[CentreOfGravity]

Motorola Edge 50 Pro Review

Background:

My father had been using the Motorola G40 Fusion for the past three years. It had served him well for the most part, however, the phone started becoming painfully slow after two years of use even for day-to-day tasks. Therefore, I was assigned with the task of finding him an upgrade in the range of 25-30k. His criteria were simple = clean UI experience, decent performance, a crisp display and speakers, and a useable camera setup. Honestly, my work was easy as my father was smitten by the new Moto Edge 50 Pro which was my first recommendation. I did ask him to consider the OnePlus Nord 4 and the Nothing Phone (2a) too, but the UI and Christmas lighting respectively put him off. So, the Edge 50 Pro was ordered on Flipkart in the 8GB + 256 GB configuration, the colour of choice being Luxe Lavender. It has been five months since the purchase, and I think it is a good time to write a brief “ownership” review.

Here are my observations in no particular order:


- The unboxing experience – although spoiled in part thanks to Flipkart’s open-box delivery – was pretty good. The box had a pleasant scent to it. Along with the standard box contents came a screen guard, a 68-watt charger with a type C to C cable and a colour-matched bumper case; blue in this case (pun intended). Point to note – the 12 GB variant comes with a 125-watt charger in the box. If you’re planning to go for the higher variant only for this reason, I’d advise you against it as the charging time is very similar to the 68-watt unit. Moreover, I’m not convinced that superfast chargers are good for the battery’s health.

- The phone looks rather nice, although there is nothing new in smartphone design these days. The frame is metal, and so are the buttons which feel very tactile and satisfying to use. The leather back feels nice to the touch. I love the fact that the case is colour-matched to the phone. However, the case is a... well, ‘case’ of form over function; it is practically useless as there is no side protection. What’s worse, it doesn’t fit snugly, resulting in a noticeable gap in the side, which means dust and hair can easily get through.

- The Edge 50 Pro has a 6.7 inch, 1.5K curved pOLED display with a refresh rate of 144 Hz. It’s a brilliant display and the colours really pop. The peak display brightness is 2000 nits, which means it performs well under direct sunlight. While the curved display looks oh-so-good, it poses a usability error = too many accidental touches, especially when used in landscape mode. Also, the phone doesn’t feel chunky to hold for this reason. The stereo speakers, which have Dolby Atmos support, are quite loud. Interestingly, this phone gets three microphones instead of the usual two.

- This phone uses an inferior optical in-display fingerprint scanner as opposed to an ultrasonic one, and given the price point, I think it's okay. But what’s not okay is the responsiveness. You need to keep your finger pressed for much longer than you should, and even then, it doesn’t unlock on the first attempt.

- UI is one of the strongest points of this handset. No unnecessary ads, bloatware or pre-installed apps (except Facebook, which can be uninstalled). I love how Motorola offers a clean UI while being customisable. This phone runs on Hello UI which is based on Android 14. Moto has promised 3 years of Android updates and 4 years of security updates. This is up from their earlier 2+3 updates, but their history suggests that they have been quite inconsistent with updates, so I would take this claim with a large pinch of salt.

- At 4500 mAh, the battery capacity is pretty average and lasts a day of moderate use. However, the 68-watt fast charger more than makes up for it. A full charge is achieved in just ~20 minutes.

- The triple camera setup headlined by the 50-megapixel primary shooter is fantastic. Won’t get into the specs, but the picture quality can give some serious competition to an iPhone 13/14 in certain lighting conditions. Processing a picture takes a while, but once it’s done, the result is fab. The 3x telephoto lens is super useful – helped me take close-ups of the Gloster facelift I spotted in July . However, the camera app is very laggy. The video quality is inconsistent and isn’t great either. But considering that camera was never a strong suit for Moto in the past, they have really hit it out of the park with this phone!

- Under the hood, the Edge 50 Pro comes with the Snapdragon 7 gen 3 processor. To be honest, both me and my dad aren’t into gaming, so I can’t tell you how this performs in the real world. But I’m sure that the market is full of options with superior processors in this price range. This phone is aimed at those looking for a no-nonsense, feature-loaded smartphone that handles day-to-day tasks well – exactly the kind of user my dad is.

