comparison can only be truly correct on the same OS and browsers, and this is possible during testing not always. For Android OS, we always try to use Google Chrome.

AndroBench memory speed test results:

Thermal photographs

Below is a thermal image rear surface obtained after 10 minutes of battery testing in the GFXBenchmark program:

Heating is more localized in the upper part of the device, which apparently corresponds to the location of the SoC chip. According to the heat chamber, the maximum heating was only 32 degrees (at an ambient temperature of 24 degrees), which is very little.

Playing video

To test the omnivorous nature of video playback (including support for various codecs, containers and special features, such as subtitles), we used the most common formats, which make up the bulk of the content available on the Internet. Note that for mobile devices it is important to have support for hardware video decoding at the chip level, since it is most often impossible to process modern options using processor cores alone. Also, you shouldn’t expect a mobile device to decode everything, since the leadership in flexibility belongs to the PC, and no one is going to challenge it. All results are summarized in a table.

Format	Container, video, sound	MX Video Player	Standard video player
1080p H.264	MKV, H.264 1920×1080, 24 fps, AAC	plays normally	plays normally
1080p H.264	MKV, H.264 1920×1080, 24 fps, AC3	plays normally	The video plays fine, there is no sound
1080p H.265	MKV, H.265 1920×1080, 24 fps, AAC		not playable
1080p H.265	MKV, H.265 1920×1080, 24 fps, AC3	plays with significant delays (SW only)	not playable

Further testing of video playback was performed Alexey Kudryavtsev.

We did not find the MHL interface, like Mobility DisplayPort, in this smartphone, so we had to limit ourselves to testing the output of video files on the screen of the device itself. To do this, we used a set of test files with an arrow and a rectangle moving one division per frame (see “Method for testing video playback and display devices. Version 1 (for mobile devices) Red marks indicate possible problems associated with the playback of the corresponding files.

According to the frame output criterion, the quality of playback of video files on the screen of the smartphone itself is good, since in most cases frames (or groups of frames) can (but are not required) be output with more or less uniform alternation of intervals and without skipping frames. When playing video files with a resolution of 1280 by 720 pixels (720p) on a smartphone screen, the image of the video file itself is displayed exactly along the border of the screen, one to one in pixels, that is, in the original resolution. The brightness range displayed on the screen corresponds to the actual range, so that all gradations in the shadows and highlights are displayed.

Battery life

Fixed accumulator battery, installed in the Moto E4 Plus, has a solid capacity of 5000 mAh. Naturally, this is one of the key features of this device, which is quite simple in all other respects, from the platform and cameras to communication capabilities.

But even with such a huge battery, having a low-power platform and low screen resolution, the hero of the review, frankly, is not particularly impressive in terms of autonomy. If you compare its results with the results of the same Moto Z2 Play, which has a battery almost one and a half times smaller, it turns out that they are not so far from each other. In general, the Moto E4 Plus is certainly not a record holder for battery life, although, of course, its level is significantly above average. In real conditions, the device can easily survive a couple of days without recharging.

Testing has traditionally been done at normal power consumption levels without using power-saving features.

Continuous reading in the Moon+ Reader program (with a standard, light theme) at a minimum comfortable brightness level (brightness was set to 100 cd/m²) with auto-scrolling lasted up to full discharge battery life is about 22 hours, and when continuously watching videos in high quality (720p) with the same brightness level through Wi-Fi network The device operates for approximately 15 hours. In 3D gaming mode, the smartphone can work up to 8.5 hours.

The smartphone charges from its own supplied AC adapter for a very long time, within 3 hours 40 minutes with a current of 1.8 A at a voltage of 5.2 V. Surely, the modification of this device on the SoC Qualcomm Snapdragon 427, which supports Quick Charge 3.0, charges much faster, but in Lenovo decided that the version on the MediaTek SoC would be sufficient for the Russian market. Naturally, the smartphone does not support wireless charging either.

