Motorola Edge 50 Neo Review: Compact But Very Capable

At a look

Knowledgeable’s Ranking

Execs

• Nice design
• Strong efficiency
• First rate cameras
• Lengthy software program assist

Cons

• Some software program glitches
• No display screen protector

Our Verdict

Motorola has carried out a positive job with this mid-ranger that can tick most containers for most individuals. Nevertheless, the OnePlus Nord 4 is barely barely dearer at full value and a better option general.

Value When Reviewed

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Greatest Pricing As we speak

Motorola has been very busy in 2024, releasing telephones at a variety of various value factors.

Sitting within the center are its mid-range cellphone choices, which embrace Edge 50 Neo. At £399 within the UK at launch, it’s shifting into the corporate of some critical massive hitters just like the OnePlus Nord 4 and Google Pixel 8a.

Can Motorola nonetheless have an ‘Edge’ within the face of such competitors? I switched to the Edge 50 Neo to search out out.

Design & Construct

• Vibrant, compact body
• Plastic construct
• IP68 water and dirt safety ranking

Motorola has determined to be daring with its design selections on the Edge 50 Neo, which I believe is a unbelievable strategy.

Gone are the boring muted tones of different producers, and as a substitute there’s a collaboration with color specialists Pantone which delivers some enjoyable and cool-looking liveries. The rear panel is a delicate, textured vegan leather-based that affords extra grip than on just about some other fashionable cellphone, with the steel body additionally matched with a shinier model of the tones. 

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You’ll be able to select between Latte (sand), Grisaille (gray/blue), Nautical Blue or the Poinciana (orangey purple) end that I’ve right here. They’re all fairly cool and supply sufficient vary so that you can discover one that’s as loud or refined as you favor your smartphone to be. Motorola additionally features a exhausting plastic rear cowl in the identical color so you possibly can add some safety with out shedding the look.

The Edge 50 Neo can also be a fairly compact gadget. The 154.1 x 71.2 x 8.1mm dimensions present that it’s slim and cozy to make use of in a single hand (for essentially the most half), whereas the 171g weight makes it one of many lightest fashions I’ve used for some time.

By comparability, the OnePlus Nord 4 measures 162.6 x 75 x 7.9 mm and weighs in at 199.5g, whereas the Google Pixel 8a is 152.1 x 72.7 x 8.9mm and ideas the scales at 188g.

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The Edge 50 Neo additionally bests its rivals by way of water resistance, coming with an IP68 ranking which certifies that it may be absolutely immersed in as much as 1.5mm of recent water for as much as half-hour with none harm. 

You additionally get stereo audio system (albeit utilising the front-facing cellphone speaker as one), a USB-C charging port, twin SIM tray (Nano + eSIM) and the usual energy and quantity controls. 

It’s a handsome cellphone that feels extra enjoyable than a lot of its rivals, whereas additionally providing respectable ranges of usability and safety at this value level. 

Display screen & Audio system

• 6.4-inch pOLED Tremendous HD show
• Gorilla Glass 3
• Twin stereo audio system with Dolby Atmos   

One of many causes for the compact nature of the Edge 50 Neo is the 6.4-inch pOLED show. In a world the place big screens have gotten the norm, it’s good to have a extra manageable floor to work with. 

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The display screen is properly balanced by way of colors, with an HDR max brightness of 3000 nits specified by Motorola. In regular use although, I measured the utmost brightness at slightly below 1200 nits, which is greater than sufficient to make it readable outdoors on sunny days.

There’s additionally a variable refresh price that goes as much as 120Hz for clean scrolling, plus the Tremendous HD (1220p) decision retains issues sharp. The LTPO expertise within the panel (permitting it to drop as little as 1Hz mechanically) helps make it vitality environment friendly, which is sweet information for battery life for those who’re a heavy consumer. 

The spec sheet has Corning Gorilla Glass because the safety for the AMOLED panel, which isn’t unhealthy at this value. Sadly, I managed to select up a floor scratch on the show inside a couple of days of sunshine use (I’m fairly light on telephones), which was disappointing. As such, I’d suggest utilizing a display screen protector for those who purchase the Edge Neo 50, as you don’t get one pre-installed or within the field. 

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Audio can also be stable, with the primary speaker on the underside edge combining with the cellphone speaker on the high of the show to kick out a good stage of quantity that doesn’t distort except you push it proper to the very best quantity. Sure, bass is missing, however that’s regular for many telephones. 

