“Good performance and two-day battery life make the Moto E5 Plus a bargain phone on your radar.”
Avg
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Two days of battery life
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Modern design
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A large 6-inch screen with an aspect ratio of 18:9
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Great performance
Against
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Lots of bloatware
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The low light performance of the camera is terrible
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It won’t get the Android P update
Motorola’s Moto E-series tend to be its cheapest devices, with low specs but a solid smart experience. The new Moto E5 Plus carries many of the same features as last year’s Moto E4 Plus — including a huge battery capacity and similar design — but it’s currently only available from Sprint and Cricket Wireless, and at different prices.
Priced at $180 from Cricket (aka the Moto E5 Supra), the phone is absolutely worth buying; but the Sprint’s higher price puts it in more competitive territory, making the Moto E5 Plus harder to recommend. It may have a large battery, but poor low-light camera performance is holding the E5 Plus back, and Motorola has confirmed that it won’t even receive an upcoming Android version update. Let’s take a closer look.
Refined design
The Moto E5 Plus follows the design of recent Motorola phones such as the Moto G6 and Moto X4, slightly improved over last year’s model. There’s a larger 6-inch display for starters, a glossy polymer back that mimics glass-backed phones, and a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor. The battery is no longer removable, which will surely disappoint a few people.
We’re thankful that the back uses a polymer and plastic material instead of Gorilla Glass like the Moto G6 — it won’t shatter in the event of a drop, making the phone more durable. That doesn’t mean it won’t withstand scratches, so you’ll still want to get a case for it or use the clear one in the box.
On the back is a round camera module that contains a single 12-megapixel lens and a flash; it sticks out just a little, but the phone can still sit on the table without wobble. Underneath is the fingerprint sensor, discreetly hidden in the Motorola logo. It is perfectly set up and quick to respond.
The performance surprised us on this phone.
Flip the E5 Plus over and you’ll see that an attempt has been made to reduce the bezels surrounding the screen. It’s a trend in smartphone design, and it’s slowly trickled down to budget phones as well. The bottom bezel is thicker than the top, and the Motorola name is also here. The phone looks contemporary, but the bezels aren’t as sparse as on budget phones like the Honor 7X.
At the top is an 8-megapixel selfie camera with flash, along with a speaker — the phone’s only speaker. It produces sound that’s easy to hear in quiet, closed environments, but you won’t want to play music through this speaker, especially outside.
Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends
The IPS LCD screen has a resolution of 1440 x 720 with an aspect ratio of 18:9. Colors are vivid, but text and images are not too sharp. The screen is also a little dim, and turning up the brightness to maximum outside doesn’t always help. Despite the low resolution, the 6-inch screen is suitable for watching YouTube videos and movies on apps like Netflix.
The top right is where you’ll find the volume rocker and power buttons, and luckily there’s also a 3.5mm headphone jack at the very top of the phone. The microUSB charging port is on the bottom, which is a bit disappointing as many phones have switched to the more universal USB Type-C charging port. Motorola has confirmed that all of its budget phones will have a Type-C port next year.
The Moto E5 Plus is comfortable to hold thanks to its curved edges, and its size is not too bulky. Our review model is the Flash Gray version of the Moto E5 Plus. A Mineral Blue and Black edition is also available. We love the glossy design and were happily surprised by its resistance to fingerprints and smudges. Since it doesn’t have an IP rating, the E5 Plus won’t fare well with a dip in the pool. However, it has a waterproof coating that should protect the phone from raindrops and other minor water exposure.
Surprising performance
The Moto E5 Plus is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 435 processor with 3GB of RAM. There’s 32GB of internal storage, though a MicroSD card slot lets you add up to 128GB of extra space.
The performance surprised us on this phone. Apps open almost instantly and we have no problems with multitasking. The E5 Plus is perfectly capable of handling most tasks such as web surfing, video streaming and social media posting. When running more graphically intensive apps, we were delighted to see them load quickly. Both The Sims: Mobile and Super Mario Run it loads quickly and works without any problems.
Here are some comparative results:
- AnTuTu 3DBench: 58,588
- Geekbench CPU: Single-core 641; multi-core 2.320
- 3DMark Sling Shot Extreme: 312
The E5 Plus lags slightly behind the Moto G6 and Honor 7X in every benchmark test. Honor 7X has an AnTuTu score of 63,311, and Moto G6 70,827. Benchmarks can be useful for comparisons, but do not reflect the phone’s overall capability. We think you’ll be pleased with the performance here.
