Motorola ThinkPhone review

Clean Android 13 with a focus on security

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.

Moto app

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.

Gestures

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.

Display

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.

Play

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.

Security and privacy

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.

'ready for'

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.

'ready for' on a Windows PC

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.

Performance and benchmarks

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.

GeekBench 5 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• iPhone 14 Pro
  5346
• Xiaomi 13
  5129
• Galaxy S23+
  5073
• Galaxy S23
  4950
• OnePlus 11
  4899
• iPhone 14
  4761
• Asus Zenfone 9
  4338
• Xiaomi 12S Ultra
  4300
• Motorola Edge 30 Ultra
  4265
• Motorola ThinkPhone
  4207
• Xiaomi 12T Pro
  4081
• Realme GT Neo3
  4079
• Realme GT2 Explorer Master
  4021
• Poco X4 GT
  3719
• Motorola Edge 30 Pro
  3658
• Poco F4 GT
  3637
• Asus Zenfone 9 (Dynamic)
  3606
• Motorola Edge 30 Fusion
  3458
• Sony Xperia 5 IV
  3448
• Sony Xperia 1 IV
  3403
• Poco F4
  3190
• Google Pixel 7 Pro
  3187
• Realme GT Neo 3T
  3180
• Google Pixel 6a
  2876
• Realme 10 Pro+
  2371

GeekBench 5 (single-core)

Higher is better

• iPhone 14 Pro
  1861
• iPhone 14
  1738
• Galaxy S23+
  1551
• Galaxy S23
  1550
• Xiaomi 13
  1492
• Realme GT2 Explorer Master
  1336
• Xiaomi 12S Ultra
  1324
• Asus Zenfone 9
  1313
• Motorola ThinkPhone
  1303
• Motorola Edge 30 Ultra
  1276
• Poco F4 GT
  1244
• Xiaomi 12T Pro
  1238
• Sony Xperia 5 IV
  1233
• Motorola Edge 30 Pro
  1196
• Sony Xperia 1 IV
  1160
• OnePlus 11
  1150
• Motorola Edge 30 Fusion
  1073
• Google Pixel 7 Pro
  1056
• Google Pixel 6a
  1047
• Realme GT Neo 3T
  1023
• Poco F4
  975
• Realme GT Neo3
  968
• Asus Zenfone 9 (Dynamic)
  927
• Poco X4 GT
  917
• Realme 10 Pro+
  842

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.

AnTuTu 9

Higher is better

• Xiaomi 13
  1248260
• Galaxy S23+
  1234077
• Galaxy S23
  1231075
• OnePlus 11
  1140661
• Asus Zenfone 9
  1083092
• Motorola ThinkPhone
  1081805
• Motorola Edge 30 Ultra
  1074722
• Realme GT2 Explorer Master
  1045876
• Xiaomi 12S Ultra
  1039412
• Xiaomi 12T Pro
  1032185
• iPhone 14 Pro
  968412
• Poco F4 GT
  952124
• Motorola Edge 30 Pro
  941895
• Sony Xperia 1 IV
  838832
• Sony Xperia 5 IV
  835038
• Motorola Edge 30 Fusion
  827929
• Realme GT Neo3
  819348
• iPhone 14
  817125
• Google Pixel 7 Pro
  796369
• Asus Zenfone 9 (Dynamic)
  783425
• Poco X4 GT
  747871
• Realme GT Neo 3T
  726007
• Google Pixel 6a
  712092
• Poco F4
  698586
• Realme 10 Pro+
  522376

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.

GFX Aztek ES 3.1 High (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Galaxy S23
  90
• Galaxy S23+
  89
• Xiaomi 13
  88
• Motorola ThinkPhone
  68
• Asus Zenfone 9
  67
• Motorola Edge 30 Ultra
  65
• Motorola Edge 30 Pro
  59
• Realme GT2 Explorer Master
  59
• Asus Zenfone 9 (Dynamic)
  57
• Xiaomi 12T Pro
  50
• OnePlus 11
  49
• Sony Xperia 5 IV
  48
• Google Pixel 6a
  47
• Motorola Edge 30 Fusion
  43
• Sony Xperia 1 IV
  43
• Realme GT Neo3
  42
• Xiaomi 12S Ultra
  38
• Poco X4 GT
  38
• Realme GT Neo 3T
  32
• Google Pixel 7 Pro
  26
• Realme 10 Pro+
  16

GFX Aztek ES 3.1 High (offscreen 1440p)

