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Motorola Moto E4 Plus Smartphone Review

Simple addition. More battery, more RAM, more display - Motorola really means the "Plus" in its Moto E4 Plus. Find out whether these positive aspects outweigh the rather low system performance in our review.
Motorola Moto E4 Plus

For the original German version, click here.

The Lenovo Moto E3 was a very affordable smartphone with rather long battery runtime, but comparatively low performance. The next generation has two models: There is the Moto E4, a 5-inch device that is only a little more expensive than its predecessor but offers more storage, and the Moto E4 Plus - our test unit for this review, which costs another $60 more, but offers a long-running battery, a 5.5-inch display, more RAM and even a better main camera. Its performance remains unchanged compared to the Moto E4. Is that still appropriate considering the higher price?

This is what we would like to find out and we have chosen several comparison devices, for instance, the Sony Xperia L1, which also has a recommended retail price of $200. The LG X power2 has also arrived in this price range and wants to score points with its long battery runtime. The Acer Liquid Z6 Plus and Honor 6X complete our choice of comparison devices.

Lenovo Moto E4 Plus (Moto E Series)
Processor
Mediatek MT6737 4 x 1.3 GHz, Cortex-A53, Qualcomm MSM8920 Snapdragon 427
Graphics adapter
Memory
3 GB 
Display
5.50 inch 16:9, 1280 x 720 pixel 267 PPI, capacitive touchscreen, IPS, glossy: yes
Storage
16 GB eMMC Flash, 16 GB 
, 11 GB free
Connections
1 USB 2.0, Audio Connections: 3.5 mm audio jack, Card Reader: microSD up to 128 GB, 1 Fingerprint Reader, Brightness Sensor, Sensors: proximity sensor, accelerometer, USB-OTG
Networking
802.11 b/g/n (b/g/n = Wi-Fi 4/), Bluetooth 4.2, GSM (850/​900/​1800/​1900), UMTS (850/​900/​1900/​2100), LTE (B1/​B3/​B5/​B7/​B8/​B20/​B38/​B40), Dual SIM, LTE, GPS
Size
height x width x depth (in mm): 9.6 x 155 x 77.5 ( = 0.38 x 6.1 x 3.05 in)
Battery
19 Wh, 5000 mAh Lithium-Ion, quick-charge function
Operating System
Android 7.1 Nougat
Camera
Primary Camera: 13 MPix f/​2.0, contrast AF, LED flash, videos @720p/​30fps
Secondary Camera: 5 MPix f/​2.4
Additional features
Speakers: speakers at the bottom edge, Keyboard: virtual keyboard, power supply, USB cable, 24 Months Warranty, LTE Cat. 4 (150 MBit/s download, 50 MBit/s upload); SAR value: 0.438 W/kg (head), 1.040 W/kg (body), fanless
Weight
198 g ( = 6.98 oz / 0.44 pounds), Power Supply: 72 g ( = 2.54 oz / 0.16 pounds)
Price
160 Euro
Note: The manufacturer may use components from different suppliers including display panels, drives or memory sticks with similar specifications.

 

Case

The Motorola Moto E4 has an exchangeable battery, and we immediately tried taking off the back cover of the Plus version in great anticipation. The back can be taken off, although it requires a lot of strength as the cover sits very tightly, but this only led to disappointment: The battery of the Moto E4 Plus is positioned beneath a cover held in place by screws. It can be removed with a little technical know-how, but that is not what the manufacturer intends and if you do not have the right knowledge, it is probably best left alone.

The Moro E4 Plus has the typical round Motorola design and is available in Gray and Gold. It is nice to hold, but rather heavy at 198 grams (~7 oz). The case is nice and stable and pressure from the front is only minimally visible on the screen while the case would not warp at all. The frame and back cover are made of metal.

Motorola Moto E4 Plus
Motorola Moto E4 Plus
Motorola Moto E4 Plus
Motorola Moto E4 Plus
Motorola Moto E4 Plus
Motorola Moto E4 Plus
Motorola Moto E4 Plus
Motorola Moto E4 Plus
Motorola Moto E4 Plus

Size Comparison

155 mm / 6.1 inch 77.5 mm / 3.05 inch 9.6 mm / 0.378 inch 198 g0.4365 lbs154.7 mm / 6.09 inch 78.1 mm / 3.07 inch 8.4 mm / 0.3307 inch 164 g0.3616 lbs153.8 mm / 6.06 inch 75.6 mm / 2.98 inch 8.5 mm / 0.3346 inch 169 g0.3726 lbs151 mm / 5.94 inch 74 mm / 2.91 inch 8.7 mm / 0.3425 inch 180 g0.3968 lbs150.9 mm / 5.94 inch 76.2 mm / 3 inch 8.2 mm / 0.3228 inch 162 g0.3571 lbs148 mm / 5.83 inch 105 mm / 4.13 inch 1 mm / 0.03937 inch 1.5 g0.00331 lbs

Connectivity

The device has a classic Micro-USB port, so no modern Type-C port. However, it does support USB OTG and has a 3.5mm audio jack. The 3 GB of RAM are suitable for a modern smartphone, but the 16 GB of storage could have been a bit more. It is possible to expand storage via the microSD card, which even has its own slot, so that you do not have to sacrifice one of the two SIM slots. The microSD card can be formatted as internal or external storage. Apps can only be saved to it if it is configured as internal storage.

