Hi, this is Wayne again with a topic “”Action” & “Zoom” For Under $500 – Motorola’s New Phones”.
[, Michael ], I was prepared to be underwhelmed by the Motorola briefing ahead of the IFA 2019 trade show and let’s face it, while the Lenovo-owned brand is finally doing well financially, it’s been a long time since Motorola did something exciting.. While what I saw didn’t exactly blow me away, neither of these is the rumored RAZR foldable phone., But I did come away reassured that the spirit of innovation is still alive at Motorola., (, energetic, guitar, music ) First up is a phone you might’ve seen covered a Couple of weeks back the Motorola One Action. On the surface, it looks like just another iPhone clone, which is what originally turned me off.. But when I picked it up, I immediately got a flashback to the Sony: Xperia 1., The good kind of flashback. And this 21 by 9 form factor is still a rarity, but holding phones likes.
This makes me wish it weren’t, so especially one handed. I’ll come back to that in a second.. Now the Motorola One family is a strategic play in the mid range.. That’S the principle. Segment driving Motorola’s success, right now., So you’ll find a plastic back instead of glass.
Eh, a full HD screen, instead of a more ambitious one and a spec sheet, topped by a Samsung Exynos processor, which is kind of interesting.. Oh, but don’t worry it’s engineered for millennials., Okay, there is a cool part here and it’s what the company has done with the camera.. This one packs the expected trio of 12 megapixel primary five megapixel depth sensor and a wide-angle action camera that gives the phone it’s name..
It’S not the action. Camera’S 170 degree lens that made me sit up in my seat. It’S the fact. The Motorola went in there and rotated the sensor 90 degrees. Like physically rotated it and here’s. Why So, you can hold your phone upright and still shoot landscape video.. Now, if that kinda sounds like a 2019 solution to a 2015 problem, yeah I feel you.. The reality is that the video snobs have basically lost the war on portrait, video thanks to apps like Snapchat and Instagram., And you know that’s fine..
This is still cool in a flip video kind of way for folks who wan na shoot proper landscape video and want a more comfortable grip to keep it steady.. Folks, like the skateboarders and surfers who might ordinarily buy a GoPro for that purpose.. But while those folks will appreciate the excellent software stabilization that Motorola has included here, they’ll probably be as confused as I am by the lack of ruggedization or water-proofing that you’d expect from a phone with action right in its name. There’s just Motorola’s usual water-resistant.
Nano coating on the boards inside.: This is available now in Brazil, Mexico and parts of Europe and will come to the United States sometime in October.. Just don’t expect that fetching teal paint job to make the jump, we’re just getting the boring colors. Sad. If you’re disappointed by that don’t worry., There’s even more to be sad, about., The more impressive of the two phones.
I saw isn’t slated to come out to the U.S. at all. ( record scratch. ) Update, alert Motorola took our feedback from the pre-briefs and presumably some more market research and decided. You know what we will launch this product in the U.S. after all..
So, what’s so special about the Motorola One Zoom that prompted such a dramatic eleventh hour reversal ( record scratch ), Let’s start with the most important thing. If you’re addicted to eye-candy. Yes, that’s a notification light built into the Motorola logo and it can be any color. You want as long as it’s white., No matter, though, since it does a nice job of setting off the glass pinstripe finish of the quad camera module mounted atop that satin glass back plate., This camera’s a doozy. With a 48 megapixel primary sensor with optical stabilization and Eight megapixel telephoto with three X optical zoom, also stabilized that 170 degree wide-angle again and a depth finder to round everything. Out.
That ambitious camera module is supported by equally aspirational specs, including a big 4000 milliamp powered battery that should last quite a while in the conjunction with the power sipping processor., I’m tired of talking numbers. So, let’s lean into software for the finish., You may have noticed the lack of Android One branding. Here. Motorola is cooling way off on that program.. The One Action will only have it in certain markets and the One Zoom won’t have Android One at all..
Now, that’s not too big a deal since I’ve always found Motorola’s take on software to be excellent, with useful improvements and a minimal aesthetic.. But I do wonder how this will affect the company’s already questionable reputation for keeping up with updates. And for what it’s worth. The company says, quote “: We will offer at least one upgrade”. That’S an Android platform, upgrade “ and provide all security updates. “ on a frequent industry, standard schedule.”, We’ll see. Again don’t expect the Zoom to come to the U.S..
I’M mainly excited to see Motorola experimenting with ambitious ideas in the mid range, particularly in the optics department., Because when that fabled RAZR does eventually land and I’m really hoping it’s soon, I’m not gon na wan na sacrifice camera capabilities for a folding screen. Folks, there’s plenty More to see from IFA 2019 in Berlin. Be sure you’re subscribed to theMrMobile on YouTube and for more up the minute. Mobile news follow me at the same, handle on Instagram and Twitter.
Until next time, thanks for watching and stay mobile, my friends. ( lighthearted electronic music ) .