The third generation Motorola Edge is here. The vanilla Edge models stick to mid-range duties and aim to be a good middle ground between the flagships and the lites of the series. But beyond that there isn’t much consistency in what makes an Edge and Edge. Here is a three-way comparison between the Edge 2020, 2021 and 2022 models.
One interesting thing to note is that the
Motorola Edge (2022) is the first phone to use the new Dimensity 1050. This is
a 6nm chip with mmWave 5G as its key selling point. It also has two Cortex-A78
CPU cores (2.5GHz) and six A55 cores (2.0GHz), plus a Mali-G610 MC3 GPU. It is
no match for a Dimensity 8000, but is fast enough for the mid-range and will
offer faster Internet speeds than phones that only have sub-6GHz 5G.
Here the chipset is paired with 8GB of
RAM, 256GB (non-expandable) storage and a mostly stock Android 12 (with some My
UX tweaks and enhancements). The phone runs on a 5,000mAh battery with 30W
TurboPower charging like its predecessor, but this year 15W wireless charging
is supported (as is 5W reverse charging). You need to supply your own charger,
though, there is only a USB-C cable in the box. Note that the USB-C port is
wired only for 2.0 speeds, so there is no support for Motorola’s Ready For.
The Edge (2022) doesn’t have the slender
profile of the 2020 model, but it is smaller than last year’s phone. It
measures 160.86x74.24x7.99mm and weighs 170g (making it 30g lighter than the
2021 model). The body is rated IP52 (dust protected, resistance to dripping
water). The display is the smallest yet with a 6.6” diagonal on the 1,080 x
2,400px OLED panel (20:9). Size aside, this is the best display yet as it keeps
the 144Hz refresh rate of its predecessor, but it beats it on quality thanks to
its 10-bit panel with HDR10+ support. The switch back to OLED allowed the
fingerprint reader to return to its under display position.
The rear camera further mixes things up
with a 50MP main module (1.0µm pixels) with an f/1.8 lens and the first Optical
Image Stabilization (OIS) in the family. It is joined by a 120° ultra wide
camera with a 13MP sensor (1.12µm) and an impressively bright f/1.5 aperture.
If that wasn’t enough, this camera can also snap macro photos. Finally, there
is a depth sensor. The main camera can record 4K at 60fps and slow-mo videos at
1080p@120fps. The ultra wide cam tops out at 1080p@30fps. The selfie camera on
the front is as before, a 32MP sensor (0.7µm, 4-in-1 binning) with 1080p@30fps
video capture.
A few other things to note include the
dual speakers with Dolby Atmos sound. There is no 3.5mm jack on board, however.
Besides the USB port connectivity is all wireless – Wi-Fi 6E (2.4, 5 and 6GHz),
Bluetooth 5.2 and NFC, plus support for all the major positioning
constellations. As for the 5G connection, you get sub-6 and mmWave with one
physical nanoSIM and one eSIM. The Motorola Edge (2022) appears only on the US
site for now and the company is yet to reveal the complete launch details, but
we’ll keep an eye out. Also, there is only one colorway available. Pricin is
set at US$ 499.
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