Motorola One Action Review: Solid Action Camera And Good Performance At A Great Price

Motorola One Action

Motorola One Action is the successor to Motorola One Vision and true to the new product philosophy of the one series, it packs a lot of solid features that will appeal to the budget segment buyer. I spent considerable time with the device and here is my review of the Motorola One Action

The Motorola One Action and the Motorola One Vision are quite literally identical twins in the design department.The Motorola One Action is another long, thin device from Motorola with a full front display that has a very healthy 84% screen to body ratio, the only feature in the front is a punch-hole selfie camera. The rear of the device has a glossy plastic finish and is a fingerprint magnet, with curved edges and a familiarly shaped camera module. We also get  to see the same rear-mounted fingerprint sensor as the Vision, which neatly contains the Motorola symbol. Overall, it looks great and fits neatly into the hand.

Moto has not gone for some jazzy gradient or in-your-face design that most smartphone manufacturers are opting for these days, Motorola has kept things simple and straightforward with this device. The design is almost identical to Motorola One Vision, which is very easy on the eye and practical.It is a pleasant looking phone that is very easy on the eye. Motorola One Action is available in two different colors including Aqua Teal and Denim Blue.

Motorola One Action

You get a USB Type-C charging port and a speaker at the bottom of the phone, the power and volume rocker keys on the right edge, there’s a 3.5mm audio jack on the top edge, and a sim slot on left.

An important difference between these two phones is that the Motorola One Action comes with IPX2 water resistance compared to the One Vision’s IP52 rating. Motorola One Action’s 6.3-inch display is just as good, clear and crisp as its older brother’s. It sports a 1080 x 2520 LCD, which allows for ample pixel density and strong peak brightness. With a 21:9 aspect ratio, it’s much taller than most phones.

Motorola One Action

Since the phone comes with an aspect ratio of 21:9, you can smoothly watch certain 21:9 content on Netflix and Amazon Prime Video without any distracting black bars above and below the video.

The Motorola One Action is packing a 3,500mAh battery given its inherent similarity to the Motorola One Vision. This battery is  more than enough to get the phone through a day of usage with a little room to spare. If you are an active user having a busy day, you will be left with 20% battery at the end of the day,  and if you are having a quiet day, it might leave the battery half full. Overnight charging is more than sufficient with this device.

Motorola One Action

Motorola One Action is powered by the Samsung Exynos 9609 SoC, paired with a Mali G72 GPU for graphics. It comes with 4 GB RAM and 128 GB internal storage. When it comes to simple daily tasks like sending text messages, watching videos, using Instagram and Snapchat, the phone holds its own quite decently. Also, 128GB storage is more than enough to store large gaming apps and is a very generous option given the price point of the phone in the market. There are absolutely no complaints on the performance of the phone. I even tried multiple apps in parallel and gaming. The phone does not stutter when performing under load. Ticks all the boxes in this department.

Motorola One Action comes with a triple camera setup on the rear panel that comprises of a 12MP primary sensor with an f/1.8 aperture and a pixel size of 1.25-micron, a 5 MP depth sensor for portrait mode photos, and a 16MP wide-angle action camera with an f/2.2 aperture, a 117-degree field of view and a pixel size of 2.0-micron. It sports a 12MP camera on the front for selfies, with an f/2.0 aperture and a pixel size of 1.25-micron.

Motorola One Action

Motorola has dropped the eye-catching 48MP camera of the Motorola One Vision in favor of a more normal 12MP unit backed by a 5MP depth sensor. That sounds like a practical decision given the other action camera that has been packed and also given the price band of the device. It is very capable of taking very decent pictures consistently.  

 The 16MP 117-degree sensor that the phone packs is dedicated to video capture, and this is  the area where the Vision’s pixel binning technology actually improves sharpness. Videos that we shot with the One Action are pretty much wider than normal and rather well stabilized – electronically with EIS – which is  how the phone gives you the ability to hold the camera more firmly in portrait view while still shooting landscape videos. This is a first in this segment.

Coming to the front there’s a 12MP camera for all your selfie needs. Irrespective of the camera you use, The Moto camera app is a neat and crisp one that provides smooth and clean access to all of the main functions. It’s easy enough to switch onto full manual control if you so wish.

All in all, Motorola has played a winning hand in the camera department, especially the action camera. In our review, we found that the pictures churned out very crisp and had the right degree of detail. The colors were also fleshed out well. Here are a few pictures I took with the Motorola One Action

We are impressed with the Android One OS that the Motorola One Action comes with. This is Google’s near-stock version of what is currently Android 9 Pie, with absolutely no manufacturer modifications to its appearance or core functions.

Motorola One Action

The fact is that Android One brings is the solid guarantee of software updates for at least two years, meaning the One Action will definitely get Android 10 and 11.There is also guarantee that you will get security upgrades for the next three years. This is a very neat and practical deal in terms of OS stability and updates. The UI is just simply neat and smooth, no disputes at all in that department.

Verdict

At a price point of INR 13,999/- this phone is an ideal package. It is a phone that  delivers a solid action camera and good performance at a great price. Given the festive season ahead, this phone will surely make an impact in the market.

About Shakthi

I am a Tech Blogger, Disability Activist, Keynote Speaker, Startup Mentor and Digital Branding Consultant. Also a McKinsey Executive Panel Member. Also known as @v_shakthi on twitter. Been around Tech for two decades now.

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