Motorola Edge 50 – strong phone reception and a joy to use (smartphone review)
The Motorola Edge 50 offers nearly everything you could expect from a premium flagship, except the $799 price. It is a gem with phone signal strength that is suitable for city, suburb, regional, and rural areas.
We have just finished the $699 Motorola Edge 50 Neo – superb value/performance mid-range review, and it was very impressive. It is great for city and suburb phone reception, where this has added regional and rural signal strength.
So, let’s look at what ticks the boxes (class-leading marked ✅)
- 6.7” 2712 x 1220, 10-bit/1.07 billion colours, 120Hz pOLED ✅✅
- Qualcomm SD 7 Gen 1 AE (Accelerated Edition) ✅✅
- 12/126GB ✅
- Wi-Fi 6E AXE, Bluetooth 5.3, USB-C 2.0 OTG, NFC, and GPS ✅
- SIM and eSIM for city, suburb, regional and rural use ✅✅
- 5000mAh Qi and 68W charger inbox for all-day use ✅✅
- Stylish Vegan leather back, IP68 and MIL-STD 810H ✅✅
- Almost pure Android 14, 2+5+5 warranty, OS updates and security patches ✅✅
- AI-enhanced 50 (Wide OIS +13 (Ultrawide/Macro) +10MP (3X optical 30X hybrid OIS) and 32MP selfie ✅✅
We have looked at all the other products in the $700-799 price bracket, and nothing compares to this. You could spend $699 for the Edge 50 Neo (MediaTek Dimensity 7300 SoC city/suburb reception) or $999 for the Edge 50 Pro (slightly faster SD7 Gen 3 and marginally better regional and rural reception). You might be tempted by the $949 Pixel 8a 256GB for its camera prowess, but it is strictly a city and suburb phone.
Caveats: USB-C 2.0 means you can attach an external SSD for slow backup (OTG)
AUSTRALIAN REVIEW: Motorola Edge 50, 12/256GB, SIM and eSIM, XT2407-1
Brand | Motorola |
Model | Motorola Edge 50 |
Model Number | XT2407-1 |
RAM/Storage Base | 12/256GB |
Price base | 799 |
Warranty months | 24-months ACL |
Tier | More Edge benefits |
Website | Product page |
From | Motorola online, Harvey Norman, Domayne, JB Hi-Fi, Bing Lee, Officeworks. |
Made in | 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, with grand plans to become a ‘top five’ smartphone maker. |
More | CyberShack Motorola news and reviews CyberShack Smartphone news and reviews |
Test date | September/October 2024 |
Ambient temp | 10-30° |
Release | 45505 |
Other models not for Australia (Don’t buy) | Motorola makes models for various markets that are not for Australian Telco networks nor carry an Australian warranty. |
* Grey market – no Australian warranty, and 5G may not work here
We strongly advise you to buy a genuine model with Australian firmware. Check Settings, About Phone, Regulatory Labels and Australian RCM C-tick mark. Insist on a screen grab if you buy anywhere else.
Australian certified phones use unique Australian 5G sub-6Ghz and 5G low-band frequencies, requiring local activation first. Read Don’t buy a grey market smartphone.
New ratings in 2024
We use Fail (below expectations), Pass (meets expectations), and Exceed (surpasses expectations or is the class leader) against many of the items below. We occasionally give a Pass(able) rating that is not as good as it could be and a Pass ‘+’ rating to show it is good but does not quite make it to Exceed. You can click on most images for an enlargement.
We are also tightening up on grading. Pass means meeting expectations for the price bracket. We consider a Pass mark to be 70+/100 with extra points added for class-leading and excellence.
First Impression – svelte and different – Pass+
I have the Jungle Green vegan leather Motorola Edge 50 for review – love the colour. The lava flow over the camera hump is well done (if a copy of earlier OPPO Find phones). The buttons are clicky and positive. It feels great in hand.
It feels thinner due to the slightly curved front glass, colour-matched alloy rounded frame, and grippy back.