Software

Motorola uses the Android 7.1.1 operating system and at the time of testing, the security patches were from April 5th 2017, so the version is rather old and not secure. There was no update available and, based on our experience with such cheap devices, it will take a while for one to become available.

It is a good old Moto tradition to offer Stock Android without any great changes. Only Moto Infos, the possibility to automatically show reduced information on the display when it registers movement, is available and quite useful. The whole thing can be configured from the Moto App. Apart from that there also is a Help app and that is it.

Motorola Moto E4 Plus Software
Motorola Moto E4 Plus Software
Motorola Moto E4 Plus Software
Motorola Moto E4 Plus Software

Communication & GPS

The Moto E4 Plus supports the same wireless networks as its smaller brother, the Moto E4: LTE with Cat.4 speeds, so downloads of up to 150 MBit/s and uploads of up to 50 MBit/s. These can be used via eight different LTE bands, which is a good value and, at least in Europe, you should never be without reception. In the German D2 network, reception was usually over half indoors and worked well. 

Concerning Wi-Fi, our device only has 802.11 b/g/n, which is normal in this price range. However, the Sony Xperia L1 offers the possibility to use the less populated 5 GHz band. The Moto E4 Plus does not have particularly great transfer rates. Both sending and receiving are lowest of all comparison devices. It does have full reception close to the router, but pages load quite slowly. At a distance of ten meters (~33 ft) and through three walls, signal is still at half and pages load at more or less the same speed.

Networking
iperf3 transmit AX12
Sony Xperia L1
Mali-T720 MP2, MT6737T, 16 GB eMMC Flash
88.6 MBit/s +89%
Honor 6X
Mali-T830 MP2, Kirin 655, 32 GB eMMC Flash
57.9 MBit/s +24%
LG X power2
Mali-T860 MP2, MT6750, 16 GB eMMC Flash
51.2 MBit/s +9%
Acer Liquid Z6 Plus
Mali-T720 MP2, MT6753, 32 GB eMMC Flash
48.6 MBit/s +4%
Lenovo Moto E4 Plus
Mali-T720 MP2, MT6737, 16 GB eMMC Flash
46.8 MBit/s
iperf3 receive AX12
Sony Xperia L1
Mali-T720 MP2, MT6737T, 16 GB eMMC Flash
92.2 MBit/s +119%
Honor 6X
Mali-T830 MP2, Kirin 655, 32 GB eMMC Flash
54.6 MBit/s +30%
Acer Liquid Z6 Plus
Mali-T720 MP2, MT6753, 32 GB eMMC Flash
47.2 MBit/s +12%
LG X power2
Mali-T860 MP2, MT6750, 16 GB eMMC Flash
45.7 MBit/s +9%
Lenovo Moto E4 Plus
Mali-T720 MP2, MT6737, 16 GB eMMC Flash
42.1 MBit/s
GPS indoors
GPS indoors
GPS outdoors
GPS outdoors

The GPS module could not locate us indoors, but outdoors it positioned us quickly within eight meters (~26), which is still not very exact.

In order to give a more detailed account of the Moto E4 Plus's GPS, we took it on a bicycle ride together with the professional navigation system Garmin Edge 500. The Moto E4 Plus measured 230 meters (~251.5 yards) less than the professional Navi. This is quite a high deviation considering the total route was only 6.5 km (~4 miles) long. If you look at the various route sections, you can notice that the Moto E4 Plus tends to tighten the curves and appears to fly over the roofs of houses. The Garmin navigation system recorded our route with a lot more detail, but if you only want to use your smartphone's navigation system occasionally, you should be happy with the Moto E4 Plus.

GPS Garmin Edge 500 – overview
GPS Garmin Edge 500 – overview
GPS Garmin Edge 500 – junction
GPS Garmin Edge 500 – junction
GPS Garmin Edge 500 – woods
GPS Garmin Edge 500 – woods
GPS Motorola Moto E4 Plus – overview
GPS Motorola Moto E4 Plus – overview
GPS Motorola Moto E4 Plus – junction
GPS Motorola Moto E4 Plus – junction
GPS Motorola Moto E4 Plus – woods
GPS Motorola Moto E4 Plus – woods

Telephone & Voice Quality

Motorola has made no changes to the standard Android app, which is very intuitive and easy to use.

