Motorola Edge 30 Pro is the value flagship king (smartphone review)

The Motorola Edge 30 Pro is a value flagship. If you are willing to accept a few minor compromises, it is a no-brainer, no-risk purchase over Samsung’s S22/+.

Although that is not to take away from Samsung’s excellent S22-series (reviews here). But to make the statement that it is $250 cheaper than the S22 and $550 cheaper than the S22+. It meets or exceeds both of these devices’ specifications.

What you lose is IP68 (IP52) and a shorter OS/Security patch of 2 years (4).

What you gain is a billion colour OLED screen (16.7m), a dual 50MP plus depth camera (50/10/12), a 60MP selfie (12MP) and overall better performance with the same chipset and 4/5G modem.

Our first look

Motorola Edge 30 Pro is a king killer (first look) was our initial reaction. We want to change the king killer bit to value flagship king. Frankly, even if I had $1549 for the Samsung S22+ (8/128GB), I would have to ask why I needed to spend more than $999 for a phone with the same processor, ram/storage and a larger, better screen, camera, etc.

Pre-orders are open now at JB Hi-Fi until next Wednesday, 30 March. All pre-order customers will receive a bonus Lenovo Smart Clock with Wireless Charging Dock (valued at $109).

New Deep-Dive review format

It is now in two parts – a five-minute overview for most readers and a separate 300+ line database-driven spec including over 70 tests to back up the summary. It also helps us compare different phones and features.

Given the rain, we will update the photo segment as soon as we have some sunshine.

5-minute review Motorola Edge 30 Pro, 8./128GB, Dual Sim, Model XT2202-1, Retapac firmware

Website	Product Page
Price:	$999
Colours	Cosmos Blue
From:	Exclusive to JB Hi-Fi *
Warranty:	12-months ACL
Country of Manufacture:	China
Company	Owned by Lenovo (Est 1984) – a multinational technology company with its primary operational headquarters in Beijing and Morrisville, North Carolina. It is the world’s largest PC maker. It purchased Motorola Mobility from Google in 2014. Most of Lenovo’s smartphone business is now under the Motorola brand, and it has grand plans to become a ‘top five’ smartphone maker.
More	Other CyberShack Motorola news and reviews

* Better buy genuine, or 5G won’t work

This is exclusive to JB Hi-Fi but will roll out later to Motorola approved retailers (Kogan is not one). Look for the RCM C-Tick on the box end, and under Settings, About Phone, Regulatory Labels. The only memory/storage option for Australia is 8/128GB.

We issue a strong warning that you must buy a genuine model with Australian firmware if you want to use 5G. Read Don’t buy a grey market phone to ensure you get the Australian model.

The model XT2201-1 is global, but the firmware you need to work here is Retapac. Grey market resellers will tell you that the Motorola X30, XT2201-2 and the Edge 30 Plus or Edge 30 + are the same – they are not.

We may see the even lower-cost Edge 30 (not Pro) with the 2021 SD888 processor and possibly an Edge 30 Lite (processor unknown) soon.

First impressions

While we covered that in our first, albeit brief look, we have had more time to play! I like the rear Gorilla Glass 5 Cosmos Blue, where the colour changes from deep blue to turquoise in the light. Unfortunately, it and the camera housing are fingerprint smudge magnets.

The camera hump is not too high, but it rocks if placed on a desk. The solution is to use the bumper case to protect it and the lenses.

On the right side are the fingerprint/power button and volume rocker. These are high up, and that may limit on-handed use. The top has an earpiece speaker and a mic. The selfie is O-hole style in the top centre of the screen.

Overall a very pleasing design  (for a glass slab), and don’t let the plastic frame bother you (the Samsung S22 uses one too) – it is polycarbonate and quite strong with no flex.

Screen – 1.07 billion colourful

It is a pOLED screen (AMOLED is a Samsung trademark) with a Gorilla Glass 3 cover. It is capable of 700nits (in 2% of the screen) and 500 nits (at peak brightness). We tested about 10% below the claims. By comparison, Samsung S22/+ are a little brighter.