- A bit of a silly one, but what the hell is the default ringtone! Scares everyone out of their wits when there is a notification or call in the public, but the bigger problem is that the ringtone sounds so childish. The other ringtone options have been there for ages, so I think it's high time Moto makes a set of new notification tones and ringtones. Hello Moto, you listening?! On a side note, here's Motorola's ringtone evolution:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=csVFUKW1...WKNcLkS1d6lR6K

- Simply LOVE the Moto gestures, be it chop-chop to turn on flashlight, twist to open camera or three-finger screenshot. Makes life so much easier. Also, the Moto features are quite fun to use. I love Smart Connect, which is a seamless way to connect to a larger device.

- The IP68 rating is very reassuring; no more worries about accidentally dropping the phone in water. Also, this supports 50W wireless charging, but here’s the irony = to charge wirelessly with the full 50 watts of power, you will have to use Motorola’s official wireless charger, which isn’t sold in India . It also supports 5W reverse wireless charging, which means you can charge other phones which support wireless charging. Cool stuff. The absence of a wireless charger in our Honda City is now felt!

- No issues with 5G network. My father uses Airtel and connectivity has been good.

- This phone heats up randomly, especially while charging. Not nice, considering the phone never sees extreme usage.

- Some niggles had cropped up during ownership. Niggle 1 = when you open an Instagram video or reel, the phone locks itself when the video ends. Niggle 2 = when you call someone, the other person can’t hear you, while for the caller it still appears that the phone is ringing. This happened only for a day though, and a quick restart later this issue never saw the light of day again. Niggle 3 = since a week, the volume buttons have a mind of their own. They don't get pressed easily and this issue comes and goes as it pleases. Weird.

- Some pictures. Limiting the number as you'll find hundreds on the internet:

With the case. Notice how dirty it got in spite of handling with utmost care:


Without the case. No deterioration of the leather-back so far:


Lovely display:


This is the gap that I was talking about. The case just doesn't fit snugly!


Closing comments:

So far, my father is happy with the phone. There are some good deals on Motorola phones going on right now. We got the phone for 32k (a result of bad luck and procrastination), but you can easily get it for 28k during this time. At 28k or less, the Moto Edge 50 Pro makes a strong case for itself. As I said before, if you’re looking for a no-nonsense, feature-packed smartphone with a clean UI, the Moto should be a strong contender. I’d also like to point out that in this price range, other Moto Edge 50 series phones are being sold as well with different sets of features. So do make sure you check them all out and then take a decision.

Thanks for reading!

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[SmartCat]

Congrats! Do take some camera samples and post here. In that price range, the only differentiating factor between phones is the camera hardware/software capabilities. There are multiple combinations:

Photos taken using:

- Main rear camera
- Wide angle rear camera
- Front facing camera (aka selfie camera)

Camera modes:

- Portrait mode
- Macro mode
- Zoom mode (3x/10x)
- Night mode

Environment:

- Outdoor
- Indoor (usually means low light)
- Night

[Fuldagap]

Congrats! It's a great one. Motos are fantastic phones. The premium ones are really premium too.

For notifications, use "Ivory" sound from the default list of tones. It is quite elegant, easy on ears and still catches attention beautifully.

For the full ringtone, download a favourite audio file and use that.
I use Chi Mai by Ennio Morricine. From Le Professionel .
Here's the Yotube link.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6Ic5gFpqC8

Everyone has their own taste in music. I have been using this one for years even if surrounding people find it 'different' err not so soothing. Whenever I had to change, I'd shuffle something from Ennio Morricone only or rarely go to something from John Barry (Midnight Cowboy mostly).

[saikishor]

Id like to post my thoughts:
I've been a Motorola user since October 2023, with my first device being the Moto Edge 40. I was so satisfied with the device(except for the trash front camera) that when my dad had to replace his 6 year old Realme 1, I urged him to get nothing but a Moto. And so, I suggested and he got himself a Moto edge 50 pro. He never spent so much on a mobile phone. However, somehow my dad received a defect piece, and the phone died after 3 months of usage. We gave the phone at an authorised Moto service center, and they diagnosed it to be a faulty charging port. They fixed it free of cost under warranty. But, I felt they did a shoddy job. There was a lot of gum residue on the edges of the screen. The edge 50 pro comes with water resistance, and I have a strong feeling this has been compromised now. I literally bathe with my Moto edge 40 everyday(even that has water resistance) and nothing happens to the phone but I would not dare to do the same with the edge 50 pro. I have somehow lost confidence on the device now, and want to exchange it for something else but the edge 50 pro doesn't show on exchange on platforms.

