Motorola Moto E5 Go Review: Lightweight and Good Battery Life

Motorola Moto E5 Go review on every aspect including design, camera, and hardware performance. Also learn about the operating system and the battery capacity.

Nowadays buying an affordable phone with excellent features is easier than ever. One of the options is Motorola Moto E5 Go. As a manufacturer, Motorola focuses on devices with low price but have decent specs. This Moto E5 Go offers an HD screen, 1.4GHz Quad-core processor, and a big battery.

Moto E5 Go also offers a splash-proof design. The phone seems promising at the first impression. I won’t expect anything mind-blowing for a phone this price.

But for a budget phone, it looks like it’s worth buying. In this Motorola Moto E5 Go review, we’re going to dissect the phone specs thoroughly.

Key Specs

Motorola Moto E5 Go specifications:

• Weight: 5.29oz
• Dimensions: 5.95 x 2.91 x 0.35in
• OS: Android 8.1 Go
• Screen size: 5.2-inch
• Resolution: 1280 x 720
• CPU: 1.4GHz Quad-core, Qualcomm Snapdragon 425
• RAM: 2GB
• Storage: 16GB
• Battery: 2,800mAh, Non-removable
• Rear camera: 8MP
• Front camera: 5MP

Design

For customers familiar with Motorola devices, you’ll find Moto E5 Go design no different than its peers. It adopts a bar design with black casing. The back cover is coated with a matte finish.

It makes the phone look more expensive than it actually is. The matte finish should do well against dirt and grease.

But the phone has a significant screen to body ratio that’s far from an “infinity” and bezel-less look. Actually, the top and bottom bezels are chunkier than necessary. It puts the overall appearance at an average category compared to competitors.

The overall design is quite simple. You got the screen, the speaker, and the logo at the front. Meanwhile, the camera is located at the back. The camera and the LED flash are enclosed inside a round frame. The phone weighs only 5.29 oz. The plastic body is the reason why it’s lightweight.

It looks like Moto E5 Go emphasizes more on functions than forms. The body of the phone is water-resistant. Although it’s limited to splash and accidental spills, extra protection is always a nice feature to have.

It’s definitely not for swimming. But you will be able to check on your phone under a light rain.

Read also: Motorola Moto E5 Go User Manual

Display

Moto E5 Go features an 5.2″ HD screen with the resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels. That makes the display have a pixel density of 282 ppi. The type of display technology is LCD TFT.

This overall display specs is expected on a budget phone like Moto E5 Go. Although it could be better on several areas such as the resolution.

Display quality is acceptable. Many users will find the screen and colors nice to look at. Even if you’re migrating from a slightly better display, you’ll notice little difference.

The case would be different if you’re used to an AMOLED screen, which is a whole another level of display quality. But for a phone under 100 dollars, an HD screen will do enough.

You will need to get used to some minor inconveniences. That includes fonts that crack when zoomed in. You’ll also notice pixelated icons and images. Brightness is good most of the time, although it can struggle when under the bright sun.

No complain about the size, though. I find 5-inch is a perfect size for an entry level phone. it’s comfortable to use with one hand. All while it’s big enough to browse apps comfortably.

The display also provides ample space for entertainment activities. Whether it’s watching a video or playing games, the phone can handle the task well.

Camera

This phone comes with a decent setup for cameras. On the rear, we got a 8 MP camera with LED flash. I wish Moto E5 Go would provide more resolution.

A 13 MP lens would be perfect, since it’s not uncommon on phones at this price range. But I guess 8 MP is still acceptable. For video recording, this phone can take up to 1080p HD videos.

The quality of image results are average. You can get a beautiful result in optimal condition, such as during a sunny day. But a bit of cloudy weather can make the picture washed out and lacking in vibrancy. I found this is always the case with Motorola’s camera on their cheaper phones.

It’s even trickier to get a good result under low light conditions. The LED Flash helps although not much. All in all, Moto E5 camera is for social media more than for important live events.

Meanwhile, the front-facing camera has a 5-MP lens. For a front camera, the quality is relatively decent. Especially since it also has an LED flash.

Users can take advantage of the camera features. There’s a manual mode to control the camera settings manually.

The feature “Beautify” is available to smooth skin on the front camera. There’s also HDR to automatically enhance backlights on pictures and slow motion for video recording.

