An affordable phone and a little bit more

Jul 23, 2019 13:00 GMT  ·  By

Motorola isn’t really a trend-setter, and many of its phones actually adopt ideas pioneered by others with the final goal of giving them a unique twist that would eventually serve customers in a more effective manner.

At first glance, this does sound like something that could help drive Motorola’s growth, albeit for many, copying what others do isn’t necessarily the right way to go in the long term.

Last year, the company unveiled the Motorola One, a phone whose most striking feature was the controversial notch. After debuting on the iPhone and getting through waves and waves of criticism, the notch eventually became a widely-adopted feature, even by Android phone manufacturers that understood and accepted its benefits.

For 2019, Motorola decided to give up on the notch, but instead, it embraced a different idea that someone else invented: a camera cutout, the signature feature of the Samsung Galaxy S10.

Motorola One Vision is a device that uses this camera cutout for the front-facing selfie shooter, but at the same time, it also comes with upgrades that easily set itself apart from the rest of the crowd.

Our first stop, the screen.

Motorola One Vision comes with a 6.3-inch LCD screen that doesn’t feature all the latest gimmicks like a fingerprint sensor placed under the glass, but which surprises with a rather unusual aspect ratio.

The device features a 21:9 ratio, which makes it a very tall device, and this is the most noticeable when keeping it in hand. After unboxing the Motorola One Vision, I felt like I was holding a flashlight, which at some level, makes sense given its dimensions.

Motorola One Vision

At 160.1 x 71.2 x 8.7 mm (6.30 x 2.80 x 0.34 inches), this is one very tall smartphone, and that aspect ratio comes with a series of substantial drawbacks. Not all content that you find online can fit such an aspect ratio, and YouTube videos are clearly the best example. Some games might look awkward too, not to mention that it takes a while to get used to these dimensions and hold it in hand and be comfortable with it.

On the other hand, the quality of the screen isn’t necessarily something that you expect at this price point. Motorola One Vision could be easily positioned as a mid-ranger, but most people consider it more of a budget model considering its 300 Euros price tag.

Regardless of the product category that it tackles, the One Vision features a well optimized screen with excellent responsiveness and perfectly balanced colors and saturation. I’m still not a big fan of camera cutouts, mostly because they reduce the amount of space in the upper part of the screen, but it doesn’t take more than a couple of hours to get used to how this Motorola phone looks.

This decision to use a camera cutout instead of a notch also helped Motorola increase the screen-to-body ratio from 79.2% on the Motorola One to 82.5% on this model.

When it comes to the design, I’ve seen so many people praising the Motorola One Vision for the way it looks, and some even describe it as premium or exquisite. While I wouldn’t go that far, mostly because there are areas where the One Vision clearly shows it’s supposed to be an affordable gadget, I do admit that the overall look is something that you don’t necessarily find in this price range.

Motorola One Vision

However, the device uses plastic and not glass, and this makes total sense since we’re not testing a flagship here. Plus, plastic is more durable than glass, so it’s something that you should be pleased with in the long term.

One thing that I like about the Motorola One Vision is that it offers both an USB Type-C connector and a 3.5mm audio jack. This becomes more of a rare thing these days, as the majority of phone makers are in the process of ditching the audio connector, instead pushing harder for wireless headphones or alternative methods like exclusive USB Type-C ports and adapters.

There’s something a little unexpected in the hardware department too. Motorola One Vision is powered by an Exynos 9609 processor, which is a chip manufactured by none other than Samsung. It’s certainly surprising to see someone else than Samsung using an Exynos chip, but on the other hand, it delivers a pretty well-balanced performance on this Motorola smartphone.

Paired with 4 GB RAM and 128 GB storage, this chip contributes to an overall package that certainly serves the average Joe, obviously without promising flagship features. However, for the typical daily routine like browsing the web, chatting with friends, sending emails, occasional gaming, and taking photos, there’s absolutely no slowdown that would make you feel frustrated with your purchase.

There are no other storage options, but instead the phone is equipped with a microSD card slot that lets you expand storage by as much as 1 TB.

Motorola One Vision

Bluetooth 5.0 is also offered, and so is an NFC sensor for wireless payment.

The fingerprint sensor is placed on the back for a pretty convenient experience, and after using an iPhone X for so long, I actually like having a fingerprint reader (I hope you’re reading this, Apple). The fingerprint sensor is pretty fast, and I haven’t noticed any particular issue, unless the typical recommendations apply here as well: try to keep your fingers clean, as a dirty or wet finger could lead to a failed unlock attempt.

