Motorola Edge 50 Pro Review: Looks Good, Snaps Even Better

Design

Slim, trim, and grippy are three words I would use to describe the Edge 50 Pro. The vegan leather finish on the review unit rebuffs fingerprint smudges and offers a ton of grip, which means the phone won’t be slipping off the table anytime soon. The rear panel feels a little more rubbery than it does leather, but it looks good—especially in the Pantone-Certified Luxe Lavender colorway.

The front and rear panels meet the squared-off frame smoothly, providing a comfortable place to hold the phone. On the right-hand edge, you’ll find separate control buttons for volume and power menu functions. The Edge 50 Pro is also IP68 water—and dust-resistant, which means you don’t need to worry about being caught in a shower.

Hardware

Performance

The curved AMOLED display offers an edge-to-edge viewing experience. The 6.67-inch panel boasts a 1220 x 2712 resolution. Pantone has calibrated the screen to display accurate colors, and there are good brightness levels to be enjoyed. That 144Hz refresh rate and 360Hz touch sampling rate also means that gameplay is quick and responsive.

While some prefer flat displays, the Edge 50 Pro looks and feels right with a curved panel. It’s a subjective choice but I quite like it.

The Edge 50 Pro’s fingerprint sensor is rather accurate and placed in an accessible part of the lower display. Face recognition, whilst not as secure, was also pretty slick for unlocking the phone.

Powered by Qualcomm’s mid-range Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 chipset, the Edge 50 Pro still manages impressive performance and power efficiency, the latter of which is certainly helped by the SoC being built on the 4nm process.

It’s unfortunate that Motorola chose to couple the processor with LPPDR4X memory and UFS 2.2 storage; at this price point, we would have liked to see LPDDR5X and UFS 3.1, but it’s still capable of playing games with aplomb on lower graphics settings. It’s only when performing tasks such as generating AI wallpapers or cranking up the graphics on Call of Duty: Mobile that we experienced a slowdown of sorts.

For just £50 more, gamers can get the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2-powered OnePlus 12R, which has the speedier LPDDR5X memory and UFS 3.1 storage.

Battery

With a 4,500mAh battery, the Edge 50 Pro is a little behind many of its rivals which feature 5,000mAh units; it’s also 500mAh down on its predecessor. Having said that, the Edge 50 Pro will still get you through the day, partly thanks to the power-efficient Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 chipset under its hood. With normal usage which includes browsing emails, X (Twitter), watching YouTube, and tending to a city in Age of Origins, the Edge 50 Pro manages to midnight with around 20% left in the tank. That’s also with the refresh rate set at its default 90Hz.

When you do get near the battery’s limit, you can recharge it with a cable and the included 125W wall charger to 100% in just 20 minutes, which is a game-changer if you are the type to forget to charge the phone when sleeping. Not to be forgotten is the 50W wireless charging, which is a welcome addition and much faster and more usable than the Pixel or Galaxy offerings.

Software

Motorola has always had a light touch with Android and the Edge 50 Pro is no different. While it no longer has the best reputation for software updates, Motorola has committed to rolling out three OS upgrades to the Edge 50 Pro and an extra year of security patches, which is an improvement.

With a clean, near-stock experience, Motorola’s Hello UX software is about as close as you can get to a ‘Pixel’ experience without actually buying one of Google’s handsets. Some AI features are built-in, with the wallpaper generator being one of the more interesting examples. It customizes the wallpaper according to the picture you choose in the gallery. It then creates a few options to choose from. It’s certainly one way to get a custom wallpaper that is unique to your phone.

Let’s not forget the addition of Moto Gestures either which lets you karate chop with your phone to activate the torch function. It’s childish, sure, but fun nonetheless. Unlike Google’s Pixel series, the Edge 50 Pro does offer a desktop function called Ready For which lets you pair your handset with an external display (wired or wirelessly) so you can watch content or play games on a larger screen.

Are you wondering about bloatware? Well, you’ll be happy to learn that Motorola has refrained from including it on the Edge 50 Pro. There are basically no redundant apps installed, with Google supplying many of the default applications. This really helps keep the home screen clean and clear of clutter and is appreciated.

Camera

It may sport the same main camera as last year’s Edge 40, but that’s not a problem when it produces excellent imagery, as it does on the Edge 50 Pro in 2024. Unlike many mid-range handsets, which often provide a good main camera with a pair of mediocre two—or even five-megapixel sensors, Motorola treats you with a 10MP 3x telephoto lens and a 13MP ultra-wide sensor, which properly backs up the 50MP primary camera.

The specs look good on paper, but what about in practice? Well, if you check the gallery below, you’ll see that the cameras perform admirably and reliably. That 3x telephoto lens is very useful and produces excellent imagery even when you use digital zoom with care.

Many of us try to create imagery with a good-quality bokeh effect. You’ll be happy to see that the Edge 50 Pro is more than capable of this with both rear and front cameras. The ultra-wide sensor is a reliable snapper and also pulls double duty as a macro lens, producing much higher-quality imagery than those useless 2MP sensors found in other phones.

As with most handsets, the 50MP main camera will be your default lens, and that’s no bad thing. It’s capable of creating stunning photos with good dynamic lighting. Just look at how moody the clouds look in the sample gallery below.

Overall, the Edge 50 Pro has probably one of the most versatile camera setups in the mid-range segment, and it is certainly something you should consider when buying a new phone.

Conclusion

As a mid-ranger, I enjoyed using the Edge 50 Pro. It feels good in the hand and is easy on the eye. Plus, it’s a reliable snapper with one of the best OLED displays we’ve seen in the midrange segment and the oh-so-fast charging speeds. There’s also a very useful 512GB of storage onboard which is a standout feature compared to phones such as the Pixel 8a.

My only bugbear is that either the choice of processor or price isn’t right for the phone. At £599, it’s in the territory of the Pixel 8a and even the Pixel 8, OnePlus 12R, and the Xiaomi 14 which boast significant advantages in hardware and even software support.

If its speedy charging, a bright and colorful OLED display, and a versatile, capable camera setup you are looking for, the Motorola Edge 50 Pro is certainly a handset you should be considering. Those looking for an affordable gaming phone might want to look elsewhere, however.