After a lot of leaks and rumors, Lenovo-owned Motorola has officially unveiled its Moto One Action smartphone. It comes just months after the Moto One Vision launch. One of the biggest highlights of One Action is its camera. Though it has some action camera features, the Moto One Action will be competing with Google Pixel 3a. Both devices aim to attract people who want an excellent camera smartphone at affordable prices. Let’s check out how the new Moto One Action stacks up against Google Pixel 3a.
Design
The design of One Action is similar to that of One Vision. It has a hole-punch in the top left corner of the screen to house a single selfie camera. The device still has bezels at the top and bottom of the screen. Unlike One Vision, the new handset has a plastic back, which curves on the sides, making it comfortable to hold in hand.
Introducing the MotorolaOne Action, the first-ever ultra-wide action cam. Get ready for an unrivaled cinematic experience, thanks to the breathtaking CinemaVision (21:9) FHD+ display. Capture the action! #Motorola #MotorolaOneAction pic.twitter.com/JyzKI7zwXe
— Motorola Global (@Moto) August 16, 2019
The One Action measures 161.1 x 71.2 x 9.2mm and weighs 176g. It is available in three different color options of Pearl White, Denim Blue, and Aqua Teal. The device has a fingerprint sensor on the back for authentication and security. It retains the 3.5mm headphone jack, and has a bottom-firing speaker. It uses a USB-C port for charging. It comes with an IPX2 rating for dust and water resistance.
The Google Pixel 3a has a polycarbonate body with a dual-tone finish. It sports a circular fingerprint sensor on the back. On the front, it has thick bezels at the top and bottom of the display. The Pixel 3a gets a front-facing and a bottom-firing speaker to produce stereo sound. The Pixel 3a isn’t water resistant, but it comes with splash and dust resistance.
Google’s budget phone features a 3.5mm headphone jack and a USB-C port. It comes in Clearly White, Just Black, and Purplish colors. It measures 151.3 x 70.1 x 8.2mm and weighs 147g. Google has added the Active Edge feature that allows users to activate Google Assistant by squeezing the phone.
Display
The Moto One Action flaunts a 6.3-inch IPS LCD screen with Full HD+ resolution of 2520 x 1080 pixels. It has a relatively taller 21:9 aspect ratio, which makes the movie-watching experience more comfortable. But there are only a small number of shows and movies that support the 21:9 aspect ratio. It has a hole punch cutout in the top left corner. The device gets 432ppi of pixel density.
The Pixel 3a features a smaller but superior display. It has a 5.6-inch gOLED display with Full HD+ resolution of 2280 x 1080 pixels. Google’s device has an 18.5:9 aspect ratio. OLED screens are superior to their LCD counterparts, delivering more vibrant colors while preserving battery life. The Pixel 3a uses Asahi Dragon Glass for protection.
Internal specs
Under the hood, the Moto One Action runs an octa-core Samsung Exynos 9609 processor paired with Mali-G72 graphics processor. It packs 4GB RAM and 128GB of internal storage. Motorola has also included a microSD card slot that supports external storage of up to 512GB. The One Action supports the latest Bluetooth 5.0 technology.
In contrast, the Pixel 3a runs Qualcomm’s mid-range Snapdragon 670 processor with Adreno 615 GPU. It features 4GB RAM with just 64GB of storage. Google doesn’t offer a microSD card slot on Pixel phones for external storage. But it gives users unlimited free cloud storage of photos and videos via Google Photos. The Pixel 3a gets Titan M security chip and supports ARCore framework for augmented reality.
The Moto One Action packs a 3,500mAh battery with 10W fast charging. It doesn’t get Motorola’s 15W TurboPower charger, which comes with One Vision. Both One Action and Pixel 3a lack wireless charging. The Pixel 3a features a 3,000mAh battery with 18W fast charging, which delivers up to 7 hours of battery life in just 15 minutes of charging.
Software
Both devices run the stock version of Android 9 Pie out of the box, so you can expect similar experience on both handsets. But Motorola phones also come pre-installed with a few Moto apps such as Moto Display and Moto Help.
It’s worth pointing out that only the international version of Moto One Action has the Android One branding, which ensures monthly security patches and annual upgrades to Android Q and Android R. The US version of One Action would run Motorola’s customized interface on top of Android. The company has assured fans that the US customers will get at least two major software updates.
Google’s software optimization ensures a smooth performance and experience on Pixel 3a. It runs the stock version of Android 9 Pie, bringing features like call screening that lets Google Assistant handle spam calls for you. It will be upgraded to Android Q later this year.
Camera
The Moto One Action has a vertically-aligned triple camera system on the back. It consists of a 12MP primary lens with f/1.8 aperture, a 16MP ultra-wide action camera with f/2.2 aperture and 117-degree field of view, and a 5MP depth sensor. For selfies, it has a 12MP lens with f/2.0 aperture. The selfie camera supports Portrait lighting, Shot optimization, Group selfie, Portrait mode, Cinemagraph, Auto smile capture, and other features.
The 16MP ultra-wide angle lens on the back doesn’t take pictures. Instead, it records action videos like GoPro action cameras. It is capable of recording wide-angle videos even when you are holding the phone vertically. It doesn’t support OIS, but gets EIS to reduce shakes and jerks.
The Pixel 3a has one of the world’s best smartphone cameras because it features the same camera that Google has used on the premium Pixel 3. Camera testing firm DxOMark has given it a score of 101, same as Apple’s iPhone XR. It sports a single 12.2MP lens on the back with OIS, EIS, and f/1.8 aperture. On the front, it has an 8MP selfie camera with f/2.0 aperture.
The Pixel 3a is capable of recording 4K videos at 30fps, Full HD videos at 120fps, and 720p videos at 240fps. Google has packed the device with excellent camera features such as Night Sight, HDR+, Portrait mode, Super Res Zoom, Playground mode, and Top Shot mode.
Pricing
The Moto One Action has been priced at EUR 259 in European markets. It is available in Europe, Brazil, and Mexico now. Motorola will launch it in the US and Canada in early October. The US pricing is not yet known.
The Google Pixel 3a costs $399. You can buy it from Google Store, Amazon, Best Buy, and other retailers in the US.
