Edge display is gimmicky, has problems
No waterproofing or cordless charging
Just sub-6GHz 5G
Bad Stuff
Exceptional screen
Great battery life
Excellent cost
Good Stuff
Ive currently talked plenty about the hardware on the Edge Plus in my review of that device earlier this year, so Ill mostly refer you there, viewing as the Edges design is similar in all however the color it can be found in (a shimmering rainbow-finished black that aggressively picks up fingerprints) and the number of electronic cameras on the back. In other words, however, its a reliable piece of aluminum and glass thats fairly plain, and the “Endless Edge screen,” which curves around the sides of the device, is more captivating than in fact useful.
Earlier this year, Motorola burst back into the flagship phone world with the Motorola Edge Plus, a $999 smartphone designed to go toe to toe with top-tier phones like the Galaxy S20 Ultra or OnePlus 8 Pro. And now its following that up with the Motorola Edge, a less costly, less effective version that promises sub-flagship features at a sub-flagship $699 price.
There are 6 areas where hardware on the Edge varies from the Edge Plus, however, all of which leave the Edge a little even worse off compared to its pricier sibling:
The processor has actually been reduced from a Snapdragon 865 to a Snapdragon 765.
The battery is a 4,500 mAh battery, compared to 5,000 mAh on the Edge Plus.
The Edge has 6GB of RAM, half of the 12GB on the Edge Plus.
The cams are reduced on the Edge, including a switch from the 108-megapixel sensing unit to a 64-megapixel primary video camera.
The Edge does not have wireless charging assistance.
The Edge just supports sub-6GHz 5G and not the quicker mmWave version.
Which leaves the only real question about the Edge: are those sacrifices worth the dramatically reduced rate?
The Snapdragon 765 in the Edge is Qualcomms second-best processor, and in general, everyday usage wasnt visibly even worse than utilizing a flagship chip. Apps launch quickly, websites pack quick, and navigating around the UI is snappy. More requiring video games, like Fortnite or Asphalt 9, run well too.
Grid View.
The telephoto camera is also even worse on the Edge– it only has 2x optical zoom, instead of 3x, and does not have optical image stabilization. Provided that the telephoto lens was already the worst part of the Edge Plus, this isnt excessive of a loss. The other 2 video cameras are the same from the Edge Plus: the 16-megapixel ultrawide-angle/ macro video camera (which takes pleasantly enjoyable shots in both large angle and macro modes) and the front-facing electronic camera (which is … fine, except for the extremely rough picture mode).
Similarly, the minimized battery size does not affect the experience. I was easily able to make it to the guaranteed two days, although admittedly my phone use is a little bit different than regular thanks to working from home. (The Snapdragon 765– which has an integrated modem and is more power effective, is probably a contributing factor towards comprising the distinction in battery size.).
I did encounter the occasional little bit of stuttering and lag– particularly when releasing the camera app or switching back to a formerly open game– which may be because of the 6GB of RAM. It is definitely the most affordable I d desire to go for a high-end Android phone in 2020, but even those minor hiccups werent actually adequate to be a concern.
The 64-megapixel primary sensing unit that replaces the 108-megapixel video camera on the Edge Plus holds up well. Like its pricier brother or sister, the Motorola Edge uses quad-pixel binning to produce lower-resolution images with much better color and less image sound (so the Edge shoots 16-megapixel shots by default). It can shoot at the full 64 megapixels, although, like the Edge Plus, those photos usually came out worse. And while you will lose the finer level of detail that the higher-resolution camera offers, I was still pleasantly shocked by the Edges electronic camera. It wont hold up to the level of Apple or Googles industry-leading software and hardware, however it does not drag the device down (a problem that Motorola has actually had in the past.).
5G isnt as excellent as on the Edge Plus.
There are two other distinctions, which are less directly about hardware: the Edge costs $699 at retail, $300 less than the $999 price on the Edge Plus. And Motorola is using a “limited-time” $499 advertising cost on the Edge, making it half as expensive as the Edge Plus. The Edge is likewise functional for much more individuals since its being offered opened, instead of limited to just Verizon clients in the United States.
Photography by Chaim Gartenberg/ The Verge.
The last two modifications are the most extreme, as theyre straight up missing out on features that the Edge doesnt have (rather than reduced variations of ones it does). The absence of cordless charging is a frustrating one for any gadget in 2020 (as is the lack of any real waterproofing, something that it shares with the Edge Plus).
There are two other distinctions, which are less straight about hardware: the Edge costs $699 at retail, $300 less than the $999 price tag on the Edge Plus. And Motorola is using a “limited-time” $499 advertising price on the Edge, making it half as costly as the Edge Plus.
In lots of methods, its the flagship that Motorola probably ought to have made from the start– one that provides a nearly superior experience at a lower cost than its competitors, in an unlocked kind that works on any network, instead of attempting to fulfill them at the current $1,000 marketplace.
Motorola makes a lot of phones at a lot of various costs, to the point where the lineups begin to blur together. As a $700 phone, the Edge is certainly a much better deal than its full-priced sibling, providing almost comparable features and efficiency at a significantly reduced price. The current $499 price makes it an even much better deal– one that begins to demand to be taken seriously as one of the better midrange phones around.
The 64-megapixel main sensing unit that changes the 108-megapixel electronic camera on the Edge Plus holds up well. Like its pricier sibling, the Motorola Edge uses quad-pixel binning to produce lower-resolution images with much better color and less image sound (so the Edge shoots 16-megapixel shots by default). The other 2 cameras are unchanged from the Edge Plus: the 16-megapixel ultrawide-angle/ macro electronic camera (which takes pleasantly enjoyable shots in both broad angle and macro modes) and the front-facing camera (which is … fine, other than for the exceptionally rough picture mode).