The voice quality appears good at first: our caller sounds quite clear via the earpiece, but only up to about 70% volume level. Above that, you can hear a lot of noise and distortion. The microphone also transmits our voice clearly, but with interfering noise. The quality is similar on speakerphone, but distortions of the microphone are even more audible.

Cameras

picture front camera
picture front camera

13 MP at the back and 5 MP at the front - these are normal resolutions for smartphone cameras, even of higher price ranges. After all, it is not just the amount of megapixels that counts, but also the quality of the modules and their additional functions. Here you get a two-color flash on the back and even a flash for the front camera. At first, the pictures of the front camera appear good with nice colors, but if you take a closer look, you do notice significant blurriness with details appearing washed-out while dark areas lack dynamics. The camera is good enough for the occasional selfie, especially because of the good colors.

The main camera also has decent colors, although they could be a little more radiant. Details are not as good as those of comparison devices, but we like the sharpness that goes all the way to the edges. But here, too, dynamics are too low in dark areas. Videos can only be recorded in 720p and 30fps, lighting quickly adapts to changed ambient light, but details appear mushy.

Image Comparison

Choose a scene and navigate within the first image. One click changes the position on touchscreens. One click on the zoomed-in image opens the original in a new window. The first image shows the scaled photograph of the test device.

Scene 1Scene 2Scene 3
click to load images

In the laboratory with fixed lighting conditions, the main camera still has good sharpness and decent color display, although colors are a little too washed-out and sometimes patchy.

photo of reference card
photo of reference card
detail of reference card
detail of reference card
ColorChecker: The reference color is in the bottom half of the field.
ColorChecker: The reference color is in the bottom half of the field.

Accessories & Warranty

The box contains a quick-charge power supply as well as a USB cable. You can order an additional quick-charge charger on the Motorola Online shop for about $35.

Motorola is finally offering 24 months of warranty for Moto smartphones. Please see our Guarantees, Return policies and Warranties FAQ for country-specific information.

Input Devices & Handling

The keyboard app is Google's GBoard, which is very simple, but offers a lot of functions. Handling is good and easy, typing reliable.

Unfortunately, there are occasional lags when giving inputs via the touchscreen, which might be connected to the low system performance. Apart from that, the surface is good and the touchscreen responds well even in the corners. The navigation buttons are on the screen, but you can also use the finger print sensor for navigation, which is introduced by a short tutorial. After a little practice, this way of navigating works very well in everyday use.

Talking of finger print sensors: You can unlock the device from standby with it, which also works very well.

keyboard landscape mode
keyboard landscape mode
keyboard portrait mode
keyboard portrait mode

Display

subpixel array
subpixel array

The display of the Moto E4 Plus has a normal resolution for this price range: 1280x720 pixels. Only devices that used to be more expensive but have slid down into this range, such as the Honor 6X or the Acer Liquid Z6 Plus, can offer a Full HD screen. Brightness distribution is very uniform at 93% in the Moto E4 Plus and we noticed no difference in brightness even on larger areas of color. The average brightness of 425 cd/m² is normal too, but at least the smartphone can be a lot brighter than the LG X power2 if you need it to be.

442
cd/m²
434
cd/m²
431
cd/m²
419
cd/m²
425
cd/m²
423
cd/m²
412
cd/m²
422
cd/m²
417
cd/m²
Distribution of brightness
tested with X-Rite i1Pro 2
Maximum: 442 cd/m² (Nits) Average: 425 cd/m² Minimum: 9.04 cd/m²
Brightness Distribution: 93 %
Center on Battery: 425 cd/m²
Contrast: 1149:1 (Black: 0.37 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 4.7 | 0.5-29.43 Ø5
ΔE Greyscale 4.6 | 0.57-98 Ø5.3
92.7% sRGB (Calman 2D)
Gamma: 2.17
Lenovo Moto E4 Plus
IPS, 1280x720, 5.50
LG X power2
IPS, 1280x720, 5.50
Honor 6X
IPS, 1920x1080, 5.50
Acer Liquid Z6 Plus
IPS, 1920x1080, 5.50
Sony Xperia L1
IPS, 1280x720, 5.50
Screen
-9%
-8%
-21%
-4%
Brightness middle
425
237
-44%
547
29%
419
-1%
479
13%
Brightness
425
237
-44%
540
27%
408
-4%
478
12%
Brightness Distribution
93
92
-1%
94
1%
83
-11%
94
1%
Black Level *
0.37
0.13
65%
0.57
-54%
0.35
5%
0.58
-57%
Contrast
1149
1823
59%
960
-16%
1197
4%
826
-28%
Colorchecker dE 2000 *
4.7
5.5
-17%
5.1
-9%
6.6
-40%
4.5
4%
Colorchecker dE 2000 max. *
8.3
12.7
-53%
9.1
-10%
12.6
-52%
7.5
10%
Greyscale dE 2000 *
4.6
6.1
-33%
6.2
-35%
7.9
-72%
4.1
11%
Gamma
2.17 101%
2.07 106%
2.09 105%
2.08 106%
2.03 108%
CCT
7445 87%
7943 82%
6546 99%
8576 76%
7139 91%

* ... smaller is better

Screen Flickering / PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation)

To dim the screen, some notebooks will simply cycle the backlight on and off in rapid succession - a method called Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) . This cycling frequency should ideally be undetectable to the human eye. If said frequency is too low, users with sensitive eyes may experience strain or headaches or even notice the flickering altogether.
Screen flickering / PWM not detected

In comparison: 53 % of all tested devices do not use PWM to dim the display. If PWM was detected, an average of 18110 (minimum: 5 - maximum: 3846000) Hz was measured.

