Moto E4 Review: Classy Design, Vibrant Display

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Moto E4: At First Glance

Motorola is a large producer of budget and value-packed smartphones, and this is evident from its Moto G series. But even more affordable is the Motorola Moto E series.

The point in case of this review is the Moto E4, which was released in 2017 as a successor to the Moto E3. It was offered at an affordable price during the early days of its release and now, its price is even more affordable.

Speaking of the price, in September 2021 when we updated this review, the Moto E4 cost $59.99. Now that you are aware that this phone won’t break your pocket at all, let us see if it doesn’t trade off too much in what it delivers.

Moto E4: Design, Dimension & Weight

One would expect a phone of this price category to be starkly built out of plastic. However, Moto has disappointed us (only to some extent) by employing an aluminum build instead.

There is an exception though, the versions available in the US have a plastic build. Meanwhile, the ones available in the UK have a metallic build.

The metallic versions are made with a two-toned aluminum back cover. Meanwhile, the plastic versions are made of textured plastic that still manages to look good.

Be it a plastic or metal version, the Moto E4 dons a solid construction that is resistant to scratches. The back view of the Moto E4 is simple and elegant in its way.

There are two horizontal lines running across the back chassis, one at the top, just above the camera. Meanwhile, there is another at the bottom below the speaker.

Below the top line sits a large circular camera layout that sticks out a bit. Whereas below the camera, you will find a Motorola logo.

Further down the back cover just above the bottom line, there you will find a speaker by the right-hand side.

The back cover is removable although it can be a hassle and a lot of nail works to pull it out. However, when you successfully remove the back cover, you will see the battery.

The SIM card and memory card are placed right underneath the battery. Hence, you need to remove the battery to access them.

That sums up the features you will find on the back view of the Moto E4.

Now let us move to the front view.

The Moto E4 has a 5.0-inch display. Impressively, this falls within the preferred screen size preference of most users.

Our research indicates that most users prefer a phone with a screen size between 5-inch to 5.5-inch. Considering that it falls on the lower end of the range, some people might call it small.

The screen is made of a slightly curved 2.5D glass panel with thick top and bottom bezels. The top bezel houses the front camera, call speaker, the flash, and a Motorola branding.

Meanwhile, the bottom bezel houses the fingerprint sensor which can also be used for navigation. Putting a fingerprint reader for a phone at this price is very commendable.

The fingerprint sensor works very fast, when you press it lightly, it takes you to the home screen. A longer press on the fingerprint sensor switches the phone to standby mode.

You can also swipe over the fingerprint sensor to go to the recent app. However, if you don’t want to use the fingerprint sensor for navigation, the navigation controls for home, recent, and back are onscreen just above the fingerprint sensor.

Moving on to the top view, there is only a 3.5 mm headphone jack. The bottom view has a USB Type-C charging port, microphone, and speakers.

Finally, the right side has the volume rocker as well as the power button.

When it comes to color options, the Moto E4 is available in Blush Gold, Iron Grey, and Oxford Blue. Hence, users can choose a color that best suits them.

Furthermore, the Moto E4 is not waterproof and should not be submerged in water. However, it is designed with a nano-coating water-repellant technology that protects it front accidental spills and splashes.

In terms of size and dimension, the Moto E4 measures 144.7 x 72.3 x 9.3 mm. This means that it is compact and comfortable in the hands.

Thankfully, the Moto E4 weighs 151 g which falls within the weight range preferred by most users. Based on our research, smartphone users prefer a phone that weighs between 140 g to 170 g.

In comparison with the 5.2-inch Moto X4, the Moto E4 is smaller, thicker, and lighter. Specifically, the Moto X4 measures 148.4 x 73.4 x 8.0 mm and weighs 163 g.

In conclusion, the Moto E4 is compact to hold in one hand and it has a sleek design. The quality of the metal version is good to see especially at this price.

The plastic versions are also good too.

Therefore, I will rate the Moto E4 a nine in this design review section.

Moto E4: Display Features

On the display front, the Moto E4 has a 5-inch IPS LCD with an HD (1280 x 720) resolution. This display specification decently suits its price.

The Moto E4 has a maximum brightness of 503 nits. Therefore, you are certainly getting a bright usable screen even under the brightest sun.

Moreover, the Moto E4 has a pixel density of 294 PPI. This is a little below the 300 PPI industry standard, however, fonts and graphics are sufficiently sharp.

Additionally, the phone has an aspect ratio of 16:9. Hence, you get to watch videos or play games at widescreen.

Also, the Moto E4 boasts a contrast ratio of 962:1. This ensures that the blacks are subtle but punchy.

Impressively, the Moto E4 covers 125 percent of the color gamut. Therefore, colors look accurate and crisp.

Furthermore, the Moto E4 is protected with a corning gorilla glass 3 which minimizes the risks of getting a scratched or cracked screen. Hence, there is no need to use a glass protector except you choose to be extra careful.

For video lovers, you get to enjoy HD resolution videos.

In conclusion, I will rate the Moto E4 an eight in this display review section.

Moto E4: Camera Features

For most smartphone users, a phone’s camera has become one of the top considerations when making a buying decision. 

To properly evaluate the quality of a phone’s camera, we review 3 features – its megapixel (resolution), ƒ.stop number (controls the camera’s aperture), and its pixel size.

The Moto E4 has a 5-megapixel front camera with an ƒ.number of ƒ/2.2. It takes decent selfies, especially in good lighting conditions.

Also, the back camera of the Moto E4 has a resolution of 8 megapixels and an ƒ.number of ƒ/2.2 as well. The lower the ƒ.number of a camera, the bigger the aperture and better-taken pictures, especially at night.

