Motorola has released three different Android smartphones in its new Edge 50 line with the Ultra as the top model. A beautiful model that doesn’t hold itself up by looks alone, according to WANT’s Jeroen Kraak.
It’s hard as an Android smartphone maker to stand out. There are so many brands that all have their own flagships that it’s hard to really stand out. Yet Motorola manages to draw all the attention to itself with the Edge 50 Ultra.
Why is that? The design of the smartphone is striking, due to real wood or faux leather. Nice of course, but is it really worth buying the Android smartphone?
Motorola Edge 50 Ultra is unique piece of smartphone
When I attended the presentation of Motorola’s new Edge 50 line a few months ago, one device immediately caught my eye. One that I was eager to test at length: the Edge 50 Ultra. This was mainly because of its appearance: there was a choice of different colors of faux leather and real wood as a finish.
Whereas normal Android flagships have fairly corporate colors along the lines of 50 shades of gray, black and very occasionally an exotic foray into dark purple or blue, it’s often much of the same. Not that it’s wrong, but it lacks some character.
(Image: Jeroen Kraak/WANT)
OK, the OnePlus 12 does have that character due to its unusual back, but you can’t call that design very pretty. How different it is with the Motorola 50 Edge. It is sleek, style-feeling and the wood offers a completely different experience in terms of feel.
Even the camera on the back is neatly tucked away by that wooden design. OK, that spot does stick out a bit, but the lenses are really beautifully incorporated into the wooden chassis. Fair is fair: this really gives the Android smartphone a beautiful look.
Curved screen bezels add to the look of the device, but still Motorola would have been better off leaving them out. They, despite their beauty, cause a fair amount of frustration. Especially while sending messages, especially on WhatsApp, mistakes are easily made or the keyboard does not respond properly.
You can live with it, you learn by yourself. But it does leave a bit of a bitter aftertaste while the Android smartphone is actually fine to use.
Performance of Motorola Edge 50 Ultra
This is partly due to the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 processor and 16 GB of RAM. More than enough to perform your daily tasks or play new mobile games. You can put those on in large numbers, by the way, because with the storage capacity of 1 TB you have plenty of room for them.
(Image: Jeroen Kraak/WANT)
By the way, the Motorola Edge 50 Ultra’s OLED display is also pleasing. The maximum brightness of 2,500 nits and refresh rate of 144Hz not only let you scroll smoothly through the screen, but also ensure that the device can be used optimally outdoors. Videos look great and colors splash off the screen.
Inside the Android smartphone is a 4500 mAh battery that will normally last you a full day. The nice thing about this model is that you charge it lightning fast. With a special charger (125W) you charge the device completely within 30 minutes. If you go for wireless you do it with a power of 50W.
The camera
On the back of the Motorola Edge 50 Ultra are three cameras. A 50 megapixel main camera, a 50 megapixel ultra-wide-angle lens and a 64 megapixel telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom. On the front is then another 50 megapixel selfie camera.
These cameras perform well and photos look natural in terms of colors. Especially the sharpness stands out, allowing you to see even the smallest details. The camera also does a fine job in the dark, although it does depend on what you focus on.
A photo with the Motorola Edge 50 Ultra (Image: WANT/Jeroen Kraak)
The photos themselves can also be edited very easily by well-known AI-Android features”s such as the magic eraser. When you open a photo, you get to see recommended actions from Google by default. In addition, it is also nice to use the pro mode and special functions. For example, you very easily select a spot color and with tilt-shift you very simply choose which part of a photo you want to blur.
Android 14 is a beast
The Motorola Edge 50 Ultra runs on Android 14 the way I like it best. In other words: without excessive skin and not too many default apps. Sort of a stock Android experience that you can set up to your own liking, in other words.
(Image: WANT/Jeroen Kraak)
A number of Motorola apps are present, though. For example, you can use AI to match your background to your clothes by taking a picture of your sweater, for example. A nice gimmick, but not earth-shattering.
What is somewhat unfortunate is that this smartphone only gets three major Android updates and four years of security updates. That used to be normal, but in addition to Apple, Google and Samsung nowadays have an update policy of five to seven years. And with a flagship you spend a fair amount of money for, that’s only fair.
That leaves one thing: the price. You pay 999 euros for the Motorola Edge 50 Ultra. So Motorola manages to stay just within that psychological 1,000 euro limit. And that’s certainly not a crazy price considering that it comes with 1 TB of storage.
All in all, Motorola manages to deliver a fine smartphone that takes beautiful pictures and certainly makes a splash when you take it out of your pocket. Only it remains a shame about the screen edges.
Listen to Freakin’ Nerds
WANT editor-in-chief Mark Hofman celebrates in Apple Park not only the 4 million followers of Niels van Straaten (Appledsign), but also the arrival of Apple Intelligence. Is that something to be excited about, how does it work and is it actually safe?
Edge 50 Ultra
Motorola
7
Score
Plus points
Fantastic looks Excellent screen with 144 Hz refresh Fast and smooth switching due to the SnapDragon 8s gen 3 Lightning fast charging 1 TB of memory
Minuses
Curved screen bezels cause frustration but three years of Android updates
The Motorola Edge 50 Ultra immediately stands out for its beautiful design. It is a real treat for the eye, but it is a shame that the curved screen edges regularly cause writing messages. However, the phone’s hardware such as the screen, TB memory and cameras completely make up for that. For 999 euros, you do get an Android smartphone with good value for money.
