Friends+Design
- Well put-together, handsome and premium looking (plastic) design
- The narrow ergonomic profile helps as it fits snugly in the palm of one's hands - quite comfortable to use, even single-handed
- Fingerprint sensor at the back works quickly and reliably
- Responsive face unlock
- The front has a pretty big punch-hole camera - it's hard to miss, and it's also not easy to ignore even after spending some time with the One Action - it's big and it's well inside the display which also forced the software engineers to stretch down the status bar to completely envelop the cutout, actually making it even more visible in a way - it also interferes with content in some apps
- With the tall dimensions, pocket-ability is not that great, so the phone will tend to protrude out of shallow pockets
Display
- Good overall display quality with good contrast, and outdoor visibility
- The 6.3-inch, 21:9 IPS cinematic screen is also pretty good for enjoying 21:9 movie content available on streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime
- On the other hand, for videos shot in any other aspect ratio, you'll have to tolerate a huge black bar
Software
- Being part of the Android One series you get clean, simple stock Android + platform updates for 2 years
- Of course there are a few useful Moto customizations like a gesture navigation system, Moto Actions (a karate chop action turns on and off the flashlight while the twist motion launches the camera app and both work even when the screen is off), Peek Display (It'll display notifications and let you interact with them right there on the lockscreen plus it'll wake up when you pick up your phone), and Attentive Display (will keep the screen on as long as you are looking at it)
Performance
- The Exynos 9609 inside (similar to Snapdragon 710) delivers dependable performance across the board (day-to-day apps and games), on par with key rivals
Camera
- Good triple camera setup at the rear - 12MP primary + 5MP depth sensor + 16MP ultra-wide, that's rotated 90 degrees, and can be used to capture ultra-wide landscape videos
- Daylight photos come out pretty good - detail is good and noise is well controlled - dynamic range is good too
- Portrait shots come out nice too
- The front camera takes nice selfies with good detail and spot on skin tones - it features a decent, software based portrait mode too
- Video recording is of course where the One Action gets its name - it's meant to replace your action cam - the phone's ultra wide angle shooter is mounted at a 90-degree angle so that it captures videos in landscape orientation (which is how video is meant to be recorded) when you're holding the phone in portrait (which is how phones are meant to be held)
- EIS is available on both cams in 1080p resolution at both 30fps and 60fps (though the 4K footage of the main cam can't be stabilized) - and it works well
- Overall video quality is good (though not exceptional) from both the main and the ultra-wide camera
- The front camera does 4K video too, which is pretty neat to find on a phone in the One Action's market segment
- Overall camera performance is good for the price bracket
- The ultra-wide camera can unfortunately only be used for video recording, not for clicking pictures
- Night photography is only ok, and there's no dedicated night mode
Battery
- Decent battery life with a 3500mAh battery - you will get the full day with moderate use - there are competitors who are ahead in this area though
- The included 10W 'fast' charger isn't the fastest - you will get about 30% charge in 30 min, and a full charge in 2 hours 30 minutes
Verdict
- The One Action is a pretty well priced phone from the Motorola camp, and will get you some good value for money - it's a reasonable alternative to the likes of the Redmi Note 7 Pro (better performance, better camera, better battery, but no Android One advantage), Realme 3 Pro (again, better camera and battery, but no Android One advantage) - it's also especially worth considering, if you’re into producing video content or shooting a lot of action shots