Now let’s see what the camera is all about.

As the majority of phone makers these days, Motorola used a dual-camera setup because yes, single-lens shooters are so yesterday. As a result, the One Vision features a 48-megapixel, f/1.7, 1.2”, 0.8um wide sensor paired with a 5-megapixel f/2.2 depth sensor.

Motorola says this configuration provides “picture brilliance” because it lets you “shoot like a pro in any light.”

“By combining four pixels into one large 1.6µm pixel, the 48 MP sensor delivers incredibly sharp 12 MP photos with improved brightness and reduced image noise,” it says.

Without a doubt, this sounds really good on paper, but is this really possible given the low price tag? Not really, and let me explain why.

First and foremost, the camera does take sharp photos, but only if the perfect lighting conditions are available. Then, despite OIS being offered, I noticed that it’s really easy to ruin an otherwise clear shot, so you need a steady hand to take good photos.

Also, while color accuracy is generally good, not the same thing can be said about the white balance, which isn’t necessarily correctly adjusted, especially in low-light conditions. And when taking photos outside, overexposure is something that feels like home in photos taken with the Motorola One Vision, especially for most highlights like the sky and white regions in your shots.

Taking photos is occasionally slower than expected due to what I think is the post-processing, albeit this doesn’t happen too often.

Other than that, I’d say the camera of the Motorola One Vision matches the performance of the other smartphones in the same price range, but I wouldn’t go that far to say that it offers picture brilliance.

There are a bunch of extra goodies as well, including smile capture and portrait lighting, and for the latter, you really need the prefect light to take a good shot.

Motorola One Vision camera sample
Motorola One Vision camera sample
Motorola One Vision camera sample
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Motorola One Vision comes with a 3,500 mAh battery that should easily get you through the day if you’re not a heavy user. But even if you are, a 15W fast charger is included in the box, and that helps you push a battery from 0 percent to 100 percent in a little less than two hours.

When it comes to software, this is the part that you really can’t criticize about the phone. And the reason for this comes down to just two words: Android One.

With a fully clean Android experience, Motorola One Vision feels just like a Pixel from a software perspective, and with Motorola’s own gimmicks added to it, company fanboys could easily fall in love with this device. Of course, this is only in terms of software, as Motorola sticks with an approach that I really applaud, and this is not shipping devices with any bloatware.

Motorola One Vision

The Good

Motorola One Vision is one device that offers incredible value for the money. With a large screen, a hefty battery, and a well-optimized processor, this device can do pretty much everything that doesn’t require high-end power.

Without a doubt, a key advantage is that it doesn’t cost a fortune, so it’s the kind of device that you should easily replace in a couple of years when an upgraded version launches.

The odd choice of an Exynos processor might shock you at first, but at the end of the day, it just seems to be a smart option from a performance perspective.

The Bad

The tall screen makes the Motorola One Vision feel awkward in hand and when watching videos, at least at first. It takes a while to get used to it, but I must admit that such a tall phone doesn’t feel natural at all.

The screen cutout is a neat approach, albeit the idea doesn’t belong to Motorola, but it once again shows that the company is OK with being a follower, and it doesn’t necessarily want to pioneer new features.

There’s also room for improvements in the camera department, not because a device at this price range should do more, but because Motorola itself has set pretty high expectations. Marketing quotes like “picture brilliance” and “shoot like a pro” could make people believe this phone can take better pictures that a Google Pixel 3 when, in fact, it can’t.

Conclusion

The overall package that you get when buying the Motorola One Vision is something that 99 percent should be pleased with.

But the little details here and there show that at the end of the day, Motorola just needs to focus more on things that could help it get closer to the big guys in the smartphone market, and not just to fight for mediocracy.

Jumping from a notch to a screen cutout shows that Motorola might be losing its identity, and if it weren’t for the clean software approach and a few other touches here and there, many buyers could actually go for rival models from the likes of Huawei.

Motorola still makes some of the best budget and mid-range phones out there, but using the same ideas that others pioneered can’t be good in the long term. For now, the One Vision serves its purpose just right, yet I doubt that the same approach can work 10 years from now.

Our Rating

looks 3
build 4
speed 3
battery 4
calls 3
camera 3
video 2
apps 5
screen 4
signal4

final rating 3

Photo Gallery (38 Images)

Motorola One Vision
Motorola One VisionMotorola One Vision
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