Motorola One Power vs the Competition: How Does It Fare?

Motorola, a name which seemed to be lost amid the whirlwind of aggressive Chinese brands like Xioami and OnePlus setting a foot in India, is now trying to regain lost ground by bringing a new promising device at an attractive pricing. The Motorola One Power, with the noticeably massive battery and a palatable price of Rs 15,999, has definitely made us curious.

We’ve been getting a lot of queries about how the Motorola One Power compares against its major price-wise competitors such as Redmi Note 5 Pro, Mi A2, Nokia 6.1 Plus, and the newly-launched Realme 2 Pro. So we decided to take you through the difference when it comes to the many aspects that dictate a buyer’s choices on their hunt for a new smartphone. Let’s get going!

Design

We’re well past days when smartphones had iconic and distinct design and these days, most of the devices – especially in the budget segment – cannot be associated with unique designs. The same applies to three of the five devices we’re looking at. The Mi A2, Redmi Note 5 and the Motorola One Power have resembling looks from the rear while Realme 2 Pro and Nokia 6.1 Plus with their glossy designs stand out of the bunch.

Of the five smartphones, the Nokia 6.1 Plus is the most comfortable to hold which can be associated with a smaller screen than the entire lot. However, in terms of handling, I find the Mi A2 to be the easiest to carry because it’s the thinnest and has the best distribution of weight. Realme 2 Pro, too, feels great and premium in the hand.

Moreover, while Mi A2 and the Redmi Note 5 Pro have among the best usability experience when it comes to the buttons, the two smartphones seem a little outdated due to the lack of a notch. With the white face, the siblings are just too repelling for my liking but the black face is relatively easier to accept. However, your preference about the notch will also play a role while choosing which smartphone attracts you the most from the front.

Overall, you can go for the Nokia 6.1 Plus if you’re looking for the comfortable design, Mi A2 for practicality, Motorola One Power for maximum deliverance, and Realme 2 Pro sheerly for beauty.

Display

Moving ahead of our impressions about the design of the devices in the boxing ring. In terms of the display, I would uphold that the 5.99″ screen of the Mi A2 has great colors with a slightly warmer tone than the other devices. However, the display is not very bright and not very user-friendly under strong sunlight. Of the remaining devices, the 6.3″ panel on the Realme 2 Pro and the 6.2″ display on Motorola One Power appear more attractive due to their respective notches.

Meanwhile, the Nokia 6.1 Plus’ 5.8″ screen is compact for my averagely-sized hands and whether you will like it or not is totally up to your preference. Meanwhile, the Redmi Note 5 Pro’s 5.9″ display just does not appear striking in front of the others. It is no worse than the Nokia or Realme Pro in terms of color but the lack of a notch makes it less desirable than the others. In terms of the best utilization of – or otherwise, least harm due to – the notch, I think Realme 2 Pro has an advantage because of being the smallest in size and software support to toggle the notch per app.

If you can overlook the absence of the notch and thus the uninteresting design, Mi A2 clearly fares better than the others in terms of the display. If you want to experiment with the notch, you can choose between Motorola One Power and the Realme 2 Pro.

Performance

When it comes to the performance, Motorola One Power – alongside the Redmi Note 5 Pro and Nokia 6.1 Plus – feels slightly less powered. This is because of the relatively less powerful Snapdragon 636 against the Snapdragon 660 which is used aboard the Realme 2 Pro as well as Mi A2.

In terms of scores calculated using popular benchmarking apps, this is how these smartphones fare:

As you can see, the higher-grade chipset sets up a more enjoyable platter for better performance, at least in numbers. In real-life usage too, the Snapdragon 660 tenders better usage and gaming performance, with richer graphics because of the Adreno 512 compared to the Adreno 509 which is hooked up to the SD 636.

Apart from gaming and numbers indicative of the performance, the user interface is also detrimental of the overall experience. In case you’re accustomed to Xiaomi’s MIUI, you can very well choose the Redmi Note 5 Pro. Else if you want a stock Android experience, both Motorola One Power and the Nokia 6.1 Plus should supper your need for a minimalistic interface with the latter also giving you the option to turn the notch off.