Specs & Efficiency

• MediaTek Dimensity 7300 octa-core processor
• 8GB RAM + 256GB Storage
• Good gaming efficiency

Clearly, at this value, you’re not going to see the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 below the hood, however the MediaTek Dimensity 7300 within the Edge 50 Neo does a powerful job of maintaining issues ticking over properly.

Apps all launch shortly and primarily run with out difficulty. The 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM appears to deal with the calls for positioned upon it, and 256GB of uMPC onboard storage is ample for giant music collections or those that need to seize loads of pictures and movies on the Edge 50 Neo. 

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I did expertise a couple of bizarre glitches although, and couldn’t establish the foundation trigger. Often, contact targets in apps would develop into unresponsive, and at one level the icon on the house web page for one app did the identical, that means I couldn’t really launch it in any respect. A reset cleared the issue, nevertheless it’s not one I’ve come throughout on different telephones typically.

I had related frustrations within the digicam app, the place some focal lengths simply didn’t register as being chosen and in a number of cases I couldn’t get the contact focussing to work. I’ve seen in different Moto cellphone opinions on our web site not too long ago that the unintentional contact sensitivity may intervene with working the cellphone. I believe that may be the case right here, as a part of my hand may have been touching the display screen. Hopefully, this may be fastened in a software program replace.  

Aside from these bizarre occurrences, efficiency for on a regular basis duties was clean and steady, and even firing up some graphically demanding video games didn’t pose a lot of an issue for the Edge 50 Neo. 

Motorola Edge 50 Neo benchmarks

Right here’s the way it fared in opposition to a few of its rivals in our customary vary of benchmark assessments:

Cameras

• Strong important digicam
• Common ultra-wide
• Occasional glitches

The Edge 50 Neo has a triple digicam array on the rear that may ship some very good pictures when the situations are proper.

Unsurprisingly, the primary 50Mp f/1.8 shooter is the one which simply produces the very best photographs, though the 13Mp f/2.2 ultra-wide with its 120-degree viewing angle isn’t too unhealthy.

As is often the case with the secondary cameras, you lose a little bit of colour-balance and pictures don’t have the identical readability, however in a pinch and if you actually need that wider scope, the pictures are undoubtedly satisfactory.

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There’s a 10Mp f/2.0 telephoto module too, which provides a 3x optical zoom. It’s not unhealthy, however you’ll need loads of gentle in order for you good photographs. In much less optimum situations, the software program tends to aggressively sharpen photos, making them appear unrealistic, particularly while you crop in nearer. 

Give the primary lens some solar although and also you get vibrant, sharp photographs with loads of element. Low gentle is a bit hit-and-miss, with some noise creeping in (even on the Night time Mode) and motion leading to blurred pictures. The digicam can typically take a little bit longer than you assume to seize the picture, so you should definitely keep nonetheless till you see the ultimate outcomes. 

Endurance does repay although, and I discovered that I may seize some very nice photographs with the Edge 50 Neo if I simply took my time and paid shut consideration to what was taking place on the show.

As talked about earlier, I did encounter some focussing points the place the on-screen tap-to-focus function simply stopped working or the digicam refused to modify between focal lengths. Hopefully, this might be patched by Motorola very quickly. 

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One factor to notice is that the digicam software program doesn’t appear to auto-expose pictures while you faucet on lighter or darker areas of the body. This led to plenty of my preliminary low-light pictures being overexposed. The trick is to faucet focus, then slide down the brightness management that seems subsequent to it. Not the smoothest interplay you’ll ever have with a digicam, however you will get some good outcomes. 

Video recording goes as much as 4K/30 fps and all appears clean and nonetheless in focus. For 60fps you possibly can drop right down to 1080p, plus there’s additionally the choice for 240/120fps slow-motion if that’s your bag. 

The 32Mp f/2.4 entrance digicam takes a great selfie and may seize the identical high quality video as its rear counterpart. So in order for you a device to your budding YouTube channel, the Edge 50 Neo would possibly match the invoice. 

Listed here are some pattern photographs I captured with the Motorola Edge 50 Neo:

Battery Life & Charging

• 4,310mAh battery
• Helps Quick and Wi-fi charging
• Simply will get by the day

The battery within the Edge 50 Neo may not be the largest on the earth, at 4,310mAh, nevertheless it carried out properly throughout my time with the gadget.

