Moto E4 review

Battery and camera

• Removable battery means the party doesn't have to stop when the phone dies
• 2,800mAh capacity is fairly generous for a budget phone
• Has little issue lasting for at least a day under normal usage

Flagship smartphones tend to come under more scrutiny when it comes to battery performance than budget phones do. That’s because they not only cost more, which raises expectations, but commonly, the battery is fused within the chassis and not accessible by the consumer.

The Moto E4 is the perfect illustration of the polar opposite of that spectrum. It’s priced low, so it’s all the more impressive to see that its 2,800mAh can carry a charge for longer than a day, depending on usage. Not just that, it’s removable so you can theoretically keep things going for a days on end if you have a second battery handy.

During our testing, we were able to squeeze more than a day out of the E4 on average. At the very least, a tough day filled with listening to music, playing games and browsing Chrome brought it down beneath the 50% mark. Watching a 90-minute HD video drained its battery down by 18%, leaving you with 82% to carry on the day.

But with battery saver activated, it lasted easily through a particularly busy wedding weekend, pumping out tunes, downloading a hi-res episode of Twin Peaks over 4G LTE and survived an hour of gaming, with change left over.

It’s tough to kill this phone, which flies in the face of our expectations given its budget status. Once it dies, you can swap out the removable battery. But if you just want to bring it back to life, it charges up rather quickly with its included charger. From 0%, it takes under two hours to fill back up. After just a half hour, it was up to 50% charge.

Camera

• Front and rear cameras generally produce good results
• The E4 doesn't capture particularly well in low-lit or fast-moving scenarios
• Professional mode makes it easy enough to get the desired effect

Stocked with a 8MP rear-facing camera and a 5MP front snapper, the Moto E4 produces generally competent results. In good light, it’s easy to walk away with a photo that you’re happy with: a photo filled with a good amount of vibrancy, balanced contrast and exposure levels. 

However, if you’re in low lighting conditions, you’ll frequently turn out blurry, fuzzy photos unless you’re perfectly still or utilize the appreciate professional mode that lets you tweak the exposure, ISO levels and more. 

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If you’re into shooting video, this phone is capable of 1080p capture at 30 frames per second. It’s a little puzzling that the E4 can capture at a higher resolution than its display can push, but it’s an ideal setting for uploading to social media or what have you. Check out the video sample below.