Sleek and slender with improved optical zoom, the Motorola Edge 50 is a midrange all-rounder with a touch of class.
Motorola spoils Australians when it comes to a wide choice of Android smartphones. While it makes some of the best budget Android phones on the market, the Edge line-up is a good reminder that Motorola also packs quite a punch in the competitive mid-range Android space.
As is Motorola’s way, there are four Edge 50 models to choose from, following on from the multiple handsets in the 2022 Edge 30 line-up. Once again, you’ve got the standard Edge 50, Edge 50 Neo, Edge 50 Fusion and Edge 50 Pro (it doesn’t look like the Edge 50 Ultra is coming to Australia).
The Neo and Fusion might sound more fancy, but they are actually cheaper than the standard Edge 50, sacrificing a few features in return. Meanwhile, the Edge 50 Pro is understandably the heavy hitter.
Just to confuse things, a standard Motorola Edge 40 made it to Australia last year, but not the rest of the range.
At $799, this new standard Edge 50 aims to offer a good balance of form and function without breaking the bank. Inflation has reared its ugly head and it’s $100 more expensive than its predecessor the Edge 40.
Motorola Edge 50 review
First impressions
The Motorola Edge 50 is a step up from the Edge 30 and Edge 40, bumping up the screen from 6.5 to a more generous 6.7 inches.
Yet, thanks to the super-tall 20:9 aspect ratio, it’s only .2 mm thicker so it stills comfortably in your hand. It’s in part thanks to the “Endless Edge” screen with bevelled edges, inherited from the Edge 40 and before that the Edge 30 Ultra.
The Edge 50’s slender design and striking Peach Fuzz colouring make for quite an eye-catching handset, assisted by the fact that the raised camera array has elegant curved edges. The body features an aluminium frame and silicone polymer back with a choice of vegan leather or vegan suede finish depending on the colour.
The handset’s slender look extends to subtle volume buttons along the right-hand edge, above a power button placed near the middle of the phone so it’s easy to reach. Unfortunately, the power button doesn’t feature the convenience of a fingerprint reader. Instead, it’s built into the display.
Across the bottom, you’ll find the SIM port along with USB-C but no old-school 3.5 mm headphone jack. Speakers at the top and bottom allow for Dolby Atmos stereo sound.
Power up the Motorola Edge 50 and you’re faced with a bright, super-sharp 2712×1220 pixel pOLED display – once again a nice upgrade from the Edge 40. Yet the refresh rate drops slightly from 144 Hz to 120 Hz.
A High Brightness Mode of 1200 nits makes it easy to read the screen outdoors, while HDR Peak Brightness of 1600 nits lets it make the most of HDR10+ video content for greater detail in the brightest highlights and deepest shadows.
The screen’s colours are set to ‘Vivid’ by default, which might be a tad overdone for some people’s liking but isn’t as over the top as the old ‘Saturated’ default. You can easily change the colours to ‘Natural’ or ‘Radiant’ if preferred.
Like most Motorola phones, the Edge 50 comes with a basic protective case – although it’s colour-matched to the handset rather than transparent. It offers some impact protection but doesn’t seem as robust as something like a Tech 21 case.
The phone is just as hardy as the Edge 40, with an IP68 rating to ensure it’s dustproof and waterproof up to 1.5 metres for 30 minutes. As such, it should survive an unexpected dip.
Motorola Edge 50 specs and price in Australia
| Display size | 6.7-inch, 20:9 aspect ratio |
| Display resolution | 2712 x 1220 pixel, 446 ppi |
| Display technology | pOLED Endless Edge Display HDR10+ 100% DCI-P3 colour space 10-bit; Over a billion shades of colour Refresh rate: 120 Hz High Brightness Mode: 1200 nits HDR Peak Brightness: 1600 nits Touch sampling rate: 360 Hz (gaming mode) |
| Bands | 5G: sub-6 4G: LTE 3G: WCDMA 2G: GSM |
| SIM | Dual SIM (1 Nano SIM + eSIM) |
| Chipset | Qualcomm SM7450-AB Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 Accelerated Edition |
| CPU | Octa-core (1×2.5 GHz Cortex-A710 & 3×2.36 GHz Cortex-A710 & 4×1.8 GHz Cortex-A510) |
| GPU | Adreno 644 |
| Rear cameras | 50 MP Sony – LYTIA 700C sensor f/1.8 aperture 1.0 µm pixel size | Ultra Pixel Technology for 2.0 µm Quad PDAF Optical Image Stabilisation (OIS) |
| 13 MP Ultrawide angle (120° FOV) Macro Vision f/2.2 aperture 1.12 µm pixel size PDAF |
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| 10 MP Telephoto 3x Optical Zoom f/2.0 aperture 1.0 µm pixel size PDAF Optical Image Stabilisation (OIS) |
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| Front camera | 32 MP f/2.4 aperture Quad Pixel Technology for 1.4 µm AF |
| RAM | 12 GB LPDDR4X |
| Onboard storage | 256 GB uMCP |
| microSD slot | No |
| Charging | USB-C 2.0 – 68 W TurboPower 15 W wireless charging |
| Battery | 5000 mAh |
| Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax2.4 GHz | 5 GHz | 6 GHz Wi-Fi 6E Wi-Fi hotspot |
| Bluetooth | 5.2 |
| Operating system | Android 14 |
| Security | On-screen fingerprint reader Face Unlock ThinkShield |
| Ruggedness | IP68 Corning Gorilla Glass 5 |
| Dimensions | 160.8 x 72.4 x 7.79 mm |
| Weight | 180 gm |
| Colours | Koala Grey, Jungle Green, Peach Fuzz |
| Price (RRP) | $799 |
| Warranty | 2 years |
| Official website | Motorola Australia |
Features
The Motorola Edge 50 runs the latest version of Android 14, featuring Motorola’s My UX with minimal bloatware, which extends to new bright and simple setup menus that are less intimidating for newcomers to Android.
