Moto E7 Power review: Biggest takeaways before buying the phone

Motorola has cemented its place in the budget smartphone space, which to date remains one of the most competitive segments. With brands like Xiaomi, Realme, Oppo and others, the rivalry is intense and Motorola is out to leave a mark. The latest entry to the entry-level segment is the Moto E7 Power, which makes an impression through its on-paper specs. Does it live up to the expectation? Let's find out.

Moto E7 Power starts at Rs 7,499 for 2GB RAM+32GB storage, but for Rs 8,299 Motorola throws in 4GB RAM and 64GB storage. Without even having to review the phone, the latter option sounds better. Both variants, however, are available on Flipkart and in offline stores and customers get to choose from Tahiti Blue and Coral Red. Our review unit is a blue shade of 4GB RAM model.

Design and display

Motorola has gone with loud colours for the E7 Power, which might attract many. But the overall design factor has a signature Motorola touch to it. The handset has a matte plastic back, which isn't a fingerprint magnet or slips out of the hand during single-hand use. Motorola has paid special attention to detail even though the design at large is kept in line with what is expected from an entry-level device.

All the physical buttons are placed on the right, but there are different textures on them to help memorise their functions over time. The power button sits under the volume rocker and there's a dedicated Google Assistant button above it. Usually, the Google Assistant button sits on the left for easy access, and frankly, it requires a bit of stretching your index finger to reach.

Motorola doesn't bottom-firing speaker, keeping that space reserved for USB Type-C port. The speaker is at the back, which might muffle the sound when placed on a flat surface while listening to audio. There's a 3.5mm headphone jack on the top, so you don't have to throw away your wired headphones and add to the e-waste. One tiny bit we love is the charging and notification indicator on the top bezel.

There's also a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner camouflaged under the Motorola logo, which is perhaps the best design decision Motorola has taken. There are dual cameras in a vertical capsule, which also houses the LED flash. This completes the design of the phone, which in our opinion isn't extraordinary, but doesn't draw major criticism.

The E7 Power packs a 6.5-inch HD+ display, which is surrounded by noticeable bezels and a thick chin. The display renders natural colours, but under direct sunlight, readability can be challenging despite being a bright enough. But at this price range, asking for a higher resolution with higher brightness nits is stretching too far.

Camera

Moto E7 Power's dual rear camera setup is an instant eye-grabber. There's a 13MP primary sensor and a 2MP secondary one. But the camera has some issues, nothing Motorola cannot fix with a software update.

Moto E7 Power can be tricky to focus on the subject, especially in the macro mode until you get the hang of it. The results we got were inconsistent, some were right one point, while others were all over the place. Under good lighting, the shots came out pretty good, but the struggle was real in low-light settings. The sample shots will show you the lack of details captured and dynamic range wasn't the best. The colours were natural most of the time, but bright colours tend to get overexposed under direct sunlight.

Sample shots below:

Performance

Moto E7 Power is powered by MediaTek Helio G25 paired with 4GB RAM. With a few lags here and there, especially when put through intense tasks, the Moto E7 Power can handle your daily tasks easily. You can throw in some mild games too and you won't be disappointed, but avoid running graphics intense games.

One of the biggest USPs of Motorola phones is its stock ad-free Android UI experience, which makes navigation easy. It runs Android 10 and will receive Android 11 when ready. The lack of bloatware, unwanted settings makes for a refreshing change in a budget phone.

The rear-mounted fingerprint scanner works efficiently and it's often a race with face unlock, which also works quite fast in well-lit environment. Interestingly, Moto E7 Power is probably the only budget phone with 2X2 MIMO over 4G VoLTE. For those unaware, this feature makes streaming and downloading over mobile internet seamless and fast. To top it off, there's eMCP storage but with an option to expand by up to 1TB. These extra factors make a lot of difference in terms of day-to-day use.

Battery

Moto E7 Power is powered by a 5,000mAh battery. Given the low specs, we had little doubts about the battery life not living up to our expectations. One full day worth of use with the E7 Power is guaranteed and with moderate use, you can push to two days. The USB Type-C is a welcoming change, but the lack of fast charging is a little disappointing. But we can let that slide given the phone costs less than Rs 9,000. The 10W standard charger takes over 2 hours to help you get through two days if your usage is mostly calls, messages, browsing and a little bit of streaming here and there.

Verdict

Moto E7 Power is a solid package, which could use some improvements. It shares the league with handsets like Redmi 9i, Realme C3, Samsung A10s, and Poco C3. On paper, the Moto E7 Power is bound to impress and real-world use mostly lives up to that expectation.

Moto E7 Power is for those who want a straight-forward phone that can last long enough to get you by the day without having to carry the charger. If the camera is a priority, you might want to consider investing more, otherwise, the E7 Power manages to deliver promptly in other areas.