Bottom line

Moto E4 Plus has a good screen (high display quality is spoiled by low resolution), a large battery that provides decent battery life, and a very attractive case for its level, both in design and ergonomics. And yet, in a smartphone priced at about 14 thousand rubles, of course, you expect to see at least a more interesting hardware platform than the cheap and low-power MediaTek MT6737. In addition, the device cannot boast of a high-quality camera, rich sound, or wide communication capabilities. Video recording with a resolution of only up to 720p, the lack of a built-in magnetic field sensor, a second Wi-Fi band - the new product is also not pleasing in detail. The device is suitable primarily for those who need long battery life for their mobile assistant, and do not hope to purchase a multimedia processor, since for that kind of money on the market you can find many more technically interesting models, which, however, very rarely have capacious batteries.

Live photos

Specifications

• Android 7.1.1
• Screen 5.5 inches, TFT IPS, 1280x720 pixels, 267 ppi, 2.5D, automatic brightness adjustment
• Chipset MediaTek MT6737, 4 cores up to 1.3 GHz, GPU Mali T720
• 3 GB RAM, 16 GB internal memory, microSD memory cards up to 128 GB
• Li-Ion 5000 mAh battery, support for proprietary fast charging at 10 W
• Front camera 5 megapixels, f/2.4, 84 degree coverage angle, fixed focus, flash
• Main camera 13 megapixels, f/2.0, autofocus, 78-degree coverage angle, continuous shooting, HD video recording
• Sensors – position, proximity, lighting
• Fingerprint sensor
• Dual nanoSIM size SIM cards
• Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.2, NFC, USB 2.0 (microUSB connector)
• GPS/A-GPS
• LTE cat.4, band 1/3/5/7/8/20
• Case colors – metallic gray, gold
• Dimensions – 155x77.5x9.55 mm, weight – 198 grams

Contents of delivery

• Smartphone
• Charger with USB cable
• Wired stereo headset
• Instructions

Positioning

Motorola (owned by Lenovo) is having a tough time, they need to not only get back into a market that has moved on over the years, but also have to compete with everyone from the biggest companies to small Chinese manufacturers. The fact that Motorola belongs to Lenovo automatically classifies the company as a Chinese manufacturer, although all development is concentrated in the USA, just as the American design is quite similar to all previous devices. On the other hand, Motorola is trying not only to refresh the memory of customers, but also to attract those who have never used the company's devices. The task, taking into account the level of competition, is extremely difficult, but in it Motorola relied on a wide the lineup and the absence of price dumping. For those who are always looking for the best device in terms of price/quality ratio, the budget line with the E index will seem quite rightly expensive. And here the question arises: how do Motorola see themselves in the market? The answer is obvious - the company does not see Chinese brands, for example, Meizu, Xiaomi and others, including Huawei and ZTE, as its competitors, but positions its products below Samsung, but above the Chinese. In conditions of fierce competition, this is a bold decision, since it automatically limits current sales, but allows us to hope to build that very brand, as well as its perception in the long term. How successful Motorola will be is unknown, but for now we will discuss the current product, Moto E4 Plus, which acts as a device with a large battery and is aimed at the audience of those who are looking for pure Android and maximum operating time. This model is for people who need a workhorse for relatively little money.

Design, dimensions, control elements

The budget line from Motorola has looked roughly the same for many years, some design elements change, but the body contours remain clearly recognizable. The model in question is available in two color solutions– metallic gray and gold. The review was of a gold device, but I prefer the gray color of the phone, it is noticeably more interesting.

In other countries there is also a dark blue body color, I also really like it.

Design may vary slightly depending on country back cover, pay attention to the device that is sold in the USA, it has completely different inserts on the body, a different arrangement of microphones. These are not just cosmetic changes, there is a different board inside and the characteristics are very different, however, more on that below.

The body of the model is made collapsible, that is, you can remove the cover without any tricks. On the lid, the top and bottom parts have plastic inserts for antennas (the rest is a metal plate), but they are not noticeable. It’s nice that the main camera module does not protrude from the body and is flush with it.

Inside you can see a non-removable battery, as well as two nanoSIM slots and one for a memory card.

The dimensions of the phone are 155x77.5x9.55 mm, weight - 198 grams, it is heavy, feels like a block in your hands, and due to its weight it does not slip at all. But despite the fact that even a child can handle it, the weight still becomes a noticeable difference from many other devices; here it is noticeable. It’s a massive device, and some will like it, while others, on the contrary, will consider it a serious drawback.

