Motorola One Action

The tall display of the Motorola One Action will immediately draw your attention whenever you enter a store. Priced at Rs 13,999, the Motorola One Action might appear like the Motorola One Vision, but it does pack a punch of its own.

The phone has a fantastic build and the unique 21:9 display which gives a different look to the videos you watch on this phone. It also has a wide-angle Action camera. However, the batteries on this phone can be a bit underwhelming. Despite that small shortcoming, if you want a phone for daily use, then Motorola One Action will serve you well.

Motorola One Action looks the same as the Motorola One Vision. Since the Motorola One Vision had quite a premium touch to it, Motorola One Action will not put you off. It has a tall profile due to its 21:9 display and the rear of the phone is made out of glossy plastic. For better grip, the rear panel has thin lines running beneath the surface, and the edges have a dotted pattern. The curved corners merge seamlessly with the polycarbonate frame and hence, making the phone even more grippy. The phone can comfortably rest in your palms without feeling bulky or uncomfortable. As usual, the batwing logo present on the rear panel acts as a fingerprint sensor. It comes with a triple camera module on the top left corner on the back panel. It bulges out a little bit – a design aspect which makes the phone look a bit poor. Plus, the back panel attracts a lot of smudges. The volume and the power buttons are fitted ergonomically on the right edge of the phone. Plus, you get a headphone jack, which is slowly getting lost in modern phones, as well as the upgraded USB Type-C port. Both these features, along with the general design, shows that much work has been put on this handset.

The Motorola One Action arrives with a 6.3-inch Full HD+ and a resolution of 1080×2520 pixels. It is an IPS display with a special 21:9 aspect ratio and a pixel density of 432ppi. The 21:9 aspect ratio was also seen in Motorola One Vision and is referred to as CinemaVision display. It is a display designed to offer viewers a ‘Director’s viewpoint’ as films are said to be shot in this aspect ratio. The only problem with the screen is that it has a punch-hole in front which has a thick black border and can be a significant distraction. Otherwise, the screen provides sharp colours and has decent contrast. The colours can be a bit cold and hence, appear washed out. Plus, the lack of AMOLED screen means you do not get premium colours that Oppo K3 and Realme X can offer. The 21:9 aspect ratio is excellent for engaging with 21:9 content. A year ago, it might have been difficult to find such content, but now many streaming services provide 21:9 content. However, it might be challenging to find 21:9 games. If you are watching a video which is not 21:9, then you have to deal with the dreaded black bars at the sides.

Motorola One Action gets its power from the octa-core Exynos 9609 chipset which is paired with 4GB RAM. It is the same processor that has been used to power Motorola One Vision. Daily usage is breezy with this phone with no stutters present even when you are multitasking with 10-15 apps running in the background. It can also handle heavy gaming like PUBG Mobile and Mortal Kombat X without any lagging. In Geekbench; it scored 5,399 points, which is quite a decent score. Performance-wise, the phone will not leave you wanting for more.

Motorola One Action offers three rear cameras, the first time for Motorola. It has a 12MP primary camera which is supported by a 16MP ultra-wide camera and a 5MP depth-sensing camera. The ultra-wide camera is also referred to as the Action Camera and allows a 117-degree field of view. The phone also arrives with a 12MP selfie camera which can shoot about 4K videos at 30fps. While the phone has downgraded from the 48MP primary shooter in Motorola One Vision to a 12MP camera, it is supported by a 16MP Action Camera. While it might be easy to shoot landscape with the wide-angle Action camera, it does not add anything to the quality of the video. A disappointing trait is that the Action Camera cannot click stills. The primary camera can take crisp photos during daylight with excellent details and dynamic range. However, the images can turn out to be a bit oversaturated. Macros have good contrast present in them. However, at close range, the focus gets a bit iffy, and there is a bit of colour bleeding around the edges. The portraits are brilliant if the focus is locked on. Otherwise, the edge detection can get poor. In the case of videos, the primary camera can shoot Full HD videos at 60fps and 4K at 30fps. It can shoot at both regular and 21:9 aspect ratio. There is no OIS present, but there is Electronic Image Stabilization, which can cancel out hand movements. The Action Camera can shoot full-HD at 60fps.

Low light shots are mostly grainy since Motorola One Action does not have a dedicated night mode.

The phone has a 3,500 mAh battery which may not seem significant but can last you for an entire day. With moderate to intensive use, the phone was able to hold itself together and settle at 10% power at the end of the day. However, if you are only using it for streaming TV shows and gaming, the battery will start dropping a lot faster. Running an HD video on loop found that the phone was able to stay alive for about 11 hours and 39 minutes, which is okay but not great. Charging can also get a lot slower since it takes about half an hour to get it to 30% and 2 and a half hours to get it to 100%.

The Motorola One Action is almost similar to the Motorola One Vision. It has a unique look to it and has an excellent performance. The cameras are decent too with the added Action Camera, strengthening its arsenal. However, it is not flawless. The battery is disappointing, and adding the slow charge to it makes it all the more frustrating. Plus, the punch-hole design can be a bit of a distraction. While the Action Camera is a refreshing addition, it can’t take wide-angle shots – a strange decision from the developers. However, overall, the phone is worth it and capable of enticing you. If you are considering alternatives, then you could go for the quad-camera models like Realme 5 Pro and Vivo Z1 Pro.