Motorola Edge 50 Neo Overview: A brand new web page turned for Motorola

Motorola Edge 50 Neo Intro

Properly, we’ve yet one more Motorola Edge cellphone, and this time it’s referred to as the Motorola Edge 50 Neo. However as you’ll find out from this overview, it’s considerably of a particular one in Motorola’s lineup, because it marks not one however two firsts for the Edge sequence.

Not solely is the brand new Neo the primary Edge to drop the… edge, i.e. the curved show, however it is usually the primary to come back with 5 entire years of software program assist. It additionally comes with superb battery life that beat even its extra expensive Edge 50 Professional counterpart, and Google’s newest mid-range cellphone.

Sadly, you will not discover the Edge 50 Neo within the U.S. market. You’ll, nonetheless, be capable of buy it in nations such because the U.Ok. and throughout the remainder of Europe. In the UK it can value you £399, and in European nations it goes at roughly €479.

Disclaimer: We use a brand new overview ranking system at PhoneArena, which is why the overall rating of all units examined underneath this protocol is decrease than you could be used to. We consider it is a greater system, overlaying quite a few classes and offering a holistic view of the machine, and we encourage you to take a look at the scores in context, moderately than specializing in the quantity. You possibly can be taught extra about our PhoneArena Overview Rating right here.

Desk of Contents:

Motorola Edge 50 Neo Specs

A well-balanced menu

Motorola Edge 50 Neo Design and Show

An Edge with out its edge

The Edge 50 Neo comes with a much-needed design refresh. Extra particularly, we’re speaking concerning the digicam module on the again, which was a bit outdated on the earlier mannequin however has now been improved to be extra in the remainder of Motorola’s Edge lineup.

The cellphone can be considerably shorter, a bit narrower, however a little bit thicker. It measures at 154.1 x 71.2 x 8.1 mm and weighs 171g. I’m not positive if it’s the measurement, or the extra blocky design, however I felt very assured whereas dealing with the Edge 50 Neo. It was additionally very comfy to carry.

Talking its blocky form, the cellphone now has flat sides with curved edges, very similar to the most recent flagship telephones in the marketplace. Not like the flagship telephones although, it comes with a plastic body, and a plastic or vegan leather-based again.

The quantity and energy buttons are simply reachable and really feel tactile and satisfyingly clicky, though that is the case for many telephones these days so we sort of anticipate that from Motorola at this worth vary.

Sturdiness can be fairly good, with an IP68 mud and water resistance ranking that’s the identical degree you get with probably the most premium telephones. That being stated, the show will not be as sturdy, with solely Gorilla Glass 3 defending it. However, to be truthful, that’s the identical safety that the Pixel 8a comes with.

As for the colours, you get to choose from Nautical Blue, Latte, Grisaille, Poinciana: all licensed Pantone colours. The names might sound bizarre to you in case you are unfamiliar with Motorola’s partnership with Pantone.

For the uninitiated, Pantone is an organization famend for its colour matching system. They supply a standardized solution to determine, talk, and management colour throughout numerous industries, together with graphic design, trend, product design, printing, and manufacturing.

Our unit comes within the Poinciana colour, which is a shade of pink… a shade of pink that we predict will not be notably interesting. We’d advocate any of the opposite shades that the Edge 50 Neo comes with.

Through the unboxing of the Edge 50 Neo you’ll find much less goodies than one would usually anticipate from Motorola. Whereas there’s a case (a moderately unpleasant one), there is no such thing as a display protector or charger inside. After all, you do get a USB-C charging cable and the standard documentation.

Not like the opposite Motorola telephones with the Edge moniker, the Edge 50 Neo doesn’t have a curved show. As a substitute, it’s utterly flat, with uniform bezels which are skinny sufficient to not be observed throughout use.

The show itself is OLED and has a decision of 1256 x 2760 pixels. Watching content material on it’s completely pleasant, particularly with the added bonus of zero unintentional inputs and lightweight reflections due to the flat show.

The brightness was additionally sufficient to maintain textual content readable in moments with robust direct mild, though I would not say it was sufficient for me to take pleasure in a video with out feeling the necessity to attain for shade.

