Motorola has launched the Motorola One Action in the UK and Europe today, the latest smartphone in its ‘One’ range.
The One Action joins last year’s Motorola One and the more recent Motorola One Vision (and the One Power, which never came to the UK) in a range that’s priced ever so slightly higher than the company’s current set of G7 devices. The company seems to be doubling down on the brand, with both the One Zoom and One Macro rumoured to be on the way too.
While the One Vision was all about the camera, the One Action is, well, all about the camera. But this time it’s a specific lens: a video-optimised shooter that’s intended to rival the likes of GoPro as an action cam.
The dedicated action camera has a 117-degree ultra-wide lens with an f/2.2 aperture, and has apparently been optimised specifically for shooting video, which will cap at HD – no 4K. However it does boast electronic image stabilisation, and one clever little tweak: the lens has been rotated 90-degrees so that you can comfortably hold the phone upright while shooting landscape video.
One side note though – the One Action hasn’t been specially ruggedised or waterproofed, with only a limited IPX2 waterproof rating, so if you do want to use it like that you’ll probably want to invest in a case. At least the back is plastic rather than glass though – not always a good thing, but here it means it should be better suited to handling the odd scrape or fall.
The action cam is just one part of a triple rear camera set-up, with the other two lenses used for photography and video up to 4K – though the main shooter is 12Mp, not the 48Mp monster on the One Vision, and comes paired with a 5Mp depth sensor.
The action cam shoots footage in a 21:9 aspect ratio by default – which is handy if you want to play it back on the 21:9 screen. That taller, thinner aspect ratio has so far only been seen on Sony’s Xperia 1 and Xperia 10 phones this year, and is not only better for watching movies, but also allows a larger screen – 6.3in, in this case – without it getting too wide to comfortably hold.
Elsewhere, the phone is powered by the Exynos 9609 processor, backed up (in the UK at least – other markets may vary) with 4GB RAM and 128GB ultrafast storage. That’s the same core spec as the One Vision.
A headphone jack, rear fingerprint scanner, 12Mp punch-hole selfie camera, and 10W USB-C fast-charging for the 3,500mAh battery round out the package. As with the previous Motorola One phones, it runs Android One, which means stock Android, a few Google perks, and faster security updates.
Available today from Amazon, Argos, and John Lewis, the One Action has an RRP of £219, and launches in two colours: Pearl White and Denim Blue.
Read our Motorola One Action review.
Author: Dominic Preston, Deputy Editor
Tech Advisor's Deputy Editor, Dom covers everything that runs on electricity, from phones and laptops to wearables, audio, gaming, smart home, and streaming - plus he's a regular fixture on the Tech Advisor YouTube channel.