The Motorola One Action, Who Should Buy It?

Motorola has freshly announced the Motorola One Action in India which features an unconventionally tall display that has an aspect ratio of 21:9. The smartphone is offered in a single storage configuration and is priced at Rs 13,999.

Falling in a price bracket that is one of the most popular, the question arises where does the Motorola offering stand in front of smartphones like the Redmi Note 7 Pro and Realme 5 Pro that are laden with features.

In this article, we will look at both the pros and cons of the Motorola One Action. Besides, we will also discuss, who should get the latest offering from the company that birthed mobile phones in 1973.

In order to provide a reference point, we have laid out the specifications of the Motorola One Action and its competitors in a tabular manner.

We can clearly see that the Motorola One Action not only has a smaller battery but it also does not support 18 W or 20 W fast charging like its competitors. We feel this is the only con that the newly launched smartphone has.

However, if fast charging is not your biggest concern and you can overlook this aspect. There are plenty of features that he Motorola One Action offers which are listed below:

• Bloatware Free Experience:  The Motorola One Action runs on the stock version of Android 9 Pie which is devoid of any custom skins. Therefore, the UI is free from any intrusive ads that Xioami owners would be well aware of.
  Besides, it does not have any bloatware or custom apps that are found on devices including Xiaomi and Realme. Although it is debatable, we believe stock Android offers a much more slick UI and first-time device owners can learn it without much hassle. 
  
  Moreover, there are no proprietary versions of apps like gallery or music that continuously prompt for device permissions like storage and location which may send user data off-shore to data centres in the name of improving user experience.  
  
  
• Android One Certification: Like most other Android smartphones from the company, the Motorola One Action is a part of the Android One Program. Therefore, it is assured to receive at least two upgrades of Android operating system and security patches for 36 months which is a considerable factor. 
  In the case of Motorola One Action, the smartphone is guaranteed to receive the upcoming Android 10 which was freshly unveiled and its succeeding version which will be unveiled in 2020.
   
• 21:9 Aspect Ratio Display: The Motorola One Action has a 6.3 inch LCD display that has a pixel density of 432 ppi. As observed with the previously launched Motorola One Vision, the latest offering from the company also has an unconventionally tall display that has an aspect ratio of 21:9. 
  For readers who do not know most of the movies are shot in 21:9 ratio and the content creators on YouTube are also gradually moving over to his aspect ratio. To make it easier to understand, the black area above and below any video content is minimised while viewing them on the Motorola One Action. Therefore, it is able to provide an immersive viewing experience. 
  
  
• Punch Hole Camera: The 6.3-inch display of the Motorola One Action features a punch hole that houses the selfie camera. In comparison to the waterdrop notch that is found on almost every other Android smartphone, the punch hole looks a lot more futuristic and intriguing.
  Due to this feature alone, the Motorola One Action stands out the crowd and could be a conversation starter while in a social or formal gathering. 
  
  
• 128 GB Storage: As we know the Motorola One Action is offered in just one storage capacity that is 4 GB + 128 GB. Unlike its competition, Motorola has opted to go with 128 GB of onboard storage on the sole, base variant. While its competitors are offered in the same ROM capacity, they are at more expensive than the Moto offering.
  Based on our experience and encounters, most users buy 32 GB or 64 GB variants of mid-range smartphones and after the 4G revolution and plenty of digital content to consume, they find these storage capacities filling up quickly. On the other hand, 128 GB is perfect for most users. 
  
  In addition, if power users end up filling the whole storage, they are covered with the support of memory expansion upto 512 GB via a microSD card. 
  
  
• 117 Degree Action Camera: One of the key highlighting features of the Motorola One Action is its 117-degree ultra-wide video camera. Ingeniously, Motorola has mounted the sensor in a sideways position.
  This allows the users to shoot landscape video with the Motorola One Action even when it is held in portrait orientation. This feature is inspired from action cameras like GoPro, which also explains the name of the smartphone. 
  
  
• Moto Actions: Staple to most Android smartphones from the company, the Motorola One Action also supports ‘Moto Actions’, some of which include ‘Fast Torch’, ‘Three Finger Screenshot’ and ‘Quick Capture’.
  
  In order to toggle the flashlight on the Motorola One Action, the users can quickly shake the handset in a back and forth motion. The same gesture can be used to toggle the flashlight off.
  To quickly pull up the camera application, the users can twist their wrist twice while holding the Moto One Action. Moreover, the same gesture can be used to switch between the front and rear camera.
  
  As the name suggests, holding three fingers on the display captures a screenshot which is much easier than pressing the power button and volume button simultaneously or clicking the button from the navigation menu.
  
  Until one has actually used these gestures to toggle certain features they would not know how much utility to provide. On top of that, this is something that other companies should draw inspiration from as it does not require any additional hardware. 

Also Read: The OnePlus TV Will Have A 55 Inch QLED Display, Company Confirms

To sum things up, Motorola One Action has turned out to be a better offering than we initially thought it to be. Most importantly, all of these features make sense because the company has managed to price the device aggressively. 

In case, the device was priced at Rs 16,000 or upwards, most of the features have been overshadowed due to the fierce competition. 

The answer to the question “Who Should Buy The Motorola One Action?” is, anyone who is looking for an elegant mid-range smartphone that offers up to date features and has an innovative ultrawide camera. 

Don’t forget to watch our unboxing video of the smartphone.