Thinking of buying your next budget smartphone? AT&T Motivate review helps you skip the lengthy research about the phone’s specs and price.
The AT&T Motivate smartphone was released in February 2021. With plenty of choices on budget phones, the AT&T Motivate has been garnering attention for its price points.
AT&T Motivate also known as Emblem Solutions LLC V341U phone. Featuring a 1.3GHz Quad-core, Qualcomm Snapdragon 215 processor, and a 3,300mAh battery capacity, there’s much to brag about this device. Plus, the phone is easy to carry around everywhere.
It’s compact thanks to the smaller-size screen and slim build. The material is also lightweight, making up to only 179g weight in total. The OS is also “lightweight,” due to its use of the lighter Android Go version.
Price and features aside, is the smartphone worth it? In this AT&T Motivate (V341U) review, we’ll be taking a deep dive into the device from a couple of perspectives.
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Key Specs
AT&T Motivate (V341U) specifications:
- Weight: 179g
- Dimensions: 159 x 76 x 8.9mm
- OS: Android 10 (Go Edition)
- Screen size: 6-inch
- Resolution: 1440 x 720
- CPU: 1.3GHz Quad-core, Qualcomm Snapdragon 215
- RAM: 2GB
- Storage:16GB
- Battery: 3,300mAh, Non-removable
- Rear camera: 5MP
- Front camera: 2MP
Design
The AT&T Motivate (V341U) smartphone is an entry-level smartphone that has a basic build. In our palms, it’s slightly bulkier compared to modern smartphones. But it is still slim enough that we can put it in our pockets. If you’re a fan of phones that you can hold with one hand, this smartphone is for you.
Design-wise, the smartphone’s front side features an LCD screen. Around it is black bezels. The top and bottom bezels are on the thicker side. Meanwhile, the right and left bezels are thinner. Here you can find the front camera, sensors, and receiver on the front side of the device.
Moving onto the backside, the design is kept to a minimum. The blue casing is made out of plastic material with a sheen on it. There’s also the round rear camera, with the Flash in the bottom. Below, you can find the speaker built into the phone. Unfortunately, the smartphone is only available in blue color.
All in all, the design falls into the average-looking category, which is not surprising for a phone at this budget. It doesn’t matter. The more important thing here is that it’s comfortable to carry around and use.
Read also: AT&T Motivate (V341U) User Manual
Display
The AT&T Motivate smartphone comes with a 6-inch LCD screen. The display gives users ample room to do everyday phone activities. Whether it’s browsing social media or accessing apps, there’s enough screen size to do these things. But because of the bezels around it, the display screen looks smaller at a glance.
However, if we’re looking to do other engaging activities, like gaming or working, it’s best to get a phone with a wider screen. As mentioned above, this is a basic phone that’s great for casual phone usage. But if anybody’s planning to do anything else besides calling or texting, it’s advisable to get something else.
To compensate for the size, the display screen is installed with an HD+ feature (1440 x 720 pixels.) With a 2:1 display ratio, you can enjoy sharp, colorful tones. These features make it enjoyable to watch your favorite movies. While it’s not significantly sharp or colorful, it’s a step-up compared to other budget gadgets.
A commendable feature of this device is that the LCD screen is protected with Dragontrail™ glass. Known for its scratch-resistant properties, there’s a good layer of protection included. But we recommend adding something stronger like tempered glass for extra protection.
Camera
The AT&T Motivate (Emblem Solutions LLC V341U) smartphone comes with a functional 5MP main rear camera. In this era, 5MP doesn’t amount to much. There are other phones in the market that have at least 8MP camera quality with the same budget. We can still take a couple of shots. But don’t expect photo results that impress people.
However, we give the smartphone props for adding in certain rear camera features. The rear camera comes with autofocus. The autofocus isn’t as responsive and crystal clear as we’d hope for. But at least there’s LED flash to help us take photos in dark settings.
The smartphone also features a 2MP front camera. Again, 2MP isn’t enough in this era. Even with the beauty effect, our selfies still came out of low quality. But we appreciate that the phone has a self-timer added to it. This little add-on helps maintain some stability when taking selfies.
At this point, we’re not entirely too convinced with the quality of the phone’s cameras. Anybody who’s expecting to have a device that takes great quality snaps might want to switch to something else. Photography enthusiasts out there might not choose this device as a first option when buying a new gadget.
