Motorola’s latest Edge phone aims to be a $499 5G glitch

Today, Motorola announces its latest smartphone in the US market. And while I wish you were The new stylish RAZR 2022 – Currently available in China only – We are instead looking for another entry in the company’s Edge lineup. Edge phones are designed to offer several key features at an accessible price. (Motorola Edge Plusmeanwhile, competes directly in the premium and most expensive category.)

With the 2022 Edge release, Motorola is focusing on familiar strengths: a 144Hz OLED display, long battery life, comprehensive support for 5G networks, and camera upgrades.

At $499 for a limited time — Motorola won’t say how long — before the final jump to $599, the company describes this phone as one of the thinnest and most compact Edge devices to date. It has a 6.6 inch FHD Plus OLED display with a maximum refresh rate of 144Hz. This display can boost brightness up to 1,300 nits in High Brightness mode, and it supports HDR10 Plus.

Motorola switched to a MediaTek chip for the 2022 Edge. Specifically, it’s the MediaTek Dimensity 1050 SoC, which works with both sub-6 and millimeter wave 5G — including C-band spectrum. The Edge also has Wi-Fi 6E on board.

The phone will come in two configurations: the base model has 128GB of storage and 6GB of RAM, with the step-up version offering 256GB and 8GB respectively. All versions come with 100GB of Google One cloud storage for 12 months. The phone has a large 5000mAh battery with 15W wired charging and the ability to deliver 5W of juice to other devices via wireless power sharing. Only IP52 is rated for water and dust resistance, so this is the section where Motorola decided to cut costs.

As for the camera, the main sensor of the Edge is a 50-megapixel pixel binning camera (which produces 12-megapixel coils) with optical image stabilization and Motorola’s “instant” phase-detection autofocus. There’s a 13MP ultrawide camera (which doubles as a macro camera) and a depth sensor; The latter always seems like a wasted space to me, but it is what it is. Motorola believes its camera software features—automatic night vision, dual capture mode, super slow motion, and more—could help unleash the creativity of Edge owners. The front-facing camera uses a 32-megapixel sensor.

The new Edge running Android 12 will ship with a light touch of Motorola’s My UX tweaks. Most are still stock, but the company continues to boost its Samsung DeX-like capabilities such as Ready For Wireless and Ready For PC. You can get a PC-like experience using Edge with a larger screen or mirror Edge apps on your PC while maintaining continuous phone use. Motorola promises three years of Android OS updates for the 2022 Edge, plus four years of bi-monthly security patches.

The latest version of Edge will arrive first on T-Mobile “in the coming weeks” before availability expands to Verizon, AT&T, Spectrum Mobile, US Cellular and Visible. An unlocked model will be sold by Amazon and Best Buy. It’s only available in Metallic Gray, which has a bluish hue in some lighting, and the company ships it in plastic-free packaging.

Motorola seems quite comfortable with its third place in the US smartphone market share. For me (and maybe you), the company modern phones They all started They look very similar It’s a far cry from last year’s colorful Moto Xs and Moto Gs, but it does seem to sell well for the company, thanks to its smooth displays, competent cameras, and good enough performance for the price.

For us hardware geeks, Motorola says it’s still fully committed to the foldable device category — even if the company isn’t ready to confirm whether or not the latest Razr is US-bound.

Photo by Chris Welch/The Verge