Review Summary
Expert Rating
The Motorola Edge 50 bridges the gap between the Edge 50 Fusion (review) and the Edge 50 Pro (review), which are priced in India starting at Rs 22,999 and Rs 31,999, respectively. This handset combines the best features of both smartphones, including the 5,000mAh battery from the Edge 50 Fusion and the 50MP triple rear cameras with a telephoto lens from the Edge 50 Pro. At its core is the Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 Accelerated Edition (AE) chipset, offering a higher clock speed than its standard counterpart. With a price tag of Rs 27,999, who should consider buying the Motorola Edge 50? Let’s find out in this review.
Table of Contents
Verdict
The Motorola Edge 50 is a capable phone despite its shorter software support, so-so battery life, and not-so-impressive chipset. Be that as it may, the handset should appeal to anyone seeking a stylish yet durable design, versatile cameras, lovely display, fast charging speeds, and reliable performance for everyday use.
Design and display
Design-wise, the Motorola Edge 50 shares the same aesthetics as the Edge 50 Fusion and Edge 50 Pro but boasts enhanced durability. Alongside its IP68 water and dust resistance, the handset is MIL-STD 810H certified, making it the first smartphone in its price range to offer military-grade durability. This certification ensures the Edge 50 can endure shocks, vibrations, accidental drops, extreme temperatures, high humidity, low altitude pressures, and more. Impressively, the smartphone achieves this durability without sacrificing sleekness or weight. Measuring just 7.79mm in thickness and weighing around 180 grams, it is easy to hold without straining your wrist.
| Motorola Edge 50 | Nothing Phone (2a) Plus | Realme 13 Pro | |
| Thickness | 7.79mm | 8.5mm | 8.23mm |
| Weight | 180 grams | 190 grams | 188 grams |
| IP rating | IP68 MIL-STD 810H | IP54 | IP65 |
The Motorola Edge 50 also stands out for its premium design. The handset features a vegan leather back, which provides a nice in-hand feel. We were sent the Jungle Green colour variant of the smartphone for review. It looks quite elegant with the matching frame that has a slight curvature. Additionally, the phone features a clean back with no sudden interruption from the camera module. While there is a slight protrusion where the rear cameras are positioned, it is nicely levelled against the rest of the body and doesn’t rub off awkwardly with your fingers.
As for I/O, the Motorola Edge 50 sports a USB Type-C port for charging and data transfer on the bottom edge. The handset boasts an in-display fingerprint scanner for security and Dolby Atmos-powered stereo speakers which nicely complements its display.
The Edge 50 ships with a 6.7-inch Super HD (1220p) 10-bit pOLED curved display that bears a maximum of 144Hz refresh rate, 1,600 nits peak brightness, HDR10+ support, and DCI-P3 colour gamut. This is an impressive display for multimedia consumption for the price. It outputs peppy colours, owing to its default vivid colour profile which you have the option to adjust within the phone’s Settings app. The viewing angles are also commendable; however, I wish the outdoor visibility was slightly better. While the display is legible under direct sunlight, it is not as bright as some of its competitors.
Moving on, streaming from OTT platforms such as Netflix and Hotstar is limited to Full HD, despite the screen’s higher HDR capabilities. On the plus side, the phone effectively reduces accidental touches often associated with curved screens. Furthermore, the display is safeguarded by Corning Gorilla Glass 5 for added durability.
| Motorola Edge 50 | Nothing Phone (2a) Plus | Realme 13 Pro | |
| Display size | 6.67-inch pOLED | 6.7-inch AMOLED | 6.67-inch OLED |
| Peak brightness | 1,600 nits | 1,300 nits | 2,000 nits |
Cameras
The Motorola Edge 50 is among the most affordable smartphones with a telephoto lens. The handset boasts a triple rear camera setup, comprising a 50MP OIS Sony LYT 700C primary sensor, a 13MP ultrawide lens, and a 3x 10MP telephoto lens. It is the same camera setup found on the more expensive Motorola Edge 50 Pro, except for the selfie camera where the regular Edge 50 sports a 32MP snapper instead of a 50MP. The handset’s camera performance is similar to its Pro counterpart offering slightly oversaturated yet detailed photos, particularly in daylight. The sensors are also quick to focus and capture images. The 13MP ultrawide lens also doubles up as a macro shooter to click crisp images from up close. Both primary and telephoto lens come with OIS, which is further assisted by AI to capture stable images and videos.
Here are a few camera samples shot from the smartphone, followed by a comparison with its close rivals Realme 13 Pro and Nothing Phone (2a) Plus:
Daylight
In daylight, the Motorola Edge 50 produces images with cooler tones from its 50MP primary camera. Its competitors, the Nothing Phone (2a) Plus and the Realme 13 Pro, lean towards warmer tones, resulting in brighter and slightly sharper images. The Motorola Edge 50, meanwhile tends to underexpose shadowy areas. Among the three, the Realme 13 Pro excels in dynamic range, but the Nothing Phone (2a) Plus offers more visually pleasing images due to its vibrant colours.
Ultrawide
All three smartphones maintain consistent colour science between their primary and ultrawide cameras. However, the Motorola Edge 50 and Nothing Phone (2a) Plus deliver superior image quality with their ultrawide cameras. The Motorola Edge 50 captures colours that are more true to life, whereas the Nothing Phone (2a) Plus excels in detail levels.