But the big plus is that this is 10-bit, 1.07 billion colours versus 8-bit, 16.7m on the Samsung S22-series. That means it can display 70% of the 1.7 billion colours versus 60% of 16.7m.

 Like Samsung, it is stepped adaptive 48/60/90/120 and adds 144Hz if a game demands it.

Is it a better screen? Technically, it wipes the floor over the Samsung S22/+, but the Samsung appears slightly brighter.

Processor – Qualcomm SD8 Gen 1 none better

It is the same processor as the Samsung S22-series. We can say that the Motorola Edge 30 Pro performs similarly to other brands’ SD8 Gen 1 benchmarks.

CPU Throttle – like most SD89 Gen 1 smartphones

While the SoC is 4nm, it does run hotter. It throttles 27% after five minutes, but the good news is that this is the lowest it gets. Motorola does not throttle its apps like Samsung flagships throttle 10,000 apps – user discovery prompts action, so comparisons are odorous until Samsung offers a fix.

Comms – fast and full USB-C implementation

Excellent Wi-Fi speeds out to 10metres (the maximum distance of 5Ghz)  but is slightly variable. Sometimes it would swap to the 2.4GHz band, and I suspect this is just an early firmware issue. These generally exceed the Samsung S22/+ speeds.

The USB-C 3.1 port supports Display Port 1.4 for audio and video streaming and Moto’s Ready For Android desktop. You can use Miracast as well, and it also supports Chromecast for screen mirroring.

4/5G – excellent antenna strength for regional use

It has all 4G and 5G sub-6GHz and Low-band support. Note that international grey market versions don’t support Optus n40 – another reason to buy genuine.

It found the closest four towers (Samsung S22/+ only found two). It has excellent signal strength and should be a good city, suburbs and regional use phone.

Battery – 4800mAh is plenty for a day

First, it comes with a 30W charger and fills in around an hour. It is also 68W capable if you buy a USB-C GaN 65W or more charger and a 5W USB-C cable (the supplied cable only handles 3W).

The 68W charge time reduces by 15 minutes to 44 minutes. That beats the hell out of the Samsung S22/+ 25W charger that takes 1 hour and 36 minutes. Samsung has an optional 45W charger, which reduces the time by about 10 minutes.

It is also 15W Qi wireless compatible and charges in about 4.75 hours. It has reverse 5W charging for smartwatches etc.

We had a mixed bag of results – some excellent and others variable.

The not so good was 100% load screen-on drain time of just 2 hours and 15 minutes. The Samsung S22 (with its undisclosed throttling) achieved 4 hours and 32 minutes. But we expect it would be similar to the Motorola Edge 30 Pro if the throttling were off.

The video loop is an excellent 14 hours (Samsung 12 hours), and PC Mark 3.0 is 11 hours and 19 minutes (Samsung 9 hours and 9 minutes).

Conversely, GFX Bench T-Rex was 5.5 hours and 6646 frames, and Samsung was 11.5 hours and 3353 frames (again due to Samsung throttling by up to 56%).

So the moral here is we expect the Motorola results are accurate. Battery life is a hard call. If you are a power user, it will last around 12-15 hours. A typical user will get 18-24 hours.

Sound – not so good speakers but excelent USB and BT

It is an extreme analytical sound signature (bass/mid recessed; treble boosted) – crisp but not pleasant for most music. Apart from sounding muddy and dull (as there is no bass), it has no character, directionality or verve.

We tried with and without Dolby Atmos EQ, and the white noise generator gave the same results. We suspect it is to do with Moto’s Crystal Talk AI to clean up voice between 1-4kHz, and it does that at the expense of all else.

You can read more, including using our test tracks – How to tell if you have good music (sound signature is the key – guide.

Fortunately, the supplied USB-C earphones are great. It has an abundance of codecs from SBC and AAC to most aptX and LHDC – excellent. Our test headphones worked on all Codecs.

Hands-free was excellent.

