AT&T Motivate 2 is a budget smartphone that is worth the money. You can skip your research and read this AT&T Motivate 2 review to determine what’s under the hood.
AT&T Motivate 2 smartphone was released in October 2021. Motivate 2 supports a 4G network and comes with a battery saver mode that makes the power long-lasting. The device runs on Android 11 and gets 3GB of RAM.
For an entry-level device, Motivate 2 has several features that are helpful for our day-to-day activities. The camera resolutions are decent enough to capture memories, and it comes with a fingerprint reader. What’s better is that this phone’s size and weight make it comfortably perfect for holding.
Want to know more about this entry-level smartphone? Check out this AT&T Motivate 2 (EA211002) review below!
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Key Specs
AT&T Motivate 2 (EA211002) specifications:
| Weight | 184g |
| Dimensions | 170 x 77 x 8.9mm |
| OS | Android 11 |
| Screen size | 6.5-inch |
| Resolution | 1600 x 720 |
| CPU | 1.8GHz Quad-core, MediaTek Helio A20 |
| RAM | 3GB |
| Storage | 32GB |
| Battery | 3,500mAh, Non-removable |
| Rear camera | 8MP |
| Front camera | 5MP |
| Features | Fingerprint Reader |
Design
AT&T Motivate 2 is comfortable to hold and use. It fits in our palm, and there’s no need to hold it with two hands. The phone is designed ergonomically with 170 x 77 x 8.9mm in size. Not too thick and not too thin, but it does feel cheap due to its plastic case.
The device is only available in a single color, Maritime Blue. It has thin black bezels on each side and a plastic case on the backside. Still looking at the backside, we noticed the round rear camera with a LED flash. The speaker is also placed on the backside at the bottom.
Display
The AT&T Motivate 2 sports HD+ screen. This is enough to compensate for the rather small screen. It’s pretty decent with a 6.5-inch display and 1600 x 720 pixel resolutions. However, the phone does not have a bezel-less; thus, the border makes the screen look smaller than its actual size.
Protected by DragonTrail glass, the screen display is bright and clear but somehow lacking sharpness. Perhaps the overwhelming choices of the phone with vivid displays out there make this phone seems off.
We didn’t find any difficulties navigating the phone. The touch screen is responsive. We’ve tried it as fast as we could many times, and it does not show any lagging. The same thing goes with the swipe and scroll.
Camera
AT&T Motivate 2 flaunts an 8MP rear camera with LED flash. The quality is not incredible, but the flash helps capture pictures at night. This rear camera features autofocus, too.
The selfie camera packs a 5MP lens, and there is a self-timer feature and beauty effect. There is a shortcut for the camera for a quick shoot by pressing the power button twice. What’s nice about the camera is that we can capture still pictures while recording a video.
Overall, the camera quality is standard, the way entry-level phones should have. It’s still great to capture moments and record our favorite things.
Read also: Cricket Icon 3 Review: Entry Level Phone for Basic Activities
Storage
Storage-wise, AT&T Motivate 2 comes with 32GB of internal memory. Is it enough? That might have to depend on what you need in a phone. 32GB is the lowest storage standard for Android devices.
Like any budget device, we can’t expect to download huge files like games or high-quality images and videos. It is best to keep the data at a minimum to avoid lagging.
Fortunately, we can still rely on its extra memory space using its microSD slot. However, you need to purchase the external memory because the phone does not come with one. The maximum capacity for extra storage is 128GB.
Performance
AT&T Motivate 2 is packed with smart features such as gesture navigation and battery manager. These smart features are completed with more features as the device uses Android 11 as its operating system.
What does the Red Velvet Cake version bring to the table? It makes our daily activity runs easier. These features include screen recorder, priority notification, app suggestions, Do Not Disturb mode, dark theme, and media control.
We might think we don’t need them, but these little details are the things that create a better user experience. For instance, the dark theme mode is perfect to avoid a blue screen that makes our eyes sore. Do Not Disturb mode is an extra quick shortcut to turn off volumes and all notifications before we go to bed.
When writing this AT&T Motivate 2 review, we tried to use its fingerprint sensor, and it’s responsive. The device sports 3GB RAM and MediaTek chipset as the processor. Even with a smaller RAM, this phone works great and fast. MediaTek processor was first introduced in 2013, and it’s gained popularity ever since, especially in low-budget devices.
AT&T Motivate 2 is equipped with a fingerprint reader – something that its predecessor lacked. Getting a fingerprint reader on our phone does save time to unlock, especially when we are in a hurry. Other than that, the smartphone has other sensors such as proximity, light, and accelerator sensors.
Our takeaway about the performance of this phone? This phone works well to assist and entertain us for daily use, occasional multimedia streaming, and gaming.
Multitasking in this phone has not shown any glitch so far. Still, due to the small RAM capacity, we recommend clearing the cache regularly to avoid cramming up the memory in the RAM that might result in lagging.
Connectivity
AT&T Motivate 2 supports 4G LTE. This means a faster browsing experience. Playing YouTube or streaming our favorite music is seamlessly great without lagging. We also found no problem using the GPS – getting a direction with Google Maps worked smoothly.
The smartphone is packed with Wi-Fi and can share connections via hotspot tethering. It provides options to transfer files using Bluetooth or a USB Type-C connector.
It’s a great connectivity feature, especially when we plan to purchase phone accessories such as a keyboard or speaker. We can always rely on Bluetooth to connect the devices. Overall, the phone has all the necessary connectivity we need.
Battery
AT&T Motivate 2 is packed with a 3,500mAh battery. It’s good for 16 hours of talk time. It takes 160 minutes to fully charge the device, and it can last up to 14 days in standby mode. The phone doesn’t come with a fast-charging feature, but there’s one interesting feature about the battery.
AT&T Motivate 2 has a battery saver option that allows us to restrict the use of apps according to our choices when the battery reaches a critical level. When this option is turned on, the battery manager will smartly identify which app drains power the most and quickly makes adjustments.
Is the AT&T Motivate 2 a good phone?
AT&T Motivate 2 is sold for $49. The device is comparable to other entry-level phones for this price, but AT&T Motivate 2 has slightly better specs than the others at the same price level. Overall, the smartphone can handle daily tasks pretty well, and as a bonus, we can still play games and stream videos in our quiet time.
After doing AT&T Motivate 2 review, we think this device is suitable for those seeking a budget phone that gets the job done, occasional news readers, and still want to stay connected through social media platforms. The features are straightforward and nothing fancy.
AT&T Motivate 2 Pros:
- Ergonomic
- Battery saver
- Fingerprint reader
AT&T Motivate 2 Cons:
- Small internal memory
- Low resolution
- Cheap design
