Being essentially a Motorola phone, the ThinkPhone runs a very clean, nearly AOSP-looking version of Android 13 with just a few Moto mods on top. We still believe that this clean appearance is a selling factor generally applicable to all Moto devices.
The Quick Settings and notification shade are pretty distinct in recent AOSP versions with big and bubbly buttons, of which you only get four on the first pull, up to 8 on the second, and the full-screen notification shade.
On to widgets, which saw an overhaul with Android 12. The widget picker offers responsive previews for differently-sized widgets. The new API supports dynamic coloring by tying into the Material You theming engine, allowing the widgets to adapt to the wallpaper.
Quick settings • Notification shade • Widgets
The Material You auto-theming feature is here, too, though it's masked behind a slightly customized Moto-specific theming engine. You can still get wallpaper-based accent colors, which will apply to Google apps and the settings menu. Motorola also has a separate Interactive wallpapers app from which you can download a number of dynamic wallpapers.
Theming and interactive wallpapers
As is usually the case, Motorola has added a handful of useful extras. They are all placed in a Moto settings app that lists them in categories. The Moto app itself has a new look.
The first category is personalization - that's where the OS-native auto-theming found a foster home. There is also a wide selection of Moto wallpapers in addition to Google's own, plus the option to leverage AI to create your own from the photos in your gallery.
Then come the gestures. By now, you must have seen Moto's karate chop motion that turns on and off the flashlight and the twisting motion that launches the camera app. Both work even when the device is locked.
The lift-to-unlock gesture works well with the face unlock, as it unlocks the device as soon as you pick it up and look at the screen. A swipe-to-split function is available, too - it triggers the split-screen multitasking. You can also double-tap the back of the phone to do a custom action.
The display-related features are Peek Display and Attentive Display. The former works as a second-best alternative to the Always-on display feature, which is actually missing, but with some added functionality to make up for it.
The screen lights up when it detects motion that's close to the phone or when you pick it up. Once you've received some kind of notification, you can tap on it, see the message, and even interact with it from the lock screen.
Attentive Display disables the screen timeout as long as there's a face looking at the screen.
Then there's the Play section. Here, you'll find the Gametime utility, which offers the usual functionality of tools like call and notification blocking and screen recording. Additionally, there are optional shortcuts for media playback when the screen is locked using the volume keys and a Dolby Atmos sound enhancement utility.
With recent versions, Google has been investing heavily in the privacy and security aspects of Android. This includes things like the Privacy dashboard, which offers a unified view of what permission is being used by what app and when. There are also the camera and microphone indicators in the top right corner of the screen for an immediate clue that you're being watched/listened to, but also the quick toggles to limit access to those altogether. There is also the option to determine whether an app gets your precise coordinates or an approximate location.
Secure folder is pretty self-explanatory. It is a vault to keep your sensitive apps and files. There are a few interesting network protection options on board, like the ability to limit 2G data connections or block certain apps from accessing the network while you are connected to an unsecured Wi-Fi hotspot.
Other interesting security features include the ability to lock your network and security settings for as long as your screen is locked. Also, the ability to scramble your pin input interface for higher security. You can access all of these security and privacy settings through a separate Moto Secure app shortcut as well.
Lenovo and Motorola are proudly marketing the security features on the ThinkPhone. There are, apparently, quite a few systems in place on the ThinkPhone doing their work in the background. ThinkShield is a superior security platform with underlying fundamental security policies, features, specialized hardware, software and processes that ensure the security of the entire device. Moto Threat Defense is an advanced hardware and AI-based security solution that also comes built-in with the ThinkPhone.
Moto KeySafe is a separate process running on Android that adds an additional layer of security to better protect the most sensitive data in the smartphone. It isolates PINs, passwords, and cryptographic keys, storing them in a tamper-resistant environment protecting the data from the inside out.
Since the ThinkPhone is meant first and foremost for the enterprise crowd, it makes sense to also have what Motorola and Lenovo are calling a "Zero Touch" device deployment and fleet management solution. This is done through tools like Moto OEMConfig and Moto Device Manager that even have to power to remotely adjust and set security app features on the ThinkPhone, like lockscreen pin scrambling.
