Motorola One Action Brings Welcome Death Knell To Vertical Smartphone Videos

Like many flagship smartphones available today, the Moto One Action has a triple camera setup on the rear. There is a 12MP primary sensor with phase detection autofocus along with a 5MP depth camera for adding effects like natural blur for portrait shots. But where the magic comes into play is with the addition of a 117-degree ultra-wide-angle action video camera. This ultra-wide-angle camera gives you shots more in line with that you'd see in popular action cams from GoPro, hence its name.

Motorola is using what it calls a combination of both hardware and software to allow videos shot in a portrait orientation to playback in landscape mode -- full screen without any bars -- on the 21:9 display. In other words, you don't have to worry about annoying your social media followers the next time you shoot a video when holding the phone naturally in a portrait orientation. Motorola also use what it calls Enhanced Video Stabilization to help smooth out any shaking or jitter when filming with the Moto One Action.

While Motorola decided to change things up with the camera system, the other specs of the Moto One Action are right in line with what you'd expect from a value-priced smartphone. The Moto One Action is one of the few smartphones outside of Samsung that includes an Exynos SoC; in this case the Exynos 9609 paired with 4GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage. The Full HD+ display measures 6.3 inches and has minimal bezels, although you do have to contend with a hole punch cutout for the selfie camera. Finally, there's a 3500 mAh battery that Motorola says will give you a day's worth of runtime.

The Motorola One Action available today in Europe priced at €259, and will launch in the United States and Canada in October.