Portrait
For portraits, the Realme 13 Pro delivers superior images. While facial details may not be as crisp as that of the Motorola Edge 50, which features a dedicated telephoto lens with 3x zoom, the Realme excels in edge detection, making portraits more pleasing. Although there is slight warping around the edges of subjects, it is less pronounced than with the Motorola. The Nothing Phone (2a) Plus also offers good edge detection, but it tends to brighten skin tones and smooth out facial details.
Selfie
The selfie camera performance is neck and neck between the Motorola Edge 50 and the Nothing Phone (2a) Plus. This is despite the latter’s superior 50MP sensor compared to the 32MP camera on the Motorola. While facial details are nearly equal on both, selfies from the Nothing Phone (2a) Plus have a reddish tone that makes them more vibrant. However, if accurate skin tones are your priority, the Motorola Edge 50 is worth considering.
Low light (night mode)
In low-light conditions with night mode, the Nothing Phone (2a) Plus tends to overexpose images, resulting in an artificial look, poor dynamic range, and overly saturated colours. In contrast, the Motorola Edge 50 and Realme 13 Pro handle dimly lit environments better, although their detail quality isn’t particularly impressive. The colours on the Motorola smartphone appear more natural and true to life.
Performance and software
When it comes to performance, the Motorola Edge 50 is powered by Qualcomm’s mid-range Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 AE SoC paired with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of non-user expandable storage. The SoC comes with a higher 2.5GHz clock speed as opposed to 2.4GHz on the regular Snapdragon 7 Gen 1. This should mean superior processing capabilities, which is evident on the benchmark tests. The handset achieves higher AnTuTu and Geekbench than the Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 SoC phones within the segment. Additionally, the phone throttles 77 percent from its peak performance on the Burnout CPU throttle test. While this result is impressive, a deeper analysis shows that the phone struggles with GPU performance, with its strong processing power being the primary factor behind its high scores.
Be that as it may, the handset is not the most powerful smartphone for the price. It is ideal for regular usage, but if you are into gaming then you might be better off with the POCO F6 and the Nothing Phone (2a) Plus. Both smartphones provide superior thermal management and frame rates than the Motorola Edge 50 while playing games like BGMI, Call of Duty and Real Racing 3 for 30 minutes each.
The Motorola Edge 50 compensates for its performance shortcomings with its software, launching with Android 14-based Hello UI right out of the box. While the software isn’t as clean as the Nothing Phone (2a) Plus, which has only 26 pre-installed apps compared to the Edge 50’s 42, it remains intuitive and easy to use. The app drawer is relatively tidy as well, featuring just two pre-installed third-party apps. Additionally, the AI features from the Edge 50 Ultra (review) are also present in the Edge 50 such as Style Sync, which can generate custom wallpapers from gallery photos, Magic Canvas to create images, and Magic Editor to edit photos.
| Motorola Edge 50 (SD 7 Gen1 AE) | Samsung Galaxy F55 (SD 7 Gen1) | POCO F6 (SD 8s Gen 3) | |
| AnTuTu | 7,144,295 | 5,22,931 | 15,09,605 |
| Geekbench | 1,117 single-core, 3,048 multi-core | 953 single-core, 2,391 multi-core | 1,930 single-core, 5,017 multi-core |
| Burnout CPU throttle | 77 percent | 67.8 percent | 56.6 percent |
Similar to other recent Motorola smartphones, the Edge 50 provides a range of customisation options and features, such as Moto Unplugged, Ready For, gestures, Smart Connect, and Family Space. However, its software update policy is less impressive. While competitors offer three years of major OS updates (with some extending to four), the Motorola Edge 50 only guarantees two years of major software updates and one additional year of security updates.
| Pre-installed apps | OS updates | |
| Motorola Edge 50 | 42 | 2 years major, 3 years security |
| Nothing Phone (2a) Plus | 26 | 3 years major, 4 years security |
| Realme 13 Pro | 60 | 2 years major, 3 years security |
Battery and charging
The Motorola Edge 50 is equipped with a standard 5,000mAh battery with 68W fast wired charging and 15W wireless charging. A compatible wired charger is provided in the box, which can take the smartphone from 20 to 100 percent in around 40 minutes. The full charge should last at least a day between charges unless you are a heavy user. The handset scored 10 hours 59 minutes on the PCMark battery test, which runs a series of tasks until the battery life drops to 20 percent.
During our lab test where we streamed a 30-minute video and played games for 90 minutes, the handset battery dropped by 31 percent on aggregate. This is slightly on the higher side in comparison to the competitors, which offer better battery management in similar tests. The Motorola Edge 50 battery is more suited towards users with moderate usage.
| Phone | Charge time (20-100 percent) |
| Motorola Edge 50 | 40 minutes |
| Nothing Phone (2a) Plus | 51 minutes |
| Realme 13 Pro | 52 minutes |
Final verdict
While the Motorola Edge 50 comes across as a feature-rich smartphone, it doesn’t cater to the needs of every user. It leaves out power-hungry users who like to game day in and day out on their smartphones. The Motorola Edge 50 is better suited for users with regular usage, which involves streaming shows and movies, browsing, scrolling through social media, taking good photos in daylight, and occasional gaming. All these, combined with a stylish design, military-grade durability, and features such as quick wired charging, wireless charging capabilities, and AI-backed software, make Motorola Edge 50 stand out as a solid choice for those seeking a well-rounded device at a competitive price.
Editor’s rating: 7.5 / 10
Reasons to buy
- Sleek and modern design with military-grade durability.
- The display is vibrant and offers excellent viewing angles.
- The phone offers a versatile camera setup that comes good in daylight.
Reasons not to buy
- Battery is adequate for regular usage, but not heavy.
- The software support is shorter than most of its arch-rivals.
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