what changed between these two intermediaries?

The result was, as our editor Bruno Salutes said, an “OK package”. A device that was “ok” in several aspects but nothing more than that, which drew more attention for its software, appealing to Android purists, than for the whole thing.

But Motorola seems to have listened to consumers, and with the recently launched One Vision, it has strived to deliver a superior product, mixing features that are trending in the Asian market with its own “flavor.” The result is a much more attractive device, both in design and features. See below what are the main differences between the Motorola One and the Motorola One Vision.

The screen is bigger, but it's not the size that matters

Let's start with what will probably be the first thing you'll notice about the One Vision: the screen. In addition to being larger and with more resolution than the Motorola One (it's 6.3 inches with a resolution of 1080 x 2520 pixels, compared to 5.9 inches at 720 x 1520 pixels), the aspect ratio is also different and may seem strange at first glance: 21:9, which results in a “narrower” and “taller” screen than we're used to.

It’s the same “cinema screen” we mentioned in our Xperia 1 hands-on, and it’s pretty much the same “anamorphic widescreen” aspect ratio used in many Hollywood movies. That means when you’re watching “Rogue One” on your One Vision, the scenes will take up almost the entire screen, with virtually no black bars above or below the image.

In our hands-on, Bruno Salutes mentions that all the apps he tested adapted without any problems to the new screen format, and that in addition to entertainment, it can also be interesting for those who usually use apps in “split screen”, as it offers more space for each app.

The other visible change is the notch, or rather, the lack thereof. Motorola has replaced the huge notch on the Motorola One with a discreet “hole” for the camera in the upper left corner of the screen, similar to what Samsung did on the Galaxy S10e.

In addition to being more discreet, this solution has another advantage: when you place the device “lying down” to watch a movie or play a game, the hole will be in the lower left corner of the screen, where it will not get in the way of the action. You will soon forget about it.

All that was missing was an OLED screen to round off the package with a flourish.

In the fashion of the season

Moving on to the external appearance: the Motorola One had a more sober look, in black or white. The One Vision follows the trend of Asian smartphones and adopts a somewhat bolder appearance, with less common colors (bronze and blue) on the back cover, in glass and with a coating that plays with the light. But don't worry, it's not flashy like the yellow Galaxy S10e. On the contrary, it's quite elegant.

Cameras make a difference

The One Vision’s 48MP rear camera may be eye-catching compared to the previous model’s 13MP, but remember that megapixels don’t equal quality. In fact, the One Vision uses a technology known as “Pixel Binning” (which Motorola calls Quad Pixel) to combine the light and color information from a group of 4 pixels into a “super pixel,” resulting in 12MP images (48MP divided by 4) that are sharper, clearer, and have less noise than a native 12MP sensor.

It's an increasingly common technique on the market, which is already used by other devices such as the Xiaomi Mi 9, or the recently launched OnePlus 7 and 7 Pro. But as Google has already demonstrated with the Pixel, the sensor is only part of the equation, and much of the responsibility for image quality falls on the shoulders of the software.

Motorola seems to have done its homework here. While the One’s cameras were considered “average” at best in our review, in a quick test the One Vision’s seem to show much better results, especially at night thanks to Night Vision mode. Take a look at the example below.

It's too early to talk about performance, but…

We haven’t spent enough time with the Motorola One Vision to talk about its performance yet, but we can give you a few guesses: the processor is a Samsung (yes, a Samsung!) Exynos 9609 Octa-Core at 2.2 GHz, which doesn’t appear to be used in any other device. But according to Motorola, it “matches Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 700 series in terms of performance.”

The Google Pixel 3a has a Snapdragon 670 processor, which is close in performance to the Snapdragon 710 but with better power management. And in our Pixel 3a review we noted that it “offers solid performance for everyday use and is hardly slower than the Pixel 3 when opening apps or multitasking.” So we can expect something similar here.

Motorola One Vision's processing power is similar to Google Pixel 3a's

Of course, this depends on other factors such as the type of RAM (and storage) used, software optimizations, etc., but it's hard to imagine Motorola making a mistake here, especially on a device with Google's “endorsement.” There is obviously a performance gain compared to the Motorola One, but I believe it won't be very noticeable in day-to-day tasks, and will be more noticeable for those who play games or do heavy multitasking.

A “better deal”

Obviously, the Motorola One Vision costs more than the Motorola One. The launch price is R$1,999, compared to R$1,300 (less even at retail) for the previous model. But the extra features in the new model result in a more “rounded” and attractive package that, in my opinion, will offer a better experience for the user. The Motorola One was the “version 1.0” of the concept, and we all know how much can be improved in a sequel.

It's a device that was clearly made with a slightly more advanced user in mind, unlike the average Motorola user, who until now had to import devices from China to find some of the features presented here. It's a good option for those who want to migrate from a mid-range device from another manufacturer, like Samsung, to something more premium without breaking the bank.

Are you interested in the Motorola One Vision? Share your opinion in the comments.