Motorola One Vision Review: The unusual 21:9 display ratio phone that we are totally loving

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After taking a short break from the premium segment, Motorola is finally here with the all-new Moto One Vision, designed to strive with the contemporary budget competition. And the phone indeed brings a revamped design, upgraded camera hardware, and an experimental approach in order to grab eyeballs.

So, is the Motorola One Vision worth buying now considering new rivals such as Realme X (review) and Redmi K20? Let’s check out the same in our full Motorola One Vision review.

Motorola One Vision Specifications

Before starting with the Motorola One Vision review, let’s have a glance at the phone’s specifications, pricing and things we get with the device.

  • Display: 6.3-inch LTPS IPS LCD CinemaVision display, full-HD+ (1080 x 2520 pixels) resolution, 21:9 aspect ratio, 432ppi
  • Display Protection: Corning Gorilla Glass 3
  • CPU: 10nm-based octa-core Exynos 9609 processor (4×1.8 GHz Kryo 250 Gold & 4×1.8 GHz Kryo 250 Silver)
  • GPU: ARM Mali-G72 MP3
  • RAM: 4GB
  • Storage: 128GB internal storage, expandable up to 1TB (dedicated slot)
  • Software: Android 9 Pie
  • Main Camera: 48 MP(f/1.7, 1/2″, 0.8µm, PDAF, OIS) + 5 MP (f/2.2) depth sensor
  • Selfie Camera: 25MP (f/2.0, 0.9µm)
  • Connectivity: USB Type-C 2.0, dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth v5.0, GPS/ A-GPS/ GLONASS, 3.5mm headphone jack
  • Cellular: Dual SIM
  • Fingerprint Scanner: Yes, Capacitive
  • Battery: 3,500 mAh, Li-ion Polymer, non-removable
  • Charging: Fast 15W charging

Price: Rs. 19,999 for 4/128GB

Box Contents

A complete list of items you get inside the box:

    • Motorola One Vision
    • 15W Turbo Charger
    • USB Type-C Cable
    • Transparent Silicon Case
    • Sim Ejector Tool
    • Documentation

Motorola One Vision Review

Design & Build

Starting off with the design, the Moto One Vision feels a lot different than any other phone by the company. Talking of particulars, the One Vision boasts of a glass front and back which merge smoothly with the frame, aiding for a seamless experience. Just grab the device, and you’ll find that it not only looks premium but also feels comfy & solid in hands.

The Bronze Gradient colour variant we have here offers a glossy finish with subtle shimmery brown texture inside. Nonetheless, you can also opt for the Sapphire Gradient color, which comes in a blue hue. And while the phone doesn’t look as flashy as what Realme or Honor is offering, it definitely sums up for a classy looking device.

Coming to the front, the device gets a tall egoistic display with a punch-hole in the top left corner. The display touts a 21:9 aspect ratio that you might’ve already seen in some Sony smartphones in the past. And my goodness, the phone offers an entirely refreshing experience after coming from the typical 18:9 or 19:9 panels.

That being said, that oddly big punch-hole and broad chin at the bottom tend to make things quite sour, and may not be liked by many. Also, the frame is crafted out of plastic, and the rear is well prone to smudges, so keep a note of that.

As for the placements, the power button and volume rockers are given to the right with the latter being quite difficult to reach for average-sized hands. On the left, we get the hybrid Sim tray while the secondary microphone and 3.5mm audio jack are placed on the top. The USB Type-C charging port, primary mic, and speaker grille, on the other hand, are situated at the bottom.

The Moto batwing logo, at the back, is actually a fingerprint scanner, as seen with other Moto phones. It works reliably well while you do get Face Unlock feature as an alternative method. All-inclusive, the phone feels premium, is comfortable to use due to narrow form factor but might not fit well in small pockets.

Display

As noted, the phone gets a 6.3-inch CinemaVision panel with a Full-HD+ resolution, 432ppi pixel density and 21:9 aspect ratio. The panel further bears 2.5D curved glass and Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection.

As far as the quality is concerned, the display looks crisp and has excellent viewing angles. However, it takes a huge hit when it comes to vibrancy and contrast. Evidently, it’s nowhere near to the AMOLED panels on the Realme X and Redmi K20, and you need to keep colours on the saturated mode in order to enjoy the display to the fullest.