Motorola is promising an additional two Android platform updates and three years of bi-monthly security updates, which seems a little stingy considering the Motorola Edge 50 Neo gets five OS updates and five years of security patches.
Under the bonnet, the Edge 50 sports a Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 powerplant, which is far from the latest and greatest. You’d imagine it’s still a decent step up from the MediaTek chips favoured by some Motorola handsets including the Edge 40, but you’d be wrong – we’ll get to that in a minute.
The Snapdragon keeps the handset feeling snappy, accompanied by a very generous 12 GB of RAM, sticking with LPDDR4X rather than stepping up to the fast and more power-efficient LPDDR5X. There’s also 256 GB of onboard storage, but no SD expansion slot.
Like most 5G handsets in Australia, the Edge 50 only supports sub-6 GHz 5G networks and not faster millimetre wave 5G. Reliance on Dual SIM with one Nano SIM and one eSIM makes it easier to pick up a virtual eSIM when travelling overseas.
When it comes to photography, the Edge 50 steps up to a triple-camera array rear. It retains the Edge 40’s 50 MP primary shooter, although it reverts from f/1.4 aperture back to f/1.8 aperture as with the Edge 30 – letting in less light but offering a slightly deeper depth of field.
The Edge 50 also retains the 13 MP Ultrawide angle (120° FOV) which doubles as a macro lens, but the showstopper is the new 10 MP Telephoto with 3x optical zoom – whereas 2x tends to be more common at this price range. Both the primary shooter and the telephoto lens benefit from optical image stabilisation.
Around the front you’ve got a 32 MP selfie camera, relying on a pinhole in the display rather than a notch.
Thankfully, the Edge 50’s slim-line design doesn’t come at the expense of battery capacity, which sits at a decent 5000 mAh. Motorola says it’s good for up to 30 hours, meaning it should get you through a long day even if you push the handset hard.
When it comes to recharging you’ve got the advantage of 68 W TurboPower fast charging via USB-C 2.0, with an AC adaptor in the box, or 15 W wireless charging.
Quality
Despite stepping up to the Snapdragon processor, the Motorola Edge 50’s performance actually falls a tad short of the Edge 40, with GeekBench 6 scores of 1,114 single-core and 3,129 multi-core.
That’s about on par with rivals like the Samsung Galaxy A55, but short of the Pixel 8a. Likewise, the Edge 50’s 2,535 GPU OpenCL result falls well short of rivals and will underwhelm gamers.
It’s interesting that the Edge 50 is only 5 per cent more powerful than the cheaper Edge 50 Neo, whereas the Edge 30 was around 25 per cent more powerful than the Edge 30 Neo.
When it comes to photography, the 50 MP main shooter takes advantage of a larger sensor and pixels than Motorola’s budget models, resulting in crisp images with plenty of detail and good colours (if perhaps a tad over-saturated at times). It offers particularly impressive low-light performance, with great colours and minimal noise, even with the slight f-stop change.
Switching to the ultrawide lens produces slightly softer pictures, but the colours remain consistent and the low-light performance doesn’t take a hit (unlike the Edge 40). Meanwhile, the 3x optical zoom performance is admirable if not breathtaking, and will satisfy those looking for greater zoom without breaking the bank.
Who is the Motorola Edge 50 for?
The Motorola Edge 50 is a solid mid-range handset with excellent screen quality and all-day battery life, which ventures into premium territory when it comes to elegant design.
It’s not a heavy-hitter when it comes to grunt, but the solid camera performance with the benefit of 3x optical zoom might win over those looking for a decent mid-range Android all-rounder.
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