The black value of 0.37 cd/m² is also an average result and offers a good contrast of 1149:1. Colors do not really appear vibrant on the display, but rather a little pale. You can influence this a little by choosing between normal and intensive color display in the settings. The Google Play store also offers some apps that can change colors.

We used the CalMAN software and a spectrophotometer to analyze the color display in our laboratory. We did notice a light blue cast here, but apart from that, the colors have average deviation from the reference color space. The sRGB color space is covered by 93% according to CalMAN, although the results of this software should be considered more like an indication. 

CalMAN color accuracy
CalMAN color accuracy
CalMAN color space
CalMAN color space
CalMAN saturation
CalMAN saturation
CalMAN gray scales
CalMAN gray scales

Display Response Times

Display response times show how fast the screen is able to change from one color to the next. Slow response times can lead to afterimages and can cause moving objects to appear blurry (ghosting). Gamers of fast-paced 3D titles should pay special attention to fast response times.
       Response Time Black to White
34 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined↗ 19 ms rise
↘ 15 ms fall
The screen shows slow response rates in our tests and will be unsatisfactory for gamers.
In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.1 (minimum) to 240 (maximum) ms. » 89 % of all devices are better.
This means that the measured response time is worse than the average of all tested devices (21.6 ms).
       Response Time 50% Grey to 80% Grey
50 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined↗ 27 ms rise
↘ 23 ms fall
The screen shows slow response rates in our tests and will be unsatisfactory for gamers.
In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.2 (minimum) to 636 (maximum) ms. » 84 % of all devices are better.
This means that the measured response time is worse than the average of all tested devices (33.9 ms).

The Moto E4 Plus can be used quite well outdoors despite mediocre brightness levels and the brightness sensor quickly adapts to very bright surroundings.

The viewing angles are quite good from the side thanks to the IPS display and you can hardly notice any change in colors.

outdoors - brightness sensor
outdoors - brightness sensor
outdoors - maximum brightness
outdoors - maximum brightness
outdoors - medium brightness
outdoors - medium brightness
outdoors - minimum brightness
outdoors - minimum brightness
viewing angles
viewing angles

Performance

Lenovo has equipped our test unit with the same SoC as the Motorola Moto E4: A Mediatek MT6737 with four cores and a clock rate of 1.25 GHz. They could have given our Plus version a little upgrade however: smartphones of this price range usually offer noticeably higher performance. The occasional judders that we noticed in everyday use do not fit to an almost $200 phone. The Moto E4 Plus is about 20% behind its comparison devices, the Honor 6X is even another level above it.

The graphics are taken care of by an ARM Mali-T720 MP2 with two cores and a 650-MHz clock rate, which is also used in all comparison devices. But due to the low processor performance, graphics benchmarks have suffered as well and our test device fell behind compared to other smartphones of this price range.