Higher is better

• Galaxy S23+
  62
• Galaxy S23
  61
• Xiaomi 13
  61
• OnePlus 11
  61
• Motorola ThinkPhone
  46
• Xiaomi 12S Ultra
  46
• Realme GT2 Explorer Master
  46
• Asus Zenfone 9
  46
• Xiaomi 12T Pro
  45
• Motorola Edge 30 Ultra
  43
• Motorola Edge 30 Pro
  39
• Asus Zenfone 9 (Dynamic)
  33
• Google Pixel 7 Pro
  29
• Google Pixel 6a
  29
• Sony Xperia 5 IV
  29
• Realme GT Neo3
  27
• Motorola Edge 30 Fusion
  26
• Sony Xperia 1 IV
  26
• Poco X4 GT
  26
• Realme GT Neo 3T
  22
• Realme 10 Pro+
  11

GFX Aztek Vulkan High (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Galaxy S23
  98
• Galaxy S23+
  93
• Xiaomi 13
  91
• Motorola ThinkPhone
  69
• Asus Zenfone 9
  69
• Motorola Edge 30 Ultra
  62
• Motorola Edge 30 Pro
  60
• iPhone 14 Pro
  60
• Realme GT2 Explorer Master
  59
• Xiaomi 12T Pro
  58
• iPhone 14
  55
• Sony Xperia 5 IV
  55
• OnePlus 11
  53
• Asus Zenfone 9 (Dynamic)
  47
• Realme GT Neo3
  43
• Xiaomi 12S Ultra
  39
• Google Pixel 6a
  39
• Poco X4 GT
  38
• Motorola Edge 30 Fusion
  35
• Realme GT Neo 3T
  34
• Sony Xperia 1 IV
  31
• Google Pixel 7 Pro
  25
• Realme 10 Pro+
  15

GFX Aztek Vulkan High (offscreen 1440p)

Higher is better

• Galaxy S23+
  69
• Xiaomi 13
  69
• OnePlus 11
  68
• Galaxy S23
  65
• Asus Zenfone 9
  52
• Xiaomi 12S Ultra
  51
• Motorola ThinkPhone
  50
• Xiaomi 12T Pro
  50
• Realme GT2 Explorer Master
  50
• Motorola Edge 30 Pro
  45
• Motorola Edge 30 Ultra
  43
• iPhone 14 Pro
  42
• iPhone 14
  38
• Sony Xperia 5 IV
  38
• Asus Zenfone 9 (Dynamic)
  36
• Google Pixel 6a
  32
• Google Pixel 7 Pro
  30
• Realme GT Neo3
  28
• Sony Xperia 1 IV
  26
• Realme GT Neo 3T
  24
• Poco X4 GT
  24
• Motorola Edge 30 Fusion
  23
• Realme 10 Pro+
  10

As we lower the intensity of the tests, results start to quickly creep into the triple digits.

GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Galaxy S23
  110
• Galaxy S23+
  110
• Xiaomi 13
  109
• Motorola ThinkPhone
  90
• Asus Zenfone 9
  89
• Motorola Edge 30 Pro
  78
• Sony Xperia 1 IV
  74
• Motorola Edge 30 Ultra
  73
• Asus Zenfone 9 (Dynamic)
  66
• Xiaomi 12T Pro
  65
• Sony Xperia 5 IV
  63
• Motorola Edge 30 Fusion
  62
• iPhone 14
  60
• iPhone 14 Pro
  60
• Realme GT2 Explorer Master
  60
• OnePlus 11
  57
• Realme GT Neo3
  53
• Xiaomi 12S Ultra
  51
• Google Pixel 6a
  51
• Realme GT Neo 3T
  49
• Poco F4
  49
• Poco X4 GT
  46
• Google Pixel 7 Pro
  34
• Realme 10 Pro+
  21

GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (offscreen 1080p)

Higher is better

• Galaxy S23+
  130
• Galaxy S23
  127
• Xiaomi 13
  127
• OnePlus 11
  126
• iPhone 14 Pro
  112
• Xiaomi 12S Ultra
  104
• Asus Zenfone 9
  104
• Motorola ThinkPhone
  103
• Realme GT2 Explorer Master
  103
• Xiaomi 12T Pro
  100
• Motorola Edge 30 Pro
  95
• Motorola Edge 30 Ultra
  93
• iPhone 14
  91
• Sony Xperia 1 IV
  79
• Asus Zenfone 9 (Dynamic)
  75
• Sony Xperia 5 IV
  70
• Google Pixel 6a
  66
• Motorola Edge 30 Fusion
  63
• Google Pixel 7 Pro
  63
• Realme GT Neo3
  60
• Realme GT Neo 3T
  59
• Poco F4
  59
• Poco X4 GT
  52
• Realme 10 Pro+
  27

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.

