If you had a look at budget smartphones from 10 years ago, the main players in the market would've featured a 3.5-inch or 4-inch display, VGA camera and a processor that could've barely handled simple tasks. But that's not the case anymore, especially with the new Moto e22s. Technology has grown leaps and bounds in the last decade, so much so that many of the features seen in flagship phones then, are now staple even in the budget segment smartphones. Keeping this in mind, Motorola has introduced the cheapest smartphone in its lineup, the Moto e22s. But with so many options in the budget smartphone segment, does the Moto e22s hold up against its competitors? I've been using the Moto e22s for a couple of weeks now.
Display and Design: In terms of looks, the Moto e22s gets a similar design as other Moto smartphones such as the Moto G62; with a plastic body. The Moto e22s comes in two colours – Eco Black and Artic Blue, and both the variants get a visual pattern on the back. I received the Eco Black variant and although the back did not get scratches, it gets smudges easily; therefore using a case is recommended. The highlight of the Moto e22s is its 90Hz display which is an extremely rare sighting in this price bracket. The display is a 6.5-inch HD+ IPS LCD panel with a resolution of 1600 x 720 pixels, which offers decent visuals and good viewing angles. Despite a relatively low peak brightness of 500 nits, it is the 90Hz refresh rate which takes it up a notch and makes swiping between apps a breeze. The Moto e22s also comes with WideVine L1 certification for you to stream OTT content in HD.
Performance: The Moto e22s is powered by the MediaTek Helio G37 octa-core processor, paired with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. It is a fairly capable processor and the Moto e22s juggles between apps quite well. You can switch over from your social media apps to web browsers without any noticeable lag. I tried a couple of games on the Moto e22s and despite not being a gaming smartphone, it handles games like Need for Speed Most Wanted without sweating. In terms of audio, the Moto e22s gets a single speaker at the bottom and luckily you get a 3.5mm headphone jack which is, again a rare sighting these days. The smartphone supports dual-SIM and also gets a microSD slot which you can utilize to expand the storage to a hefty 1TB. The phone runs on stock Android 12 with Motorola's MyUX skin on top, which is one of the cleanest and most-refined interfaces I've seen. There's minimal bloatware and the smooth interface coupled with the high refresh rate display is a pleasant combination for a smartphone in its price range.
Camera: Despite having decent camera specs on paper, the Moto e22s is definitely not a camera-centric phone. It gets a dual camera setup at the back with a 16MP fast-focusing primary camera and a 2MP depth sensor. It also gets additional camera features such as Google Lens Integration, Dual capture photo, HDR and more. But that's all on paper. It captures decent images in a well-lit environment but messes up the skin tones. However, low-light photography is disappointing as images captured in the dark are hazy and lack detail. The 8MP selfie shooter is capable of capturing detailed images but again messes up the skin tones.
Battery: The battery on the Moto e22s is one of its strongest points alongside its high-refresh rate and great UI. Motorola has provided a 5000mAh battery in this smartphone and it easily lasts a day and half with moderate usage, if not more. Do note that when 90Hz refresh rate is turned on, the smartphone depletes the battery faster. Despite having a good battery, the coupled 10W charging brick disappoints as it takes ages to charge the 5000mAh capacity to the max.
Verdict: At its price point of Rs. 8999, the Moto e22s is a great option which has all the bells and whistles among the latest smartphone trends, such as dual cameras, high refresh rate display, great battery and more. Moto e22s's great UI coupled with a fairly powerful processor, provides smooth user experience in its segment. Despite the poor low-light camera performance and not being 5G enabled, the Moto e22s is still one of the best options you can go for in the sub Rs. 10,000 segment.
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