Anyways, barring the side bezels, the display does offer an immersive experience and is quite suitable for watching videos on platforms like Netflix and YouTube. However, note that not much content is optimised for the 21:9, resulting in scaling issues. Therefore, you might be left with black bars on sides while watching movies or playing games.

Performance

The Motorola One Vision is powered by Samsung’s very own 10nm-based octa-core Exynos 9609 processor, paired with MALI-G72 MP3 GPU. The phone further gets 4GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage.

For starters, the Exynos 9609 is apparently a toned-down version of the Exynos 9610 found on the Samsung Galaxy A50. Talking of the performance, Moto One Vision is indeed a very smooth phone that gets through almost everything you throw at it. In fact, it’s as perfect as a Realme X for day to day use, including multi-tasking.

However, it’s not the best when it comes to gaming. That said, we did manage to play PUBG Mobile at medium settings without any lag whatsoever. The game even ran well on high settings, but we did see occasional frame drops here and there.

Software

Software is one of the key factors where the device absolutely shines, above any other mid-range smartphone. As noted, this Motorola phone runs vanilla Android 9 Pie under Android One programme, meaning you’ll get regular security patches and timely version updates.

Having said that, the software is undoubtedly one of the main reasons behind the smoothness of the device. And above all, you get a clean, intuitive interface without the need of worrying about bloatware, spammy notifications or ads.

Anyways, Motorola has included Moto Actions, Moto Display and Moto Helo apps in the device. Thus, you can enjoy ambient display feature alongside super quick gestures such as a double-wrist twist to open the camera app, double-chop to turn on the flashlight, and do a three-finger tap to capture a screenshot.

Cameras

In the imaging department, the Motorola One Vision gets a dual-camera setup at the rear. This includes an optically stabilised 48MP Sony IMX586 sensor with f/1.7 aperture and a 5MP depth sensor. For selfies, there’s a 25MP shooter with f/2.0 aperture housed in the punch-hole.

Notably, the phone clicks images with a great amount of detail, lesser noise and decent colour reproduction. The auto-HDR mode is on by default and aids for an excellent dynamic range. Speaking of the low-light performance, the phone clicks decent enough pictures with balanced exposure, good enough details and limited noise levels.

The OIS, coupled with a wide aperture, indeed helps the phone churn out passable results. That said, if you want even more dynamic range and contrast, you can toggle the Night mode which takes about 2-3 seconds to process the photos. Worth noting, the only things we hated about the camera is laggy UI and slow shutter speed.

Coming to the selfies, the 25MP shooter produces sharp and detailed photos. But, there’s something messing with the dynamic range. And for of the most part, what we got was washed out the background and blown highlights which we feel can be rectified through an over-the-air update.

Battery & Charging

The built-in 3,500mAh battery is seemingly average and managed to last a full working day for us, with tasks including listening to music via Bluetooth, watching videos on YouTube, using social media apps, checking emails and playing casual games.

Fortunately, the phone does support 15W fast charging that tops the phone from 0 to 35 in less than 30 minutes, which isn’t bad by any means. Nonetheless, the battery life could’ve been a tad better, given that we already have phones with much better endurance in this price bracket.

Pros

  • Premium design, narrow profile
  • Solid performance
  • Capable Cameras
  • Android One
  • Fast Charging

Cons

  • No AMOLED display
  • 21:9 panel lacks any practical advantages
  • Average battery life
  • Oddly big punch-hole

Moto One Vision Review Verdict- Should you buy one?

While not offering the best value for your money, the Motorola One Vision tends to tick almost all boxes with a unique CinemaVision display, stable performance, promising cameras, and above-average battery life with fast charging. More importantly, you’re getting pure stock Android experience with Android One which is quite rare in the segment dominated by Realme, Xiaomi and Samsung.

However, we just can’t overlook the fact that other phones in this bracket are offering much more for the price you pay. For instance, phones like Vivo Z1 Pro (review) and Realme X offer better display and better performance at a much cheaper price tag. But then again, you’ll be missing on vanilla Android and premium build.

About the author

Ritik Singh

An avid media student who is highly passionate about technology since childhood. He has good experience in video production, gadget reviews and is ardent about writing on tech.