My initial impression is one of class, worth more than it is, and it is a pleasure to use.
After a few weeks of use, I have one caveat: I need a USB-C 3.2 Gen 1 or 2 (not a USB-C 2.0) to attach mountable external storage and use Alt DP 1.4 audio/video over USB-C to HDMI or USB-C. The $999 Motorola Edge 50 Pro – an excellent upper-mid-range smartphone has that and is a terrific choice if you need more.
Screen – colour accurate 10-bit – Pass+
It is a 10-bit/1.07 billion-colour screen with excellent colour accuracy for realistic photo and video previews—what you see is what the photo looks like.
It reaches 1200 nits in HDM (high brightness mode) and 300-500 nits for most use. It will reach 1600 nits in a 2% window for HDR10+ content.
PWM-sensitive people can use this. Like the Motorola Edge 50 Pro, it has higher 700Hz PWM dimming, which you would only experience on the dimmest screen brightness settings.
Summary – sweet screen – way better than Samsung 8-bit screens.
Screen specs
Size | 6.7″ |
Type | pOLED (made by LG Display) |
Flat, Curve, 2D, 3D | Subtle curve, endless edge display and centre o-hole |
Resolution | 2712 x 1220 |
PPI | 446 |
Ratio | 20:9 |
Screen to Body % | 93.35% |
Colours bits | 10-bit 1.07 billion colours |
Refresh Hz, adaptive | 120Hz or 60/90/120Hz |
Response 120Hz | 360 |
Nits typical, test | Typical screen brightness is around 500 nits. |
Nits max, test | Claim HBM 1200 (Test 1233) Peak HDR10+ 1600 in 2% Window (Test 1550) |
Contrast | Infinite |
sRGB | Claim 100% (Test 98.8% natural mode) Natural, Radiant, and Vivid presets and custom colour temperature adjustment. |
DCI-P3 | Claim 100% (Test 100%) |
Rec.2020 or other | N/A |
Delta E (<4 is excellent) | <1 very good |
HDR Level | Capable of HDR10+ playback scaled to screen capability. Dolby Vision scaled to HDR10. |
SDR Upscale | No |
Blue Light Control | Yes |
PWM if known | Approx. 700Hz. Uses DC Dimming for dark environments. It should not affect PWM-susceptible users. |
Daylight readable | Yes |
Always on Display | Yes |
Edge display | No |
Accessibility | All Android 14 features |
DRM | L1 for FHD SDR playback. |
Gaming | <1m GTG Up to 360Hz touch Snapdragon Elite Gaming features include: Variable Rate Shading for faster graphics performance. Qualcomm Game Quick Touch increases display responsiveness. Updatable drivers deliver the latest graphics and performance improvements in real-time. However, most games will not get past 60fps on medium quality settings. |
Screen protection | Gorilla Glass 5 |
Comment | Excellent 10-bit, 1.07 billion-colour screen with far greater subtleties in colour than the 8-bit Samsung S24/+/Ultra. |
Processor – Qualcomm quality and performance – Pass+
A $799 phone is possible by using a Qualcomm 7-series processor. It has plenty of speed for daily use and limited AI capabilities (it does not come with Google Gemini), making it a perfect choice to hit the price sweet spot.
