When looking to purchase something, I generally start by reading the Amazon one star reviews. That can get depressing though, cause there doesnt seem to be anything out there that doesnt come with problems -- maybe a lot of that is to do with the minimal quality control these days.

-tomos (July 02, 2020, 03:28 PM)

I know what you mean about the very negative reviews.  I try to read somme positive ones to start.  But I keep an eye out for minor disappointments about a feature that may be more important to me than the general user.  Then I check out a couple of the "do not buy this piece of crap" reviews just in case there is a major problem that does not show up on all units.   ;D

The main thing I find disappointing is that the new Moto phones do not seem to want to improve on 720P resolution.  Such a big heavy phone should have 1080P FHD.

...

Another less than stellar "feature" of my e5 is that any photos I take look like total crap.  Streaming video isn't too bad if the WiFi has good bandwidth, but anything less than 1080P is unacceptable these days.

-MilesAhead (July 01, 2020, 09:44 AM)

Well, it is their budget phone series, most manufacturers have a line that is 720p, ordinary camera, 2-3GB RAM, 16-32GB eMMC Flash, MTK or SD4xx SoC, etc, (eg. Samsung Galaxy A01) ... you'd need to move to their G series for better specs ... which is what they hope you do.

-4wd (July 01, 2020, 07:44 PM)

I just checked out the Moto G8 Power specs.  At $250 USD it does provide 1080P screen res, 4GB ram, 64GB storage.  What I find inexplicable with the Moto series is the inability of the unlucky few like myself, to use the earphone jack.  As incredible as it sounds if you look through the Motorola forums you will see a small percentage of reports that describe how no standard stereo set of earbuds will work.  How can such old technology not work?  It is totally bizarre.  I have to use a blue tooth headset.  Granted the sound is much better but I would like to be able to keep a set of buds in my pocket for stuff like listening to phone messages without digging out a headset.  Needless to say with the volume maxed I still cannot hear my messages through the speakers.

I am sure some will think I am crazy but it seems these complaints span several years.  There always seems to be a fly in the ointment with every electronic device I purchase.  It is very frustrating.  I tried 3 sets of bud-like blue tooth headphones thinking they would at least be easier to carry.  None lasted more than two weeks.  They all instantly transitioned from working fine to dead door nail.

For us, the living : a comedy of customs by Robert A. Heinlein