Similar to the front camera, the back camera is competent at taking decent shots in well-lit environments. On the other hand, pictures taken in dim lights tend to be fuzzy and noisy.

Unfortunately, the camera does not fare well in capturing fast-moving objects, they mostly turn out blurry. However, you can use the professional mode to manually set things to get your desired result such as the exposure, ISO levels, etc.

The autofocus feature takes a lot of drag to focus but when it does, the result is fairly sharp. The exposure feature is accurate and it adjusts quickly to the environment.

When it comes to videos, what you get is also basic at best. The camera shoots videos at a maximum resolution of 720p and 30 fps.

Finally, considering the price bracket the Moto E4 falls into, you won’t be getting an exceptional performance from its camera. However, the camera gets the job done.

Therefore, I will rate the Moto E4 a seven in this camera review.

Moto E4: Battery Life and Talk Time

The Moto E4 ships with a 2,800 mAh removable battery. The removable battery is a good point since this has become a rare feature to come by these days.

Meanwhile, with the 2,800 mAh battery, Motorola has promised up to 24 hours of 3G battery talk time. To determine the battery performance under different workloads, I carried out two battery tests.

The first test is a video playback test, it involved playing an HD video continuously until the battery drains. Consequently, the Moto E4 lasted 10 hours 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, the second test involved surfing the web continuously over the 4G network until the battery drains. Based on the test outcome, the Moto E4 lasted just 6 hours 42 minutes.

The battery performance of the Moto E4 is not as impressive as Motorola claimed. Nevertheless, that is understandable because the battery usage differs in the 3 tests.

Therefore, although the battery performance of the Moto E4 is not exceptional, we understand that this is one of its tradeoffs. Moreover, you can get a fair battery power to last you through the day under minimal usage.

Thankfully, the Moto E4 has a removable battery, you can replace a drained one with a fully charged one and be on the move. Additionally, if there is a battery fault you can easily swap it out yourself without issues.

Another thing I like about the Moto E4 is its fast charging capability. It takes the Moto E4 less than 2 hours to reach 100% battery power.

Taking up to 2 hours to fully charge might not be super quick but it is reasonable at this price bracket.

In conclusion, I will rate the Moto E4 a seven in this battery performance review.

Moto E4: Storage Options & Performance

On the storage front, the Moto E4 does not fare well at all. It ships with measly internal storage of 16 GB.

To make matters worse, only about 10 GB out of the 16 GB is usable thanks to the operating system and pre-installed apps. On a brighter note, you can expand storage space via a microSD card.

Although the microSD card also has a limiting capacity of just 128 GB, you get extra space to store your apps and media. When inserting the SD card, there are two options to choose from based on how you want to utilize the microSD card.

The first option is to use it as portable storage. In this case, you can only store photos, videos, etc on the SD card but not applications.

Also, you can decide to remove the MicroSD card for data transfer between devices.

On the other hand, the second option is to use the MicroSD card as internal storage. With this option, you will be able to install applications to it and always leave it in the phone as an internal storage extension.

Furthermore, if the extra 128 GB microSD card is still not sufficient, you can take advantage of cloud storage. Google Drive gives users 100GB of cloud storage to use freely for two years.

Thankfully, cloud storage is super fast and reliable. You don’t have to worry about losing your data or transferring data from an old device to a new one manually.

Finally, the internal storage of the Moto E4 is mediocre, the expandable microSD card is also limiting. Hence, I will rate the Moto E4 a six in this storage review section.

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Moto E4: Security Features & Sensors

Over the years, smartphones have evolved into intelligent devices thanks to the integration of sensors. These sensors interact with the user’s environment by detecting changes and sending the data to the smartphone’s operating system.

When it comes to the collection of sensors, the Moto E4 is also on average – it packs a few important sensors.

First on the list is the fingerprint sensor that allows you to unlock your phone using your fingers. It is fast, secure, and accurate.

I have no complaints whatsoever about the fingerprint sensor on this device.

The fingerprint sensor is not only useful for biometric authentication but also supports navigation gestures. Tapping on the fingerprint sensor takes you to the home screen while swiping on it takes you to the recent page.

In addition to the fingerprint sensor, the Moto E4 also has proximity, light, and accelerometer sensors. The accelerometer sensor controls your smartphone’s orientation auto-rotating the screen as you switch the phone from vertical to horizontal positions and vice versa. 

The phone’s proximity sensor detects when you are holding the phone near your face during a call and turns the display off. This is very important as it increases the battery life of the phone.

Additionally, turning the display off when it is not in use prevents random screen touches that are not intended.

Another important sensor on the Moto E4 is the ambient light sensor. This sensor detects the ambient light and automatically dims the phone’s display.

Thankfully, the ambient light sensor benefits your eyes and also saves the phone’s battery power.

There are several important sensors that are not available on the Moto E4 such as the barometer, gyroscope, magnetometer, etc.  For instance, one implication of a missing barometer is that you may not be able to use a health app on the phone.

The Moto E4 misses out on the intelligence and interactiveness of the missing sensors. We can forgive the absence of these sensors at this price bracket.

Finally, I will rate the Moto E4 a seven in this security and sensors review.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

Not everyone needs a flagship phone – sometimes people just want a smartphone that can perform basic stuff and maybe more. The Moto E4 fits the job description perfectly.

At a budget price, you get the luxury of a metallic build (only available in some versions), a fingerprint sensor, a decent camera, battery, and display.

In short, the Moto E4 is an average all-rounder that delivers great value at a reasonable price. Finally, I will recommend the Moto E4 to users that are not willing to spend too much for luxury features and performance.

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