Brand, Model | Benchmarks |
nm | 4nm made on Samsung 4LPE fab plant |
Cores | 1 x 2.5GHz & 3 x 2.36GHz & 4 x 1.8GHz |
Modem | X62 5G 2 X 2 MIMO |
AI TOPS OR Multi-thread Integer Operations Per Second (INOPS) GINOPS = billion | No dedicated NPU Geekbench AI CPU Backend Geekbench AI GPU Backend Geekbench AI NNAPI Backend AiTuTu:390,540 AI Benchmark 6: 1008 GFLOPS 12.73 GINOPS 15.21 |
Geekbench 6 Single-core | 1089 |
Geekbench 6 multi-core | 2959 |
Like | Benchmarks |
GPU | Adreno 644 |
GPU Test | |
Open CL | 2544 |
Like | Like Exynos 1280 and SD 860 |
Vulcan | 2795 |
RAM, type | 12GB LPDDR4X (plus virtual RAM Boost). |
Storage, free, type | 256GB uMCP (combined with RAM in one package), 210GB free |
micro-SD | No |
CPDT internal seq. Read MBps sustained/peak | 820 Max 3460 |
CPDT internal seq. write MBps sustained/peak | 430 Max 589 |
CPDT microSD read, write MBps | N/A |
CPDT external (mountable?) MBps | 27.5/22Mbps mountable |
Comment | Fast internal storage but slow USB-C 2.0 external storage |
Throttling – Pass
Throttling means a 21% loss of power under full load. But that is after 10 minutes, and then it is quite stable. It is not really an issue; it is more about protecting the hot chip from getting too hot.
Max GIPS | 318329 |
Average GIPS | 282676 |
Minimum GIPS | 238746 |
% Throttle | 21% |
CPU Temp | 50° |
Comment | It held up well for 10 minutes, only dipping in the five minutes, and then it was stable. This is a hot chip, and the slim body does not help with thermal management. It is not a real issue for most users. |

Comms – Pass+
It has Wi-Fi 6E and reaches the 2600/2600Mbps speeds available. Apart from wanting a USB-C 3.2 port, this has it all.
Wi-Fi Type, model | Wi-Fi 6E AXE 2.4/5/6GHz 2/2 |
Test 2m -dBm, Rx/Tx Mbps | 37/2600/2600 |
Test 5m | -47/2322/2162 |
Test 10m | -51/1922/1793 |
BT Type | 5.4 |
GPS single, dual | GPS, AGPS, LTEPP, SUPL, Glonass, Galileo Dual 3m accuracy |
USB type | USB-C 2.0 480Mbps – no display port audio/video data stream support |
ALT DP, DeX, Ready For | Only over Miracast |
NFC | Yes |
Ultra-wideband | No |
Sensors | |
Accelerometer | Yes |
Gyro | Yes |
e-Compass | Yes |
Barometer | |
Gravity | |
Pedometer | |
Ambient light | Yes |
Hall sensor | |
Proximity | Yes |
Other | SAR Sensor and Sensor Hub |
Comment | It reaches 2600/2600, the maximum for a 2×2 MIMO device. |








4G/5G – suitable for City, suburb, regional and rural use – Pass+
First, we applaud the availability of an eSIM in a phone of this price – excellent. We also applaud Motorola for being one of the few offering dual ringtones.
It finds all four towers in our test at good speeds and strengths. It and the Motorola Edge 50 Pro have strong reception.
SIM | Single Sim and eSIM |
Active | DSDS (Dual sim, dual standby) – one at a time. |
Ring tone single, dual | Dual ring tones – excellent |
VoLTE | Carrier dependent |
Wi-Fi calling | Carrier dependent |
4G Bands | b1/2/3/4/5/7/8/12/13/17/18/19/20/25/26/28/32/38/38 HPUE/39/40/41/41 HPUE/42/43/48/66 |
Comment | All Australian and most world bands |
5G sub-6Ghz | n1/2/3/5/7/8/20/28/38/40/41/66/77/77 HPUE/78/78 HPUE |
Comment | All Australian 5G sub-6 and low bands |
mmWave | No |
Test Boost Mobile, Telstra | |
DL/UL, ms | 33.4/25.9/32ms – above average |
Tower 1 -dBm, fW or pW | -79 to -94 and 12.6pW to 398.1fW |
Tower 2 | -84 to -96 and 4pW to 251.2fW |
Tower 3 | -79 to -95 and 12.6pW to 316.2fW |
Tower 4 | -81 to -102 and 7.9pW to 63.1fW |
Comment | These are reasonable signal strengths and should be suitable for cities, suburbs, regional towns, and rural areas with some Band 28 signal. |
Battery – Pass+
First, a little warning to power users. The SoC uses more milliamps under load than we expected, which will reduce battery life to 10-12 hours—perhaps less.