The Edge 50 Neo carried out noticeably higher than its predecessor in our show lab checks. 200 nits increased brightness won’t sound like a lot, nevertheless it brings the brand new Neo into what we take into account Wonderful show brightness. After all, one in all its primary opponents, the Pixel 8a, has a fair brighter show, however Google’s telephones are recognized for excelling in that space anyway.

Biometrics are dealt with by way of an optical fingerprint scanner, which is a bit gradual in case you are unlocking the cellphone whereas the show is turned off — it takes a couple of second and a half. If the show is energetic, then the velocity is suitable.

After all, you too can go for face unlock, however if you’d like higher safety I would not advocate it. It’s the faster solution to unlock the Edge 50 Neo although.

Motorola Edge 50 Neo Digicam

Surprisingly dependable
The Edge 50 Neo’s digicam efficiency is fairly evenly unfold out between the three cameras on the again and the selfie digicam. That’s to say that every one of them gave fairly first rate outcomes throughout our PhoneArena Digicam Rating testing, with none main variations in picture high quality.

We do not know what algorithms Motorola is utilizing to enhance the Edge 50 Neo’s picture high quality, however the images that come out of every digicam are much better than what we anticipated. There’s ample element throughout the entire digicam system and HDR appears to be dealt with nicely with preserved particulars within the shiny and darkish areas.

The publish processing can be a bit an excessive amount of at occasions although, and the colour accuracy will not be constant between the three cameras on the again. The primary digicam appears to lean extra in direction of the hotter tones, whereas the extremely in direction of cooler ones.

The selfie digicam was by some means one of many extra spectacular snappers on the Edge 50 Neo, because it dealt with distinction and colour accuracy very nicely. To prime all of it off, the extent of element is greater than sufficient to snap a transparent picture.

Video High quality

Keep tuned for video samples!

Motorola Edge 50 Neo Efficiency & Benchmarks

Not the very best performer, nevertheless it will not go away you upset

The Edge 50 Neo comes with the Dimensity 7300 processor (4nm). It’s the identical chip that the corporate makes use of for its funds foldable, the Motorola Razr 50 that is often known as Razr (2024) within the U.S. Relying on the place you get it from, you may have 8GB or 12GB of RAM. Our unit is the latter model.

Frankly, we had been caught a bit off guard with how nicely the Edge 50 Neo carried out throughout gaming classes. Even with video games that had been extra demanding comparable to Genshin Impression. I additionally had no hassle retaining a excessive rating in League of Legends Wild Rift, even with the graphics at increased settings.

It wasn’t all rainbows and sunshine although. We did expertise the occasional hiccup within the digicam app, and another apps had been loading moderately slowly at occasions. However these had been uncommon events no deal-breaker.

Efficiency Benchmarks:

Whereas the Edge 50 Neo matches its predecessor by way of single-core efficiency, the Dimensity 7300 chip delivers increased multi-core speeds, in addition to increased 3D Graphics efficiency. The Tensor G4 of the marginally costlier Pixel 8a, nonetheless, demolishes it on all fronts.

Storage-wise, relying on the place you might be shopping for the Edge 50 Neo from, you may get it both in a 8/256GB configuration, or 12/512GB. Within the UK it’s presently solely accessible in 8/256GB, the place as in Spain it is just accessible in 12/512GB. Sadly, there is no such thing as a microSD card slot, so what you get is what you might have so far as storage goes.

Motorola Edge 50 Neo Software program

The Motorola Edge 50 Neo is considerably of a particular cellphone for the corporate. Why? Properly, as a result of it’s the first to come back with 5 years of software program assist. That features main Android updates in addition to safety patches. Up till now, the corporate’s telephones had been notorious for his or her moderately brief software program assist window, nevertheless it seems the most recent Neo mannequin will function a turning level in the case of that subject.

One thing that spoils the excellent news, nonetheless, is the truth that the Edge 50 Neo comes with Android 14 out of the field, and never the most recent Android 15 replace. In different phrases, the final Android replace that the cellphone will get is Android 19 in 2028.
As for the person expertise, it’s just about vanilla Android. After all, the entire Motorola options that include its Android pores and skin are right here, such because the gestures to shortly launch the digicam and flashlight, which I’ve at all times been a fan of. I’m additionally very completely satisfied to see that there is no such thing as a bloatware, in contrast to another telephones on this worth vary just like the Galaxy A55.

