Motorola Moto E (2nd Gen) review: E for Evolved

3. Display, battery life, connectivity

Display

The Motorola Moto E (2nd Gen) comes with a display that's .2" bigger than the last gen Moto E and now offers a diagonal of 4.5", while keeping the same qHD resolution. It surely isn't among the best units we've seen, but it's certainly suits this price bracket. The pixel density is 245ppi, which qualifies for a sharp enough images and easy reading, though we couldn't help but notice that the app icons look all fuzzy and lack the sharpness we're used to see. Perhaps it's a rendering issue rather than anything else as photos and websites look nice and sharp.

The display is quite bright for the class, the contrast is very good and the colors are OK. The surface is very reflective though and the pixel density isn't helping for sharp images.

Display test	50% brightness			100% brightness
Display test	Black, cd/m²	White, cd/m²	Contrast ratio	Black, cd/m²	White, cd/m²	Contrast ratio
Motorola Moto E	0.27	278	1024	0.49	522	1062
Motorola Moto E (2nd Gen)	0.33	288	884	0.6	541	898
Motorola Moto G (2014)	0.24	253	1039	0.43	413	968
Motorola Moto G 4G	0.42	387	916	0.7	651	929
Sony Xperia E4g	0.27	256	948	0.61	587	969
HTC Desire 510	0.17	204	1226	0.31	354	1159
Nokia Lumia 630	0.24	184	764	0.71	508	771
Xiaomi Redmi 2	0.3	273	943	0.58	561	974
LG G2 mini	0.12	91	752	0.52	398	748

As we said, the Moto E's display is very reflective and using it outdoors in bright and sunny days won't be easy.

