Motorola One and Motorola One Power hands-on: iPhone looks for a third of the price

Announced only hours ago at IFA 2018 in Berlin, the Motorola One and One Power are the company's latest mid-range Android devices. They're both made to offer decent specs at reasonable prices, but they also share the same flaw – neither of them is coming to the US. 

So, what are we missing on exactly? The Motorola One carries a striking resemblance to the iPhone X, but at this point in time, it is far from the first phone to do so. A notch at the top of the display houses the front cam, the earpiece, and various sensors, while the chin at the bottom is thick enough to fit a Motorola label. Frankly speaking, the phone looks great for a mid-range device, and the glass back adds a welcome dose of style. The 5.9-inch screen may be of only HD resolution (720p), but it looks good enough to the naked eye. Bonus points go to Motorola for placing its logo within the recessed fingerprint reader at the back. The Motorola One is a lightweight device – and one pleasant to handle as well. 

A key selling point for the Motorola One is that it is part of the Android One program. Simply put, it runs a clean, bloat-free version of Android and is promised to get regular updates – three years of security patches, as well as Android Q and R when they're available. Among the few software experiences not made by Google are the various shortcuts and gestures, such as shaking the phone twice to launch the flashlight. Meanwhile, in the camera app you'll find a bunch of modes to play with, including Portrait, Cinemagraph, Spot Color, and Google Lens integration.   

The Motorola One Power is similar in many ways. It runs the same lightweight software, for example, and it has a dual camera as well. But it brings a few notable upgrades. First of all, it has a bigger, 6.2-inch, 1080p display, albeit with a similarly shaped notch at the top. The chip inside is the Snapdragon 636 vs the inferior Snapdragon 625 in the One. But most importantly, behind its metal back is housed a huge, 5000mAh battery. That pretty much guarantees long battery life, but we noticed how heavy the phone felt as soon as we picked it up. 

Expect to see the Motorola One in stores across Europe, Asia, and Latin America in the coming months for a price of around 300 euro (the equivalent of $350). As for the Motorola One Power, it is set to launch exclusively in India.