Typical users can rejoice – it will last at least 24 hours, and with a 43-minute cable charge and Qi charge, who cares?
Ten points to Motorola for including a 68W charger inbox that Samsung et al. charge $60+ for.
Battery specs
mAh | 5000mAh |
Charger, type, supplied | 68W inbox 5V/3A/15W, 9V/3A/27W, 15V/3A/45W, 20V/3.4/68W OR 11V/6.2A/68.2W You must enable Boost Charge in the Battery setting. |
PD, QC level | PD 3.0 and PPS |
Qi, wattage | 15W capable |
Reverse Qi or cable. | ?? |
Test (60Hz or adaptive screen) | Adaptive |
Charge 0-100% | 43 minutes using the Motorola genuine 68W charger. Charge Boost is enabled. 2 hours and 5 minutes 45W PPS charger. |
Charge Qi, W Using Belkin Boost Charge 15W fast wireless charge | About 4 hours at 5V/2A/10W |
Charge 5V, 2A | Not tested – 5-6 hours. |
Video loop 50%, aeroplane | 24 hours 39 minutes |
PC Mark 3 battery | 11 hours 8 minutes |
GFX Bench Manhattan battery | Would not run |
GFX Bench T-Rex | 305.5 minutes (5.09 hours) 6027 frames |
Drain 100-0% full load screen on | 4 hours |
mA Full load screen on | 1550-1600 mA – relatively high under load |
mA Watt idle Screen on | 200-250mA |
Estimate loss at max refresh | N/A |
Estimate typical use | Motorola advertises over 30 hours. All battery life claims are approximate and based on the median user tested across a mixed-use profile (which includes both usage and standby time) under optimal network conditions. Actual battery performance will vary and depend on many factors, including signal strength, network and device settings, temperature, battery condition, and usage patterns. |
Comment | Typical users will easily get a 24-hour day, but power users will suffer from the higher mA draw under load and would be looking at 10-12 hours. But with a 43-minute fast charge and Qi wireless charge, who really cares? |
Sound hardware – Pass
It uses the typical forward-firing earpiece speaker and down-firing bottom speaker. It can decode Dolby Atmos, which does add a wider and higher soundstage.
The best part is that it has a huge range of Bluetooth Codecs, and headphones can produce great sound. It also has a built-in USB-C headphone DAC.
Sound | DA Smart Audio and Spatial Sound enabled |
Speakers | Top forward, up-firing and bottom down-firing stereo. |
Tuning | No |
AMP | Qualcomm Snapdragon sound 2 x AW882 x 2W (THD 1% at maximum volume) |
Dolby Atmos decode | Yes |
Hi-Res | No |
3.5mm | No, but USB-C FSA 4480 DAC is for direct connection. |
BT Codecs | SBC, AAC, aptX, aptX HD, aptX Adaptive, aptX TWS+, LDAC, LHDCV2/3/5. This is the full suite of Qualcomm genuine codecs for maximum device compatibility. |
Multipoint | Ye |
Dolby Atmos (DA) | Decode to 2.0 and earphones |
EQ | The new DA EQ includes Spatial Audio. The remainder are 2.0 only: Smart Audio, Music, Movies, Games, Podcasts, and Custom. |
Mics | 2 – one for noise cancelling and use with CrystalTalk AI NR. |
Test dB – all on EQ flat DA off | |
Volume max | 84 |
Media (music) | 72 |
Ring | 80 |
Alarm | 75 |
Notifications | 70 |
Earpiece | 60 |
Hands-free | Decent 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 – Pass
Very few phones are listenable for music, and this is no different. It has little high bass, late mid (fine for a clear voice), choppy mid, and little high treble, making the music harsh and lifeless.