In case notch is not the most desirable part of your smartphone purchase, Mi A2 is an excellent option. Lastly, in terms of ease of the interface’s use, I find the Realme 2 Pro to be the least appealing because of the ColorOS skin, which is a poor attempt at aping iOS and has made me cringe since I first tried out the device.

Camera

In terms of photography, all of the five smartphone feature dual cameras on the back while the single sensors are responsible for selfies. Out of the group, Mi A2 noticeably has the most powerful and compelling camera, both – in terms of number as well as the output of the cameras. Its 12MP+20MP setup leads to a delightful and perhaps the most feisty experience, with good colors and appreciable contrast.

The 20MP sensor also allows the Mi A2 to capture much more details and better colors in low-light compared to other devices. When it comes to the best-selling portrait or bokeh mode, all devices support it but here too, the Mi A2 clearly takes the lead by capturing the edges more accurately than the competition. The selfie flash and a decent front camera save the grace for Motorola One Power.

If some aspect of the Mi A2 is preventing you from buying it, I feel the Motorola One Power fares slightly lower but much better than the competitors. If I’ve to put it in my order of preference, it would be Nokia 6.1 Plus (camera review) after the Motorola One Power and followed by Redmi Note 5 Pro (camera review) and Realme 2 Pro (camera review). Lastly, all devices support 4K video but the lack of EIS/OIS on all of them makes things shaky in all circumstances.

Take a look at these pictures below and decide for yourself how the Motorola One Power’s camera fares against its competitors in your opinion:

• Daylight

• Low/Indoor lighting

• Portrait mode

Battery

The battery capacity is easily that one department where you’d not have to think a lot since Motorola One Power aces with the distinctive 5,000mAh battery. As I’d mentioned in its full review, the battery on the One Power can single-handedly compel many practical users to buy the smartphone. Besides being the largest among the chosen devices, the One Power’s battery does not take an overwhelming amount of time to charge fully and goes from 5% to 100% in around 2 hours and 15 minutes.

While the Motorola One Power easily walks past the two-day mark with 9+ hours of screen-on-time, other phones come to their knees and barely crawl past the 24-hour mark. Of the rest, the Redmi Note 5 Pro clearly yields better backup while the Nokia 6.1 Plus takes relatively lesser time for recharging than the Mi A2 and the Realme 2 Pro because of the Quick Charging support.

Connectivity

On the connectivity front, Motorola One Power, Mi A2, and Nokia 6.1 Plus fare better because they use USB-C, however, the lack of a headphone jack on the Mi A2 might ruin the case for certain old souls.

When it comes to data connectivity, the One Power lags behind all of the devices as it does not support dual 4G or dual VoLTE. Motorola has informed us that the feature will be added in the Android Pie update. Realme 2 has some issues while activating VoLTE on Jio’s network and this, too, shall be fixed soon with an update.

Motorola One Power Against its Biggest Competitors: Does it Stand a Chance?

Motorola One Power is nudging many of the popular devices such as the ones I have compared with it above. Motorola One Power (Rs 15,999) should certainly be your first choice if you’re looking for a long-lasting battery. But if performance and good looks are what you’re after I’d suggest you take a serious look at Realme 2 Pro (starts at Rs 13,990).

If, on the other hand, you want a basic design and good performance along with respectable cameras, I’d suggest you for the Mi A2 (Rs 16,999). Meanwhile, if a handy and looker design is what you crave for Nokia 6.1 Plus (Rs 15,999) is a worthy choice, and pure Android experience is like a cherry on the top. Lastly, if you want a loyal battery, and the assurance of the first-hand experience of a large pool of users, Redmi Note 5 Pro (Rs 14,999) should be your device.

Still confused? Take a better look at the Motorola One Power’s abilities and flaws in our YouTube review:

Buy the Motorola One Power on Flipkart (Rs 15,999)