The Motorola Edge 50 Family Of Devices Is Finally Official – Talk Android

In the early days of Android, and even cell phones in general, Motorola was a force to be reckoned with. But over time, their influence on the Android space slowly started to wane. However, in recent years, they’ve been fighting to change that story.

Motorola has just announced the Edge 50 lineup of smartphones, and I can’t lie: these smartphones look like they’re about to make some big waves.

Motorola’s Long-Awaited Edge 50 Series Gets Its Chance To See The World

Motorola has launched three new devices: the Edge 50 Fusion, Edge 50 Pro, and Edge 50 Ultra. The devices are, quite frankly, stunning, even before you look at the specs on paper. For the most part, they have similar designs, with a one-piece back panel that smoothly transitions into the camera bump.

They also all run on Hello UX and come with Moto AI, which is Motorola’s take on the current AI wave that’s sweeping over the smartphone scene. Using this, you’ll get AI features integrated into your camera’s performance, such as their Photo Enhancement Engine, Adaptive Stabilization, Auto Focus Tracking, and Action Shot features.

However, Motorola also says that their AI is infused into not just the camera, but the display, battery, and performance domains of the phone. But that’s enough about that; it’s what they each have under the hood that truly differentiates them.

The Motorola Edge 50 Fusion

The Motorola Edge 50 Fusion is at the bottom of the pack but still classifies as a solid mid-range device. What instantly sets it apart from the higher models design-wise, is that it only has two cameras, so the camera module is smaller.

It is available in three colorways, which are unique choices, and each one uses a different material for the back panel. Hot Pink uses vegan suede, Marshmallow Blue uses vegan leather, and Forest Blue uses PMMA which is a form of transparent plastic, so a cheaper alternative to glass. Regardless of the finish, you get a plastic frame and IP68 dust and water resistance.

Now, let’s flip the phone around and talk about the screen. It’s a 6.7-inch FHD+ pOLED display with curved edges at the left and right. You get a peak brightness of 1,600 nits and a 144Hz refresh rate. There’s a fingerprint sensor under the display too.

Under the hood, the specs hit the mid-range bullseye precisely, with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 and Android 14 running the show. You’ll have the option of four storage configurations, each with UFS 2.2 storage (again, this is a mid-range device, but I’d have liked that number just a little higher): 8GB/128GB, 8GB/256GB, 12GB/256GB, and 12GB/512GB. The battery is sizable, at 5,000 mAh, and you’ll be able to charge it to 50% in 15 minutes thanks to 68W of wired charging goodness.

You get Bluetooth 5.2, USB Type-C 2.0, 5G, NFC, and Wi-Fi 5 on the connectivity front.

Finally, the cameras. If cameras are incredibly important to you, this may only barely get the job done, with a 50MP primary lens with OIS and a 13MP ultrawide, both capable of recording at up to 4K/30. The selfie camera is 32MP and can record at FHD/30.

The Edge 50 Fusion comes in at £349 (~$435), which pits it against Google’s formidable Pixel 7a.

The Motorola Edge 50 Pro

If you want a bit more power but don’t want to break the bank, then the Motorola Edge 50 Pro makes a few notable upgrades over the Edge 50 Fusion, for an upper mid-range experience. You’ll notice a larger camera module here because the phone has three cameras instead of two, but we’ll get to that eventually.

The smartphone comes in three finishes: Black Beauty and Luxe Lavender, which are both vegan leather; and Moonlight Pearl, which is a “special edition pearl polymer finish handcrafted in Italy”. Each of these has an aluminum frame with IP68 certification. I have to say, that Moonlight Pearl colorway is extremely eye-catching.

The screen is a 6.7-inch pOLED display with 1220p resolution and Pantone validation. It is HDR10+ certified with a 144Hz refresh rate and 2000-nit peak brightness. Plus, it can hit a touch sampling rate of 360Hz when in gaming mode. Yeah, this is a much better screen than the Fusion and is one of its major upgrades. Of course, there’s a fingerprint sensor on the screen, as has now become standard for phones pushing towards the higher end.

