Motorola Moto e14 review: Super cheap but not without compromises

Motorola has been busy just lately, creating a wide variety of telephones for individuals who need one thing first rate on a decent price range. I’ve already reviewed the Moto G04 which was a ludicrously low £89, and now the corporate goes for one thing even cheaper at £69.99 for the Moto e14!

So, is it cash saved or do you have to transfer as much as a costlier system? I put the Moto E14 via its paces to search out out. 

Design & Construct

• Neat and tidy design
• Arduous plastic physique
• Not waterproof (however water-proof)

Motorola has developed fairly a smooth and fashionable aesthetic for its price range gadgets of late, and the e14 advantages from the identical form of development as its siblings. The physique is comprised of Polymethyl Methacrylate (PMMA) which is an artificial polymer that you could mainly name onerous plastic.

It has a matt texture although, making it fairly nice to carry and one way or the other it manages to not really feel low-cost. My overview mannequin is available in a fetching Pastel Inexperienced livery, however there are additionally Graphite Gray and Pastel Purple in the event you fancy one thing rather less vibrant. 

Martyn Casserly

Martyn Casserly

Martyn Casserly

The 163.49 x 74.53 x 7.99mm dimensions make it a tall system that may be a bit of cumbersome within the hand (made worse by there being no TPU case included within the package deal), however a weight of 178.8g means it doesn’t actually really feel too unwieldy.

You probably have smaller fingers or are contemplating this for a youthful particular person, a case could be funding, as would directions to make use of it with each fingers. 

There’s a 6.56-inch show with a punch-hole digital camera, a single speaker that helps Dolby Atmos, and a 3.5mm headphone jack if you wish to crank issues up.

The slim digital camera bump on the rear, much like the Edge 50 vary, is dwelling to a single digital camera and flash which can be specified by a satisfying twin round association. Additional investigation of the flanks reveals energy and quantity buttons, together with a tray that may maintain two Nano SIM playing cards or a mix of 1 and a microSD card. 

Martyn Casserly

Martyn Casserly

Martyn Casserly

There’s no fingerprint sensor on the e14, which isn’t shocking for a cellphone at this worth, however the facial recognition is first rate sufficient. There are related budgetary constraints when it comes to waterproofing. The e14 has an IP52 ranking, which implies it needs to be pleased with the occasional spill close by, however don’t drop the cellphone into liquids as it’s extremely unlikely to outlive. 

Gone are the times when price range telephones betrayed their humble origins with ugly designs and questionable design, because the e14 proves with its seems to be and dealing with that really feel like a typical, fashionable system that might simply value a good bit extra. 

Display screen & Audio system

• 6.56-inch IPS panel
• 90Hz refresh price
• Single speaker

The show appears to be the identical or simply similar to the one on the Moto G04. You get a 6.56-inch IPS LCD panel, protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3, that has a variable refresh price which strikes between 60- and 90Hz.

The 1612 x 720 decision means this isn’t a Full HD display screen however there’s sturdy color definition and sufficient pixels (269 ppi) to make every little thing look fairly sharp. 

Martyn Casserly

Martyn Casserly

Martyn Casserly

Motorola claims {that a} Excessive Brightness mode can kick the panel as much as over 500 nits, however I didn’t actually encounter that. As an alternative, I measured the utmost brightness in on a regular basis use at round 340 nits. That is tremendous for indoor use, however I’ll admit that it was fairly sunny whereas I used to be testing the e14 and this did make it troublesome (typically unattainable) to learn the display screen after I was out and about. 

I had no drawback with the responsiveness of the panel although, with every little thing shifting as I’d anticipate, and typing was as correct as any system may hope to be when coping with my gnarly outdated fingers. 

Sounds come from a solitary speaker on the underside fringe of the e14. It’s not wonderful, however as with most issues on this overview, the worth needs to be considered with regards to parts. You may hear issues clearly, there’s a tinny, echoey high quality to YouTube movies and streaming companies, whereas music lacks any noticeable bass.

Martyn Casserly

Martyn Casserly

Martyn Casserly

After all, this could all be negated by both plugging some headphones or a speaker into the three.5mm jack or just utilizing the onboard Bluetooth 5.0 capabilities to ship the audio to a wi-fi output that can immediately make issues higher.

The e14 does help Dolby Atmos sound and the app is preloaded on the cellphone, so you possibly can strive totally different balances for the output – nevertheless it doesn’t actually assist the deficiencies of the onboard speaker. 

Specs & Efficiency 

• UNISOC T606 processor
• 2GB RAM (might be boosted by 2GB via onboard storage)
• 64GB storage (expandable as much as 1TB through microSD)
• Some apps not suitable

It’s a really related loadout to the G04 once more within the specs, however with one notable distinction. You continue to get the identical UNISOC T606 processor that includes 2xA75 1.6 GHz + 6xA55 1.6 GHz octa-core CPU and is aided by the 650MHz Arm Mali-G57 MP1 GPU.