AnTuTu v6 - Total Score (sort by value)
Lenovo Moto E4 Plus
30619 Points
LG X power2
38547 Points +26%
Honor 6X
56764 Points +85%
Acer Liquid Z6 Plus
37286 Points +22%
Sony Xperia L1
37495 Points +22%
PCMark for Android
Work performance score (sort by value)
Lenovo Moto E4 Plus
3624 Points
LG X power2
4157 Points +15%
Honor 6X
4383 Points +21%
Acer Liquid Z6 Plus
2979 Points -18%
Sony Xperia L1
4285 Points +18%
Work 2.0 performance score (sort by value)
Lenovo Moto E4 Plus
2768 Points
LG X power2
3191 Points +15%
Sony Xperia L1
3237 Points +17%
BaseMark OS II
Overall (sort by value)
Lenovo Moto E4 Plus
536 Points
LG X power2
773 Points +44%
Honor 6X
1300 Points +143%
Acer Liquid Z6 Plus
272 Points -49%
Sony Xperia L1
744 Points +39%
System (sort by value)
Lenovo Moto E4 Plus
1086 Points
LG X power2
1758 Points +62%
Honor 6X
2721 Points +151%
Acer Liquid Z6 Plus
1702 Points +57%
Sony Xperia L1
1338 Points +23%
Memory (sort by value)
Lenovo Moto E4 Plus
591 Points
LG X power2
693 Points +17%
Honor 6X
1779 Points +201%
Acer Liquid Z6 Plus
797 Points +35%
Sony Xperia L1
798 Points +35%
Graphics (sort by value)
Lenovo Moto E4 Plus
208 Points
LG X power2
489 Points +135%
Honor 6X
819 Points +294%
Acer Liquid Z6 Plus
428 Points +106%
Sony Xperia L1
386 Points +86%
Web (sort by value)
Lenovo Moto E4 Plus
620 Points
LG X power2
601 Points -3%
Honor 6X
720 Points +16%
Acer Liquid Z6 Plus
9 Points -99%
Sony Xperia L1
743 Points +20%
Geekbench 4.4
64 Bit Single-Core Score (sort by value)
Lenovo Moto E4 Plus
556 Points
LG X power2
593 Points +7%
Sony Xperia L1
674 Points +21%
64 Bit Multi-Core Score (sort by value)
Lenovo Moto E4 Plus
1562 Points
LG X power2
2297 Points +47%
Sony Xperia L1
1875 Points +20%
Compute RenderScript Score (sort by value)
Lenovo Moto E4 Plus
952 Points
LG X power2
1448 Points +52%
Sony Xperia L1
1241 Points +30%
3DMark
1280x720 offscreen Ice Storm Unlimited Score (sort by value)
Lenovo Moto E4 Plus
3692 Points
Lenovo Moto E4 Plus
3692 Points 0%
LG X power2
8156 Points +121%
Honor 6X
11775 Points +219%
Honor 6X
11775 Points +219%
Acer Liquid Z6 Plus
7045 Points +91%
Sony Xperia L1
6669 Points +81%
1280x720 offscreen Ice Storm Unlimited Graphics Score (sort by value)
Lenovo Moto E4 Plus
3183 Points
Lenovo Moto E4 Plus
3183 Points 0%
LG X power2
8140 Points +156%
Honor 6X
11353 Points +257%
Honor 6X
11353 Points +257%
Acer Liquid Z6 Plus
6456 Points +103%
Sony Xperia L1
6015 Points +89%
1280x720 offscreen Ice Storm Unlimited Physics (sort by value)
Lenovo Moto E4 Plus
8390 Points
Lenovo Moto E4 Plus
8390 Points 0%
LG X power2
8213 Points -2%
Honor 6X
13535 Points +61%
Honor 6X
13535 Points +61%
Acer Liquid Z6 Plus
10347 Points +23%
Sony Xperia L1
10767 Points +28%
2560x1440 Sling Shot OpenGL ES 3.0 (sort by value)
Lenovo Moto E4 Plus
163 Points
LG X power2
442 Points +171%
Honor 6X
550 Points +237%
Acer Liquid Z6 Plus
291 Points +79%
Sony Xperia L1
285 Points +75%
2560x1440 Sling Shot OpenGL ES 3.0 Graphics (sort by value)
Lenovo Moto E4 Plus
133 Points
LG X power2
379 Points +185%
Honor 6X
468 Points +252%
Acer Liquid Z6 Plus
241 Points +81%
Sony Xperia L1
238 Points +79%
2560x1440 Sling Shot OpenGL ES 3.0 Physics (sort by value)
Lenovo Moto E4 Plus
753 Points
LG X power2
1053 Points +40%
Honor 6X
1433 Points +90%
Acer Liquid Z6 Plus
1090 Points +45%
Sony Xperia L1
939 Points +25%
2560x1440 Sling Shot Extreme (ES 3.1) (sort by value)
Lenovo Moto E4 Plus
99 Points
LG X power2
306 Points +209%
Honor 6X
385 Points +289%
Acer Liquid Z6 Plus
197 Points +99%
Sony Xperia L1
184 Points +86%
2560x1440 Sling Shot Extreme (ES 3.1) Graphics (sort by value)
Lenovo Moto E4 Plus
79 Points
LG X power2
254 Points +222%
Honor 6X
318 Points +303%
Acer Liquid Z6 Plus
160 Points +103%
Sony Xperia L1
149 Points +89%
2560x1440 Sling Shot Extreme (ES 3.1) Physics (sort by value)
Lenovo Moto E4 Plus
783 Points
LG X power2
1074 Points +37%
Honor 6X
1440 Points +84%
Acer Liquid Z6 Plus
1076 Points +37%
Sony Xperia L1
968 Points +24%
GFXBench (DX / GLBenchmark) 2.7
T-Rex Onscreen (sort by value)
Lenovo Moto E4 Plus
11 fps
LG X power2
22 fps +100%
Honor 6X
19 fps +73%
Acer Liquid Z6 Plus
13 fps +18%
Sony Xperia L1
19 fps +73%
1920x1080 T-Rex Offscreen (sort by value)
Lenovo Moto E4 Plus
6 fps
LG X power2
13 fps +117%
Honor 6X
18 fps +200%
Acer Liquid Z6 Plus
12 fps +100%
Sony Xperia L1
11 fps +83%
GFXBench 3.0
on screen Manhattan Onscreen OGL (sort by value)
Lenovo Moto E4 Plus
4.8 fps
LG X power2
11 fps +129%
Honor 6X
8.5 fps +77%
Acer Liquid Z6 Plus
4.7 fps -2%
Sony Xperia L1
8.8 fps +83%
1920x1080 1080p Manhattan Offscreen (sort by value)
Lenovo Moto E4 Plus
2.2 fps
LG X power2
5.3 fps +141%
Honor 6X
4.6 fps +109%
Acer Liquid Z6 Plus
4.5 fps +105%
Sony Xperia L1
4.1 fps +86%
GFXBench 3.1
on screen Manhattan ES 3.1 Onscreen (sort by value)
Lenovo Moto E4 Plus
3.4 fps
LG X power2
8.6 fps +153%
Honor 6X
4.9 fps +44%
Acer Liquid Z6 Plus
2.9 fps -15%
Sony Xperia L1
6.3 fps +85%
1920x1080 Manhattan ES 3.1 Offscreen (sort by value)
Lenovo Moto E4 Plus
1.4 fps
LG X power2
3.5 fps +150%
Honor 6X
2.5 fps +79%
Acer Liquid Z6 Plus
3.1 fps +121%
Sony Xperia L1
2.6 fps +86%

