The year 2024 is one of the richest for Motorola, which offers three phones at various prices. Its mid-range smartphone is the first with a Pantone certified screen. Discover our review of the Motorola Edge 50 Pro.
The Motorola Edge 50 Pro sits in the middle of a range of three smartphones. It’s difficult to find a place between the more affordable model, the Motorola Edge 50 Fusion, and the more high-end one, the Ultra model. However, it has arguments to make and leans more towards high-end positioning.
Its price of 699 euros remains reasonable and less expensive than its predecessor when it was released, enough to make it the star of this new family? This is what we will try to clarify by offering you our test of the Motorola Edge 50 Pro.
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A design already seen but we appreciate the finishes
Aesthetics is an important point on which Motorola focuses a lot. Thus, the firm is available in three very distinct colors: in ash black with a vegetable leather material or in lavender and heartbroken white colors for an acetate frame. For our test, we had the opportunity to have the pearly white model in our hands. Handling the Motorola 50 Edge Pro was a real pleasure both for its pleasant finishes and for its resistance to fingerprints.
Speaking of finishes, as with its predecessor the Motorola Edge 40, the American company is once again focusing on curved edges and the comfort of these users. Despite the fact that the phone hides a thickness of 8.2mm, far from the minimum of other smartphones on the market, the new Motorola smartphone fits perfectly in the palm of the hand. Its weight of 186g also makes it a lightweight smartphone.
As for the photo sensors, the integration of a block is well thought out to protect against possible dust. An approach designed like Samsung phones and Oppo. Although it is slightly thick when laying it on a flat surface, the curved back shell makes the grip experience very pleasant.
As was the case with other models, the Motorola Edge 50 Pro is designed to withstand shock. It is IP68 certified, which allows it to work despite the rain and has good shock resistance with its screen equipped with Gorilla Glass.
However, we can make a reservation regarding the absence of a MicroSD port. You will have to make do with the 512 GB of storage available on the device, which may prove to be more than enough.
A colorful OLED screen
Contrary to the trend for flat screens on the market, the Motorola Edge 50 Pro sports a curved Oled panel. We thus benefit from a 6.7-inch screen offering a resolution of 2712 x 1120 pixels, a slight increase compared to the Edge 40. The refresh rate can go up to 144 Hz. In terms of brightness, the panel claims a peak of up to 2000 nits, which gives a fairly pleasant result in all circumstances. Motorola has worked particularly well on colorimetry. The Edge 50 Pro benefits from “Pantone Validated” certification for its screen as well as its photo module to guarantee rich colors. This is the first time that a smartphone from the brand has this technology and this collaboration with the company seems to be successful.
In terms of color customization, the user can choose between 3 settings (bright, natural and bright colors) for the display of colors. Then you can adapt the color temperature with three presets (default, warm, cool) or customize it. The Motorola Edge 50 Pro remains perfectly readable in direct sunlight and at night, so it adapts very quickly to external brightness. We did not notice any particular problem regarding the reading of the poster despite the different lighting conditions.
Below normal performance but suitable for daily use
Small surprise on the chip side since unlike last year’s Pro model equipped with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, the Edge 50 pro takes a step back and it is its high-end model which reaps the benefits. The device is therefore equipped with a 4nm chip, the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3, which is slightly less efficient. It can count on 12 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage space. The handling of the interface turns out to be very fluid and we did not encounter the slightest slowdown in handling.
It is above all at stake that the Edge 50 Pro differentiates itself from its predecessor, the Ultra. Graphics performance is less good but you can still play in decent conditions. We were able to enjoy various games at a rate of 60 frames per second with a level of detail set to medium, which remains completely playable.
However, we can make a reservation as the device tends to heat up, which can make it difficult to handle. But nothing too bad for the smartphone which cools down very quickly.
Overall successful photos and an encouraging portrait mode
Motorola intends to move up a gear with the help of its new generation Edge 50. Certainly the mid-range model is not the most equipped, however, its photo block includes not two photo sensors like its predecessor but three photo sensors. The smartphone benefits from a fairly classic 50 megapixel main sensor, accompanied by large aperture optics (f/1.4) and optical image stabilization (OIS). It is accompanied by a 13 Mpx ultra wide-angle with a macro mode, as well as a 10 Mpx telephoto lens and a 3x optical zoom.
The wide-angle module is convincing, particularly in terms of colorimetry and in the presence of good brightness, even if it does not reach a level worthy of the recent Google Pixel 8. Note however a slight overexposure during image processing but nothing that distorts the scene.
For its part, the ultra wide angle mode despite its small sensor produces good results overall and especially in broad daylight. However, the format necessarily loses detail and reflects light less well.
Portrait mode, also available, seems to be the point less controlled by the device. The latter has difficulty finding autofocus and calculating distances in order to obtain precision on a particular point. However, the quality is there when everything works.
In terms of selfies, the 50 Mpx sensor is quite effective. The details are well marked and the sharpness is good. The background of the image is blurred, it is more commonly called “bokeh”. Be careful though, certain details of the image can sometimes be approximate, which in no way takes away the practicality of the option.
Very often, defects visible during the day tend to become more pronounced at night due to low light. However, the main sensor maintains a good level and it owes this largely to its f/1.4 aperture. On the other hand, the ultra wide angle as well as the telephoto lens encounter difficulties and the marked smoothing cannot be ruled out.
High quality videos but a little poor in terms of stabilization
The new Motorola smartphone offers filming in 4K at 30 frames per second or in 1080p at 6 frames per second. The results are convincing and the quality of the videos taken is good. The smartphone offers some creative options such as dual video capture in particular. Please note, however, that the stabilization option could be improved to avoid having focusing problems as experienced during our shots.
Autonomy that doesn’t stand out from the rest but its charge is prodigious
Regarding autonomy, it is smaller than the majority of smartphones on the market with a power of 5000 mAh. The Motorola Edge 50 Pro has a 4500 mAh battery which still lasts a long day of use. Unplugged around 8 a.m., the smartphone still showed a battery of 45% around 7 p.m. The brand seems to have found the right compromise with the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 chip.
On the charging side, Motorola wants to be complete and this is truly its strong point. Delivered with its ultra-fast 125 W unit, TurboPower technology allows the device to refuel in less than 30 minutes, a much more than respectable time. However, the device heats up a little during charging but this remains very reasonable. Still rather rare, on the high-end market, the Edge 50 Pro is compatible with wireless charging (at 50W), and even with reverse charging at 10 W. On this point, it is therefore without compromise.
Clear network connection and communications
The Motorola Edge 50 Pro is equipped with a chip compatible with the Wi-Fi 6E network unlike many high-end smartphones on the market, including the recent iPhone 15. The device is also associated with Bluetooth 5.4 and compatible with 4G and 5G networks. No loss of connection with 4G plan was observed during our test period. As for the communications, they were all of good quality and audible to our interlocutors regardless of the noise or where we were.
Our conclusion of the Motorola 50 Edge Pro test
The Motorola Edge 50 Pro offers a good performance for a smartphone in this price bracket. It doesn’t take much to find a place in the high-end market. On many points, the device impresses, particularly in terms of its bright screen and its photo quality. Despite the fact that its battery is a little below the average on the market, its strong point lies in its ultra-fast charging which allows the device to fill up its battery life in 25 minutes.
We recommend it to those looking for a complete phone and to fans of curvature design who don’t want to break the bank. However, if you want to gain performance and photo quality, it will be preferable to opt for the Motorola Edge 50 Ultra. You will still have to count 300 euros more.