Motorola Edge 50 Review: A mid-range contender with a few too many compromises
Motorola Edge 50 Intro
Motorola's phone lineup is once again more than confusing. But it probably wouldn't have been so if the Edge 50 didn't exist among the Edge 50 Neo, Edge 50 Pro, and Edge 50 Ultra. Nevertheless, here we are, the Edge 50 is the company's second most affordable handset from the Edge family this year.
The Motorola Edge 50 comes with higher brightness, a much more capable processor, and a new 3x telephoto camera compared to its predecessor. It also has a larger display and a longer software update window.
That's a lot of upgrades that definitely make the Edge 50 a much better phone than the previous generation. That said, as you will soon find out, the Edge 50 might not offer the most for its price compared to the alternatives, even those from Motorola itself.
Speaking of price, you can get the Motorola Edge 50 in Europe for €599 from Motorola's website or any stores or carriers that sell Motorola phones.
Table of Contents:
Motorola Edge 50 Specs
A great mix of hardware for the price
Let's start with an overview of the Motorola Edge 50 specs:
| Specs | Motorola Edge 50 |
|---|---|
| Size and Weight | 160.8 x 72.4 x 7.8 mm, 180 g |
| Display | 6.7 inches, 1220 x 2712 pixels, P-OLED, 120Hz, HDR10+, 1600 nits peak brightness |
| Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 AE (4 nm) |
| Software | Android 14, up to 5 major Android upgrades |
| Cameras | Main: 50 MP Ultrawide: 13 MP Telephoto: 10 MP, 3x zoom |
| Battery Size | 5,000 mAh |
| Charging Speeds | 68W wired charge 15W wireless charging |
| Prices | 12/512GB for €599 |
Motorola Edge 50 Design and Display
Thin body with a non-slippery back panel
One of the more comfortable phones on the market. (Image by PhoneArena)
The Motorola Edge 50 is very easy to handle with one hand thanks to its thinner sides, where the display curves. The eco leather back panel also helps, as it is not slippery like the glass backs of other phones. Another pretty nice benefit to this material is that it does not attract fingerprints.
As for the color options, we quite like the Jungle Green version that we got to test out, but the Peach Fuzz and Koala Gray look equally nice. The only area where some improvement is needed as far as looks go is the camera module at the back, which feels a bit asymmetrical with the way the cameras and the flash are layed out.
The buttons on the right side of the phone stick out from the frame a lot, making them pretty easy to find. That said, they felt mushy, especially the power button, so sometimes I couldn't tell if I've pressed them or not.
As for the unboxing experience, we are used to getting a lot of goodies with Motorola phones, but things are a different with the Edge 50. While you do get a well-made color matching case and a USB-C cable, you do not get a charger inside the box. There is also no pre-installed screen protector. You can still expect a nice scent when opening the box though, as Motorola has done for the past few years.
The display is of high quality, but its curved nature can be distracting. (Image by PhoneArena)
The Edge 50's OLED display produces a crispy and vibrant image, and it is a joy to use thanks to its high 120Hz refresh rate. However, its curved shape might not be for everyone, since it creates reflections and shadows where the glass bends. I found that to be more distracting than usual with the Edge 50, but you kind of get used to it after some time.
For outdoor use, the display is bright enough to read text. It also comes with Corning Gorilla Glass 5, which is stronger than the Gorilla Glass 3 on the Pixel 8a, although its curved shape might make it more prone to cracks.
The display quality of the Edge 50 sits somewhere between that of the Galaxy A55 and the Pixel 8a. It proved to be noticeably more color accurate than the Pixel and significantly brighter than the Galaxy during our display lab tests.
The fingerprint scanner is quick and accurate. There wasn't a moment where it did not recognize my finger or delayed recognition enough to annoy me. There is also a face unlock that will unlock the Edge 50 even more quickly, but if you are worried about privacy you should use the fingerprint scanner.
Motorola Edge 50 Camera
Image quality is good as long as you don't record video
It was nice from Motorola to add a 3x telephoto camera to a mid-range phone. (Image by PhoneArena)
- Explain Camera Score in a couple of sentences, what are the highlights and link to filter page with other Camera Phone Scores.
Motorola Edge 50 camera specs:
- 50 MP, f/1.8 aperture, 1/1.56" sensor size, 1.0µm pixel size, multi-directional PDAF, OIS
- 13 MP, f/2.2, 13mm lens equivalent, 120˚ field of view, 1.12µm, PDAF
- 10 MP, f2.0, 73mm, 1.0µm, PDAF, 3x optical zoom, OIS
The Edge 50 does something that is rarely seen at this price point. Besides the main (wide) and the ultra-wide cameras that most phones of its caliber have, it also comes with a 3x telephoto snapper. Lens variety is becoming more and more important nowadays as we increasingly use our phone cameras. I have found myself often using my telephoto camera more than the ultra-wide one, which is the exact opposite from how I used my phone a few years ago, so it's nice to see e mid-range device from Motorola have both.
For the most part, the photos that come out of the Edge 50 camera system are pretty good. There are some light leaks every now and then when shooting with the main camera, but the colors are rich and the HDR performance is good, with enough details showing in darker and brighter areas even when the scenario is tough in terms of lighting.
As you probably expect, the ultra-wide and telephoto cameras don't offer the same levels of detail as the main one. The ultra-wide camera in particular feels slightly too soft, but it is still usable if you have perfect conditions.
