Moto E second-gen with Android 5.0 and 4.5in display rumoured for launch soon

Motorola's popular Moto E, released in 2014, now looks set to get an advanced successor, which is expected to retain its low-cost legacy.

According to a Greek website Tech Maniacs report, the second-gen Motorola Moto E will be launched soon, with technical specifications a notch above the Moto E smartphone, the portal says.

The report claims that the second-gen Moto E will be launched with Google's Android 5.0 (Lollipop) straight out of the box.

As of now, only Motorola's Nexus 6 smartphone and Google's Nexus 9 tablet run the Android 5.0 out of the box.

Motorola recently listed several of its older models as officially being eligible to receive the Android 5.0 OS upgrade. Co-incidentally, the original Moto E is one among the smartphones that is set to receive the Android 5.0 update.

The USP of the current Moto E is its budget pricing and it is available in the UK for £92 ($144, €117). The device offers users a 4.3in screen, Android 4.4.2 KitKat (upgradeable to Android 4.4.4, then to Android 5.0 Lollipop), a dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 processor and a 5MP primary camera.

The handset also comes with a 1980 mAh fixed Li-Ion battery.

What to expect in the second-gen Moto E

According to the Tech Maniacs report, the next-gen Moto E could have the following specifications:

• 4.5in display, having resolutions of 960x540 pixels.
• Android 5.0 Lollipop operating platform; straight out of the box.
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor (configurations are yet to surface).
• 1GB RAM.
• 5MP rear camera.
• 4G LTE, Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi and microUSB connectivity.

The above tech-specs are a level higher than the original Moto E's technical configuration, but the differentiating factor would be the presence of the Android 5.0 by default.