Read also: Alcatel 1B (2020) Review: Modest Specs and Android Go
Storage
The AT&T Motivate has an internal storage space of up to 16GB. Memory space at this size is enough if you’re downloading smaller apps and keeping little data. But usually, users don’t have access to all 16GB, since the smartphone already comes with pre-loaded apps.
Fortunately, you’ll have the choice of expanding the storage with a microSD card. You can increase up to 64GB of the storage using external space. We will need to purchase this microSD card separately to achieve this. Even with an increase in storage, it still may not be suitable for larger apps, like games and phone software.
Performance
The AT&T Motivate smartphone is powered by a 1.3GHz Quad-core, Qualcomm Snapdragon 215. The processor is typically designed for entry-level smartphones that don’t require much horsepower. However, it does help in improving CPU performance by 50% and increases download speeds.
Furthermore, this processor ensures that things run smoothly and apps have the right amount of support. Due to its quality, the processor may not be well optimized for heavy-duty tasks. For instance, multi-tasking multiple apps may not be a wise choice with a processor like this. While it is possible, it doesn’t have the speed for the phone to move swiftly.
The AT&T Motivate review wouldn’t be complete without taking a look at the 2GB RAM. As one of the most critical components of the smartphone, the RAM is central to smooth phone performance. Unfortunately, 2GB in this era just doesn’t cut it. If anything, the low RAM is causing lags sometimes.
This issue can be resolved by regularly clearing the RAM after every time you have used the device. Also, it’s better to open the apps one at a time so that they don’t crash so much. It can be troublesome, but it’s a good solution if anyone’s still insistent on buying this device.
As for the Operating System (OS), the AT&T Motivate uses the Android 10 (Go Edition). This OS is specifically designed to support phones with 2GB RAM and lower. This is a plus in our books, considering we would like phones to be optimized – no matter the feature.
Unlike the usual Android 10, this specific version runs lighter and saves more data. Apps have a faster launch time and we can explore the web at higher speeds. Additionally, we get to enjoy the Google apps and features that usually come pre-installed with Android OS, like Assistant Go.
Finally, the AT&T Motivate has typical sensors such as accelerator, proximity sensor, light sensor, and more. Unfortunately, the phone does not have a fingerprint scanner. This feature would have been useful for users to easily access the phone. With a fingerprint scanner, it would have saved users a lot of time from having to type in lock screen passwords.
Connectivity
The AT&T Motivate smartphone can connect to the 4G LTE network. To activate this, you need to insert a Nano SIM card into the device. Alternatively, you have the option of connecting to the internet without a data connection. All you need to do is activate the Wi-Fi feature.
In addition to these features, the smartphone also comes with Bluetooth. This is useful if you have external devices like Bluetooth speakers or earphones. We can also transfer files using Bluetooth, or use the USB Type-C cable to transfer files to a PC. There are plenty of ways to ensure you stay connected.
Lastly, AT&T Motivate also features GPS. It uses various methods to find a route, either the network or satellite positioning. Navigating with the phone is quite accurate and easy. We don’t have any problems with it.
Battery
The AT&T Motivate features a long-lasting 3,300mAh battery. To be honest, we’re impressed with the capacity of the battery. A battery of this size is enough for 16 hours of talking time. On the other hand, if the phone is left on standby, it can last for 341 hours. Not bad for a phone at this price.
Also, the smartphone’s battery is non-removable. A non-removable battery will not get easily damaged by external factors. With this, we can ensure more durability for the battery. Meanwhile, charging gears are pretty simple too. It uses the USB Type-C port and comes with no fast charging capability.
Is the AT&T Motivate a good phone?
As mentioned previously, there are tons of budget phones available in the market. And while that AT&T Motivate smartphone boasts a price of $49, it’s better to search for other devices unless you have no other choices. When correlating the price and the features, especially low camera qualities and low RAM storage, it doesn’t do much justice to the device.
To conclude the AT&T Motivate (Emblem Solutions LLC V341U) review, budget phones are a great option to save a buck while still having a functioning device. However, we would suggest splurging a little bit to get a better smartphone. Another option would be to find a cheaper phone with pretty much the same specifications as AT&T Motivate. You will get a better deal that way.
AT&T Motivate Pros
- Long-lasting battery
- Compact build
- Android 10 (Go Edition)
AT&T Motivate Cons
- Low-quality cameras
- Small RAM
- Small internal storage
