After teasing us last week, we finally know what was inside Motorola’s mystery box.
The Moto E (2nd Gen.) is now officially official, and it’s on sale too. Motorola is launching the new Moto E in more than 40 countries in Latin America, North America, Europe, and Asia starting today, February 25. Pricing is set a $149.99 without a commitment, and you can grab a device in either black or white.
Motorola’s new entry-level smartphone features a 4.5-inch 960x540 touchscreen covered with Corning Gorilla Glass and an anti-smudge coating. Up above that display is a VGA camera, and around on the Moto E (2nd Gen.)’s backside is a 5-megapixel auto focus camera. As for what’s inside the new Moto E, you can expect to find a 1.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 410 processor, 8GB of storage, a microSD card slot, 1GB of RAM, 4G LTE connectivity, and a non-removable 2390mAh battery.
Compared to the original Moto E, this new model has a slightly larger display (4.5 inches versus 4.3), double the internal storage, an auto focus camera versus a fixed focus shooter, and a Snapdragon 410 processor compared to a Snapdragon 200 chip.
The new Moto E (2nd Gen.) also supports Motorola Bands and Grip Shells. Each model comes with a black or white Motorola Band, depending on which color you select, but you can easily swap a Motorola Band that’s available in six different colors. Meanwhile, the Motorola Grip Shell comes with a thicker, rubberized band that extends slightly past the front of the phone to protect it. The back of the Grip Shell is covered in hard plastic to cover the back of the phone as well.
It’s also worth noting that Motorola plans to release a 3G-only version of the Moto E (2nd Gen.) This model will have most of the same features as the 4G LTE model, but its processor will be swapped out for a 1.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 200 chip.
Overall the new Moto E (2nd Gen.) looks like a worthy follow-up to the original Moto E. It’s about $20 more than the original version, but you’re getting a lot of upgrades for your money, including a larger display, beefier processor, a front-facing camera, and LTE connectivity. Also included is a mostly-vanilla version of Android, which could be attractive if you’re a fan of Google’s vision of Android.
Now that it’s official, what do you think of the Moto E (2nd Gen.)? Will you be buying one?