Moto E7i Power Review

The Budget end of the mobile phone market used to scream disappointment when features required for the phone were simply missing and the build of the phone was a little questionable.  

Now those days are behind us with the budget end of the marketing offering some great features and even 5G. Check out our review of the TCL 20R 5G. Now with brands such as TCL, Realme, Xiaomi & Alcatel, you have quite the choice.  

In this review, we are turning our attention to the Motorola Moto E7i Power which costs £79.99.

At 79.99 you will find it hard to find a cheaper handset but have Motorola made sacrifices to keep the cost low let’s find out. 

First Impressions

The Moto E7i Power as you might expect have put the focus on this phone on the battery life and with a 5000 mAh battery, it will last long into the day with standard use.  

Move the battery to one side for a second and this phone is slow and the camera won’t be winning any photography awards but it will still do a job. The phone lacks any kind of waterproof and don’t even think about 5G, not at this price.

Design

The Moto E7i Power won’t be winning any design awards but at the same time, it does not look super cheap either. Yes, they use a lot of plastic in the build but the handset does feel solid meaning it could handle the odd drop.

In terms of the position of the controls that is all down the right side of the phone with the power, volume controls as well as a Google Assistant button which is nice to see as it provides that shortcut to your smart assistant.

The Moto E7i also comes with a fingerprint scanner for that added security the phone also comes with a USB-C port and also a 3.5mm headphone jack for those who want a wired connection for their headphones. Personally, I use Bluetooth connected earbuds so I had no need for the headphone jack. However, I can see why some people will be fans of this design.  

Moving to the rear of the device the camera bump is there for all to see and place the phone on its back and it will wobble a little. Also on the pack is the phone speaker and while testing the speaker it provides a decent level of clarity. 

Finally, the design comes in two different colours Tahiti Blue or Coral Red meaning you can stand out from the crowd. The only issue is the fact it’s not dust or waterproof so just be careful with the device. My advice buy a case to give it some extra protection.

Display

The Moto E7i Power offers a nice large screen you get a 6.51-inch display that offers a 720×1600 pixel resolution. It could be better and you don’t get a lot on the screen at once when searching the net.  

The phone offers an LCD display and comes with the standard 60Hz refresh rate. The phone is not the brightest or fastest phone on the market. However, when playing games or watching TV via Sky Go it performed quite well considering the cost. 

The Bezel around the display is not massive to affect your viewing of something on Youtube you should be able to handle the phone on this point. There is also a teardrop notch that the Selfie camera sits but same again it won’t affect the display.

Under the Bonet 

As you might expect considering the cost the E7i Power won’t scare the more expensive handsets on the market. It does perform ok but expect some lag when moving between apps. 

The phone uses a Unisoc SC9863A chipset which is paired with just 2GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage which thank the lord can be increased with the use of a microSD card.  

Considering the resources in the phone are shall we say basic. You are also given the Go versions of most of the Google apps and you also have Facebook lite to allow you to use these apps without much power from inside the device.

In terms of gaming on the E7i Power, it’s a mixed bad some older versions of games will appear on the google play store (go version). Other games like COD did run fairly well considering but if you want the game to run faster find an alternative device.  

Finally, in terms of the operating system, it’s more disappointing this phone offers your Andriod 10 instead of the latest 11 version. However, it won’t cause any real issues and does provide the basics well. You also get an FM radio app perfect for travelling back in time before DAB radio.  

This phone also uses 4G and the speeds when I tested this device over the last few days were not that bad. Yes, you are missing 5G connectivity but until the rollout becomes more nationwide I would not be too concerned.   

Camera

The Camera is also not going to blow you away it’s simple in fact the whole phone is basic especially at under £80. You get a dual-lens 13MP wide and 2MP macro camera layout. There is no optical zoom it simply clicks and snap and also misses out on ultra-wide as well so it’s very basic as mentioned. On the front of the phone, you get a 5MP camera that will allow for a basic looking selfie shot. 

In terms of photo quality, it will provide you with a decent image on social media however, if you look closer you will find the images ofter become a little blurry and the sharpness of the images are also on the poor side. 

Taking images at night is also going to be a battle you do have a night mode which does increase the brightness which can take a decent picture if you really try. Overwise it’s a very mixed bag. 

There is a positive hidden in the middle of all of this the shutter speed works really well and so it does help get the basic of shots if you want anything more technical find a new phone.

The Moto E7i Power also provides you with the opportunity to record video footage and it does this with a 1080P resolution and at 30 frames per second so it offers basic recording quality for but your just looking for something pretty basic that just does the job you will be happy with what Motorola is offering.

Battery Life

The Star of the phone is the battery life and this is why I feel you would buy this phone it offers exceptional battery life as long as you have basic demands for this phone. The 5000mAh battery offers around 40 hours + of use.

When using the phone to watch videos with the brightness up you will get about 10 hours as the phone will have to work harder to make this happen. 

When using the phone everyday use you can expect about 2 and half days battery life that what I have found in testing the device.  As you might have expected with the super cheap cost of this phone there is no wireless charging or fast charging and are limited to 10W charging via the cable charge. It does take a while to charge so if I was you just do it overnight as it won’t drive you nuts waiting for this phone to charge.

Verdict

If you have been reading this review you will notice it’s hard to find the positives with this phone apart from the price and that battery life. I feel the fact the phone costs £79.99 this is the main reason you would buy this phone. If we are digging deep for positives I guess it’s nice this phone offers a 3.5mm headphone jack but when one of the positives is this I just struggle to give you reasons to buy this phone.  

In terms of the negatives, we have that cheap feeling design and most people buy a phone with the camera in mind and this phone just disappoints it will provide a decent photo when in daylight but in low light or night shots are just not great. There is far better camera on phones in the market. 

It’s not all bad you can watch videos or tv programs on this phone but expect some lag and if you’re looking for a sharper, brighter display on a phone look elsewhere. If you’re just looking for an emergency device if your main phone breaks this will get you out of trouble. Who would buy this? I expect it would be a decent first phone for a teenage son but it won’t last long because as soon as they enter the world of social media like Tic Toc or Instagram they will want a better phone but for a phone doing the basics well this phone will tick a box.  

Product Rating:

• Design: 2.0 out of 5.0 stars2.0
• Features: 2.0 out of 5.0 stars2.0
• Camera: 2.0 out of 5.0 stars2.0
• Battery Life: 5.0 out of 5.0 stars5.0
• Value for Money : 5.0 out of 5.0 stars5.0           

Overall Rating: 3.2 out of 5.0 stars3.2 -3.2 Stars    

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