There is an increasing range of budget 4G mobile phones available in the market. The Moto C Plus attempts to marry support for eight 4G LTE networks with a very robust battery of 4000 mAh capacity. Coupled with a low-power 1.3 GHz processor and a 5-inch display, it easily positions itself as a solid hand in that class.
You already know that Motorola Mobile is now owned by Lenovo, and the company has been churning out new Motorola cell phones in droves. Lenovo wants to have something for everyone. That isn’t new. Bigger brands like Nokia (back in the day) and Samsung have followed the same path.
There are two variants of the Moto C Plus – one with 1 GB RAM and the other with 2 GB RAM. The two look exactly alike. We got our hands on the 2 GB RAM model and have our review ready for you.
Moto C Plus Review: Quick Pros And Cons
Before we dive into the review proper, starting with the major pros and cons of this 5.5-inch phablet.
| Key Features | Cons |
| Bright 5.0-inch display | You cannot peg Network Mode to 4G out-of-the-box |
| Near stock Android 7 Nougat | |
| Super solid battery performance |
Moto C Plus Review: Hardware/Design
The Moto C Plus’ body is made of plastic. It is a budget smartphone, after all. The USB port at the bottom edge is version 2.0. There is a 3.5 mm audio port at the top edge. The loudspeaker grill is located on the lower back side of the phone.
Moto C Plus Review: Software
The Moto C Plus runs a near-stock version of Android 7.1.1 Nougat. The UI is quite clean. From the home screen, there is a pull-up menu that opens up the app tray. Are there any bloatware? There are very few, including a Wallpapers app and a Downloads app, both of which you just might like.
One of the benefits of running a near stock implementation of Android is speedier software updates. Unfortunately, this being a budget smartphone, Motorola has no plans to push out Android 8 Oreo update for it. You can check out which Moto mobile phones are on the Motorola Oreo Update List.
Moto C Plus Review: Network, Telephony
The Moto C Plus is a 4G LTE dual-SIM smartphone. Audio quality of telephone calls on the phone is good, but not stellar. The call sounds boxy to the person at the other end. But these are standard fare for devices in this price range.
The Moto C Plus works with 4G LTE networks from MTN and Etisalat, but not Glo. While it supports Smile’s 20(800) LTE band, we did not have a Smile nano-SIM or SIMs from Spectranet and Swift and so couldn’t put them to test.
As is standard for stock Android OS, the user is unable to peg network mode to 4G only. So, the phone cycles between available networks depending on the maximum setting you choose. But then, most 4G phones do not offer the ability to peg 4G either, so it may not be a big deal for many people. We were able to rectify that and peg network mode on the C Plus as we wished by installing and using the MTK Engineering app.
Moto C Plus Review: Display and Multimedia
Loudspeaker audio is loud and fairly tinny. No surprise there either. The display is bright and reading or watching videos on it is no problem.
Moto C Plus Review: Photography
How does the Moto C Plus fare with photography? We put it to the test.
Main Camera (8 megapixels):
The camera performance in daylight is good. Of course, it isn’t as good in low light situations, but that isn’t out of place at this price point.
Selfie Camera (2 megapixels):
Not bad at all for a 2-megapixel camera, even if it makes one look uglier than one really is. But then, not even the best selfie cameras take the best selfies. For top quality selfies, use the main camera. Thank me later.
Moto C Plus Review: Multitasking/Performance
The Moto C Plus is not big on performance. It is good and runs smooth for a smartphone with a 1.3 GHz processor and 2 GB of RAM. Of course, if you throw heavy-duty stuff at it, you will feel the limiting nature of the processor and RAM. If you care for synthetic scores, the Moto C Plus scored the following in our tests:
- AnTuTu: 29,111
- Geekbench: 535 Single-Core / 1509 Multi-Core
- Quadrant: 10,294
Moto C Plus Review: Battery life
When you have near stock Android software, a modest 5-inch display, a 1.3 GHz processor and a 4,000 mAh battery, what do you expect? If you said “Outstanding battery life”, you are correct. The Moto C Plus is one of those smartphones you can use with peace of mind, battery wise.
It takes a while to fill up the 4,000 mAh battery, but once full, you can hit the road without a care for a full work day of use without running out of juice.
Moto C Plus Review: Final Words
The Moto C Plus is a solid solution for those who want a handy 4G LTE smartphone without worrying about running out of battery juice in a few hours. Do not forget to check out the Moto C Plus Specifications and price.
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