Sunlight contrast ratio

Nokia 808 PureView
4.698
Samsung Galaxy E7
4.485
Samsung Galaxy A3
4.241
Samsung Galaxy S6
4.124
Samsung Galaxy Note 4
4.033
Apple iPhone 5
3.997
Samsung Galaxy Note 3
3.997
Samsung Galaxy A5
3.895
Apple iPhone 6
3.838
Motorola Moto X (2014)
3.816
Samsung Galaxy Note Edge
3.799
Samsung Galaxy A7
3.679
Oppo R5
3.678
Samsung Galaxy K zoom
3.675
Nokia Lumia 930
3.567
Apple iPhone 5s
3.565
Samsung Galaxy S5
3.549
Nokia Lumia 735
3.547
Motorola Nexus 6
3.543
Alcatel Idol X+
3.527
Apple iPhone 5c
3.512
Samsung Galaxy Alpha
3.509
Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
3.487
LG G Flex2
3.465
YotaPhone 2
3.453
Motorola RAZR MAXX
3.42
Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III
3.419
Samsung Galaxy S5 Active
3.406
Nokia Lumia 925
3.402
Gionee Elife S5.5
3.386
Samsung I9505 Galaxy S4
3.352
Samsung Omnia W
3.301
Samsung Galaxy S5 mini
3.174
Samsung I9000 Galaxy S
3.155
Samsung Ativ S
3.129
Samsung I9190 Galaxy S4 mini
3.127
Samsung Galaxy S4 zoom
3.118
Nokia N9
3.069
Apple iPhone 6 Plus
3.023
Samsung Galaxy Note
2.97
Samsung Galaxy Premier
2.958
Sony Xperia Z1
2.95
HTC One S
2.901
Lenovo S90 Sisley
2.892
Samsung I8730 Galaxy Express
2.861
BlackBerry Q10
2.856
Samsung I9100 Galaxy S II
2.832
HTC Desire Eye
2.815
Gionee Elife S5.1
2.812
Samsung Galaxy S II Plus
2.801
BlackBerry Z30
2.79
Meizu MX4 Pro
2.765
Sony Xperia ZR
2.672
Huawei Ascend P1
2.655
Sony Xperia Z3
2.618
Sony Xperia Z3 Compact
2.616
Sony Xperia T3
2.609
BlackBerry Passport
2.595
Nokia Lumia 900
2.562
Motorola Moto G 4G
2.546
HTC One Max
2.537
Nokia Lumia 720
2.512
HTC One
2.504
Motorola Moto G
2.477
vivo Xshot
2.465
Sony Xperia Z
2.462
Xiaomi Mi 4
2.424
Samsung Galaxy S III mini
2.422
Lenovo Vibe Z2 Pro
2.416
LG G Flex
2.407
HTC Desire 820
2.372
HTC One (M8)
2.371
Meizu MX4
2.366
Motorola RAZR i
2.366
Meizu m1 note
2.362
Sony Xperia ZL
2.352
HTC One M9
2.334
HTC One (M8) for Windows
2.291
Oppo Find 7a
2.279
Alcatel One Touch Hero
2.272
Apple iPhone 4S
2.269
HTC Desire 600 dual sim
2.262
Nokia Asha 311
2.25
Xiaomi Mi Note
2.234
Motorola Moto G (2014)
2.233
LG Nexus 5
2.228
Nokia Lumia 820
2.193
HTC One (E8)
2.185
Oppo N3
2.181
Nokia Lumia 920
2.17
Huawei Honor 6
2.169
HTC One X
2.158
Asus Zenfone 2 ZE551ML
2.149
LG Aka
2.145
Nokia N8
2.144
Nokia Lumia 620
2.142
Archos 50 Diamond
2.134
Nokia 515
2.134
HTC Desire 500
2.129
Sony Xperia C3 Dual
2.12
Sony Xperia acro S
2.119
Xiaomi Redmi Note
2.119
Nokia Lumia 1020
2.103
Oppo Find 5
2.088
Sony Xperia SL
2.078
Nokia Lumia 630
2.056
BlackBerry Z10
2.051
Huawei Ascend Mate7
2.024
Samsung I9295 Galaxy S4 Active
2.022
Apple iPhone 4
2.016
HTC One mini
2.003
Xiaomi Mi 3
2.001
Huawei Ascend P7
1.992
LG G2
1.976
Sony Xperia E4g
1.972
OnePlus One
1.961
Oppo R819
1.957
Sony Ericsson Xperia ray
1.955
Lenovo Vibe X2
1.952
Sony Xperia Z2
1.944
Sony Xperia E3
1.943
Nokia Lumia 1320
1.941
HTC One mini 2
1.94
Samsung Galaxy Camera
1.938
Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime
1.935
Sony Xperia J
1.932
Acer CloudMobile S500
1.931
ZTE Blade S6
1.927
LG Nexus 4
1.926
LG G Pro 2
1.922
Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3
1.913
Nokia Asha 308
1.911
HTC Butterfly 2
1.905
Sony Xperia T
1.894
Nokia Lumia 830
1.887
HTC Desire X
1.878
HTC Windows Phone 8X
1.873
HTC Butterfly
1.873
HTC Butterfly S
1.867
Huawei Ascend P6
1.865
Huawei Ascend Mate
1.845
LG G2 mini
1.838
LG G3
1.82
Nokia Lumia 1520
1.813
HTC Desire 616 dual sim
1.797
Sony Xperia V
1.792
HTC Desire 816
1.783
Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
1.772
HTC Desire 700 dual sim
1.769
Sony Xperia U
1.758
Meizu MX3
1.754
LG Optimus G
1.753
Sony Xperia T2 Ultra
1.74
Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact
1.735
Acer Liquid Jade S
1.734
Sony Xperia SP
1.733
LG Optimus 4X HD
1.691
Oppo Find 7
1.691
HTC One V
1.685
BlackBerry Q5
1.682
LG Optimus Vu
1.68
Motorola Moto E (2nd Gen)
1.675
Xiaomi Mi Pad 7.9
1.672
LG Optimus GJ
1.666
LG Optimus 3D Max
1.658
HTC Desire V
1.646
Samsung Galaxy Xcover 2
1.632
Samsung Galaxy Ace 3
1.622
Jolla Jolla
1.605
Sony Xperia Z Ultra
1.578
Sony Xperia go
1.577
Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 I8160
1.566
Samsung Galaxy Core
1.563
LG Optimus G Pro
1.552
Motorola Moto E
1.545
LG Optimus 3D
1.542
Nokia Asha 302
1.537
Samsung Galaxy Core Prime
1.507
BlackBerry Curve 9320
1.488
Sony Xperia M
1.473
Oppo N1
1.47
Sony Xperia E4
1.467
Meizu MX 4-core
1.462
Nokia Lumia 610
1.432
Samsung Galaxy S Duos
1.4
Sony Xperia M2
1.393
Samsung Galaxy Grand Neo
1.393
Microsoft Lumia 535
1.393
Samsung Galaxy Grand 2
1.38
Sony Xperia E1
1.372
Nokia Lumia 625
1.371
Gigabyte GSmart G1355
1.361
Sony Xperia L
1.351
Xiaomi Redmi 1S
1.35
Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8
1.35
HTC Desire 510
1.34
Sony Xperia M2 Aqua
1.331
Sony Xperia miro
1.324
Samsung I9082 Galaxy Grand
1.321
Samsung I8530 Galaxy Beam
1.315
Xiaomi Redmi 2
1.311
HTC Desire C
1.3
Nokia X
1.291
Sony Xperia C
1.283
Nokia Asha 503
1.281
Nokia Asha 501
1.27
LG Optimus L7
1.269
Nokia Lumia 510
1.268
Samsung Galaxy Fame
1.245
LG Optimus L9
1.227
Meizu MX
1.221
Samsung Galaxy Young
1.22
Sony Xperia E
1.215
Nokia XL
1.204
Sony Xperia E dual
1.203
Asus Memo Pad 7 ME176C
1.198
Samsung Galaxy Pocket
1.18
Nokia Asha 305
1.178
Nokia Asha 306
1.175
Sony Xperia neo L
1.169
Sony Xperia tipo
1.166
Nokia Lumia 520
1.161
Samsung S6802 Galaxy Ace Duos
1.148
Samsung Galaxy mini 2
1.114

