Lenovo's follow-up to last year's Moto E might have appeared on benchmark test

By Williams Pelegrin Published April 1, 2016

When Motorola first released the Moto E back in 2014, the company set the bar for what it possible in the world of budget-minded Android smartphones. Fast forward two years, and Lenovo, Motorola’s newest owner, is likely working on this year’s follow-up to the Moto E.

GFXBench, a benchmark test for phones and tablets alike, reveals many things about their processors and the rest of their guts. It’s also how we came across the Lenovo XT1700 and XT1706, which might as well be mirror images of each other. Both handsets are powered by the 1GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6735P processor with 2GB of RAM. Continuing our tour of their insides reveals 16GB of built-in storage, which will likely be expandable, given Motorola’s trend of including Micro SD card slots in their recent releases.

Recommended Videos

On the front, you’ll find a 5-megapixel camera sitting above the 5-inch, 1,280 x 720p resolution display, with an 8MP camera sitting around back. Android 6.0 Marshmallow runs the show, which, given Motorola’s general propensity to have its phones updated to the latest and greatest, isn’t all that shocking, even when considering the low-end hardware. Finally, the XT1700 and XT1706 includes your typical array of sensors and radios, though NFC looks to be absent. That isn’t of much consequence, however, seeing how both handsets seem to be gunning for the budget market due to their internals.

What tips us off to the XT1700 and XT1706 being the follow-up to last year’s Moto E isn’t just the low-end hardware, but the model numbers, specifically the “XT.” Normally, such letters have indicated a Motorola handset in the past. In addition, seeing how then-Motorola president Rick Osterloh confirmed that the Moto G and Moto E lines will continue in the foreseeable future, we have a strong suspicion that these two handsets are the third-generation Moto E.

Lenovo hasn’t confirmed as much, though, and we have reached out to the company for a possible comment on the matter.

Topics

Williams Pelegrin

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Williams is an avid New York Yankees fan, speaks Spanish, resides in Colorado, and has an affinity for Frosted Flakes. Send…

Mobile

Luxury watch brand Movado has a smart watch — it’s over $350 below retail price today

A Movado Bold Motion smart watch with a metal band, seen from the side, has a small circular Jomashop watermark.

Smart watches are fascinating ways to track our sleep, health, and fitness and make an interesting use of the wrist slot on our body in a world where the time is more available than ever. But we can criticize even the best smartwatches for looking a bit too techy. That is, if you want something that looks more traditional and fear looking too health-conscious, a smartwatch is seemingly not for you.

Fortunately, we're seeing an increasing interest in hybrid smartwatches — watches that use old world style with modern day tech. And, sometimes, they get a pretty good sale. Take the Movado Bold Motion in stainless steel that we're now seeing on Jomashop. It retails for $795, but they're selling it for just $442. That's a discount of $353, or around 44% off. Tap the button below to see and buy the watch or keep reading to learn about all of its details.

Mobile

At 20% off, the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL just became Android’s best phone

Pixel 9 Pro XL display.

The Google Pixel 9 Pro XL is one of our favorite phones. In fact, it is right there at slot number two in our list of the best Android phones, where we call it the "best big Android phone." It's also 20% off today, knocking a 128GB storage and obsidian black version of the phone down to $884, from $1,099. That's a savings of $215. You can also get a discount on the , but it costs a few more dollars at $899. Tap the button below to see the phone we're highlighting in today's best deal or keep on reading to see why this is one of our favored phones.

Why you should buy the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL
The Google Pixel 9 Pro XL is a powerhouse. It has 16GB of RAM, and excellent display, legitimately helpful AI tools, and what our Google Pixel 9 Pro XL review calls the "best Pixel hardware yet." As mentioned, it is the second phone detailed in our list of the best Android phones, labelled as a "big" phone. And it is, the XL referring to its 6.8-inch Super Actua OLED display with a 1344 x 2992 resolution and up to 120Hz refresh rate. Our review calls this display "outstanding" and tells us that the "screen is bright and vibrant without being too punchy." You begin to wonder why this is number two.

Mobile

Preorder the Light Phone III and save $200 (and your sanity)

Light Phone 3

We're now living in a world where a significant proportion of people are actually wanting to "de-tech" parts of their lives without going tech-free altogether. Compare this year's article about the joys of dumb phones over this classic from 2011 that told us young people prefer tech over the ability to smell. And that brings us to the Light Phone III, an upcoming phone that you can pre-order today that will help simplify your life without going "dumb." It's actually quite techy, but, as our Light Phone III teaser described it, it is all done in an "intentional" way. In other words it is a phone meant to serve you and not advertisers or the parts of our brains that respond to flashing lights and sounds. Preorder it now (it's estimated to ship in August) for a $200 discount, dropping the phone from $799 to $599, by tapping the button below. Or, keep reading to see why less is sometimes more.

Why you should preorder the Light Phone III
Matter and anti-matter, protons and electrons, the lightness and the darkness — opposites create balance, or so the story goes. The Light Phone III provides all of the most important features of a modern day smartphone: A camera, alarm, timer, calculator, calendar, directory, directions, a notes app, and a simple music and podcast player. It has GPS, Bluetooth, finger print ID, flashlight, noise-cancelling mic, and can even be used as a hotspot for your other devices. There's even a nice AMOLED screen.