Motorola One Action review - Action camera hero or budget flop - Android

Motorola may have fallen behind some of its rivals in the flagship arena, but its budget phones are still going strong. One of the latest affordable handsets from the Lenovo-owned company is the Motorola One Action.

With so many cheap Motorola phones now on the market, you might be wondering what’s so different about the Motorola One Action, and whether it’s worth a purchase. Find out in Android Authority’s Motorola One Action review!

What is the Motorola One Action?

The Motorola One Action is one of the newer members of the ever-expanding Motorola One range. The product family kicked off with the Motorola One and Motorola One Power in 2018.

Things picked up this year with the arrival of the pretty decent Motorola One Vision, then the Motorola One Action, and finally the Motorola One Zoom at IFA 2019. Priced at £219 (~$268) in the UK, the One Action is cheaper than both of its recent siblings, coming in at £50 less than the One Vision in the UK.

Read more: Motorola One Action announced: Is it the GoPro of the smartphone world?

Unlike Motorola’s other mid-to-budget phone family, the perennially popular and mostly straightforward Moto G series, the recent crop of Motorola One phones have their own unique gimmicks and all run Android One.

The One Action’s big trick is in its name. Rather than loading the phone with regular video recording hardware, the One Action has a dedicated video shooter inspired by action cameras like the GoPro.

How good is the “Action” camera?

The Motorola One Action’s “action” camera is a 16MP shooter with an f/2.2 aperture and a 117-degree field of view.

In an interesting move, Motorola has flipped the entire lens by 90 degrees, meaning you can shoot landscape video while holding the phone in portrait mode. If this sounds like it’d be a bit weird, well, it is.

The strangest thing about using the action camera is seeing landscape video recording on your phone in such a small viewfinder window.

If you can get past that, though, being able to record wide-angle video without needing to flip your phone or use two hands is kind of great. This is especially useful if you’re out running or adventuring and want to grab some high-action shots.

The camera maxes out at Full HD resolution at up to 60fps. You also have the option to shoot in 21:9 to match the One Action’s display. In addition, the camera is bolstered by some impressive electronic stabilization tech which keeps video nice and smooth even if your hands are a little shaky!

In a strange move, Motorola has made it so you can only shoot video using the camera, so if you’re after wide-angle photos then you’ll be disappointed by the Motorola One Action.

What’s good about the Motorola One Action?

Aside from the titular action camera, the Motorola One Action has plenty of other things going for it. Here are the other features we liked: 

Performance — The Motorola One Action ditches the Qualcomm Snapdragon SoCs we see in so many other phones, for Samsung’s Exynos 9609. Backed by a decent 4GB RAM and Android One’s streamlined software, the One Action won’t be winning any benchmark contests, but its real-world performance is impressive for the price.

Android One — Motorola is one of the few manufacturers making phones running Google’s near-stock version of Android. The bloat-free software comes with the promise of two years of guaranteed OS updates and security patches. It’s pretty barebones, but the speedy updates and performance tweaks more than make up for the lack of customization options.

Design — Want a budget phone that doesn’t look cheap? Aside from a loose-feeling volume rocker, the One Action’s curved glass and sturdy metal frame belie its low price tag. It looks great in Denim Blue, Aqua Teal, and Pearl White.

Price — Speaking of price, there aren’t many phones in the sub-$300 price bracket that can compete with the Motorola One Action as a total package.

What’s not so good?

There are always going to be some concessions when you pick up a budget phone like the Motorola One Action. Here are a few of the things we didn’t like about it:

Display — The One Action has an extra-tall display with a 21:9 aspect ratio. This makes it great for watching supported 21:9 content (mostly on Netflix), scrolling through social media, and multitasking. Unfortunately, the resulting lanky form factor makes it a little awkward to hold. Regular video also gets saddled with huge black bars which are a bit of an eyesore. The LCD display doesn’t get all the bright either and the adaptive brightness is a little too aggressive with its dimming habits.

Massive punch hole — The One Action’s display is also lumbered with an enormous punch hole. While you do forget it’s there sometimes, it’s still a very thicc boi that gets in the way while gaming and watching movies.

Battery life — 3,500mAh is a fairly modest battery size for a budget phone, but the One Action really falls behind on endurance. Expect around 5-6 hours screen on time on average.

Low IP rating — The One Action settles for an IPX2 rating, which means you’re getting very minor protection against liquids and no rating for dust. Considering the phone’s aspirations to be an action camera phone, it seems strange it isn’t better prepared for the elements.

Camera quality — The action camera is great fun, but the rest of the camera suite is a little underwhelming. Shots from the main sensor often have washed out colors and the quality drops significantly in low light. There’s also no wide-angle or zoom lens (just a depth sensor), so it lacks versatility too. You can check out a few camera samples below:

Motorola One Action vs Motorola One Vision: What’s the difference?