Motorola has previously released the Edge 50 series. We have tested the new Motorola Edge 50 Neo in recent weeks. What can we say about this colourful phone? You can read about it in our Motorola Edge 50 Neo review.
Motorola Edge 50 Neo review
At the editorial department, we have already tested a number of phones. Some phones with a foldable screen, others with a luminous back. The Motorola Edge 50 Neo is one of a different category. It is a mid-end smartphone with a colourful body. But there is also a smell to this.
With the arrival of the Edge 30 series, Motorola came up with something new; scented packaging. It should add to the whole experience of a new smartphone. Not only does the box of the device smell like perfume, so does the phone itself. After a few months of use, you can still smell it. It's a pleasant smell, though we should add that after a few days, you only smell it when you press your nose against the back of the phone.
Design and interface
The design of the Motorola Edge 50 Neo is not exactly the most exciting, but it does look very neat. In the process, the smartphone is well finished. The back of this red-coloured 'Poinciana' colour is made of vegan leather, or faux leather. Personally, I find that very comfortable to hold and it also provides more grip. It has again collaborated with Pantone, giving you exclusive colours to see at Motorola. Of course, the device is also available in other colours.
At the back, the Motorola Edge 50 Neo is equipped with a triple camera. These three lenses consist of a 50-megapixel main lens, 13-megapixel wide-angle lens and a 10-megapixel telephoto lens. We will come back to the camera's performance in detail later in the Motorola Edge 50 Neo review. The sides of the phone are coloured in the phone's colours. The volume keys are two separate buttons, under which the power button can be found.
The Edge 50 Neo features a 6.4-inch pOLED screen, which delivers a resolution of 2670 x 1220 pixels. There is a refresh rate of up to 120Hz. In dark environments, the brightness can be low enough and on sunny days, the brightness is fine. Motorola provides the phone with a 32-megapixel front-facing camera on the front. The weight of the Neo comes out to 171 grams, making it a nice light device.
You unlock the phone with the fingerprint scanner, which works well. Motorola phones are characterised by a user-friendly, clean interface. And that is no different with the Edge 50 Neo. The menu with installed apps is also clearly designed. It is noticeable, however, that this time Motorola has opted for a lot of bloatware, such as games that nobody asked for. However, you can remove these yourself.
Communication and multimedia
You might not use your smartphone for making calls as much today as you did years ago; calling is still what a phone is for. The Edge 50 Neo does that just fine. Calls sound clear and reception is good. The Motorola can handle both a physical SIM card and eSIM.
In terms of multimedia, there is of course the 6.4-inch screen, which offers fine performance for the price of the device. For the music lover, there is a set of stereo speakers and they sound surprisingly good. The volume can be loud enough and we don't notice any crazy distortions or the like. Sometimes we slightly miss the warmth, but this is certainly not disturbing.
Camera
Three cameras are on the back of the Motorola Edge 50 Neo. There is a 50-megapixel main camera, 13-megapixel wide-angle lens and a 10-megapixel telephoto lens. So you can go all out with this. The camera app is user-friendly and clearly laid out, but it is not very fast. We notice, even though the phone itself is pretty fast, the camera app is not. It feels a bit laggy.
You don't view the captured photos in a gallery app from Motorola itself, but simply in the Google Photos app. The app bundles photos both offline and online, and so if you wish, you can access the photos taken with the smartphone on other devices.
We took photos with the Motorola Edge 50 Neo in a variety of conditions. What do we think of the photo quality? Overall, the device really does take more than fine photos. Even at night, the Edge 50 Neo manages to take good pictures. When switching between the different lenses, we do sometimes see quite a bit of colour difference, with zoomed-in images noticing much more saturation.
Below is a photo we took with the Motorola Edge 50 Neo. We have collected more photos for you in the digital photo album.
Video camera
The Motorola Edge 50 Neo's video camera lets you film in up to 4K resolution. We took two videos for you with the device. Including at a concert, in this case by Isak Danielson. What is noticeable and also disturbing is that the sound sounds quite distorted. The video we shot outside is quite fine. However, it is noticeable here that relatively little sound is recorded, as in the case of passing cyclists. We think a software update could improve things here and there.
Performance and battery life
For (computing) power, the Motorola Edge 50 Neo is equipped with a MediaTek Dimensity 7300 chipset. This is an octa-core processor with more than enough power. We haven't experienced any crazy crashes or annoying bugs in recent times. While MediaTek didn't always have a good name in the past, these days it really is a fine player with good chipsets. Our copy comes with 12GB of working memory and 512GB of storage. This is also the regular variant sold. There is no room for a memory card.
Battery
With a capacity of 4310 mAh, the Motorola Edge 50 Neo's battery cannot be called huge. Despite that, the smartphone is equipped with fine endurance. You'll fill up a day without much trouble. A screen time of around 4.5-5 hours is just achievable and that is certainly decent with the device. An adapter is no longer included with the device. The phone supports fast charging up to 68W. On top of that, Motorola also gives you the option to charge the Edge 50 Neo 15W wirelessly.
Update policy
The update policy of the Motorola Edge 50 Neo is remarkable, to say the least. In fact, this device gets updates for a longer period of time than more expensive Motorola models such as the Edge 50 and the Razr 50 Ultra. The Neo smartphone is assured of updates for a period of five years. This applies to security updates as well as Android updates. At the time of writing, the phone runs on Android 14 with November's security patch.
Review
Motorola shows with the Motorola Edge 50 Neo that a good smartphone does not have to be very expensive. You get a fine device in non-standard colours. In addition, the battery life is fine and the camera takes good pictures. The Edge 50 Neo is also very fast, but the camera app could be a bit less 'laggy'. The Motorola's recommended retail price is €499, but you can find it here and there between €350 and €400. The Motorola Edge 50 Neo is an excellent deal that you will enjoy for a long time. Not for nothing did we include the Motorola Edge 50 Neo in the DroidApp Awards 2024 for best smartphone.
Want to buy the Edge 50 Neo? The smartphone is available at Coolblue, Belsimpel, Mobiel, MediaMarkt and Bol.com.
Motorola Edge 50 Neo