Build

Never mind about the plastic (polycarbonate) frame as the Samsung S22 has one too. It is very well-made and should be a keeper. Warranty is 1-year (same as Samsung) which we think should be longer – OPPO and Google offer 2-years.

Android – almost pure

It ships with Android 12 and Motorola’s overlay My UX 3.0. You can reasonably expect Android 14 and two years of updates.

Android is almost pure, and the MY UX adds things like a camera app and Moto gestures. See table for all features.

Missing

• No microSD storage expansion (no other flagship has one anyway), but you can mount an external USB-C SSD as storage. Samsung S22/+ cannot
• No 3.5mm jack (get over it and use Bluetooth)
• IP52 is low for a flagship

These are not deal-breakers as it is $250 cheaper than the S22.

Motorola Edge 30 Pro Camera

It is an interesting choice to use the 50MP Samsung S5KJN1 as the primary wide sensor and the 50MP Omnivision OV50A as the secondary ultra/wide sensor. We would have expected two of the same sensors, but it works.

The camera app is pure Google Camera 8.4 features (not all features are supported)

• Wireless Mic Support
• New Auto Exposure Feature
• HDR Enhanced and HDR + Option
• Astrophotography Mode
• Night Sight
• Google Lens
• Bar code and QR code
• Framing hints option for better photos
• Social share feature that helps to share photos instantly up to social media apps
• 4K video recording resolution is available
• Video Stabilization – EIS on front and back primary lenses/sensors
• New video stabilisation options like cinematic pan, standard mode, active pan mode & more
• Many others like photosphere, panorama, and time-lapse
• Lens Blur, Slow Motion, Playground, RAW support, and more

It is the same that runs on Google Pixel phones.

Camera Summary

• Daylight and office light: Natural colours, fast focus, OIS steady
• Ultra-wide gets very grainy on zoom
• Night Mode: good detail and colour, albeit with a little noise
• Video – 4K@60/30fps is underwhelming with variable colours and details. 1080p with OIS is superb, and the three mic setup gives excellent voice recording.
• Macro is excellent (as it should be with a 50MP sensor)
• Boken is excellent
• Selfie – 60MP bins to 15MP, but the sensor lacks the refinement of Samsung or Sony. Quality colour and defintion.

 Camera summary – a great setup that is commensurate with flagship status.

CyberShack’s view – The Motorola Edge 30 Plus is the value king – by a long shot

At $999, it presents superb value, and sorry to keep referring to Samsung, but it is better than the S22/+ that, cost a lot more. Add to that Ready For and great screen casting options.

Apart from the poor speaker sound and IP52, there are no issues or impediments. It gets our unreserved ‘buy’ tick.

A full rating explanation and pros and cons are at the end of the table below.

CyberShack Smartphone comparison v 1.1 (E&OE)

Motorola Edge 30 Pro, 8./128GB, Dual Sim, Model XT2202-1, Retapac firmware

Brand	Motorola
Model	Motorola Edge 30 Pro
Model Number	XT2201-1 software version retapac
Price Base	$999
Price base	8/128
Price 2	Website mentions 8, 256GB and 12/512GB models not available in Australia
Warranty months	12-months ACL
Tier	Price is lower-premium, but features are mid-premium
Website	Product Page
Manual	Manual and FAQs
From	JB Hi-Fi
Country of Origin	China
Company	Motorola Mobility, owned by Lenovo
Test date	25-27/02/2022
Ambient temp	23°
Release	Mar-22
Other models not for Australia (Don’t buy)	Do not buy X30, Edge Plus or Edge+ models in White or any with more than 8/128GB.

