Motorola One Action Review: Adds More Stability to Video & Photos
The Motorola One Action is running on Android 9.0 and will receive constant security updates.
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Media consumption today is at an all-time high with people all over the world creating and consuming content within seconds.
Most of these amateur content developers use smartphones to shoot. Why wouldn’t they when they are getting 4k video recording as an option?
The proliferation of phones in the mid-range category with names like Xiaomi, Honor and even a Nokia offering high-quality video recording has given Indian smartphone users plenty of options to choose from.
Seeing there’s potential in this segment, Motorola is offering its Motorola One Action. So what makes Motorola’s offering stand out? Let’s find out.
What’s Good?
The video stabilisation on the Moto One Action blows the socks off the competition in this price segment. What really makes the Action take the cake is the ability to shoot a 16:9 resolution video while holding the phone vertically!
Holding the phone vertically adds to the extra stability that the phone offers via EIS (Electronic Image Stabilisation). I was shooting a moving car from another tracking vehicle and the results are quite impressive.
The 12+16+5-megapixel rear camera setup also delivers good pictures. Here are a few samples:
Backup from the 3,500mAh battery is impressive. I was able to get a full day’s charge even after an extensive 4-5 hour shoot session with the phone.
The design has been carried forward from the Moto One Vision which was a hit with its users. No complaints here.
The 21:9 ratio display on the One Action is perfect for a smartphone movie marathon. It maintains an adequate balance between the highlights and the shadows giving life to darker images as well.
The unadulterated user interface always plays to Motorola’s advantage and with the promise of constant security updates it is another incentive for people to consider this smartphone.
What’s Bad?
I wasn’t impressed with the 12-megapixel selfie camera. The biggest disappointment is that Motorola didn’t offer a wide-angle lens with it on the front.
What’s more confusing is that you can shoot a wide-angle video in vertical mode with the phone but it does not give you an option to shoot a photo using its wide-angle lens.
Running on an Exynos 9609 processor the Moto One Action doesn’t qualify as a workhorse and it would be better if you restrain from heavy multi-tasking. Don’t even think of pulling off an extended PUBG Mobile session on this One. At best you’ll be able to take out a few games with moderate settings.
I would have liked an in-display fingerprint scanner on the phone. However, Motorola has remained faithful to the fingerprint scanner at the back, which I feel is something that should be done away with.
Final Verdict
At Rs 13,990, the Motorola One Action checks most of the boxes except the fact that it’s running on an Exynos processor and many Indian smartphone users don’t dance to that tune.
The camera is the biggest reason one should buy this phone. If you’re into producing video content or shooting a lot of action shots then the One Action’s vertical video mode should definitely be in your armoury.
Motorola doesn’t fiddle a lot with the software and that is a good thing as it maintains sanity for the user.
If you’re looking to buy a phone under the Rs 15,000 price bracket that offers a good camera and a clean Android experience then the ‘Action’ is right here.