The principle distinction is that the place the G04 got here with 4GB of RAM, which on the time I assumed was low for 2024, the e14 halves this to 2GB.

Sure, Motorola says the cellphone can utilise its RAM Enhance characteristic that borrows 2GB of native storage to push the quantity up, however 2GB does appear a significant misstep even for a cellphone at this worth. 

Martyn Casserly

Martyn Casserly

Martyn Casserly

My fears have been sadly borne out at instances, with the e14 usually being tremendous to make use of however often it might wrestle to load lengthy lists of choices in menus, take some time to course of a photograph within the digital camera or scroll via the gallery, however most telling was that it couldn’t run a number of of the apps I take advantage of for testing telephones.

One was Geekbench 6, which we use for benchmarking gadgets, however the different was Asphalt Legends Unite which simply isn’t suitable with the e14.

This can be a in style sport and in the event you have been contemplating the e14 to your baby, then they might be dissatisfied if some cool titles aren’t accessible. That being mentioned, loads of huge video games work with the e14, so possibly Asphalt is an outlier, and whereas Genshin Influence wasn’t suitable both, that could be a graphically intensive beast which I wouldn’t blame the e14 for not having the ability to run. 

Storage is tight to start with, as there’s a lowly 64GB capability, however you possibly can increase this by as much as 1TB in the event you pop a microSD card into the SIM tray. 

One other consideration, though not fairly as necessary for most individuals, is that there’s no NFC and due to this fact no solution to make wi-fi funds with the e14. So, in the event you’d hoped to make use of it for faucet and pay companies, then that received’t be potential.

Once more, the worth is the explanation, as Motorola has to make decisions to maintain the associated fee down and NFC is a characteristic that always will get put to the wayside in cheaper gadgets. There’s additionally no 5G, however that’s not shocking both at this worth.

Motorola Moto e14 benchmarks 

I did handle to get some benchmarks accomplished although, and you may see beneath how the Moto e14 compares to a few of its closest rivals:

Cameras

• 13 Mp f/2.2 essential digital camera
• 5Mp f/2.2 selfie digital camera
• Common efficiency

As it is a cellphone that prices the identical as a curry and some drinks in any main European capital metropolis, expectations should be minimize to swimsuit the material. You’re not going to be blown away by the outcomes you’ll get from the e14, however that doesn’t imply it might’t take some good pictures.

As I discussed earlier, the climate was very sunny for almost all of my time with the system, and in these circumstances, I captured some beautiful photographs that I’d be very happy to share on social media or possibly ship to mates.

Colors popped and solely often fell into the over-saturation and sharpness lure that always happens in price range fashions. 

Martyn Casserly

Martyn Casserly

Martyn Casserly

As there’s solely a single 13Mp f/2.2 essential digital camera, there’s no zoom or ultra-wide capabilities – come on, it’s £70! – and the zoom characteristic is simply cropping into the traditional image, so under no circumstances consider utilizing it. All you get is a pixelated mess.

You do get a number of totally different modes, together with Portrait, Time Lapse and QR Code, plus there are settings for body sizes, HDR and the flash.  

Follow well-lit scenes and stationary topics and you might be fortunately shocked by the outcomes. This could possibly be a draw back in the event you’re considering of the e14 as a possible pageant cellphone although, as you received’t have the ability to get many shut pictures of the bands or well-balanced night time pictures for the after hours.

Martyn Casserly

Martyn Casserly

Martyn Casserly

Low mild images proved a bit of tougher for the e14, with focussing points starting to look. Even when you choose the topic, remaining outcomes usually confirmed that the focussing had picked one other space within the body, leaving photographs delicate. You may get some good, balanced pictures, however it might really feel like pot luck. 

The entrance digital camera is a 5Mp f/2.2 module, which may produce commonplace selfies for social media posts, though don’t anticipate an excessive amount of. 

Video can be usable for social media and such, with a most high quality of 1080p at 30fps on the principle digital camera and 720p/30fps on the selfie digital camera. Once more, in lower-lit scenes you’re going to should cope with focus looking, however for sunny days try to be pleased with the footage you possibly can seize. 

Right here’s some examples of the images I captured with the Moto e14

Battery Life & Charging

• 5000mAh battery
• Helps 15W charging (10W charger included)
• Lengthy battery life

One space the place the e14 actually shines is battery life.

Motorola equips the cellphone with a capacious 5000mAh cell, and I feel the low calls for of the processor and limitations of apps most likely contribute the the very spectacular efficiency.

On the finish of every day, having used the system for basic looking, messaging, some YouTube viewing, and listening to music, I’d often have a big chunk of energy nonetheless in reserve. This might simply be a two-day cellphone in the event you’re not always dwelling on Instagram or TikTok. 

Martyn Casserly

Martyn Casserly

Martyn Casserly

In our commonplace PCMark for Android battery check, the e14 scored a wonderful 14 hours and 19 minutes which was simply shy of the instances put up by the Moto g04. This makes it one of the crucial long-lasting gadgets we’ve examined just lately. 

