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Battery life
- 4,000mAh battery
- Battery life is good, not great
- 27W (Europe) / 45W (US) fast charging
Despite an ample 4,000mAh battery, the Motorola One Hyper’s screen-on time isn’t particularly high, with the battery draining by 23% after a 90-minute video playing back at full brightness.
With most phones we test dropping less than 20%, this result might sound alarming, but when the brightness is lowered to about 60-70%, the Hyper’s battery life fares significantly better.
The phone also ships with a Turbo Charger in the box, though how fast this is will depend on where in the world you are. In the US, Motorola’s One Hyper climbs all the way to 45W charging, taking it up to Huawei SuperCharge territory. Meanwhile, in Europe, it caps out at 27W - and this is the version we tested.
Either way, you get fast charging at least on par with other smartphones in the Hyper’s price range, but the US Hyper, which is admittedly a touch pricier, is a best-in-class fast charger.
As for what the phone is like to use in the real world, in the hands of a power user, it comfortably made it through a full day with between 20-30% battery remaining. This was with WhatsApp active, a fair bit of gaming, and plenty of music and audiobook listening.
Camera
- 64MP primary sensor
- 8MP ultra-wide camera
- 32MP pop-up selfie camera
The worst thing about the Motorola One Hyper’s camera is the lack of a telephoto module and the fact it can take a second to think when taking a shot. Despite these shortcomings, the One Hyper is still a mid-ranger with a megapixel-rich sensor, which is great.
Additionally, the digital zoom can take advantage of its 64MP resolution when the light is right and grab shots loaded up with a fair amount of detail, even at up to 3x zoom.
Shooting modes are also plentiful, with Portrait, Spot Color, Cutout, Ultra Mode (64MP mode), Night Vision, Cinemagraph, and Live Filter. Photos are captured at a default resolution of 16MP, just like a rival 64MP camera phone, the Realme X2 Pro.
Photos shot in auto mode look really good, given the phone’s price. They take a second to process - especially Night Vision images, but if you’re okay with a bit of waiting, then the Motorola One Hyper definitely hits the mark.
In well-lit conditions, the phone’s images pack plenty of detail, and while there is some nuance lost in the shadows and highlights by comparison to flagships like the iPhone 11 Pro, results are nevertheless impressive - and better than Realme’s implementation using the same sensor when the X2 Pro first launched.
HDR mode kicks in when the lighting is challenging, and even when the lights drop, it doesn’t totally crumble.
Automatic shots taken in low light are processed out to get rid of most of the unsightly noise, producing decent results in all but the dimmest scenes. Meanwhile, flip the phone to Night Vision mode to grab images that simulate a combination of HDR and long exposure effects on traditional cameras.
This definitely won’t compete with the best night modes out there from Apple, Google, and Huawei, but it’s decent for a mid-ranger.
Video is shot at Full HD or 4K, with footage looking well stabilized across resolutions and detail being fair. Contrast is a touch high, so dynamic range isn’t fantastic, but it absolutely does the job in good light. At night - not so much.
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