GFX Manhattan ES 3.1 (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi 13
  121
• Motorola ThinkPhone
  120
• Galaxy S23
  120
• Galaxy S23+
  120
• Asus Zenfone 9
  120
• Xiaomi 12T Pro
  116
• Sony Xperia 5 IV
  114
• Asus Zenfone 9 (Dynamic)
  113
• Motorola Edge 30 Pro
  111
• Motorola Edge 30 Ultra
  97
• Xiaomi 12S Ultra
  91
• Realme GT Neo 3T
  85
• Poco F4
  84
• Motorola Edge 30 Fusion
  82
• Sony Xperia 1 IV
  72
• OnePlus 11
  60
• Google Pixel 6a
  60
• iPhone 14
  60
• iPhone 14 Pro
  60
• Realme GT2 Explorer Master
  60
• Realme GT Neo3
  60
• Google Pixel 7 Pro
  57
• Poco X4 GT
  54
• Realme 10 Pro+
  38

GFX Manhattan ES 3.1 (offscreen 1080p)

Higher is better

• Galaxy S23+
  224
• Xiaomi 13
  222
• OnePlus 11
  220
• Galaxy S23
  212
• iPhone 14 Pro
  196
• Asus Zenfone 9
  187
• Motorola ThinkPhone
  183
• Xiaomi 12S Ultra
  182
• Realme GT2 Explorer Master
  182
• Xiaomi 12T Pro
  179
• Motorola Edge 30 Pro
  160
• iPhone 14
  151
• Asus Zenfone 9 (Dynamic)
  137
• Sony Xperia 5 IV
  132
• Sony Xperia 1 IV
  126
• Motorola Edge 30 Ultra
  121
• Google Pixel 6a
  116
• Realme GT Neo3
  111
• Google Pixel 7 Pro
  108
• Poco X4 GT
  103
• Realme GT Neo 3T
  98
• Poco F4
  96
• Motorola Edge 30 Fusion
  81
• Realme 10 Pro+
  45

GFX Manhattan ES 3.0 (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Motorola Edge 30 Pro
  142
• Xiaomi 13
  121
• Xiaomi 12T Pro
  121
• Motorola ThinkPhone
  120
• Galaxy S23
  120
• Galaxy S23+
  120
• Sony Xperia 5 IV
  120
• Asus Zenfone 9
  120
• Asus Zenfone 9 (Dynamic)
  120
• Xiaomi 12S Ultra
  118
• Realme GT Neo 3T
  115
• Poco F4
  114
• Google Pixel 7 Pro
  103
• Sony Xperia 1 IV
  100
• Motorola Edge 30 Fusion
  93
• Poco X4 GT
  65
• OnePlus 11
  60
• Google Pixel 6a
  60
• iPhone 14
  60
• iPhone 14 Pro
  60
• Realme GT2 Explorer Master
  60
• Realme GT Neo3
  60
• Realme 10 Pro+
  56

GFX Manhattan ES 3.0 (offscreen 1080p)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi 13
  327
• OnePlus 11
  327
• Galaxy S23
  320
• Galaxy S23+
  319
• Asus Zenfone 9
  277
• Motorola ThinkPhone
  268
• Xiaomi 12S Ultra
  268
• Realme GT2 Explorer Master
  267
• Xiaomi 12T Pro
  262
• Motorola Edge 30 Pro
  251
• iPhone 14 Pro
  243
• Asus Zenfone 9 (Dynamic)
  221
• iPhone 14
  217
• Sony Xperia 5 IV
  187
• Sony Xperia 1 IV
  186
• Motorola Edge 30 Ultra
  178
• Google Pixel 7 Pro
  170
• Realme GT Neo3
  168
• Google Pixel 6a
  167
• Poco X4 GT
  146
• Realme GT Neo 3T
  145
• Poco F4
  137
• Motorola Edge 30 Fusion
  99
• Realme 10 Pro+
  68

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.

3DMark Wild Life Extreme (offscreen 1440p)

Higher is better

• Galaxy S23
  3852
• Galaxy S23+
  3830
• OnePlus 11
  3594
• iPhone 14 Pro
  3368
• Xiaomi 13
  2980
• iPhone 14
  2936
• Motorola ThinkPhone
  2818
• Xiaomi 12T Pro
  2740
• Google Pixel 7 Pro
  1835
• Realme 10 Pro+
  622

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.

Thermal throttling

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.