Compared to Moto E4

On the front panel you can see a “button”; in fact, it is a fingerprint scanner, and it does not support any pressing. There are no touch buttons on the sides of it, that is, the keyboard is always displayed on the screen. The scanner supports motion processing, as in older models, that is, you can remove the navigation keys completely.

On the right side there is a paired volume rocker, as well as an on/off button. At the top end there is a 3.5 mm jack for a headset, at the bottom end there is a microphone, a microUSB connector, and a speaker.

The build quality of the device is excellent and does not cause any complaints. For its level, the smartphone has typical materials, and there are no downsides.

Display

The screen characteristics are as follows: 5.5 inches, TFT IPS, 1280x720 pixels, 267 ppi, 2.5D, automatic brightness adjustment. Maximum brightness in automatic mode is 550 nits, in manual mode – 350 nits. The display cannot boast of being the brightest, but in the settings you can choose one of the color temperature options.

The fact that the protective glass is 2.5D and the screen has a good oleophobic coating is a plus for the device. The downside is that it only has HD resolution with a diagonal of 5.5 inches; many classmates can already boast of FullHD resolution.

Is not best screen in its class, it clearly lacks brightness in most situations, color rendition is not very correct in most cases, but the fact that the colors are not flashy saves the device. For those who simply use the phone for normal tasks and rarely watch movies or photos, the display will not cause any inconvenience.

In the sun, the screen remains readable, but we cannot say that it is comfortable.

Battery

The built-in Li-Ion battery is non-removable and has a capacity of 5000 mAh. The fact that the manufacturer calls the standard charger “fast” is not entirely true; it is a typical 5.2V/2A charger. The full charging time with a standard device is about 4 hours, which cannot be called fast charging. In the US, the same model is sold with a chipset from Qualcomm, and it supports Quick Charge charging, which takes up to two hours, that is, twice as fast.

The next point is screen operating time. Continuous playback of HD video in MX Player at maximum brightness gives just over 11 hours of operation. This is far from a record and is due to the high power consumption of both the screen and the chipset.

On average, the device worked for me for about two days with moderate use (up to 2.5 hours of screen operation), while using navigation, browsing, social networks, watched minimal videos and listened to music for about two hours. The results are not very impressive, but the old chipset cancels everything out. In the American version of this device, the results are noticeably better.

Memory, RAM, chipset and performance

The device has 3 GB of RAM, 16 GB of internal memory (there are 32 GB options, but they were not brought to Russia), memory cards up to 128 GB. MediaTek MT6737 chipset, 4 cores up to 1.3 GHz, Mali T720 graphics processor. Unfortunately, in the European version the chipset and its choice are strange, this is an old and not the most optimal solution, which is associated with budget models from small manufacturers; it is unexpected to see such a solution in such a device from a company like Motorola. In the US, the device uses the Snapdragon 427, which is head and shoulders above and better than what we see in our version. It's a shame, because if we had a Qualcomm device, it would be perceived much better and would be more consistent with its price.

The performance is typical, the phone does not have enough stars in the sky, which, however, you can see in synthetic tests. In most operations there are no slowdowns, the device works more or less quickly, but you definitely shouldn’t expect an instant response to everything.

Communication capabilities – USB, Bluetooth, GPS and others

Let me start with the fact that, unfortunately, only one band is supported for Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, which is sad. On the other hand, this device supports NFC (and Android Pay), the US version does not have this technology. USB 2.0 version.

As far as navigation is concerned, it is worth noting the features of the device that are characteristic of the chipset used and the antenna not always placed correctly. In a big city, the determination of coordinates, as well as the direction of movement, its vector, can take place. You have to calibrate the device all the time, but this is a constant story that repeats itself over and over again. Overall, GPS performance is satisfactory, but nothing more.

Camera

A very simple interface that does not offer anything beyond what is necessary.

The front camera has a flash, but the image quality is very average.

The main camera has a resolution of 13 megapixels, but the pictures even on a sunny day are very mediocre, as well as the maximum video resolution is only 720p, which is disappointing. In terms of camera, this is a weak solution, as you can see below.