I somehow feel betrayed. I use my mobiles for long. My last phone, a Realme XT, never gave me any problem and I had used it for 4 solid years. My dad's Realme 1, he used that for 5 years and even that never gave any problem. Both of these Realme devices are going strong as secondary phones now. I don't have the same confidence with Moto phones now.

Not only that, though the software experience is clean, there are a numerous bugs in the software. Sometimes apps crash randomly, sometimes the keyboard doesn't pop up, sometimes some app functions don't work and what not. This really is a strong concern, given Moto's slow updates and relatively less longterm software support.

I really love Moto devices, but safe to say my next phone will not be a Motorola, regardless of the positive experience I had with it.

[sagarpadaki]

In the sea of bloatware filled android phones in the 15k-30k price range, moto phones offer clean android and lag free experience. I am a fan of compact phones and value one handed operation and Moto Edge 40 which I purchased was the only phone in the entire android lineup that had a height less than 160mm and width less than 72mm.

[Axe77]

What a coincidence this review should come up. I was just, based on a strong Recco from a riding buddy, considering the Moto Edge 50 (not Pro, will have to now see what the differences are between the two). Apparently prices at this point are pretty good on the Moto Edge. This is basically a second phone for me and will do plenty time on my bike as well for maps navigation etc. so I particularly appreciate it’s robust build and IP 68 rating (as informed to me).

Thanks for putting such a detailed review up. Separately, I’m not a big fan of Flipkart etc sort of sites and would rather buy in person from a store like Croma / Reliance Digital etc - don’t they stock these Motorola phones too? Everyone seems to be buying from Flipkart only from what I could see.

[Fuldagap]

Originally Posted by Axe77

What a coincidence this review should come up. I was just, based on a strong Recco from a riding buddy, considering the Moto Edge 50 (not Pro, will have to now see what the differences are between the two). Apparently prices at this point are pretty good on the Moto Edge. This is basically a second phone for me and will do plenty time on my bike as well for maps navigation etc. so I particularly appreciate it’s robust build and IP rating (as informed to me).

Thanks for putting such a detailed review up. Separately, I’m not a big fan of Flipkart etc sort of sites and would rather buy in person from a store like Croma / Reliance Digital etc - don’t they stock these Motorola phones too? Everyone seems to be buying from Flipkart only from what I could see.

Since 2012 i have bought many Motorola phones, always from Fipkart. Motorolas are never available on Amazon. Officially atleast.

Have never bought or even thought of going to a brick and mortar store for them. Never experienced any issues.

In 2012 I wanted to buy a Motorola Razr, Android 4.0. It used to come with a Kevlar backside and was a striking phone. Tough, slim. However, it was out of stock. The Fipkart guys kept on updating me by themsleves and it took them 1 month to get it delivered to me. It wasn't available anywhere in any shop or store outside. Atleast not in NCR.

[100Kmphormore]

Originally Posted by Axe77

What a coincidence this review should come up. I was just, based on a strong Recco from a riding buddy, considering the Moto Edge 50 (not Pro, will have to now see what the differences are between the two). Apparently prices at this point are pretty good on the Moto Edge. This is basically a second phone for me and will do plenty time on my bike as well for maps navigation etc. so I particularly appreciate it’s robust build and IP 68 rating (as informed to me).

Thanks for putting such a detailed review up. Separately, I’m not a big fan of Flipkart etc sort of sites and would rather buy in person from a store like Croma / Reliance Digital etc - don’t they stock these Motorola phones too? Everyone seems to be buying from Flipkart only from what I could see.