Speaking of upgrades, the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 is the chip of choice here, also running on Android 14. You get only one storage configuration, which is 12GB/512GB, though it remains as UFS 2.2 storage. Oddly, the battery is a downgrade from the Fusion, with only 4,500 mAh capacity. However, it will be a lot quicker to top off, with Motorola’s 125W TurboPower charging, so maybe the battery size doesn’t matter as much. You also get 50W wireless charging and 10W reverse wireless charging.

When it comes to connectivity, this phone gets several upgrades. You’ll find 5G as expected, but you get Bluetooth 5.4, Wi-Fi 6E, USB Type-C 3.1 with DisplayPort 1.4 (so you can plug this into an external display), as well as NFC.

While you seem to get the same 13MP ultrawide as on the Edge 50 Fusion, the primary 50MP is an improved unit with a bigger f/1.4 aperture, OIS, and Pantone validation for accurate colors and skin tones. A third camera joins the fray, which is a 10MP 3x telephoto lens with OIS. The front camera gets upgraded to 50MP and brings autofocus along for the ride.

You’ll also get a time-of-flight sensor, as well as a “3-in-1 sensor” that detects exposure, white balance, and flicker. You’ll be able to record at 4K/30 on all three rear cameras, and when using the main sensor, you can add HDR10+ to that.

You’ll be able to pick up the Edge 50 Pro for £599 (~$745), which takes it into Pixel 8 Pro territory.

The Motorola Edge 50 Ultra

There will always be a device at the very top of any series that instantly catches the eye with maxed-out specs. In this case, it is the Motorola Edge 50 Ultra. This device might look rather similar to the Edge 50 Pro, but you’ll notice some key differences in the camera structure.

The phone comes in three colors, and they’re the most exciting of any of the phones. First, there’s Forest Grey, which is very close to black and has a vegan leather finish. There’s Peach Fuzz, which is the Pantone Color of the Year and comes with Pantone badging at the bottom to make that clear. Both of these models break the one-piece back panel design, as the camera modules are separate glossy pieces. Now, Nordic Wood is a striated silvery-grey colorway, keeps the single-piece back panel, and is made of actual wood. It looks astounding.

The display is very similar to the Edge 50 Pro, with a 6.7-inch 1220p pOLED display that is HDR10+ certified and Pantone validated. You get the same 144Hz refresh and 360Hz touch sampling rate in gaming mode, but the peak brightness pushes up to 2,500 nits. It’s a fantastic display, enough said. There’s an optical fingerprint reader under the screen as well.

The brand-new Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chip lies on the inside of this device, paired with Android 14. You get three storage options: 12GB/512GB, 16GB/512GB, and a massive 16GB/1TB, and just for clarity, all of those come with UFS 4.0 storage, which is as good as it can get storage-wise. The battery and charging specs are the same as the Pro model, with a 4,500 mAh cell, 125W wired charging, 50W wireless charging, and 10W reverse wireless charging.

This phone manages to boost the connectivity options just a little bit more. You get Wi-Fi 7 support, USB Type C 3.1 Gen 2 with DisplayPort 1.4, as well as Bluetooth 5.4, 5G, and NFC. Plus, Moto AI has an exclusive feature here that lets you generate images from text prompts.

Now, if you’re really buying yourself a Motorola phone for the cameras, then this is the one that you want to go with. You get a 50MP Pantone-validated primary camera with bigger pixels, a bigger sensor, and OIS. The ultrawide camera gets a wider FOV and a boost to 50MP. The telephoto lens stays at 3x magnification but gets a boost to 64MP with bigger pixels and OIS. It also has TOF and 3-in-1 sensors. The front camera is 50MP with autofocus. You can record at 4K/60 on any camera on this phone — yes, including the selfie camera.

As the highest-specced model, the Edge 50 Ultra comes in at £849 which translates to around $1,050. For the moment, we are waiting on Motorola to reveal their plans for the Edge 50 series in the US.