Software features

Motorola prefers to use pure Android with minimal changes. There are almost none in this device. You can read an overview of Android and its standard features in a separate article.

Let's start the story about the device's features with the fact that the phone has the Moto application, in which you can configure the fingerprint scanner so that it replaces the navigation keys on the screen.

For screen can be customized night mode(blue filter), it will work according to the schedule. You can also turn on Motorola notifications, where notifications will appear on your locked screen and you can select them to quickly jump to the app.

The built-in FM radio works with the headset, scheduled broadcast recording is supported, and there is RDS support. The radio works well, there are no complaints here.

There is no separate application for playing music, this is Play Music from Google, but there is Dolby Atmos, a set of equalizers that can change the sound of the device. You can safely throw away the included headphones right away, they are useless. Using good headphones will give you absolutely nothing; the sound is very average. It cannot be called musical; it is suitable for unassuming users.

Impression

In terms of communication quality, I have no complaints about the device, everything works fine, the interlocutor can hear you well even on a noisy street. It’s not very clear how the noise reduction system works, or whether the second microphone is only for video recording (the second is more likely), but for a device of this level everything is fine.

I have very mixed impressions of the Motorola E4 Plus; I don’t like the fact that it contains MT6737, which was found in devices costing up to 10,000 rubles all last year. It is not optimal in terms of power consumption, which is what we see when using this smartphone, plus it is not very fast for 2017 and this class of device. New generation devices are already entering the market that use faster chipsets, an example is the Alcatel A7, which is very similar to the Moto, but it has a 4000 mAh battery and provides approximately the same operating time (its review will appear soon ). The cost of Alcatel A7 is 13,990 rubles, it will appear in October.

I see the Meizu M5 Note as a direct competitor for this device; the 16 GB version costs 14,990 rubles, which is slightly more expensive. The advantages are a nicer design, lighter weight, but also a smaller battery size - 4000 mAh. But the operating time is longer, the chipset is more powerful (Helio P10), dual-band Wi-Fi and better camera, plus a screen with the same FullHD diagonal.

And there is also Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (albeit an outgoing model, but it is on the shelves), which also has a FullHD screen, a 4100 mAh battery, better camera and a more powerful chipset. In a word, it’s quite an interesting model for comparison, and the cost is 14,990 rubles in federal retail (noticeably cheaper on the gray market or in China).

Considering that the price of the Moto E4 Plus is 13,990 rubles in federal retail (about 12 thousand in online stores, the price has dropped rapidly, apparently, demand did not live up to expectations), this device looks quite expensive compared to its competitors. Compared to the regular E4, what makes it stand out is the battery; otherwise, they are the same, plus or minus. As for me, the Moto E4 Plus does not have anything special, perhaps other than the design, to clearly say that this is a successful model that stands out from its competitors. Considering that the same Meizu or Xiaomi are already perceived by many at the level of Motorola, or even better, competition comes with them, but here everything is ambiguous for the Moto E4 Plus, since its filling is too similar to inexpensive Chinese ones, and this negates the few advantages .

The Motorola MOTO E4 Plus smartphone is an updated model that has a powerful quad-core processor, a metal body with elegant curves and a large IPS screen. One of its most important advantages is a battery with a capacity of 5000 mAh, designed for active use of the device for two days. It supports fast charging technology, so the user does not have to spend a lot of time preparing for various trips and travels.

NEW OPPORTUNITIES
The new MOTO E Plus has a fingerprint scanner that works in a fraction of a second. It limits access to the user’s personal data, and also speeds up entry into protected areas and allows you to make fast, secure payments. The nanotechnical coating of the case makes the smartphone resistant to moisture.

ONLY QUALITY PHOTOS
The device is equipped with two cameras with a resolution of 13 and 5 megapixels. Both are equipped with bright LED flashes and fast lenses that make photos clear and contrasty regardless of the light level. They can shoot in HDR mode, which improves the color saturation of the frame, and automatically improve the quality of portraits.

WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS
The smartphone is compatible with high-speed 3G and 4G mobile networks. It is equipped with a GPS antenna, providing access to navigation services, and Bluetooth adapter with reduced power consumption, perfect for working with sports gadgets.