Moto M First impressions

MOTOROLA

Moto has unveiled a new mid-range smartphone in the Indian market, showing off premium aesthetics with a not so premium price tag.

The device has some interesting offerings, and some not so interesting. Here are our first impressions for Lenovo’s Moto M.

Let’s talk about the display first. The device is rocking a 5.5-inch full-HD display with a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels and a pixel density of 401 ppi. The display also gets a 2.5D curved glass, which makes the display curve around the edges.

This is an OLED panel and for starters, the display was really bright. The colours on the panel weren’t really vibrant, they were surprisingly subtle, which isn’t really the case with OLED panels. The blacks, however, were surprisingly dark. Overall the display was decent with great viewing angles to compliment the media experience on the smartphone.

Coming to the looks of the smartphone, the device is rocking an all–aluminium unibody design, which looks really beautiful. The construction feels robust and the curved display pairs well with the curvy body.

The right side gets pretty tactile power and volume buttons with a thumb-friendly placement. At the back, you see a very reminiscent camera unit, along with the antenna lines on the top and at the bottom. Overall the device is definitely one good looker.

Talking about the performance, Moto M comes rocking a MediaTek Helio P15 chipset. The device comes in 3GB and 4GB RAM variants. The device gets 32GB and 64GB storage options with microSD expandability up to 256GB.

On first impressions, the device performed snappily. We didn’t experience any jitters or lags. We could switch between apps with ease, and the device felt fairly responsive. The UI felt lovely with a near-stock Android experience, with the Moto M running on Android 6.0 Marshmallow right out of the box.

Also, the thermals of the smartphone, while we were playing with it, stayed cool. We’ll definitely have to test the device to its limits to see how it stacks up, however, for starters, the device played it well.

Talking about the optics, this is where you feel that the brand has managed to cut the costs. The Moto M is rocking a 16-megapixel primary camera and an 8-megapixel selfie camera at the front. Sure the device has a set of high-resolution cameras, but they really didn’t feel that good.

Even with PDAF loaded on the smartphone, the device wasn’t able to focus snappily. Surprisingly there was no evident shutter lag.
Moreover, the end result was filled with hazy, noise-filled images. Same was the case with the front camera of the smartphone.

However, the front camera had a decent wide-angle to fit in groupies. We’ll need to fully test the camera of the smartphone to come to final verdict. However, first impressions definitely tell us that the camera isn’t the best thing on this Moto M.

The device gets Dolby Audio loaded onto the smartphone, and comes with a set of speakers at the bottom of the device. Although we would’ve loved to see a front-firing speaker setup, these speakers aren’t half bad. Dolby Audio would also compliment your media consumption experience while listening on headphones, as Dolby Audio helps in creating different sound environments.

The device is powered by a 3050mAh battery and charges using a USB Type-C port, which is a welcomed inclusion. The device also supports quick-charging capabilities. The battery seems adequate to survive a workaholic day. We’ll have to test it to the limits to see what’s the battery life on the smartphone like, but for now, with what it’s offering, the device feels promising.

Initial Verdict 

Moto M is an impressive smartphone rocking decent mid-range specs and premium looks. The camera on the smartphone is definitely not its strongest feature, however, the awesome build quality and a decent display somehow tries to compensate for it. Stay tuned for a full review for the Moto M coming soon.