Deep Bass 20-40Hz | Nil |
Middle Bass 40-100Hz | Starting at 90Hz and building linearly to 1kHz |
High Bass 100-200Hz | Building |
Low Mid 200-400Hz | Building |
Mid 400-1000Hz | Building |
High Mid 1-2kHz | Flat |
Low Treble 2-4kHz | Flat |
Mid Treble 4-6kHz | Flat |
High Treble 6-10kHz | Lineal decline to 20kHz |
Dog Whistle 10-20kHz | Lineal decline to 20kHz |
Sound Signature type | This is a mid signature (bass recessed, mid boosted, treble recessed) for a clear voice. It is not easy listening as it lacks bass (low notes are muddy or absent), and the high treble is choppy and harsh. |
Soundstage | Bias to the bottom-firing speaker. DA content (you must select Spatial Audio preset) widens the sound stage by about 10cm and gives it some 3D height to hear sound object movement. |
Comment | The sound signature is average, helped with a bit of high bass. Use headphones |
Build – Pass+
Motorola builds good gear, and the Motorola Edge 50 is a perfect example. The colourways are fashionable, the vegan leather gives it a premium feel in hand, and it is a complete package with a 68W charger and colour-matched bumper cover. It is impressive to find a MIL-STD 810H phone at this price.
The curved edges give it a modern look, and its slim profile makes it comfortable in hand. It is well-built and feels like a true flagship phone.



Size (H X W x D) | 160.8 x 72.4 x 7.79 mm |
Weight grams | 180 |
Front glass | GG5 |
Rear material | PMMA or vegan leather |
Frame | Alloy |
IP rating | 68 – Liquid damage not covered under warranty 30 minutes at 1.5m Thinnest smartphone to get MIL-STD 810H military standard. |
Colours | Jungle Green (Vegan) Peach Fuzz (Vegan) Koala Grey (PMMA) |
Pen, Stylus support | No |
In the box | |
Charger | 68W |
USB cable | USB-A to USB-C 3W cable |
Buds | No |
Bumper cover | Yes, colour matched. |
Comment | It comes with a charger in the box (Samsung does not) and a colour-matched bumper cover. It is well made. |
OS – Pass+
Motorola uses pure Android with a light Hello UX overlay that adds considerable value without complicating Android (we are looking at you, Samsung, with your heavy, bloated UI overlay!).
It uses all the Google apps instead of substitutes (Again, Samsung), which makes it very easy to back up the phone to Google and restore it to another Android phone. You only need a Google Account – using a Motorola Account is unnecessary.
Moto has increased its OS and security patch times to five new OS upgrades and five years of bi-monthly security patches. This policy is generous and unusual for this price bracket—we call it Edge benefits.
Android | Android 14 |
Security patch date | 1 August (almost out of date)] |
UI | Now Hello UX. |
OS upgrade policy | 5 |
Security patch policy | 5 Bi-monthly |
Bloatware | Pure Android – all Google Apps. You can uninstall Facebook. |
Other | Google Photos is now the default, meaning AI tools such as Magic Editor (10 free monthly uses), Magic Eraser, Photo Unblur and more. |
Comment | My UX has gone, but the functionality lives on. Moto Apps now manages most Moto features and enables simple updates. Family Space, Games, Moto Connect, Moto Secure, Moto Unplugged, Moto Ready For. Display: Peek Display, Attentive Display Gestures: Quick capture, Fast flashlight, Three-finger screenshot, Lift to unlock, Flip for DND, Pick up to silence, Swipe to split |
Security | |
Fingerprint sensor location, type | Optical under glass |
Face ID | Yes 2D only |
Other | Lenovo ThinkShield is more for enterprise use. |
Comment | Moto Secure – Manage network security, control app permissions, and even create a secret folder for your most sensitive data. Moto Secure Info |
Motorola Edge 50 rear camera – Pass+
Blow me away—a real 50 (Wide OIS) + 13 (Ultra-wide/macro) + 10MP (3X optical telephoto OIS) rear camera instead of the usual suspects – 8X ultra-wide and 2X depth. In addition, the camera and SoC also support Motorola Camera AI, making point-and-shoot photography easy.