Screen

Size	6.7
Type	pOLED
Flat, Curve, 2D, 3D	Flat with centre O-hole
Resolution	2400 x 1080
PPI	393
Ratio	20:9
Screen to Body %	88.5
Colours bits	10-bit 1.07 billion colours
Refresh Hz, adaptive	48, 60, 90, 120, and 144 stepped adaptive Max touch rate 360Hz stylus
Response 120Hz	13ms G-t-G
Nits typical, test	500 (tested 450)
Nits max, test	700 (Tested 650)
Contrast	Infinite
sRGB	100% (Tested 97%)
DCI-P3	Tested 70% of 1.07 billion colours
Rec.2020 or other	Natural and saturated plus temperature adjustment
Delta E (<4 is excellent)	<2
HDR Level	Capable of HDR10+ playback scaled to screen capability
SDR Upscale	No
Bluelight control	Yes
PWM if known	220Hz quite low
Daylight readable	Yes, but it lacks a little brightness for direct sunlight
Always on Display	Yes
Edge display	No
Accessibility	All Android 12 features
DRM	L1 for HD HDR playback – No FHD HDR yet
Gaming	Up to 240Hz finger touch response and 13ms G-t-G
Screen protection	Gorilla Glass 3
Comment	Excellent 10-bit, 1.07 billion colour screen with greater subtleties in colour than Samsung S22/+. Adaptive stepping usually sits at 48 or 60Hz.

Processor

Brand, Model	Qualcomm SD8 Gen 1
nm	4
Cores	Octa-core (1×3.00GHz + 3×2.50GHz + 4×1.8 GHz)
Modem	X65
AI TOPS	27
Geekbench 5 Single-core	1190
Geekbench 5 multi-core	3542
Like	About 15-20% faster than the Exynos in S21 series
GPU	Adreno 730
GPU Test
Open CL	6173
Like
Vulcan	7546
RAM, type	8 LPDDR5X (12GB option not avaialble in Australia)
Storage, free, type	128GB (97GB free) UFS 3.1 with Performance Booster  2.0
micro-SD	No (website says up to 1TB)
CPDT internal seq. Read	1260Mbps (reflects UFS 3.1)
CPDT internal seq. write	525 – excellent
CPDT microSD read, write	N/A
CPDT external (mountable?)	798, 152 Mountable – excellent
Comment	Fast and externally mountable SSD storage means videographers can use this
Throttle test
Max GIPS	312596
Average GIPS	256953
Minimum GIPS	223818
% Throttle	27% – drops after 7 minutes and stays at that speed
CPU Temp	58°
Comment	It seems most SD8 Gen 1 run hot and throttle. Our only comparison is the Samsung Galaxy S22/+ and Ultra, which give fake results when tested.

Comms

Wi-FI Type, model	Wi-Fi 6E AX VHT160 Hot spot supports WPA2 and 3 (necessary for older devices)
Test 2m -dBm, Mbps	-21/2401
Test 5m	-33/1729
Test 10m	-63/864 to 1729
BT Type	5.2 supports Chromecast
GPS single, dual	Dual <3m accuracy
USB type	USB-C 3.1 5Gbps Display Port 1.4
Alt DP, DeX, Ready For	DP 1.4 for Miracast audio, video screen mirror, Moto ReadyFor
NFC	Yes
Ultra-wideband	No
Sensors
Accelerometer	Yes combo
Gyro	Yes combo
e-Compass	Yes
Barometer	No
Gravity
Pedometer
Ambient light	Yes
Hall sensor	?
Proximity	Yes
Other
Comment	Excellent speeds but slightly variable. Sometimes it would swap to the 2.4GHz band. I suspect this is just an early firmware issue. These generally exceed the Samsung S22/+

LTE and 5G

SIM	Dual Sim
Active	Both 5G capable, both active except when one is in use
Ring tone single, dual	Dual ring tones – excellent
VoLTE	Carrier dependent
Wi-Fi calling	Carrier dependent
4G Bands	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 32, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 48, 66
Comment	All Australian and most world bands
5G sub-6Ghz	n1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 20, 28, 38, 40, 41, 66, 77, 78
Comment	All Australian 5G sub-6 and low bands
mmWave	No
Test Boost Mobile, Telstra
UL, DL, ms	40/25 30ms
Tower 1 -dBm, fW or pW	from -85 to -92 and 501fW to 6pW
Tower 2	from -96 to -100 and 501fw to 3pW
Tower 3	from -99 to -103 and 25 to 251fW
Tower 4	from -103 to 112 and 0-20fW
Comment	Excellent signal strength and sees four towers. Overall it should be a good city, suburbs and regional use phone.