Legend

 
Lenovo Moto E4 Plus Mediatek MT6737, ARM Mali-T720 MP2, 16 GB eMMC Flash
 
LG X power2 Mediatek MT6750, ARM Mali-T860 MP2, 16 GB eMMC Flash
 
Honor 6X HiSilicon Kirin 655, ARM Mali-T830 MP2, 32 GB eMMC Flash
 
Acer Liquid Z6 Plus Mediatek MT6753, ARM Mali-T720 MP2, 32 GB eMMC Flash
 
Sony Xperia L1 Mediatek MT6737T, ARM Mali-T720 MP2, 16 GB eMMC Flash

The Moto E4 Plus had to accept last place in the browser benchmarks as well. For everyday use this means slow loading times and juddering HTML5 animations.

JetStream 1.1 - Total Score
Honor 6X (Chrome 56.0.2924.87)
26.46 Points +82%
Acer Liquid Z6 Plus (Chrome 55)
18.05 Points +24%
Sony Xperia L1 (Chrome 59)
17.37 Points +19%
LG X power2 (Chrome 59)
16.74 Points +15%
Lenovo Moto E4 Plus (Chrome 60)
14.55 Points
Octane V2 - Total Score
Honor 6X (Chrome 56.0.2924.87)
4199 Points +85%
Acer Liquid Z6 Plus (Chrome 55)
2892 Points +27%
LG X power2 (Chrome 59)
2712 Points +19%
Sony Xperia L1 (Chrome 59)
2684 Points +18%
Lenovo Moto E4 Plus (Chrome 60)
2273 Points
Mozilla Kraken 1.1 - Total
Lenovo Moto E4 Plus (Chrome 60)
17405 ms *
Acer Liquid Z6 Plus (Chrome 55)
14218 ms * +18%
LG X power2 (Chrome 59)
13763 ms * +21%
Sony Xperia L1 (Chrome 59)
12507 ms * +28%
Honor 6X (Chrome 56.0.2924.87)
9373 ms * +46%

* ... smaller is better

Our test unit accessed our reference microSD card from Toshiba - an Exceria Pro M501 - fast enough, but still not nearly as fast as the card itself would be capable of performing. The Moto E4 Plus is rather slow at accessing internal storage.

Lenovo Moto E4 PlusLG X power2Honor 6XAcer Liquid Z6 PlusSony Xperia L1
AndroBench 3-5
6%
39%
-8%
-34%
Sequential Read 256KB
194.4
243.8
25%
283.4
46%
209.4
8%
181.9
-6%
Sequential Write 256KB
42
41.7
-1%
73.8
76%
70.1
67%
40.2
-4%
Random Read 4KB
19.15
25.3
32%
39.55
107%
22.2
16%
13.6
-29%
Random Write 4KB
29.4
10.7
-64%
45.05
53%
10.4
-65%
5.9
-80%
Sequential Read 256KB SDCard
66.3
76.6 ?(Toshiba Exceria Pro M401)
16%
52 ?(Toshiba Exceria Pro M401)
-22%
42.76 ?(Toshiba Exceria Pro M401)
-36%
37.81 ?(Toshiba Exceria Pro M401)
-43%
Sequential Write 256KB SDCard
46.6
58.1 ?(Toshiba Exceria Pro M401)
25%
34.53 ?(Toshiba Exceria Pro M401)
-26%
27.97 ?(Toshiba Exceria Pro M401)
-40%
26.25 ?(Toshiba Exceria Pro M401)
-44%

Games

It became clear quite quickly that the Moto E4 Plus is not suitable for graphically demanding games such as "Asphalt 8" in full details: Lags and juddering are very noticeable. Things improve when you lower the details. Simple games such as "Angry Birds" can be played and navigation with accelerometer and touchscreen works well, although there are occasional lags even when playing "Angry Birds", which can be annoying.