Battery life

The Moto E (2nd Gen) features a 2,390mAh non-removable battery, about 20% bigger than the one powering the original Moto E. The capacity should be more than adequate and given the efficient chipset and relatively small screen, we were quite optimistic about its prospects.

The handset scored an impressive 82 hours endurance, which means you can count on about 3 and a half days if you do an hour each of calls, web browsing and video playback a day. There is a massive improvement across the entire score board compared to the previous Moto E.

Motorola Moto E (2nd Gen)

Our proprietary score also includes a standby battery draw test, which is not featured in our battery test scorecard but is calculated in the total endurance rating.

Our battery testing procedure is described in detail in case you want to learn more about it.

Connectivity

The Moto E is available in 3G (HSPA+) and 4G LTE (Cat.4 LTE 150Mbps) versions, each powered by a different chipset. In some regions you can also get both in Dual SIM version.

The rest of the connectivity features available across all models include single-band Wi-Fi b/g/n and Wi-Fi hotspot. There is also support for Bluetooth 4.0, GPS and GLONASS, plus an FM radio with RDS.

There is a microUSB 2.0 port for charging and data connections. Media transfer mode is supported for accessing the phone's built-in memory and microSD card over the USB cable.

USB On-The-Go is supported, which means you can hook a USB memory stick or other USB peripherals like a mouse or a keyboard. You just have to purchase the USB OTG adapter separately.

The microUSB port doesn't have any TV-out functionality, but if own a compatible HDTV, you can output your phone's screen wirelessly via the Miracast protocol.

Next Page » 4. User interface, other apps

3. Display, battery life, connectivity

Reviews Motorola Moto E (2nd Gen) reviewPage 3