MOTOROLA ONE review

This is Motorola’s first Android One smartphone. I had snubbed it because the specs did not convince me. Then, during the holidays, I put a sim in it. Android Pie is here. And it now costs (Check on Amazon.com). This is another best buy from Motorola!

Package and contents

The headphones are missing. Too bad, for the rest everything else is included, from the quick charger (15w it charges in 1h and 15″ the 3000wAh battery) to the silicone cover.

Build quality, design, and feel

Cute, flat glass back with slightly protruding cameras. It is not too big and it is also discreetly light. Too bad about the big notch that doesn’t drive me crazy.

The usual buttons are well laid out. The fingerprint sensor that hides underneath the M logo on the back is a nice touch. There is no LED notification but the Moto Display is fantastic! Now, with all that space being occupied by the notch, an LED light could be inserted! The mono speaker is on the bottom.

Display

I was amazed. I was ready to nag about the dated processor and the HD display, instead, using it, I had to take it all back. The display is surprisingly very good, you can’t see the individual pixels and it is visible under direct sunlight. The light sensor is a bit capricious at first but after a while, it improved considerably; maybe it had to learn my preferences.

Processor and memory

The processor is old, but the Snapdragon 625 has always proved more than decent and, with Motorola’s optimization, even more so. It never warmed up and it is fast enough to complete all your daily operations in the peace of mind! And then it has 4gb of ram and 64gb of memory that can be expanded via a microSD card, without having to give up the second sim

Battery

The autonomy is excellent despite the 3000mAh battery that, by today’s standards, is considered small. It lasted a full workday with 30% of residual power well in the night.

Software ecosystem

Beautiful, just beautiful! Stock android Pie with just the 2 Motorola optimizations that I like the most: Moto display and Gestures that let me use a hammer move to turn on the flashlight or a shaking move to activate the camera.

Telephone

Motorola is always at the top in reception and audio. I really enjoyed the triple slot for 2 sims and an SD card.

Photos and videos

There is Google Lens, videos can go up to 4k but are better at 1080p and 60 fps. The photos have mid-range quality. The camera is fast.

Audio

There is FM radio but the speaker is the undertone. The sound is good when listened through headphones.

Apps and games

Applications run well. It doesn’t slow down a lot but you have to wait a fraction of a second more than with a top of the range, but nothing problematic.

Gaming isn’t its strong suit but it does ok since it has fewer pixels than other Full HD smartphones.

Final verdict

 make it a best buy considering battery life, stock Android Pie and overall reliability. I don’t mind the big notch. The display is the only HD but it is a good one. And the dated processor is well optimized! In short, a very good alternative to the Xiaomi Mi A2 lite (Check on Amazon.com).

Read more: Xiaomi Mi A2 review