Motorola One Macro (2019) review: A budget phone that holds up to scrutiny

Performance - Specs, Software, Benchmarks and Battery Life

Specs

• Processor:  MediaTek Helio P70

• Operating System: Android 9  

• RAM:  4GB

• Storage: 64GB

• MicroSD slot: Yes

• Headphone Jack: Yes

• Fingerprint sensor: Yes

• SIM: Dual

• Battery:  4000mAh

• Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.2, 4G

• Rear Camera: 13-megapixel primary lens (f/2.0) + 2-megapixel (f/2.2) macro lens + 2-megapixel depth sensor

• Front-Facing Camera: 8-megapixel (f/2.2)
  

• Dimensions: 157.6 x 75.4 x 9 mm

• Weight: 186g

Software 

Since it runs on Android One, the software experience attached to the Motorola One Macro is close to pure Android. You don’t get any of the flair or unique features you’d get out of a Pixel 3a but you don’t get any bloatware either - which is always nice. 

Credit: Motorola

Given how closely it skews to the core Android experience, there’s not a huge amount to talk about here. The one exception here is Motorola’s unique gesture shortcuts. These all work more or less as they have for the last dozen or so Motorola smartphone devices. They’re nice to have but nothing revolutionary. 

Benchmarks

Credit: Fergus Halliday | IDG

Battery Life

As far as battery life goes, the Motorola One Macro did a good job of impressing us. Despite being a pretty cheap $299 smartphone, the Macro managed to eke out about two days of regular usage per charge. That usage contracted significantly if you watched a lot of video content or played a lot of Call of Duty: Mobile but that’s nothing special. 

The Motorola One Macro supports 10W wired charging via USB Type-C but does not support Qi wireless charging. 

The Bottom Line

For all the compromises that have been on the hardware, the cleaner software might just give the Motorola One Macro the edge over the more expensive Motorola G8 Plus. It’s a fast, clean and highly-usable phone with a nifty trademark feature and longer-than-average battery life. 

Credit: Motorola