Moto e for beater mp3 player

[Compman55]

I can't believe I am asking this as I hate Motorola now, but I also did not know these phones are now $29-34 dollars. I like to tune my phone to a private signal at the gym to listen to what is on the big screens, also the bars have this and my G3 does not have an active tuner. Would this be a good buy to use as an FM tuner and mp3 player?

 

[Compman55]

anyone?

 

[lxskllr]

If it has the features you require, I don't see why you wouldn't want it. It's $30, and fits in your pocket. That's disposable money. Hard to justify spending much time thinking about it.

 

[monkey333]

I originally bought one to serve as a sole mp3 player, I ended up activating it on a freedompop 2gig $0 plan. Works great, running cm13 on it and it reads my 200g sd card. Highly recommended.

 

[desura]

I prefer the Blackberry Z10 for music. The DAC on the thing is better IMO than the Moto E (which I also have), and I like the OS more than Android.

 

[monkey333]

I prefer the Blackberry Z10 for music. The DAC on the thing is better IMO than the Moto E (which I also have), and I like the OS more than Android.

Serious q, does that come into play while using blu tooth?

 

[desura]

Serious q, does that come into play while using blu tooth?

no.

 

[Compman55]

I originally bought one to serve as a sole mp3 player, I ended up activating it on a freedompop 2gig $0 plan. Works great, running cm13 on it and it reads my 200g sd card. Highly recommended.

Very helpful, can you tell me what cm13 is and how you were able to score a 2gig plan for 0?

 

[monkey333]

For the Rom: http://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-e-2015/orig-development/rom-cyanogenmod-13-moto-e-lte-t3329100
As far as the plan goes, you might be out of luck. Freedompop and ringplus run specials on free plans frequently. The only issue is they had to now disallow these pay as you go phones for activation. The way around it is if you can find a phone that has been active on its intended account for a year. In other words used. Let me know if you have any more q's.

 

[sm625]

I'm on a ringplus 100% free plan. It didnt start that way. One day I noticed there was a free plan option on there so I switched to it. But even if its not free you can still get a lot for like $5.

 

[bonkers325]

I bought a few Moto E's at Best Buy last Christmas for $8 a pop. Dunno if there is an FM tuner in them though. Will definitely work as an MP3 player - they can take a MicroSD card.

 

[monkey333]

I bought a few Moto E's at Best Buy last Christmas for $8 a pop. Dunno if there is an FM tuner in them though. Will definitely work as an MP3 player - they can take a MicroSD card.

$8 a pop that's nuts..

 

[bonkers325]

$8 a pop that's nuts..

It's a decent phone, easily worth $30. But they're not bootloader unlocked so you're pretty much stuck with whatever firmware it's on.

 

[monkey333]

Which version? I'm running cm13 on my boost mobile version.

 

[Compman55]

Picked it up before memorial weekend, $25 at walmart for verizon version. Can someone explain what the benefit of putting the cm13 modd on it?

 

[monkey333]

Picked it up before memorial weekend, $25 at walmart for verizon version. Can someone explain what the benefit of putting the cm13 modd on it?

No bloatware. Essentially is android 6 which has some great battery savings on it. Not sure if your version has it.

 

[peterbanks]

I just picked one of the Boost prepaid Moto E phones for $29, and I'm really impressed.

I enjoy geeky projects, and the setup took a few hours.

1. Load Android studio for fastboot tools.
2. Get unlock code from Motorola for bootloader.
3. Root device.
4. Load TWRP.
5. Install latest Cyanogenmod 13 nightly build.
6. Add an extra 64Gb microSD card as adoptable storage.

Not only was this an educational and entertaining project, now I have an amazingly functional smartphone. I plan on using it as a wifi tablet, camera, and emergency 911 phone. I probably won't be using Boost.

The device is pretty chunky. In fact, I knocked it off the table when it was charging, and I was more worried about the hardwood floor than the phone. The battery life in airplane mode with wifi on is fantastic (looks like three to four days of regular use on a single charge).

Highly recommended for a tech project and wifi device.