It uses the same camera sensors as the Motorola Edge 50 Neo, but a stronger AI processor improves the results.
The Edge 50 Neo had a DXOMARK rating of 115. We consider any phone camera over 100 to be pretty good for point-and-shoots.
- The best Android cameras are the Google Pixel 9 Pro/XL, 158, and the iPhone 16 Pro Max, 157. These phones are $1500+++.
- A really good camera, like the OPPO Find X5 Pro or iPhone 14 Plus, is around 130. At the time, it was also $1500+.
- At 115, it joins the Samsung Galaxy S21 series and iPhone 11. It is well above the Samsung A35/55. It is still very good.
The primary sensor is a Sony LYTIA 700C. This new tech uses a smaller sensor but combines more pixels in its binning. It also has better low-light capability and a new multi-frame HDR that combines a bracket of shots to improve details in low and highlight areas. LYTIA is also better at colour saturation, faster focus and AI SteadyCam video recording.
Finally, our bugbear is solved. The 10-bit screen matches the final photo’s colour near-perfectly (Samsung’s 8-bit screens are always off-colour).
And OIS and Qualcomm EIS means steadier video and still shots.
If you would like to read the Amateur Photographer Motorola Edge 50 Neo camera review, it is here.
Camera Test Photos











Camera Specs
Rear Primary | Primary Wide |
MP | 50MP bins to 12.5MP Can shoot at 50MP |
Sensor | Sony LYTIA 700C (IMX896) |
Focus | Quad PDAF |
f-stop | 1.8 |
um | 1 bins to 2 |
FOV° (stated, actual) | 73 to 85.5 |
Stabilisation | OIS |
Zoom | 10X with a 4.2X crop factor |
Rear 2 | Ultra-wide and Macro |
MP | 13MP |
Sensor | GalaxyCore GC13a2 |
Focus | PDAF |
f-stop | 2.2 |
um | 1.12 |
FOV (stated, actual) | 120 |
Stabilisation | No |
Zoom | No |
Rear 3 | Telephoto |
MP | 10MP |
Sensor | Samsung S5K3K1 |
Focus | PDAF |
f-stop | 2 |
um | 1 |
FOV (stated, actual) | ?? |
Stabilisation | OIS |
Zoom | 3X Optical 30X Hybrid |
Special | Moto Ai camera: moto ai processing Style sync 30x Super zoom Google Photos Editing: Magic Eraser Photo Unblur Magic Editor Portrait Blur Portrait Light Sky Colour Pop Cinematic Photos |
Video max | 4K@30fps |
Flash | Yes |
Auto-HDR | Yes |
Shooting modes: Ultra-Res Portrait (24 mm/35 mm/50 mm/85 mm) Pro Long Exposure 360° Panorama Night Vision Scan (powered by Adobe Scan) Artificial intelligence: Auto Smile Capture Google Lens™ integration Smart Composition Shot Optimisation Auto Night Vision Other features: Burst shot Timer Assistive Grid Leveller Metering Mode Watermark RAW photo output QR/Barcode scanner HDR Super Resolution Zoom Active photos Live Filters Quick Capture (twist-twist) Active photos Video Shooting modes: Timelapse (w/ Hyperlapse) Slow motion Dual Capture Video Macro Other features: Adaptive Stabilisation Horizon lock; Video snapshot Audio Zoom External Microphone Support | |
QR code reader | Via Google Lens |
Night mode | AI |
DXO Mark | Not tested, but the same camera sensors as the Edge 50 Neo. The images will be superior because the SD7 Gen 1 has more AI processing power. |
Motorola Edge 50 Selfie camera
It has a decent 32MP sensor that bins to 8.1MP. Its colours and skin tones are accurate, and it takes a very nice selfie, perfect for one or two people.