Motorola additionally presents the Moto app, which lets you shortly and simply personalise your new Motorola cellphone. This eliminates the necessity to manually sift by means of settings to regulate all the pieces to your liking.

Motorola Edge 50 Neo Battery

A complete champ

The battery on the Edge 50 Neo is significantly smaller in comparison with the Edge 40 Neo, dropping from 5000 mAh to 4310 mAh. Nonetheless, that’s similar to one in all its rivals, the Pixel 8a, which comes with a 4492 mAh battery.

As you will notice from our battery life take a look at outcomes under, regardless of its smaller battery the Edge 50 Neo outshines final 12 months’s mannequin and the Pixel 8a from Google. Personally, I used to be additionally left with the impression that the battery life is great, because the cellphone lasted me virtually two full days on a single cost.

PhoneArena Battery Take a look at Outcomes:

For sure, the Motorola Edge 50 Neo is among the most dependable telephones you should buy if you’d like one which lasts your all through the day and additional into the subsequent. It beats its predecessor, its costlier variant, and one in all its most fierce opponents in every one in all our battery life checks.

Motorola already permits some fairly quick charging speeds, even for its decrease mid-rangers such because the Edge 50 Neo, which comes with 68W of wired charging. That was greater than sufficient for me to prime it off in a pinch, though there was just one occasion after I wanted to do this.

A really welcome improve that differentiates the brand new Neo from its predecessor is that it comes with 15W of wi-fi charging.

PhoneArena Charging Take a look at Outcomes:

Now, the Edge 50 Neo has the identical wired charging velocity as its predecessor, however because it comes with a smaller battery it takes it much less time to go from 1-100% in our charging checks. The costlier Edge 50 Professional has 120W charging speeds (almost double), and manages to cost a lot faster due to this.

Should you want wi-fi charging, the brand new Neo now helps 15W you probably have an acceptable charger. That’s one thing that wasn’t accessible with the earlier mannequin.

Motorola Edge 50 Neo Audio High quality and Haptics

The audio high quality popping out of this funds Android cellphone took us a bit unexpectedly. We anticipated some distortion or a “tinny” sound to look at increased volumes, however it doesn’t matter what quantity degree you employ with the Edge 50 Neo it sounds fairly good. The center frequencies sound full and clear, the upper vary comes by means of properly, and as most different telephones the decrease frequencies (the bass) is barely there.

Podcasts and speaking head movies on YouTube had been a pleasure to hearken to. Even music was greater than pleasant, regardless of the considerably weak bass of the 2 audio system. What was additionally a pleasant shock was the truth that the audio quantity was extra evenly unfold out between the decrease and higher audio system, which isn’t one thing you may say about lots of telephones on this worth vary.

Haptic suggestions will not be precisely nice, however it’s not so unhealthy to make you wish to flip it off both. I’m a type of customers that like to depart this characteristic turned on whether it is ok, and the Edge 50 Neo haptics had been ok for me.

Lastly, you’ll want to use Bluetooth headphones or a USB-C to three.5mm audio jack adapter, because the cellphone doesn’t include such a port.

Do you have to purchase it?

Should you handle to miss the plastic construct there’s truly rather a lot to like concerning the Motorola Edge 50 Neo. For the worth Motorola is asking, that is completely a nicely rounded mid-range Android, with an amazing mixture of show and audio high quality to satiate your media enjoyment.

You even have a surprisingly succesful chipset on board that may deal with extra demanding video games. The cellphone can be fairly good at preserving the battery life, lasting for longer than a few of its primary competitors and costlier fashions.

The digicam system, which is necessary for a lot of customers these days, has not solely change into extra versatile with the addition of a telephoto lens, nevertheless it additionally does fairly nicely throughout the board.

What actually makes this an amazing purchase in case you are on this worth vary is the truth that Motorola lastly presents lengthy software program assist, 5 years to be actual, so you may simply preserve this cellphone for years to come back and nonetheless get new options and UI adjustments with future Android updates.

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