Motorola has just unveiled its lowest-end smartphones for 2017. They are the
Moto C and Moto C Plus. On the outside they are, as you'd expect, almost
indistinguishable from each other, but their innards are a different story.
Moto C
This is the entry-level model, as hinted at by the
name. It comes with a 5-inch FWVGA (854x480) touchscreen, which is not
something you read often in a spec list in 2017. The main camera is a 5 MP unit
with 1.4 micron pixels, 74-degree field of view, fixed focus, an LED flash, and
720p video recording support. For selfies you get a 2 MP shooter with 1 micron
pixels, a 63-degree field of view, fixed focus, and an LED flash.
The phone is powered by MediaTek's MT6737M chipset,
which comes with a 1.1 GHz quad-core Cortex-A53 CPU, aided by just 1GB of RAM
and 8 or 16GB of expandable storage. Keeping all things running is a 2,350 mAh
removable battery. The Moto C runs Android 7.0 Nougat. Its dimensions are 145.5
x 73.6 x 9 mm, and it weighs 154g. Color versions are Metallic Cherry, Pearl
White, Fine Gold, and Starry Black.
It will become available starting "this
spring" in "various countries across Latin America, Europe and Asia
Pacific". It will be priced at € 89 unlocked and SIM free if you purchase
the 3G-only model with 1GB of RAM and 8GB of storage. If you want 4G, you'll
need to shell out at least € 99 for otherwise the same package.
Moto C Plus
This handset is very similar to the Moto C in some
respects, but it ups the game when it comes to screen resolution, battery life,
rear camera features, RAM capacity, and CPU frequency. So quite a lot of
improvements there.
It has a 5-inch 720p display, an 8 MP f/2.2 main
camera with 1.12 micron pixels, autofocus, a 71-degree field of view, and an
LED flash. Its SoC is the MT6737 (sans "M") which means the CPU,
while still being a quad-core Cortex-A53 unit, has been bumped to 1.3 GHz. You
also get 2GB of RAM in some models, and 16GB of storage comes as standard.
But perhaps the biggest improvement has to do with
the battery capacity, which in the C Plus is a whopping 4,000 mAh. That will
certainly ensure at least one-day operation for even the most demanding
use-cases. The Moto C Plus measures 144 x 72.3 x 10 mm, and weighs 162g. Other
details, including the color options on offer, are the same as for the C.
The C Plus will start at € 119 with 1GB of RAM.
Expect to pay more if you want double that. The availability time frame and
markets are shared with its lesser sibling.