I’d recommend to buy one of the Samsung M series phones with the 7000 mah battery from a riders perspective. The battery life is amazing and the soft limiter at 85% is great for long life. I myself use a Dec 2020 M51 bought at half price in 2022 as my secondary phone for Maps during rides and Instagram, Facebook browsing etc at home and is amazing. A full day atleast if you have the battery saver on, and in the latter, upto a week. Charges quickly too, you can disable that too if you like for longer battery life, eliminating the need for a charging point on the bike.

[DIV17]

Since the discussion is about Motorola phones. Does anyone have experience with the Moto Edge 50 fusion?
I am looking closely into buying one and the features it offers at that price point really seem VFM (specially the camera setup) compared to a similarly priced Realme 13 Plus.

[tbppjpr]

Originally Posted by DIV17

Since the discussion is about Motorola phones. Does anyone have experience with the Moto Edge 50 fusion?

Although Fusion is VFM phone but I would suggest to consider the Edge 50 which comes with better processor, MIL grade rating for added durability and additional telephoto camera. I suggested it to my BIL and found it be very nice during my hands on, slim and lightweight with good ergonomics to hold and use.

Edge series has top class screen which is comfortable to read even in full sunlight. My wife's Moto Edge 40 fusion also has similar delightful screen, I wish they launched Snapdragon version in the Edge 40 series but only Mediatek was available that time which I don't prefer. In comparison, cameras have improved a lot in Edge 50 series over the Edge 40. They can produce even better results if you can manage to find install suitable modded GCam app.

I am currently using Pixel but find Motorola's Android version better from usability point of view. These days they offer some customization as well like changing the font and icons along with few preset themes without overdoing it like other phones which come with Chinese origin Android OS or Samsung One UI.

Overall user interface is still simple and clutter-free like Pixels without any ads of bloatwares. I miss the Moto gesture features like chop-chop to torch and twist-the-wrist to quickly open the camera after switching onto Pixel which make Motorolas smarter than rest of the smart phones.

One thing which has always been with Motorola phones since their mobile unit was owned by the original Motorola company is that their phones don't look as good in photo-videos as they look and feel during the real life usage. Maybe thats the reason behind their low popularity compared to others.

[jerk_free]

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki

In the sea of bloatware filled android phones in the 15k-30k price range, moto phones offer clean android and lag free experience. I am a fan of compact phones and value one handed operation and Moto Edge 40 which I purchased was the only phone in the entire android lineup that had a height less than 160mm and width less than 72mm.

Also, you missed Edge Neo 50, much smaller and lighter weight too. One of the lightest phones around - Just 171 gms. Ever since my wife got a S24, I've become a fan of compact phones. I might get something like this for my next one.

GSMarena offers a nice tool to search and filter, just in case anyone needs it. Filter by weight, height, width, battery, year of Mfg, sensors, ports and so much more.

https://www.gsmarena.com/search.php3? Comprehensive and pretty accurate.

[SeniorC]

I have been using a Motorola phone for the last five years and I find it totally trouble free. No bloatware and clean near stock Android. Never got into situation where the phone got hung.The fingerprint sensor is super quick. The camera is excellent for day to day pictures including zoom and macro settings. Connects seamlessly to the wireless car adaptor. Even after years of use, the battery easily lasts for a day. I am too old to be a gamer, Sudoku is the only game I have.

I am not sure of the privacy safety in the Chinese brands so will never buy them. Samsung, Pixel and iPhone are the other choices. But my next phone will be a Motorola only. Extremely happy with solid build and ease of use.

[SmartCat]

Originally Posted by SeniorC

I am not sure of the privacy safety in the Chinese brands so will never buy them. Samsung, Pixel and iPhone are the other choices. But my next phone will be a Motorola only.

Chinese laptop maker Lenovo acquired Motorola way back in 2014!
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-29833131

Lenovo has completed its takeover of Google's Motorola Mobility division. The acquisition gives the Chinese firm control of the unit's Moto and Droid-branded handsets as well as its 3,500 employees, 2,800 of whom are based in the US.

Samsung phones will have the lowest Chinese content, even lower than Apple/Google. That's because Samsung likes to have control over its supply chain and not be reliant on China for geopolitical reasons.

[S1200]

Motorola's this line-up of smartphones has pOLED display technology. This display usually has better life, obviously along with output quality in case of edge 50 pro.