Introduction
Motorola is well-known for designing classy looking devices over the raw power for performance, the Moto M is another device that follows Motorola focus in styling. Motorola has been around long enough and they understand many people decide what phones they want at shops on the spot. This certainly is a device that can immediately capture people’s attention easily, while the specs are still average for the price.
Unboxing
The Moto M comes in an average looking box, behind the box are the core features the Moto M is built around. Generally, you could see the Moto M is wrapped in a smooth layer of plastic to prevent scratches before it was open and the accessories all are placed under the phone.
Inside the box is the Moto M itself, a charger, an USB Type-C cable, earphones and of course the user manuals and warranty book. Motorola also provided a simple transparent case and screen protector which I appreciate.
Design
The Moto M is only 7.85mm thin with a 5.5-inch display, I find the device is easy to handle even with one hand. The device also has Coning Gorilla Glass which is pretty good.
Furthermore, the phone also provides a somewhat of a premium look especially from the gold metal coating and also the logo ‘Moto’ written under the screen.The Moto M uses a metal back which certainly is an improvement over Motorola predecessors.
The sides are all curves and the edges are chamfered, personally, I am not a fan of curved sides but surprisingly I was able to adapt with this phone as it is not slippery and still looks good with curved sides.
Screen
The Moto M comes with a 5.5-inch Full HD display that I am quite satisfied with. The device does have auto-brightness and works well for most of the time. Under the sunlight, most of the time I could read the words accurately but colors are a little difficult to see sometimes.
Performance
The Moto M is powered by a 2.2 GHz octa-core MediaTek Helio P15 processor. On top of that, the device is available with 4GB RAM. The frames of the Moto M is not the best under graphically demanding games but still acceptable if you only need a phone that can handle most games. On the side of the phone, there is a dual-SIM slot or you could choose to use 1 SIM slot while using the 2nd slot as the MicroSD slot.Compared to the Redmi Note 4, the Moto M definitely falls short in the processor category.
The temperature does raise after roughly 10 minutes of gaming on the Moto M, that is to be expected since it uses aluminum back.
The Moto M does have a fingerprint sensor that is located under the rear camera which I find it easy to reach almost all of the time. The fingerprint sensor does have a flaw, though, it sometimes takes a little longer to turn the device on with the fingerprint sensor.
An interesting feature is that the device does have water repellent “nano coating” for protection against liquid but that does not mean it is waterproof, though. Furthermore, the Moto M comes with Dolby Atmos that helps provide better surround sounds and hearing experience, especially when using headphones. The speaker is placed under the phone and they work fine and loud enough.
Software
Currently, the Moto M is running on Android 6.0 Marshmallow but don’t worry as Moto M will soon receive Android 7.0 Nougat update.
The device comes with some Microsoft apps pre-installed which I appreciate lots since I often take notes during classes. Overall, I am satisfied with the basic apps they provide and the device feels smooth when using.
Camera
The camera is probably one of the factors consumers would pick the Moto M over other smartphones on the market. The Moto M comes with a 16MP rear camera and 8MP front camera. Given for the price range the device is, the Moto M would get a plus 1 in my book compared to some other phones in the camera category. The selfie beautification app is also and addition to the front camera features!
Battery
Juicing up the device is a 3,050mAh battery. Under normal daily usage without gaming or watching videos, the Moto M can last for a day, however, with heavy usage, it can last roughly 3-4 hours at most.
Charging the phone from 5% to 100% took me about one and a half hours of charging. The charger output is 2A and does not have fast charging, unfortunately.
Final Words
The Moto M definitely is not a bad choice for the price of RM1,199. Its camera and build quality are acceptable for a device in this price range. The processor is just average for the Moto M in my opinion, Motorola did not go with the Snapdragon processor route probably to save cost. If you are looking for a smartphone at this price range with a good processor, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 might be a device you will want to look into.
Yay
- Nice unboxing experience
- Smooth software experience
Nay
- MediaTek Helio P15 not as competitive as its rivals
- Slow fingerprint sensor