Battery

mAh	4800
Charger, type, supplied	30W (5V, 3A, 15W, 9V, 3A, 27W and 10V, 3A, 30W) – note that the USB-C cable supplied only supports <3A
PD, QC level	68W capable with USB-C PD charger and 5A capable cable
Qi, wattage	15W
Reverse Qi or cable	5W
Test (60Hz or adaptive screen)
Charge % 30mins	Adaptive mode screen
Charge 0-100%	59 minutes at 30W 44 minutes at 65W (should be a little faster as it charges between 4 and 5A)
Charge Qi, W	4 hours and 45 minutes
Charge 5V, 2A	3 hours 21 minutes
Video loop 50%, aeroplane	14 hours
PC Mark 3 battery	11 hours 19 minutes
GFX Bench Manhattan battery	Would not run (seems to be an SD8 Gen 1 issue)
GFX Bench T-Rex	329.7 minutes (5.5 hours) and 6646 frames
Drain 100-0% full load screen on	2 hours 15 minutes
Watt full load	5W at average load and 10W at full load
Watt idle	.5W standby, 1.2W idle and 2.5W screen on
Estimated loss at 120Hz	Probably about 20% less battery
Estimate typical use	10 hours heavy 18 hours typical
Comment	This is a hard call. If you are a power user, it will last around 10-12 hours. A typical user will get 18-24 hours. The 65W charging gave a 15-minute advantage so stick with the 30W in the box

Sound

Speakers	Top forward, up-firing and bottom down-firing stereo.
Tuning	?
AMP	Qualcomm Aqusitic sound
Dolly Atmos decode	Dolby Atmos decode to 2.0 speakers
Hi-Res	24-bit/192kHz capable
3.5mm	No
BT Codecs	SBC, AAC, aptX (HD, Adaptive, TWS, LDAC, LDHC (V1/2/3)
Multipoint	Can connect to two devices
Dolby Atmos (DA)	Yes – auto, movie, music, voice and games mode
EQ	No
Mics	3 – top, camera bump and bottom
Test dB – all on EQ flat DA off
Volume max	85
Media (music)	82
Ring	80
Alarm	80
Notifications	70
Earpiece	56
Hands-free	Three mics give a degree of noise reduction, and volume levels were quite good and clear.
BT headphones	Excellent left-right separation and DA makes quite a difference with DA content.

Sound quality

Deep Bass 20-40Hz	No
Middle Bass 40-100Hz	No
High Bass 100-200Hz	Slowly building
Low Mid 200-400Hz	Slowly building
Mid 4000-1000Hz	Slowly building
High-Mid 1-2kHz	peaking and flat to 5KHz
Low Treble 2-4kHz	flat
Mid Treble 4-6kHz	flat then declining at 6kHz
High Treble 6-10kHz	Steep decline
Dog Whistle 10-20kHz	Steep decline to 17kHz
Sound Signature type	It is an analytical  (bass/mid recessed; treble boosted) – crisp but not pleasant for most music. Apart from sounding muddy (as there is no bass), it has no character, directionality or verve. We tried with and without Dolby Atmos EQ, and the white noise generator gave the same results. We suspect it is to do with Moto’s Crystal Talk AI to clean up voice between 1-4kHz, and it does that at the expense of all else.
Soundstage	Only as wide as the phone and DA settings don’t add any wider sound stage. Poor left and right separation with the bottom speaker dominating the sound.
Comment	The sound signature is poor with no low/mid/high-bass, no real mid and the only flat section is low-and-mid-treble. Fortunately, the headphones do take advantage of Dolby Atmos! But conversely, voice is crisp!