Front | Selfie |
MP | 32MP bins to 8.1MP |
Sensor | Samsung S5KJD1 |
Focus | Fixed |
f-stop | 2.4 |
um | .7 bins to 1.4 |
FOV (stated, actual) | 70 to 82.4 |
Stabilisation | |
Flash | |
Zoom | |
Video max | 1080p@60 |
Features | Shooting modes: Pro (w/ Long Exposure) Dual Capture Artificial intelligence: Auto Smile Capture Gesture Capture Auto Night Vision Other features: Timer Assistive Grid Leveller Metering Mode Watermark Selfie Photo Mirror Selfie animation Face Beauty RAW photo output HDR Active photos Live Filters Quick Capture (twist-twist) Front Camera Video Software Shooting modes: Dual Capture Timelapse (w/ Hyperlapse) Portrait Other features: Video Stabilisation Face Beauty Video Snapshot Live Filters External Microphone Support |
Comment | It has the same camera as Edge 50 NEO but with a Qualcomm SOC. |
CyberShack’s view: The Motorola Edge 50 is a pleasure to use and is what most people would ever need.
It is not often that a phone brings pleasure, but this did. Everything worked as it should; it tested very well and was a joy to use. I especially like the smaller, separate clicky buttons for volume up and down and power, and the gentle edge curve screen and vegan back make it a delight in hand.
As we said in the Edge 50 Neo review, “Go back a year or two, and to get a similar featured phone, especially in the camera area, you would have been looking at $1000+. To bring all the features in at $699 is impressive”.
In part, it reflects Motorola’s desire to be one of the more significant players in the smartphone market, and it has OPPO and Samsung in its sights. Motorola also wants offerings in every niche, from its excellent workhorse G-series to the mid-range, verging on flagship Edge-series, and its Razr 50, the best flip phone by far in 2024.
It also reflects that Motorola (well, Lenovo) owns its manufacturing facilities and can control more of the supply chain, allowing it to mix and match components to hit price point sweet spots.
Whatever it is, please keep doing it as it works!
The Motorola Edge 50 is perfect for city, suburb, regional and rural dwellers who want a premium phone for much less than Apple or Samsung. Don’t get me started on the AI trip – Joe and Jane Average do not want to go there.
It, like the Neo, gets our strong buy recommendation.
Motorola Edge 50 ratings
Ratings | 70+ is a Pass Mark |
Features | 82.5 |
It has almost every feature you could need and some camera AI. Good for city, suburb, regional, and rural phone use. Great point-and-shoot cameraGood battery life (with a 68W charger inbox)Nice design/colourways. | |
Value | 85 |
It is good value with nothing comparable in the $900-999 bracket. | |
Performance | 85 |
The SD7 Gen 1 is an older 4nm SoC, but this is the AE (Accelerated Edition), which runs a little faster. | |
Ease of Use | 85 |
The two-year warranty is excellent. Add five OS upgrades and five years of security patches; this is a keeper. As most will not keep a phone this long, we regard Samsung’s 2+7+7 as nice but unnecessary. | |
Design | 85 |
Curved-edge screens have lost popularity and can lead to edge press errors, but the curve is not as pronounced, so it should be fine. | |
Rating out of 10 | 84.5 |
Final comment | Motorola has done it again with a $799 class leader with Edge 50 series benefits. |
Motorola Edge 50, 12/256GB, SIM and eSIM, XT2407-1
$799Pros
- For the price, it is the class leader and includes the 68W charger.
- Excellent phone reception for city, suburb, regional and rural use if you have some Band 28 signal from Optus or Vodafone.
- 12/256GB is class-leading
- The camera is class-leading
- Excellent 2-5+5 warranty/OS upgrades/security patches
Cons
- USB-C 2.0 precludes Alt DP screen mirror and external mountable SSD, although USB-C 3.1 is not expected at this price.
- There is no 3.5mm headphone port, but it has a Digital/Analogue USB-C port.
- The speaker sound could be improved.
Brought to you by CyberShack.com.au