AT&T’s Cricket and Verizon Wireless have become the first US carriers to add the Moto E LTE to their respective prepaid lineups. Verizon is offering the phone for $99.99 online, reflecting the deeper subsidy it usually gives its own prepaid lineup. Meanwhile, AT&T’s Cricket is offering the phone with less of a subsidy as its now selling the phone for $129.99 plus tax, which is less than a $20 difference from buying the phone directly from Motorola unlocked for $149.99.
The phone ships with Android 5.0 Lollipop and includes more of Motorola’s Android customizations originally pioneered on the Moto X, such as the Quick Capture gesture to launch the camera and Glance Screen for notifications without waking the phone or turning on the display.
The most significant new feature is the added support for LTE networks, however the battery cover is no longer removable, and in its place, the second-generation Moto E now features a customizable and removable band around the edge of the phone that can be removed for bands of other colors as well as new Grip Shells. The display size has also been increased from 4.3 inches to 4.5 inches, keeping the 960 x 540 resolution of the previous model.
The E is now powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 410 processor which allows for the addition of the aforementioned Motorola software customizations. Internal storage has also been increased from 4GB to 8GB, and both the SIM slot and microSD slots have been relocated to the sides of the phone, under the removable band. The phone also features an improved 5-megapixel camera with 720p video capture, and a new VGA user-facing camera.
Motorola also claims the 2,390mAh battery should provide more than a full day of use before recharging.