I commonly had a surplus on the finish of the day, that means I may take it into the following day with out worrying about it dying whereas I slept. In our customary PCMark 3.0 battery take a look at, the gadget lasted for 11 hours and 18 minutes, which could be very respectable.

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It’s not likely a two-day cellphone although, so that you’ll have to plug it in to get vitality again into these cells. Fortunately, there are a couple of choices.

You should use a typical charger that you’ve at residence (you don’t get one within the field) or purchase a 68W quick charger to stand up to 12 hours of cost in solely 11 minutes, in line with Motorola. There’s additionally 15W wi-fi charging assist for those who desire. 

Testing the Edge 50 Neo with a 68W Motorola TurboPower charger acquired it from 0 to 53% in quarter-hour, 90% in half-hour, and absolutely recharged in a remarkably fast 38 minutes. Clearly, these speeds gained’t be as spectacular with a lower-power charger. 

Software program & Apps

• Android 14 out of the field
• Updates to Android 19 promised
• Hardly any bloatware

Motorola often deploys a reasonably clear model of Android, not veering removed from Google’s vanilla imaginative and prescient of how a smartphone ought to work.

You do get the Motorola suite of instruments that may be enjoyable to play with for a little bit, however I think most individuals will then simply depart them alone and get again to utilizing the cellphone the identical method they used their final one. 

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In that respect, every little thing within the software program might be acquainted to most individuals, whereas the clear structure makes it a pleasure to make use of.

Motorola additionally guarantees 5 Android model updates over the lifetime of the Edge 50 Neo, which might take it as much as Android 19, with safety updates attributable to proceed till August 2029. 

Value & Availability

The Motorola Edge 50 Neo is priced at £399/€499, which is aggressive within the mid-range area. Sadly for these within the US, there are not any present plans to launch this mannequin in that territory. 

Within the UK, it’s obtainable outright from Motorola and Amazon, or on contract through the next suppliers:

For related cash, you could possibly go for the Google Pixel 8a, which admittedly does have a listing value of £499, however is commonly in promotions that deliver the fee a lot nearer to the Motorola Edge 50 Neo.

£429 will decide you up the 12GB/256GB variant of the OnePlus Nord 4 which is a wonderful selection, albeit one which’s a bit chunkier than the Moto.

In fact, there’s additionally the Motorola Edge 50 Fusion for £349.99, which affords a lot of the identical specs because the Neo, other than a bigger 6.7-inch show and fewer cameras onboard. 

For extra choices, see our full information to the very best mid-range telephones.

Do you have to purchase the Motorola Edge 50 Neo?

There’s a lot to love in regards to the Edge 50 Neo. It’s blessed with a enjoyable, cool design, beneficiant storage, sufficient energy for most individuals’s on a regular basis use, and cameras which can be simply ok for vacation snaps and posting on social media. Then there’s the value, which might be among the finest options, because it undercuts most of its closest rivals. 

The one actual downside I had was the irritating software program management glitches within the digicam app and infrequently in different areas. If these are all fastened in software program patches, which I’m positive they are going to be, then the Edge 50 Neo may give the Google and OnePlus fashions an actual run for his or her cash. Within the meantime, these two units have the slight edge for most individuals.

Specs

• 6.4-inch pOLED show, 2670 x 1220 pixels decision (460ppi)   
• Corning Gorilla Glass 3   
• MediaTek Dimensity 7300 octa-core processor   
• 8GB RAM   
• 256GB inside storage
• Android 14 (supported as much as Android 19)
• Triple rear-facing digicam system:
• 50MP f/1.8 important digicam   
• 13MP f/2.2, 120-degree FOV, ultra-wide digicam   
• 10MP f/2.0 telephoto digicam  (3x optical zoom)
• 32MP f/2.4 front-facing digicam   
• 5G   
• Wi-Fi 6E   
• Bluetooth 5.3   
• GPS
• NFC   
• Twin SIM (Nano + eSIM)
• 4310mAh battery   
• 68W TurboPower charging   
• 15W wi-fi charging 
• USB-C charging port  
• Twin stereo audio system with Dolby Atmos   
• In-display fingerprint sensor   
• IP68 water resistance
• 154.1 x 71.2 x 8.1mm
• 171g