Android One smartphones offer an interesting proposition, guaranteeing OS updates for two years and security updates for three. There’s also no bloatware or skins to be found – just a plain Android experience. Motorola has now launched an Android One phone of their own, in the form of the Motorola One, at IFA 2018, currently underway in Berlin, Germany.

Motorola noted that it would be one of the first Android One phones to be updated to Android Pie, while Android Q will also be forthcoming.

It takes the now popular notch from the iPhone X to sport a 5.9” HD screen, with a longer 19:9 aspect ratio, or as Motorola calls it, Max Vision. This, along with the rest of the specifications, thrust the Motorola One into the midrange market, and indeed, the retail price set at €300 (R5 200 with our current rough exchange rate) confirms this.

Still, there’s 4 GB of RAM on offer, while you have access to 64 GB of storage and a microSD slot if you need more. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 625 (2.0 GHz, octa-core) processor does the heavy lifting. From our brief time with the Android One, we found it to be a solid midrange phone, with perhaps the camera that provides the standout performance.

Also brand new. The #Motorola One loaded with Android One #LenovoIFA pic.twitter.com/mtktxAQwcM

— TechSmart (@TechSmartZA) August 31, 2018

With Google Lens’ AI functionality built into the software, there should be a few interesting photography sessions ahead with the One. Since you’ll finds both a 13 MP and a 2 MP camera at the back, interesting portraits with background blur can be achieved – a feature that we love. Cinemagraphs can also be made – basically gifs that you record of a subject – which reminds a lot of the Zoe concept first found on the HTC One.

Included is a 3000 mAh battery, which along with the TurboPower charger, can power the device for six hours from only 20 minutes connected.

We were kind-of holding out for a relaunch of the extremely popular Motorola RAZR clamshell after a few interesting words were spoken at a prelaunch session before Lenovo’s official launch here at IFA 2018. While cool, the Motorola One doesn’t quite live up to our lofty expectations.

Whether or not the Motorola One will make its way to South Africa remains to be seen.