In the sub-10K segment, wherein every penny counts, brands have to fight tooth and nail for your attention and money. Motorola tries to capture your attention with the new Moto E40 which for the first time in the segment offers a 90Hz display. Another notable aspect is the underlying Unisoc T700 octa-core processor. Other things in the mix include a 5000mAh battery, 48MP triple camera setup, and the trademark stock-esque Android software. So, what we will see in the Smartprix review of Moto E40 is that if all these are put together, this phone is worth your money or not.
But for now, since I have got my hands on a pre-production unit, we will be going through an initial impression of the device. And as soon as I get the retail model, you’ll have its full review.
Navigate this review
Unboxing | Price and Specs | Design | Audiovisual | Connectivity | Power | Camera
Moto E40 Unboxing
The box contents are:
- The handset
- 10W charger
- USB-C Cable
- SIM Card Tool
- TPU Case
- Paperwork
Also Read:
Dimensions and Weight: 1165.1 x 75.6 x 9.1mm; 198g
Screen: 6.5″ Max Vision HD+ display | 90Hz refresh rate, HD+ (1600×720) | 268ppi, 20:9 , IPS LCD,
Active Area-Touch Panel (AA-TP): 87.5% Active Area-Body (AA-Body): 82.6%
CPU: UNISOC T700
GPU: Mali G52
RAM: 4 GB LPDDR4x
Storage: 64 GB built-in eMMC 5.1; Expandable up to 1TB via dedicated slot
Rear cameras: 48MP primary+ 2MP portrait+ 2MP macro; 1080p @30fps
Front camera: 8MP; 1080p @30fps
Battery: 5000mAh with 10W charging
OS: Android 11
Moto E40 India Price: ₹9,499
And here’s the handset itself. Let’s have a physical overview of it.
My evaluation unit came in a carbon grey color while you can also pick it in Pink Clay paint. Nothing fancy about the looks, but the device feels sturdy for a polycarbonate physique. It is IP52 rated water repellence.
There are lined patterns at the back which offers a nice grip. At the given dimensions and mass, it is pretty handy too. The camera oblong is recessed so the phone sits flat on the table. The rear-mounted fingerprint scanner beneath is at one’s fingertip while normally holding the device. The same goes for the power and volume keys on the right. Only the Google Assistant button is at elevation. You’ll have to stretch your fingers to hit it. I think it could have been on the other side ‘cause there’s only a card slot (2 nano SIM + microSD) there. Now, as usual, I tried ejecting the tray but I couldn’t get it out. Perhaps, a problem with my factory unit.
Anyways, at the top, there is a 3.5mm jack, and at the bottom, there is a Type-C (USB 2.0) socket, a speaker grille, and a microphone hole.
Now if you don’t want to unlock using fingers, you can use your face. The recognition struggles if there is less ambient light. Anyhoo, let’s see how well the screen lights up.
It’s an HD+ LCD panel only. In the Natural mode, colors are fine, but with a cooler tone. You can change it to Boosted or Saturated, both of which look very similar. But colors aside, I feel the sharpness needs to be more.
However, the highlight of this screen is its 90-hertz refresh rate. Thanks to it, scrolling across the 6.5-inch surface feels smooth. The said surface is spacious too at an 87.5% screen-to-body ratio. Only the bottom bezel is noticeably big. But that, asymmetrical corner curves and dark circles around the front camera are all typical of phones of this range.
Sadly the speaker audio is also average and hollow. Thus it’s really good to get the 3.5mm jack up top. You should be better off using the same for calls too. It has only got a solo mic outlet at the bottom.
Let’s now move to other aspects of the phone.
The peripherals have already been discussed like USB-C (2.0) port and a triple card slot. The latter consists of dual VoLTE. Well, other wireless options include single 2.4GHz band WiFi ac, Bluetooth 5.0, and GPS.
On to the core internals.
Like other players in the scene, Motorola has also partnered with Unisoc. I have used the Unisoc T610 driven phones in the past and they had fared better than my expectations. So, I have high hopes for T700 too. It comprises 2x ARM Cortex A75 performance cores and 6x Cortex A55 cores, both running at 1.8GHz speed. The bundled GPU is Mali G52MP2 clocked at 850MHz.
The memory configuration is just one i.e., 4GB LPDDR4x RAM and 64GB eMMC 5.1 storage. You can expand it to 1TB with a dedicated card.
But all those hardware aside, the standout feature has to be the nearly vanilla Android 11 software. Stuffed in the settings menus, you’ll get options for a bunch of gestures and other useful additions.
Pure Android experience also means no ads and bloatware. That’s true here, save for the Google ones. But not complaining. Fewer resource suckers mean more for performance and power. By the latter, I mean it’s 5000mAh and that in itself is promising of a good, if not great battery life. We’ll see. The supported 10W charger is like whatever.
To the last segment.
Moto E40 has got a triple camera system which is led by a 48MP sensor. There is pixel binning of course and the results are out in 12MP only. There is a high res option too in the camera settings if you want to leverage the full megapixel count. Rest, there is a 2MP depth sensor for portrait effect and a 2MP shooter for close-up macros.
You can shoot up to FHD at 30 FPS from both sides.
Other camera goodies are HDR, Night Vision, Pro mode, and Google Lens integration.
And with that, it’s time for my two cents about the device.
Moto E40 can be your stock Android fix for a price of ₹9,499. It is available via Flipkart in India. But even if you set aside the software experience, the phone packs some interesting stuff like a 90Hz screen, a 5000mAh battery, and a 48MP rear camera. The rest of the paraphernalia is also what you get to see in this segment. But, I’ve gone only skin deep for now and so, in the upcoming full review, we will find out if this is the best sub-10K smartphone or not. Till then, adieu.
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