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  • Moto E5 Plus Feature Round-up: Worth the Money?

    Moto E5 Plus Feature Round-up: Worth the Money?

    Motorola, an old name in the cellphone industry, has been somewhat revived from the dead. The original company went under years ago, but Lenovo holds the rights to make handsets with the Moto name. That said, today we’re looking at the Moto E5 Plus, a “budget” phone with a huge screen. Is it worth the money, or should you stick to its siblings?

    Pricing and Availability

    The first stumble for the Moto E5 Plus is the availability. It’s only available on Sprint and Cricket, and neither of those are particularly strong networks. While they’re both serviceable, they’re less than ideal. That said, this is marketed as a budget phone, so being on budget networks shouldn’t be too big an issue. However, that’s the second stumble for this phone: the price. On Cricket, the Moto E5 Plus runs for $180, but on Sprint it’s $288. That’s absurd, to be honest, as you’re getting the exact same phone for $108 extra. Trust us, Sprint’s network and customer service don’t merit that much of an upcharge.

    At least on Cricket the $180 price sounds more reasonable. But how does the phone perform?

    Performance and Design

    In a word, the phone performs poorly. Yeah, unfortunately it’s not even worth $180. The camera, the screen and the processor are all just cheap. The screen isn’t as bright and vibrant, and there’s some notable delay on inputs. The processor doesn’t help here, as the phone sluggishly tries to keep up with apps. The camera is grainy, images are fuzzy, and the low-light performance is abysmal. If you’re on Sprint, don’t even think of getting this phone. If you’re on Cricket, it’s hardly worth it unless you love the design.

    On that front, the phone fares a bit better. The screen is quite large, which is nice if you have large hands. The resolution is really low, though, so images don’t look crisp. If you have small hands, you’ll hate this phone. The rounded design makes it easy to lose a grip on if your hands are smaller. That said, those with larger hands may like the design. Another positive, it has a long battery life, which is about the only good thing we can say about it.

    Moto E5 Plus Bottom Line: Skip This Phone

    If you’re looking for a good budget smartphone from Motorola, look for one like the Moto G6. That phone has a Gorilla Glass back, slick design and better overall performance. The crazy part it, the Moto G6 only costs $249, making it cheaper than Sprint’s price for this phone. All in all, this is a forgettable Android phone that’s overpriced for what it does. Skip this one!

  • Tech Throwback: Motorola E1 Rokr, The First iPhone

    Tech Throwback: Motorola E1 Rokr, The First iPhone

    I like to take a look at where I’ve been to evaluate where Im going. Technology is cyclical after all… wait no its not. That said I still like all the feels that come rushing back like a flood of nostalgia every time I get my hand on the tech I grew up with. Im going to go back periodically and take a looking at the stuff that used to blow our hair back and get our minds rolling. Some of these device blew up and changed the world, some where ahead of their time and some just fell flat and became colossal failures. Today we have a flop but it set the table for one of the greatest tech revolutions of mankind’s existence. Before there was a thought of an iphone, there was Apples first foray into the mobile world. There was a partnership with Apple and Motorola for the Motorola E1 Rokr.

     

     

    The Motorola E1 Rokr

    The Rokr E1 is a repackaged Motorola E398 candybar style phone. However this new bombshell would come with Apple-licensed technology to play back iTunes Music Store purchased music. This doesn’t sound very stellar but at the time this was huge. Phones where just getting cameras. The V3 Razr was blowing up the cellular world, cell phones where now not just fashion accessories but status symbols as well.

    Launched on September 7, 2005 in San Francisco, California, the E1 is the first phone to be integrated with Apple Inc.’s iTunes music player. It features a music player with an interface similar to that of Apple’s iPod music players.

    The next phone being the first iPhone in 2007. This made the Motorola Rokr highly anticipated and tech sites were following the collaborations between Motorola and Apple as far back as December 2004.The Motorola e1 Rokr was a Cingular exclusive. Cingular had dedicated an endcap and standalone display in all of their corporate owned stores.

    Powering Up The Rokr

    I found a gently abused Motorola E1 Rokr on ebay, a new battery and we are powering it back up. It shows the Motorola logo and familiar os pops on. I spent many years with a motorola phone and this brings back floods of memories. It operates just like we all remember, even though the Rokr was not a popular phone the motorola brand was and it was everywhere from 2003-2009. The Cingular brand and Jack icon make me happy. It is basic AF, with only 9 options I’m fully through it a few unceremonious minutes

    But wait! The Rokr has a memory card still full of early ougt hits still on it. Keane, The Killers and Jets “are you gonna be my girl”! the speakers are awful. I am shocked this was acceptable, but at the time it was a wow. The 512 mb card is full with 83 songs on it.

    Its clunky, its slower then I remember the motorolas being. It just has the ipod music player, not the iTunes store so adding music on the fly is not a reality yet.

    The Flop

    Apple scheduled the iPod nano unveiling on the same day as the release of the Rokr. The Nano a success, the Rokr just something to look at in the Cingular store. The relations between Motorola and Apple were bitter and negative. Then Motorola CEO Ed Zander blamed the failure of the Rokr on Jobs and  later accused Apple of purposely undercutting the Rokr. Soon After the Rokr E1 was replaced by the E2, which lacked iTunes support and was superseded by the iTunes-enabled SLVR L7.

