Motorola One Vision review: Stunning display, impressive low-light photography

The Motorola One Vision comes with the Android One advantage with assured upgrades to Android Q and R, making it one of the best devices from Motorola in a while.
Motorola One Vision review: Stunning display, impressive low-light photography
Motorola One Vision review: Stunning display, impressive low-light photography

When was the last time a Moto device grabbed your attention? While some of the company’s e and g series phones have delivered decent bang for the buck, there hasn’t been a standout feature in a Moto device for a while now. The Motorola One line puts the focus on innovation and sits at the top of Motorola’s India portfolio. All these smartphones are now made in India at its Sriperumbudur plant near Chennai.

The first thing that I did after unboxing the One Vision was tune into watch Netflix and YouTube. True to its name, this device sports a display that sets it apart, not just at this price band but also among pricier devices. Motorola calls it a Cinema Vision display – an immersive 6.3-inch Full HD+ screen (1080 x 2520 pixels) with a 21:9 aspect ratio. It makes a significant difference while watching HD Content on Netflix or even the latest YouTube videos. You get complete value for all the screen real estate. It’s a ploy with an eye on the immediate future as streaming services make the move to this screen format. Of course, there’s still a lot of content out there that isn’t in this aspect ratio.

Moto’s other selling pitch for the One Vision revolves around lowlight photography. Just like the Cinema Vision display, this one walks the talk too. A 48MP primary lens (f/1.7 aperture) blends with a 5MP secondary lens in this dual rear cam. The Night Vision mode works quite similarly to Google’s Night Sight solution by stitching together multiple images. The results are very impressive for this price point.

Speaking of pricing, this device lands in the super competitive Rs 15,000-20,000 price band where devices like the Redmi Note 7 Pro and Samsung Galaxy M40 hold sway.

The rear cam misses out on a wide-angle lens, a feature that’s no longer uncommon in devices below Rs 20,000. A cut-out conceals the second quad pixel cam – the 25MP selfie shooter that also shoots good quality images in ambient light. The cut-out is slightly large, but the aspect ratio helps gloss over this minor irritant.

Overall, the build quality is quite refined. A plastic back keeps it quite light – the device feels quite good in your hands, while the textured design approach helps it stand out. We’re partial to the bronze gradient with its chocolate brown hues.

It’s clear that Moto believes it’s a case of ‘different strokes for different folks’. This is not a device that claims to be hardware beast. It notched up a score of 137909 in our AnTuTu benchmark test, significantly lower than the Note 7 Pro and the M40. However, the device didn’t stutter as we pushed it with intense gaming.

The One Vision is powered by a Samsung Exynos 9609 processor with 4GB of RAM and 128GB of internal memory (expandable up to 512GB). Battery life (there’s a 3,500 mAh battery under the hood) was acceptable – we managed a day with a good mix of camera and video playback. Moto also bundles a 15W TurboPower fast charger with the device.

The Motorola One Vision comes with the Android One advantage. It’s a pureplay Android experience with assured upgrades to Android Q and R. That along with its display and lowlight photography credentials make it one of the best devices we’ve seen from the Motorola stable in a while.

The Motorola One Vision costs Rs 19,999  and comes in a choice of a sapphire and bronze gradients.

Ashwin Rajagopalan writes extensively on Gadgets & Trends, Travel & Lifestyle and Food & Drink. He owns and manages Brand Stories, a creative Content outfit and www.bytesize.in, a premier lifestyle blog with a focus on short-format content. Instagram: ‘ashwinpowers’)

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