Bad camera in low light
Moto E5 Plus has a 12-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and f/2.0 aperture. On the front is an 8-megapixel sensor with an aperture of f/2.2. The camera is nothing special – it works well in daylight, but like most budget phones, it struggles in low light. Struggling might not be a strong enough word, though, as we found the E5 Plus’ low-light photos to be largely unusable.
In addition to loss of detail and noise—things to be expected with lower-end camera sensors—there’s a ton of lens flare in every photo. The results are disappointing to say the least, especially when the cheaper Moto G6 (compared to Sprint prices) and the Moto G6 Play were better in similar situations.
There is a ton of lens flare in every photo.
In daylight or bright light, the camera performed admirably, although some images seemed a little flat or lacked depth.
The camera software is easy to use and there are a few extras like panorama, slow motion, QR code reader and burst mode.
Boring bloatware
The Motorola E5 Plus ships with Android 8.0 Oreo. While you can expect security updates for the phone over the next few years, don’t expect to get the next version of Android released in the next few months. Motorola has confirmed to Digital Trends that the Moto E5 Plus will not be getting Android P, which is incredibly disappointing.
The software experience is very close to stock Android, but on the Sprint model of the phone (which costs $288), we’re sorry to report that there’s a lot of pre-installed bloatware. While some of the apps might be ones you’d normally download, more than half were games that take up already limited storage space. Fortunately, you can uninstall many of these apps, but it’s frustrating that they’re there at all.
The only extra that Motorola has added is Moto Suggestions, which offers tips on how to improve the phone’s performance, as well as traffic updates. The Moto app lets you turn on the always-on Moto display, and Moto Actions lets you use gestures to compete with common tasks like picking up the phone to stop ringing or twisting your wrist twice to open the camera app.
We like the easy-to-use software here, but we wish it came without bloatware. That’s probably done by Sprint, though, and it’s unclear if the Cricket Wireless version of the phone will come with the same amount of pre-installed apps.
Thick battery of 5000 mAh
The Moto E5 Plus has an enormous 5000 mAh battery, and Motorola claims that the battery should last 36 hours with regular use. The statement is mostly true.
The Moto E5 Plus has a huge 5000 mAh battery.
We were able to use the phone during a 12-hour working day without any problems. The battery only drained to about 35 percent during normal use, which includes texting, web browsing, email, and streaming music via Spotify. That’s 65 percent left at the end of the workday, which means this phone will easily last you two days.
However, there were a few occasions where the battery seemed to drain a little faster. When watching a YouTube video over LTE, the battery dropped by about 7 percent in less than half an hour. A similar battery drain occurs while playing games on the phone, but it’s not uncommon.
The included TurboPower charger should add 6 hours of use in just 15 minutes of charging. We only got a 15 percent return when charging for 23 minutes, but it certainly charges faster than the average MicroUSB cable.
Information on price, availability and warranty
The Moto E5 Plus is currently only available through Cricket Wireless, Sprint, and T-Mobile, though more carriers are likely to arrive later this year. It costs $180 at Cricket; if you’re on Sprint, it’ll cost you $288; it’s available at T-Mobile for $225.
Motorola offers a standard one-year warranty that protects against manufacturer defects. You are on your own for any accidental drops, spills or “force majeure”.
Our example
The Moto E5 Plus is a good-looking budget phone with solid performance, simple software, and two-day battery life. Its camera is poor compared to the competition and you shouldn’t pay more than $200 for it.
Is there a better alternative?
That. If you compare it to the Sprint price, the Moto G6 and Honor 7X are cheaper options that offer better processors and higher resolution displays. However, you will lose a lot of battery life.
The Nokia 6.1 is also worth a look as it has a much better processor and camera, but will only be alive for one day. For more information, check out our guide to the best budget phones.
How long will it last?
The Moto E5 Plus should last you about two years. Performance might start to slow down, but hopefully the large battery won’t wear off as quickly as other phones. The Gorilla Glass screen can withstand cracks, which is why a mask is recommended and keep the phone away from water.
The E5 Plus won’t get the Android P update, meaning this phone will really be old by the time it’s two years old.
Should you buy it?
It depends on your carrier. At $180 on Cricket Wireless, the Moto E5 Plus is a solid value, and the two-day battery life is a plus. We can’t recommend it on Sprint because it’s too expensive.
Updated July 30: Added pricing information for the Moto E5 Plus at T-Mobile
Editor’s recommendations
Categories: GAMING
Source: newstars.edu.vn