Angry Birds
Angry Birds
Asphalt 8
Asphalt 8

Emissions

Temperature

The case temperature does not exceed 34.8 °C (~94.6 °F) even under full load and you can (at the most) only minimally feel the device heat up.

Max. Load
 33 °C
91 F
31.3 °C
88 F
30.5 °C
87 F
 
 34.7 °C
94 F
32 °C
90 F
30.7 °C
87 F
 
 34.8 °C
95 F
32.2 °C
90 F
30.9 °C
88 F
 
Maximum: 34.8 °C = 95 F
Average: 32.2 °C = 90 F
31.5 °C
89 F
31.7 °C
89 F
32.3 °C
90 F
31.6 °C
89 F
32.3 °C
90 F
33.3 °C
92 F
31.6 °C
89 F
32.3 °C
90 F
33.3 °C
92 F
Maximum: 33.3 °C = 92 F
Average: 32.2 °C = 90 F
Power Supply (max.)  33.8 °C = 93 F | Room Temperature 22 °C = 72 F | Voltcraft IR-350
(±) The average temperature for the upper side under maximal load is 32.2 °C / 90 F, compared to the average of 32.7 °C / 91 F for the devices in the class Smartphone.
(+) The maximum temperature on the upper side is 34.8 °C / 95 F, compared to the average of 35 °C / 95 F, ranging from 21.9 to 56 °C for the class Smartphone.
(+) The bottom heats up to a maximum of 33.3 °C / 92 F, compared to the average of 33.8 °C / 93 F
(+) In idle usage, the average temperature for the upper side is 29.2 °C / 85 F, compared to the device average of 32.7 °C / 91 F.
heat map front
heat map front
heat map back
heat map back

Speakers

speaker test Pink Noise
speaker test Pink Noise

The speakers of the Moto E4 Plus can be very loud, but highs are too strong and echo in your ear for an uncomfortably long time. Apart from that, sound quality is good and even has more low mids than many other smartphones of this price range.

Audio enthusiasts and movie lovers will still want to go for headphones or external speakers. These can be connected via the 3.5 mm jack or Bluetooth, both of which transmit sound nicely.

dB(A) 0102030405060708090Deep BassMiddle BassHigh BassLower RangeMidsHigher MidsLower HighsMid HighsUpper HighsSuper Highs2031.529.231.52529.328.629.33128.328.728.34032.434.632.45027.527.727.56325.824.825.88026.331.526.310028.333.828.312534.328.334.316033.522.933.520040.121.140.125044.42044.431548.42048.440053.42253.450059.922.959.963065.519.365.580066.918.366.9100071.818.371.8125072.517.972.516007116.471200072.516.572.5250073.216.773.2315071.216.271.2400073.216.173.250007916.279630079.816.179.8800071.116.171.11000065.616.165.612500651665160004816.148SPL85.829.985.8N62.11.462.1median 65.6median 17.9median 65.6Delta11.52.911.531.636.525.43325.333.432.932.233.634.331.631.128.426.22728.520.829.42229.421.33020.831.521.231.719.437.619.544.917.754.917.964.217.87317.377.917.477.116.778.117.276.518.273.917.977.317.676.617.779.917.884.417.980.918.172.218.262.33089.41.372.3median 17.9median 72.31.416.9hearing rangehide median Pink NoiseLenovo Moto E4 PlusLG X power2
Lenovo Moto E4 Plus audio analysis

(+) | speakers can play relatively loud (85.8 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(-) | nearly no bass - on average 27.4% lower than median
(±) | linearity of bass is average (8.3% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(±) | higher mids - on average 5.6% higher than median
(±) | linearity of mids is average (7.1% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(±) | higher highs - on average 7.7% higher than median
(±) | linearity of highs is average (7.6% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(±) | linearity of overall sound is average (25.6% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 58% of all tested devices in this class were better, 8% similar, 35% worse
» The best had a delta of 12%, average was 38%, worst was 134%
Compared to all devices tested
» 75% of all tested devices were better, 5% similar, 20% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 25%, worst was 134%

LG X power2 audio analysis

(+) | speakers can play relatively loud (89.4 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(-) | nearly no bass - on average 42.2% lower than median
(+) | bass is linear (1.7% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(±) | reduced mids - on average 13.1% lower than median
(±) | linearity of mids is average (11% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(±) | higher highs - on average 6.2% higher than median
(+) | highs are linear (5.2% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(-) | overall sound is not linear (31.5% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 77% of all tested devices in this class were better, 3% similar, 19% worse
» The best had a delta of 12%, average was 38%, worst was 134%
Compared to all devices tested
» 88% of all tested devices were better, 2% similar, 9% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 25%, worst was 134%

Frequency diagram in comparison (check boxes can be turned on/off!)

