Motorola Edge 50 Ultra VS Edge 40 Pro: A price hike, but at least it sounds justified

Motorola is still trying to figure out which naming scheme to choose for naming its flagship phones. This year the company has gone with the name Motorola Edge 50 Ultra, which is a bit confusing given that it is the direct successor of the Motorola Edge 40 Pro from 2023.

On top of the name inconsistency, Motorola has also refrained from saying anything about a Edge 50 Ultra counterpart for the US market. Given that we still haven't seen one, it is safe to say there will be NO Motorola Edge Plus (2024). On the other hand, the Edge 40 Pro did release in the United States under the Edge Plus (2023) moniker.

In Europe, the Edge 40 Pro went for a starting price of €899, but the Edge 50 Ultra will cost you €999. Thankfully, it seems the new iteration comes with plenty of upgrades to justify that €100 price hike. Below we will look at the improvements in question.

The Edge 50 Ultra and Edge 40 Pro come in overall the same size, with the new model being ever so slightly shorter and lighter. Motorola has finally made the camera island on the back panel fitting for a flagship phone, compared to the one on the 2023 model, which makes it look cheap in my opinion.

Speaking of the back panel, the Edge 50 Ultra drops the glass of its predecessor and replaces it with two new materials: wood and vegan leather (silicon). I was quite impressed with the vegan leather option during my time with the mid-range Edge 50 Pro, as it did not attract fingerprints, had a harder time slipping out of my pocket or hands, and was more comfortable to hold.

Both phones have aluminum frames, which helps with the weight, but is not as tough as some of the stainless steel or even titanium phones that are catching on lately. Also, both come with an IP68 water and dust resistance rating.

As for the colors, here are the ones you can pick from:

Edge 50 Ultra colors:

• Forest Grey (silicone/vegan leather)
• Peach Fuzz (silicone/vegan leather)
• Nordic Wood (wood)

Edge 40 Pro colors:

• Interstellar Black
• Lunar Blue

Thankfully, Motorola has kept its traditional stellar unboxing experience with the Edge 50 Ultra, so, just like with the Edge 40 Pro, you get a bunch of goodies inside the box. That includes a 125W charger, USB C cable, protective case, and even a nice aroma as you open it up.

Display Differences

The Edge 50 Ultra and Edge 40 Pro are great displays for watching content. That said, the Edge 50 Ultra has a somewhat higher resolution and almost double the peak brightness levels (2500 nits vs 1300 nits). Even the mid-range Edge 50 Pro managed to beat the Edge 40 Pro when we tested its display.

What last year’s flagship has over the new one, however, is support for Dolby Vision HDR content on top of its HDR10+, while the Ultra only supports the latter. Another small difference is that you have a 165Hz display refresh rate on the Edge 40 Pro vs the 144Hz on the Edge 50 Ultra, but almost no one will notice this.

Protection-wize, you get Gorilla Glass Victus, which is alright, but not on the same level as the S24 series’ Gorilla Glass Armor or iPhone’s ceramic shield, so it’s better to cover that display with a screen protector.

Both phones come with fast and accurate under-display fingerprint sensors, as well as face identification, which is less secure.

Last year Motorola added the best Android chipset, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, to its flagship phone. Things are similar this time, with the Edge 50 Ultra rocking the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3.

Notice that I am saying “similar.” That’s because the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 (notice the “s” after the “8”) is not the same as the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. The difference is that the one inside the Edge 50 Ultra comes with more efficiency cores and without the extra performance of the 8 Gen 3, so it probably won’t match something like the Galaxy S24 series, for example. On the other hand, this chip should help the Motorola Edge 50 Ultra be considerably more power-efficient compared to its predecessors and the competition.

Another part that should contribute to the overall better power-efficiency of the Edge 50 Ultra is its LPDDR5X memory, which is also about 33% faster compared to the LPDDR5 on the Edge 40 Pro.

The software update situation is still as bad, though, with only 3 years of Android updates and 4 years of security patches. Honestly, for a flagship phone this is a bit unacceptable in 2024. After all, there are many users who pay a premium for a flagship with the intention of keeping it for more than just 3 or 4 years, as modern phones allow this slow update cycle.

The Edge 40 Pro had an overall good camera system, but it definitely had quite some way to go before it came close to the best of its competitors. The Edge 50 Ultra promises to remedy that with a much more capable telephoto camera, and hardware improvements throughout the whole camera system.

On top of that, Motorola has also implemented AI into the mix, to elevate the camera performance from the software side as well.

The camera-related AI features include Action Shot, which is the phone's ability to adjust shutter speed and ISO in low-light environments to capture as much light as possible. There’s also Auto Focus Tracking, which helps keep subjects moving fast inside the frame clear to see when recording videos. And, lastly, Auto Enhance, which actually comes from a master in photo editing software, Google. None of these are available on the Edge 40 Pro.

Here's a quick look at the full Edge 50 Ultra camera specs:

• Main (wide): 50MP, f/1.6 aperture, Optical Image Stabilization (OIS)
• Ultra-wide: 50MP, f/2.0, Autofocus
• Telephoto: 64MP, 3X Zoom, f/2.4, Autofocus, OIS
• Front: 50MP, f/1.9, Autofocus

And now a quick look at the full Edge 40 Pro camera specs:

• Main (wide): 50MP, f/1.8 aperture, Optical Image Stabilization (OIS)
• Ultra-wide: 50MP, f/2.2, Autofocus
• Telephoto: 12MP, 2X Zoom, f/1.6
• Front: 60MP, f/1.2

One area where the Edge 40 Pro beats the Edge 50 Ultra when it comes to camera performance is the ability to record 8K 30FPS video. The Ultra goes only as high as 4K 60FPS, but it should look much better than that on the 2023 model.

Given the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 and its additional power-efficiency cores, we expect it to fare better than the Edge 40 Pro. Not to mention the improved LPDDR5X memory, which is not only faster but also consumes less power. There is a slight difference in terms of battery capacity, with the 2023 model rocking a 4600mAh battery vs the 4500mAh on the Ultra, but that is insignificant.

Charging should remain overall similar given the battery size is not too different in this comparison. That will be true only for the wired charging, though. The Edge 50 Ultra takes the cake with its 50W wireless and 10W reverse-wireless charging. The only other phone that matches these wireless charging specifications is the OnePlus 12 that came out in the beginning of this year.

The Motorola Edge 50 Ultra vs Motorola Edge 40 Pro specs comparison is quite colorful. You will notice several improvements throughout the whole spec sheet, including the camera system, display, chipset, and more.

Arguably, the most notable upgrades that come with the Edge 50 Ultra are the higher display brightness, the new telephoto camera, and the chipset. There’s also the faster wireless charging, although not many have a wireless charger that supports such power output, so it is hard to address it as a big advantage.

For now, it seems that for €100 you are actually getting quite a bit more than the edge 40 Pro, especially when it comes to the camera system and the AI-ready chipset. There's also the brighter display, much-improved design, and the higher base storage that are pretty welcome upgrades in 2024.

Something we definitely think Motorola should address, though, is the whole software support situation. Only 3 years of Android updates was something that could (and did) slide in 2023 for a starting price of €899, but not in 2024 for a phone that starts at €999.