Build etc

Size (H X W x D)	163.06 x 75.95 x 8.79 mm
Weight grams	196
Front glass	GG3 glass
Rear material	Plastic
Frame	GG5 glass
IP rating	52 – light rain and possibly the only significant compromise for this otherwise excellent device.
Colours	Cosmos Blue
Pen, Stylus support	Optional smart stylus support and folio cover
In the box
Charger	30W
USB cable	USB-C to USB-C 3W capable cable
Buds	Yes – USB-C
Bumper cover	Yes
Comment	Has a charger in the box (Samsung does not), buds and a bumper cover. Well made.
OS
Android	12 – almost pure Android
Security patch date	1/01/2022
UI	My UX 3.0 Personalise: Styles, Wallpapers, Layout Display: Peek Display, Attentive Display Gestures: Power Touch, Quick Capture, Fast Flashlight, Three-finger screenshot, Pick up to silence, Screenshot toolkit, Media controls Play: Gametime Audio
OS upgrade policy	Two upgrades
Security patch policy	Regular security patches for at least two years
Bloatware	Pure Android – all Google Apps. You can uninstall Facebook.
Other
Comment	My UX 3.0 adds value to pure Android
Security
Fingerprint sensor location, type	On power button – 100% accuracy
Face ID	Yes 2D only
Other	Lenovo ThinkShield
Comment	ThinkSheild is more for enterprise use

Motorola Edge 30 Pro camera

Rear Primary	Wide
MP	50 bins to 12.5
Sensor	Omnivision OV50a
Focus	PDAF Omni Directional (Instant All-Pixel Focus)
f-stop	1.8
um	1 bins to 2
FOV° stated (actual)	(73.4)
Stabilisation	OIS
Zoom	10x digital
Rear 2	Ultra-wide and Macro
MP	50 bins to 12.5
Sensor	Samsung S5KJN1 Same as Moto g51
Focus	AF
f-stop	2.2
um	.64 bins to 1.28
FOV (stated, actual)	114
Stabilisation
Zoom
Rear 3	Depth
MP	2 (Website says 8MP – it is not)
Sensor	Omnivision OV2b1B
Focus	Fixed
f-stop	2.4
um	1.75
FOV (stated, actual)	X
Stabilisation	X
Zoom	X
Special
Video max	4K@60fps
Flash	2
Auto-HDR	Yes
QR code reader	Yes
Night mode	Yes and excellent
Front	Selfie
MP	60 bins to 15MP
Sensor	Omnivision OV60a
Focus	Fixed
f-stop	2.2
um	.6 bins to 1.2
FOV (stated, actual)	(76.1)
Stabilisation	EIS
Flash	Screen fill
Zoom	10x digital
Video max	4K@60fps
Features	Dual record, Filters, HDR
Comment	Daylight and office light: Natural colours, fast focus, OIS steady Ultra-wide gets very grainy on zoom Night: excellent detail and colour with little noise Video – 4K@60 and 30fps are a little underwhelming with variable colours and details. 1080p with OIS is superb, and the three mic setup gives excellent voice recording. Selfie – 60MP bins to 15MP, but the sensor lacks the refinement of similar Samsung or Sony. Acceptable.

CyberShack ratings – Motorola Edge 30 Pro

Features	8.5
	No microSD, 3,5mm, charger and not a true adaptive refresh rate screen but a powerful processor
Value	9.5
	Excellent price for so few compromises and has better specs than the Samsung S22 and S22+
Performance	9.5
	Now that we know the SD8 Gen 1 throttles, this is within acceptable limits, but gamers may want to look at this. Battery life is average. The screen is above average.
Ease of Use	8.5
	High placement of the power and volume button makes it harder for one-handed use
Design	8
	It is a glass slab with no distinguishing features
Rating out of 10	8.8
Pro
1	More affordable with reasonable compromises
2	The camera stills are excellent; video is so-so
3	Battey life is adequate, but it has Qi and 68W charging, so no issue
4	Charger, earbuds and bumper case inbox
5	Supports all manner of screen mirror to TVs etc
Con
1	IP52 is barely adequate when flagships have IP68
2	Missing optical zoom
3	No micro-SD (no flagship has this anyway)
4	Poor speaker sound but excellent USB and BT sound
Final comment	Overall it presents as the best value SD8 Gen 1 smartphone available. It has very few compromises and better specs and performance than more expensive competitors.