Product test
Honor 400 tested: When photos turn into videos
by Jan Johannsen
Moto One Action tested: A smartphone with action cam
17.9.2019
Translation: machine translated
The special feature of the Moto One Action confused me at first: an action camera that records a video in landscape format while I hold the smartphone in portrait format. In practice, this turns out to be less of a problem than I feared. The smartphone is also impressive without this special function.
No matter how well the smartphone performs as an alternative to the action cam, it will not be a real competitor to GoPro and the like. This is not due to its shape, but to its housing. It has only received IPX2 certification and is therefore not even protected against splash water - only against spray water. This is why the test is carried out on land in good weather and not on an outdoor holiday.
The rotated video camera
Triple camera, but only one lens for photos
Of course, you can also take photos with the Moto One Action. But not with the wide-angle camera. Despite the three cameras on the back, you can only use the main camera with a resolution of 12 megapixels. The third lens provides depth of field information for portrait photos in which the background should be blurred. It then looks like this:
The boundaries between the subject in the foreground and the background are not always optimised by the camera. For more beautiful images, it is worth foregoing the maximum possible blurring and staying in the medium range. However, you will have to do without the support of an HDR effect in this shooting mode and optimise the lighting yourself. Various lighting effects are available for this purpose.
The HDR effect of the Moto One Action has a positive effect on conventional photos. It balances out strong contrasts and ensures a bluer sky and more detail in the clouds. But even without HDR, the colour reproduction looks natural. The level of detail is sufficient for viewing on a smartphone, but not particularly high on closer inspection. The image then no longer looks like a photo, but rather like a painted picture.
When it gets dark, the image quality decreases: But even with little light, you can still recognise a lot in the pictures of the Moto One Action. The HDR effect increases brightness even more. However, you have to accept a significantly poorer image quality. Significantly more artefacts reduce the level of detail and the longer exposure time results in more blurring. The smartphone does not offer a night mode.
The front camera with a resolution of twelve megapixels is located in a hole in the top left corner of the display. This allows Motorola to bypass the notch, which is not always popular. The hole-punch display is somehow more appealing - at least to me.
I like the high level of detail in the selfies. The colours look natural, but could be a little stronger for my taste. The HDR mode helps a little here and also ensures better differentiation between bright areas. However, it does not prevent overexposure of the blue sky with fair weather clouds.
Good features and tidy software
Beyond the camera, the Moto One Action proves to be a very usable smartphone that even has a decent range of features considering its low price. These include the 6.3-inch touchscreen, which has an aspect ratio of 21:9 and ensures that the smartphone is elongated. The full HD+ resolution is responsible for sharp images and both the colour reproduction and the brightness of the display are satisfactory.
The built-in Exynos 9609 chipset from Samsung, together with four gigabytes of RAM, proves to be a solid mid-range combination that even runs games like PUBG Mobile in the highest resolution without any problems. You don't have to worry about long app loading times. The internal memory is large at 128 gigabytes and can be expanded with a microSD card.
The 3500 mAh battery, which gets the Moto One Action through one day of typical use, is charged via the USB-C port. There is also a 3.5 mm audio output port on the top of the smartphone.
Conclusion: Good smartphone with a special camera
Jan Johannsen
Senior Editor
Jan.Johannsen@galaxus.deWhen I was but a young student, I'd sit in my friend's living room with all my classmates and play on his SuperNES. Since then I've had the opportunity to test out all the newest technology for you. I've done reviews at Curved, Computer Bild and Netzwelt, and have now arrived at Galaxus.de.