Another "enterprise-friendly" feature being marketed on the ThinkPhone is Think 2 Think connectivity. It implies seamless interoperability between the ThinkPhone and a Lenovo ThinkPad laptop. At its core, it seems to just be based on the familiar Morotola Ready For platform, though.
Introduced in 2021, Motorola's 'ready for' platform enables a multitude of use cases that put the phone in the center of a big-screen experience. Connecting a TV or a monitor allows you to get a Windows-desktop-like environment, play a game on your phone, display it on the external screen, or even have a video chat on a larger display.
The connection can be made with a cable - either with the 'ready for' cable (or another USB-C MHL Alt solution) or with a USB-C-to-C cable with a compatible monitor. Alternatively, you can connect wirelessly to a Miracast-capable display.
If you don't have a mouse and/or keyboard handy, the phone's screen can be used as a trackpad and/or keyboard.
You can also use 'ready for' on a Windows-based PC - it runs within a window on your desktop. This is helpful when you want to run an Android app from your computer or multi-task between devices on just one screen.
Another use case of 'ready for' on a Windows PC is for video calls, where you can use the phone's camera to capture yourself and an external display to see the other participants.
The final Ready For use case is for gaming on a bigger screen - be it TV or laptop/monitor. You connect an external controller and run the game on the phone, with the obvious benefit being the larger display for gameplay.
The Motorola ThinkPhone is built around the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset. The phone seems to have been in development for some time since it is not using Qualcomm's latest and greatest chip. Even so, the ThinkPhone is unquestionably a flagship device with plenty of power to throw around. The Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 has an octa-core CPU configuration with one primary Cortex-X2 core, working at up to 3.19 GHz, 3x2.75 GHz Cortex-A710 and 4x1.80 GHz Cortex-A510. Its GPU is an Adreno 730.
The ThinkPhone pairs said chipset with either 8GB of 12GB of RAM and up to 512GB of non-expandable UFS 3.1 storage. It is available in the following configurations: 128GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 12GB RAM and 512GB 12GB RAM. Our review unit has 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, so you can expect slightly better results in some compound benchmarks like AnTuTu from the higher tier variants.
Let's kick things off with some CPU tests and GeekBench. We can see that the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 inside the ThinkPhone is performing as expected and is surrounded by its peers in the performance charts. That, of course, means that Motorola did a great job implementing this chip and making use of its power.
Higher is better
Higher is better
We can also see how much of a difference the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset makes to overall performance. A relevant point to consider is that some of the devices competing with the ThinkPhone already run on Qualcomm's newest chip. The difference is quite noticeable and can be observed in AnTuTu and its more compound set of benchmarks.
Higher is better
Despite being a generation old now, the Adreno 730 GPU still holds its own well in graphics tests. Again, however, we can clearly see how much of a performance advantage the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 and its Adreno 740 have overall.
Higher is better
Higher is better
Higher is better
Higher is better
As we lower the intensity of the tests, results start to quickly creep into the triple digits.
Higher is better
Higher is better
Just as we described in the high refresh rate handling section, by default, the ThinkPhone will only ramp up its refresh rate to 120Hz in Auto mode. That is the cap we quickly managed to hit with the lower-end GFXBench tests. In case you were wondering, the Adreno 730 is powerful enough to saturate the full 144Hz refresh rate of the phone in these tests.
Higher is better
Higher is better
Higher is better
Higher is better
And just as expected, the ThinkPhone and its Adreno 730 max out all 3DMark tests except for the most difficult Wild Life Extreme. There the ThinkPhone manages a very decent score, within throwing distance of the vanilla iPhone 14.
Higher is better
In practice, the ThinkPhone is very smooth and responsive. Its clean and light OS definitely helps in this regard. It feels very snappy to use and has plenty of raw power to chew through each and every task out there. While it's a bit of a bummer the ThinkPhone is not equipped with the newest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, it is also not a major deal in practical terms.
The ThinkPhone can get quite toasty to the touch while under intense load, especially its metal frame.
It does alright in terms of thermal management and throttling with no major jarring dips, which would have caused stutters. It doesn't particularly impress with cooling either, but it's alright overall.
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