Motorola Announces Budget Moto E3 With 5-inch 720p Display And Quad-Core SoC

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Motorola today announced its third-generation Moto E entry-level Android smartphone, and it’s unsurprisingly called the Moto E3. Unlike its predecessors, the Moto E3 has graduated from a 4.5-inch display and now includes a 5-inch HD display with a “built-in smudge-resistant screen protector.” We’re assuming that this means that the display has an oleophobic coating, although there’s no word on if Gorilla Glass is also in play here.

Other features include an unspecified quad-core processor (although more than likely there’s some budget Qualcomm Snapdragon processor lurking inside), 8MP rear camera, 5MP selfie camera, microSD slot for storage expansion, a generous 2,800 mAh battery and Android Marshmallow 6.0. The Moto E3 also includes at least some semblance of water resistance, as Motorola says the smartphone is splashproof, allowing you to “hang out by the pool or sprint to your car in the rain without worrying about any water damage.”

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The Moto E will first go on sale in the United Kingdom in early September, and will be available from retailers like Amazon, Tesco, Argos and O2 with a price tag of £99 (around $132). In the United States, the second generation Moto E retails for $119 (3G model), or $149.99 for the LTE version. Carrier versions of the Moto E are available for as little as $25 off-contract. We can expect to see similar pricing whenever the Moto E lands on our side of the pond.

While some will likely applaud the move to a larger 5-inch display, there are likely those that will lament the loss of the smaller 4.5-inch form-factor. Apple came to this realization and released the 4-inch iPhone SE earlier this year to appease those unhappy with the move to 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch form-factors.

Tags:  Lenovo, Motorola, moto e3