Storage

Moto E5 Go is equipped with 16 GB of internal storage. Out of that capacity, 10 GB is available for user personal data. That capacity is a sensible choice for Moto E5, especially with their choice of operating system.

A casual user won’t run out of space too soon. Especially the ones who prefer to use the phone on essentials only. But if you take a lot of pictures and install more apps and games you are going to need more.

Fortunately, Moto E5 Go provides an expandable storage option. You can add your own SD card. This phone allows up to 256 GB worth of SD card space.

Performance

The Quad-core Snapdragon 425 processor on Moto E5 is more than capable of handling daily tasks. This processor has a processing speed of 1.4 GHz. As for RAM, you’ll get 2 GB in capacity.

Performance is decent on a daily basis. Users may wait a split second before an app is launched. But most of the time, you won’t notice any difference. Switching from one app to the next doesn’t cause frustration because of lags. Just don’t use too many apps at once because the RAM won’t be able to handle that.

This phone can handle light gaming well. Keep the graphic settings low and you will have a good time playing. For anything more demanding than that, it’s recommended to look at a more expensive model instead.

Moto E5’s Android is not the latest one. In fact it runs a version of Android called Android Oreo Go Edition. Google specifically made this version for entry level phones. It promises space saving apps and systems.

Android Go Edition uses less power and has lighter updates and downloads. It’s more efficient for this purpose.

Casual users won’t find many differences on the surface. But you will notice a slight change. Including a cleaner user interface. Apps from Google are labeled with the word “Go”, such as Map Go for Google Maps and Gallery Go for Gallery. These apps take smaller space on internal storage compared to their regular versions.

As a result, the software feels lightweight without unnecessary bloatware. Motorola as the manufacturer didn’t customize the Android just like what other manufacturers typically do.

On the downside, there’s a lack of interesting custom apps specifically made by Motorola. You will get the standard apps such as Phones, Messages, and Google apps. Anything more than that, you will need to search the Google Play Store.

But overall, this simplicity is definitely something positive on this Motorola Moto E5 Go review. It serves the phone’s purpose well as a simple yet reliable smartphone.

Other features worth to note are accessibility features. Moto E5 Go offers several key functions. It has a TalkBack feature to let the phone speak a message to users.

You can also talk to the phone and give voice commands by saying “OK Google”. This is how to activate Google Assistant on Moto E5 Go.

This phone also supports hearing aid devices and multiple languages. Miscellaneous features include headphone jack, which is still available in this phone. You can also enjoy FM radio for entertainment.

Connectivity

Moto E5 Go runs on the 4G band with older bands still supported. It provides hassle-free calls and data without any issues. One feature worth trying out is Wi-Fi calling. Whenever you’re on Wi-Fi, you can use it for all instead of using regular balance.

The phone also offers HD Voice experience. Crystal clear sound comes out through the speaker making the whole experience satisfactory.

Other network features available include Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. USB data transfer still uses the old MicroUSB instead of a USB Type-C port.

Users can enjoy features related to location finding since this phone also has GPS. What you won’t find is any mobile payment features. NFC is still something out of the price range for budget phones.

Battery

The battery on Moto E5 Go has a capacity of 2800 mAh. I’ve seen more battery capacity on competing models. So my expectation is not that high. Motorola also decided on a removable Li-ion cell instead of a non-removable one. The battery setup also supports 10W fast charging.

As it turns out, the manufacturer claims that Moto E5 Go can last until 24 hours without a single charge. It makes sense in a way. Moto E5’s HD display requires less power than an HD+ or FHD one.

On top of that, the engine is quite power-efficient as well. It’s easy for the battery to last until at least until the day ends, considering you stick to normal use.

Is the Moto E5 Go a good phone?

For a budget phone, Moto E5 Go is an excellent product. Key advantages include its spacious display, a durable battery, and a well-performing processor.

But there are few compromises potential buyers should be aware of. One of the areas where the phone is lacking is the camera. It is not the strong suit of this phone.

Looking at the price tag, $79.99 is not overpriced. Many would argue that there are cheaper competitors. But the phone has what others don’t.

One of the examples is stock Android. Motorola itself is known as a reputable brand and their budget ranges are a popular choice.

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