Battery Runtime

Power Consumption

Power Consumption while idling is rather mediocre, but instead, the Motorola Moto E4 Plus shines when under load: it consumes a lot less power than all comparison devices, which, on the other hand, is paid for by lower performance. Consumption when the phone is turned off is relatively high, which means that the battery could go flat while the phone is turned off and stored in a cupboard for a few weeks.

Power Consumption
Off / Standbydarklight 0.11 / 0.23 Watt
Idledarkmidlight 0.89 / 1.87 / 1.98 Watt
Load midlight 3.04 / 4.01 Watt
 color bar
Key: min: dark, med: mid, max: light        Metrahit Energy
Currently we use the Metrahit Energy, a professional single phase power quality and energy measurement digital multimeter, for our measurements. Find out more about it here. All of our test methods can be found here.
Lenovo Moto E4 Plus
5000 mAh
LG X power2
4500 mAh
Honor 6X
3340 mAh
Acer Liquid Z6 Plus
4080 mAh
Sony Xperia L1
2620 mAh
Power Consumption
-22%
-7%
-6%
-38%
Idle Minimum *
0.89
0.63
29%
0.82
8%
0.48
46%
0.89
-0%
Idle Average *
1.87
1.42
24%
2
-7%
1.55
17%
2.05
-10%
Idle Maximum *
1.98
1.47
26%
2.03
-3%
1.61
19%
2.18
-10%
Load Average *
3.04
5.89
-94%
3.34
-10%
5.2
-71%
6.02
-98%
Load Maximum *
4.01
7.85
-96%
4.92
-23%
5.68
-42%
6.94
-73%

* ... smaller is better

Battery Runtime

The large 5000-mAh battery makes the Motorola Moto E4 Plus quite heavy, but has already proven that it can be worth the additional weight for very long battery runtimes with the Lenovo P2. The Moto E4, however, is a great disappointment: 13:08 hours in the Wi-Fi test are a great result, but one that can easily be topped by many comparison devices with significantly smaller batteries. In everyday use, the battery should last up to several days, depending on how much the phone is used. When the Moto E4 Plus does need to be recharged, it does so quickly in just 1:30 hours thanks to its quick-charge function.

Battery Runtime
WiFi Websurfing
13h 08min
Lenovo Moto E4 Plus
5000 mAh
LG X power2
4500 mAh
Honor 6X
3340 mAh
Acer Liquid Z6 Plus
4080 mAh
Sony Xperia L1
2620 mAh
Battery Runtime
25%
21%
38%
-28%
WiFi v1.3
788
982
25%
957
21%
1087
38%
567
-28%
Reader / Idle
2720
2250
1398
H.264
1226
885
656
Load
384
375
351
223

Pros

+ good battery runtime
+ pure Android
+ good handling
+ quick-charge function
+ color-accurate display
+ very stable case
+ hardly any heat development

Cons

- heavy
- occasional juddering and lags
- rather low performance
- microphone records ambient noise

Verdict

Review: Motorola Moto E4 Plus. Test unit provided by Lenovo Germany.
Review: Motorola Moto E4 Plus. Test unit provided by Lenovo Germany.

If you are thinking about whether you should buy a Moto E4 or a Moto E4 Plus, there is a clear answer. The Moto E4 Plus offers a lot of improvements for only about $60 more, offering a camera with higher resolution, longer battery runtimes, a quick-charge function and a larger display. However, you should also be aware that it is noticeably heavier and the battery cannot be exchanged.

The Moto E4 Plus offers solid performance, but as it so often happens, better is the enemy of good. Lenovo should have definitely given the Moto E4 Plus a performance upgrade compared to its smaller brother, because there are many smartphones with higher performance around in this price range. The smartphone has also only partly kept its promise of extremely long battery runtimes and falls behind other comparison devices with smaller batteries.

Good camera photos and a quick-charge function are two things that make the Motorola Moto E4 Plus stand out from among its competition. The low performance, however, is a bit of a let down.

The Motorola Moto E4 is a good smartphone in the $200 price range. It appeals with its quick-charge function and good camera, but we recommend taking a close look at the alternatives before purchase.

Lenovo Moto E4 Plus - 09/04/2017 v6(old)
Florian Wimmer

Chassis
84%
Keyboard
66 / 75 → 88%
Pointing Device
85%
Connectivity
40 / 60 → 67%
Weight
88%
Battery
96%
Display
84%
Games Performance
6 / 63 → 10%
Application Performance
31 / 70 → 44%
Temperature
92%
Noise
100%
Audio
53 / 91 → 58%
Camera
65%
Average
68%
79%
Smartphone - Weighted Average

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Florian Wimmer, 2017-09-13 (Update: 2019-04- 5)