     

    The Final Thought

    At the time we had our fingers crossed that Apple and Motorola would unveil exactly what we had been dreaming of for years: a mobile phone with Apple industrial and software design, great call quality, and typically ingenious Apple feature simplification. ingenious Apple feature simplification. We would have to wait another year for that, The iPhone. But the Motorola E1 rocks got Apples gears turning and a stepping stone to Job’s magnificent Vision. Sometime we must fail to change the world and no one embodies that like Steve.

  • Motorola Razr V4 the Future of Fordable Smartphones

    Motorola Razr V4 the Future of Fordable Smartphones

    No this isn’t a tech throwback on the Motorola V3 Razr, comeback Wednesday for that. This is a new Motorola V4 Razr. We have a concept model from Motorola and that they are currently working on a folding phone, and all signs point to the fact that it could carry the iconic Motorola Razr branding. Back in February 2017, Yang Yuanqing, the CEO of Lenovo (which owns the Motorola brand) noted.

    “With the new technology, particularly foldable screens, I think you will see more and more innovation on our smartphone design. So hopefully what you just described [the Motorola Razr brand] will be developed or released very soon”.

    So that alone is very promising, but we are now at the point were some details are emerging.

    Motorola Razr V4 Concept

    The Motorola Razr V4 remained very slim when folded reaching 7.5mm and unfolded reaching only 3.7mm. Meanwhile, the device is good enough to give under-display fingerprint scanner available. Notably, Motorola handset features Android Oreo 8.1 out-of-the-box based on Intelligent UI and IP68 certified water/dust resistant.

    From our anonymous source we have a first hand account. “When opened up, the Moto Razr V4 has a 7 inch AMOLED HDR 10 screen, a Snapdragon 855 CPU and a hinge, that feels like it prequels a Surface Phone or Samsung Galaxy X. Crazy enough, this ultra slim device is just 3.7 mm in thickness, when it’s opened up. Folded it reaches 7.5 mm. It feels like Tech Configurations really thought it out this time around,”

    The Spec Rumors

    The Motorola handset will sport a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 CPU, on the contray to the original infomation we got back in 2017. The handset performance works well on 6GB of RAM and two storage variants including 128GB/256GB ROM (unexpandable). Also, Motorola RAZR V4 camera packs dual 16MP+12MP primary snapper with 4K videos recording ability. Besides, there is a 12MP selfie shooter with a wide-angle lens and an aperture of f/1.8. Further, Motorola phone gets 4100mAh battery.

    At the moment, there is no further information regarding Motorola RAZR V4 price and availability. However, we can expect to meet this legend with the new outlook this June with the price range approximately of $500.

    The Final Thought

    Ive always been  a big fan of the Motorola V3 Razr and the jump in made in the cellular industry. I was also among the very first non Motorola employees to have one. I won a sales contest for Motorola 6 months prior to the release. The initial specs looks on point and these pictures are lighting me up. Is it the next big thing in wireless again? we will see and Ill see you back here for the smartphone spotlight as soon as it releases.

     

  • What is this Motorola, a G6?

    What is this Motorola, a G6?

    Motorola has offered its biggest tease of the incoming Moto G6 yet. Rumored to launch soon on April 19, the clip shows off several angles of the budget-friendly phone that is looking more high-end than ever.

    Throughout the teaser, shared from the Motorola Twitter account, we’re taken on a tour around the G6’s curves and design highlights. From its glossy trim, to its notched power button and metal ear speaker grille, the video appears to confirm many of the leaks that we’ve reported on. Its front-facing fingerprint sensor makes an appearance, too, as does the dual rear-facing camera system that we saw on the Moto X4.

    Not indicated but expected, the Moto G6 Plus will have a 5.93-inch Full HD+ 18:9 screen, probably no notch, on its front and dual cameras on its back. It will be joined by the Moto G6 and the Moto G6 and Moto G6 Play when Motorola announces its 2018 roster this week.

     

    Quick Spec Look

     

    Specifications    Moto G6                                                  Moto G6 Plus                                                    Moto G6 Play

     

    • Processor            Qualcomm Snapdragon 625         Qualcomm Snapdragon 660         Qualcomm Snapdragon 430
    • Display  5.7in Full-HD+ (2160×1080) 18:9 5.93in      Full-HD+ (2160×1080) 18:9            5.7in Full-HD+ (2160×1080) 18:9
    • Memory              3GB/4GB                                                        3GB/4GB/6GB                                         3GB/4GB
    • Storage                  32GB/64GB
    • Primary Camer         Dual-lens 12Mp + 5Mp,                          Dual-lens 12Mp + 5Mp                  Single-lens camera, dual-LED flash
    • Selfie Camera               16Mp, LED flash
    • Ports                       3.5mm headphone jack
    • Fingerprint scanner         Yes, front                                                           Y es, front                                         Yes, rear
    • Battery Capacity               3000mAh                                                         3200mAh                                              4000mAh
    • Colour Options                  Black, Silver, Rose Gold Black, Silver, Teal                                             Charcoal, Gold, Deep Blue

    The Final Thought

    It’s hard to shake the feeling that we’re not looking at Moto’s next flagship. As other companies like Nokia and Asus have shown, low-end is the new high-end. Flagship features like the 18:9 aspect ratio display and dual cameras are trickling down and are now more accessible to more people.

    So while the Moto G6 and its Moto G6 Plus and Moto G6 Play may not be top-end in terms of spec, this will likely be Moto’s biggest release of the year. Since the rumored launch date is upon us, stay tuned for the latest news and hands-on reviews of Moto’s new swath of phones. The base 32GB G6 model was listed by the site at $249.99 unlocked and G6 Play priced at $199.99