Video Quality
Before we say anything else, if you decide to buy the Motorola Edge 50, just make sure to NOT record video with the Adaptive Stabilization mode turned on. Something is very wrong with the video stabilizations while using that mode. Things get much better if you switch to Horizon Lock, which is the only other option for stabilizing the video, but it is not ideal since it crops in on the image and required more light in order to produce good quality results.
Unfortunately, things don't get any better when we take a look at the rest of the camera's performance in video mode. The HDR performance is very poor, as can be seen from the phone's inability to expose both for the the shadowy and bright areas. What's more, colors seem washed out and the level of detail is not really anything to write home about.
Motorola Edge 50 Performance & Benchmarks
Respectable performance
Not the most powerful mid-range phone out there but it is still smooth and capable enough. (Image by PhoneArena)
Motorola has gone for the Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 AE. The "AE" stands for Accelerated Edition, and it is slightly more capable than the original version of this chip. It has a higher maximum clock speed of 2.5 GHz vs 2.4 GHz on the regular 7 Gen 1.
The chip and storage that the Edge 50 uses might sound outdated on paper, but in our experience the phone performed very well. Everything was smooth and quick. Even opening the camera or using any kind of video and photo editing software was plenty fast, so we have no gripes as far as performance goes.
Gaming was also pretty good, with high enough frame rates to play online competitive games, albeit not at the highest settings. The phone does get warm, but it didn't get hot enough to make the experience uncomfortable.
Performance Benchmarks:
As you can see, the competition comes with much better chip performance compared to the Edge 50. But despite our benchmark results, we didn't feel any need for more power when using the phone. Unless you are planning on playing graphically intensive games or working on big projects in a productivity app, this mid-ranger from Motorola should be good enough.
You get 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, which is more than enough for a device of this caliber. The storage is UFS 2.2 though, which is not as power efficient and fast as the UFS 3.1 storage you see on phones like the Galaxy S24 and Pixel 9.
Motorola Edge 50 Software
The Edge 50 comes with the older Android 14 software. Thankfully, the phone should get up to 5 years of major Android updates, so even though it doesn't have the latest version it should go as far as Android 19.
Like all other Motorola phones, the Edge 50 runs on Motorola's Hello UI Android skin, which comes with several extra features that help improve the user experience. There are the fan favorite quick gestures to toggle the camera and flashlight.
But there are new ones as well, like Smart Connect which lets you control other devices connected to the same network. Another feature called Share Hub allows you to transfer files from the phone to a PC just by dragging and dropping them.
I have always been a fan of the software experience on Motorola phones, and I am glad to see that it has remained simple and straightforward even as new features get added over time. My only gripe on this front was the software support window, but the Edge 50 has a pretty lengthy one, so that's taken care of too now.
Motorola Edge 50 Battery
Doesn't last too long but recharges quickly
Despite its thin body of the Edge 50, Motorola has managed to pack a 5,000 mAh battery inside, which is the standard nowadays. In comparison, the Pixel 8a has a 4,492 mAh battery and the Galaxy A55 comes with a 5,000 mAh one as well.
Even with this battery capacity, however, the Edge 50 had a tough time lasting us a full day of use. Gaming noticeably takes the heaviest toll on the battery life, as we later confirmed in our 3D gaming battery life test.
Motorola has added 68W fast charging to the Edge 50, hence the "quick juicing up" we mentioned earlier. Unfortunately, Motorola has decided not to include a charger in the box.
One of the quickest charging speeds at this price point. (Image by PhoneArena)
While the Edge 50 might not be the best in its class when it comes to battery life, it charges much more quickly than the competition, which kind of balances things out, as you can quickly recharge the battery when it gets low. You also get 15W of wireless charging.
Motorola Edge 50 Audio Quality and Haptics
The Edge 50 comes with stereo speakers, both of which get very loud. But while the volume is impressive, the quality of the audio is not. Voices sound tinny and the mid and low ranges are lacking definition. I even found it tough to listen to anything for a prolonged amount of time.
You would probably be better off wearing headphones while watching YouTube or a movie, and you should definitely use a pair when listening to music. There's no headphone jack though, so you would either have to use USB-C wired ones or Bluetooth headphones.
Unlike the audio quality, the vibration motor inside is actually quite decent. Haptics feel tight and responsive, so you probably won't feel an instant urge to turn them off.
Should you buy it?
It boils down to design and software. (Image by PhoneArena)
The Motorola Edge 50 doesn't have the best camera system for the price, nor does it have the best performance. It's speakers produce quite lackluster audio and its battery life is not the most reliable. So, for the most part, we think the alternatives like the Pixel 8a and the Galaxy A55 are better in those regards.
Even among its other phone models from this year, Motorola has much better options. For example, the Edge 50 Neo comes with very similar specs, but it does not have the weird camera stabilization issue and costs €100 less. Or you could go the other rout and pay €100 more for the Edge 50 Pro, which has a much faster chipset and a better main camera.
So, to put it shortly, it is hard to recommend the Edge 50 if you take into account the other options on the market, even from Motorola's own portfolio. That is not to say that we didn't like parts about the phone, its main camera produces great photos and its performance is more than good enough, but at the end of the day you should get the best bang for your buck, and the Edge 50 is not it.
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