Motorola does state that the e14 helps as much as 15W charging, however you solely get a 10W charger within the field – nonetheless higher than with some rather more costly gadgets with fruit logos. 

Recharging with the offered plug and USB cable returned the e14 from zero to 10% in quarter-hour. An extra quarter-hour introduced the determine as much as 20% and a full recharge ended up taking round 2 hours and quarter-hour.

Software program & Apps

• Android 14 (Go Version)
• Some bloatware
• Solely 2 years of safety updates

The Moto e14 comes with Android 14 nevertheless it’s the slimmed-down Go version which is tailor-made for gadgets that solely have 2GB of RAM or much less. This does its greatest to maintain issues snappy, nevertheless it’s preventing a dropping battle at instances with the bottleneck the reminiscence builds in. 

As talked about earlier, there are some compatibility points with extra demanding apps, however if you’d like social media and messaging to be the core of your expertise, then the e14 will swimsuit you tremendous. 

Martyn Casserly

Martyn Casserly

Martyn Casserly

Surprisingly, for a cellphone which has so little onboard storage, there have been truly bloatware apps included, with the system suggesting a number of extra that it wished me to obtain. These are rapidly eliminated, however did appear incongruent with the thought of a stripped-back expertise. 

The interface itself is commonplace Android, with the menus and settings you’d anticipate. Every thing is clear and nicely laid out, whereas navigating the menus is simple, though you do face the occasional pauses or stutters. 

Motorola hasn’t confirmed if the e14 will get any updates to Android 14 or past, and it’s most likely unlikely. You need to nonetheless get two years of safety updates although, as was the case with the G04. So in essence you’re shopping for a cellphone that can turn out to be defunct in the summertime of 2026, which is one thing to keep in mind. 

Value & Availability

As I mentioned on the outset, the Moto e14 is a really budget-friendly cellphone. You may order it from Motorola for £69.99/€109 which is simply loopy. Sadly, US prospects received’t be getting this specific mannequin. 

You may as well purchase it at Amazon, Argos, John Lewis and Currys.

There usually are not lots of choices which can be fairly as low-cost as this, however the obvious one is definitely a stablemate of the e14. Moto’s G04 prices £89.99/€109 and is actually the identical cellphone because the e14 aside from the very important distinction that it comes with 4GB of RAM.  

There’s additionally the Nokia C32 for across the similar worth that additionally boasts a bigger 50Mp essential digital camera sensor or there’s the Realme C35 however that’s almost double the worth. The Samsung Galaxy A15 (4G) is an analogous story however price taking a look at in case you have the cash.

Listed below are one of the best contract offers for the Moto e14 in the meanwhile:

You may as well take a look at our information to one of the best price range telephones to see what else we presently advocate. 

Must you purchase the Motorola Moto E14?

The Moto e14 definitely can look engaging at its low worth level, and also you definitely do get some worth to your cash. The show is sweet, if a bit of dim outdoors, the battery life is great, and there’s the choice for expandable storage all the best way as much as 1TB. 

On the downsides, the cameras are solely good in well-lit areas and efficiency wasn’t precisely stellar. I put the latter squarely right down to the paltry 2GB of RAM, which merely isn’t sufficient in 2024 and hasn’t been for a number of years now.

Positive, in the event you simply desire a cellphone to make calls, have a look at Fb, do some on-line buying and message your pals, then it might do all of that. The lengthy battery life and low value additionally make it a candidate for the function of a pageant or travelling cellphone, however provided that you don’t actually care about utilizing the digital camera that a lot. 

In all honesty, with the Moto G04 so shut in worth, I don’t actually see any motive for the e14 to exist. Save up £20 and purchase the G04 as an alternative. It’s the identical cellphone, however the additional 2GB of RAM makes all of the distinction. 

Specs

• Android 14 (Go Version)
• 6.56-inch, 90Hz, HD+ IPS LCD show, Corning Gorilla Glass 3
• 20:9 side ratio, 1612 x 720 decision, 269 ppi
• UNISOC T606 processor (2xA75 1.6 GHz + 6xA55 1.6 GHz octa-core CPU) 
• 650 MHz Arm Mali-G57 MP1 GPU
• 2GB RAM (boostable to 4GB utilizing onboard storage)
• 64GB storage
• Dolby Atmos sound
• 13 Mp (f/2.2, 1.12 µm) | PDAF entrance digital camera
• 5 Mp (f/2.2, 1.12 µm) selfie digital camera
• Single devoted speaker
• 3.5mm headphone jack
• USB-C charging port
• 4G LTE
• Wi-Fi 5
• GPS
• No NFC
• Twin nano SIM
• Bluetooth 5
• IP52 water-proof
• 5,000 mAh battery
• 15W speedy charging supported (solely 10W charger included in field)
• Polymethyl Methacrylate (PMMA) development
• Graphite Gray, Pastel Inexperienced, Pastel Purple colour-schemes
• 163.49 x 74.53 x 7.99 mm
• 178.8 g