Do you miss the days when Motorolas could be styled with real wood backs? The new Motorola Edge 50 Ultra has a real wood option along with two vegan leather colorways – Forest Grey and Peach Fuzz (Pantone’s Color of the Year 2024). There was no Ultra model last year, so this isn’t a sequel but rather an upgrade over the Edge 50 Pro that was unveiled a couple of weeks ago. The Ultra brings more processing power and a better camera setup compared to the Pro.
It is based on the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3, a
huge step up from the 7 Gen 3 chip inside the Pro. You get more RAM too, 12GB
or 16GB (LPDDR5X) with more available via RAM boost. The storage is 512GB or
1TB (UFS 4.0). The camera upgrades start with the main module, which is
equipped with a 50MP 1/1.3” sensor – large enough to have 1.2µm pixels before
quad pixel binning comes into play. It has omni-directional autofocus and OIS
for the f/1.6 lens.
The standout camera is the 3x 72mm
periscope, which is equipped with a 64MP sensors (0.7µm pixels) and a bright
f/2.4 aperture. Next up is the 50MP ultra wide camera (0.64µm pixels), its
f/2.0 lens has 122° field of view and autofocus for macro shots. The cameras
use a laser autofocus system and a 3-in-1 sensor that helps with exposure, auto
white balance and flicker detection.
The front camera has a 50MP sensor
(0.64µm) with an f/1.9 lens with autofocus. All three cameras can record 4K
video at 60fps. The main cam on the back and the selfie also have slow-mo modes
at 1080p (120fps on the front, up to 960fps on the back). Since 2024 is the
year of AI, artificial smarts have been employed to help the camera. AI
automatically adjusts the shutter speed and level of stabilization based on the
scene. It also handles auto focus tracking. The new Photo Enhancement Engine
optimizes the images for detail in the highlights and shadows, clarity, color
and bokeh.
The Motorola Edge 50 Ultra is built around
a curved 6.7” P-OLED display with 2,712 x 1,220px resolution (20:9). It runs at
144Hz and has a touch sampling rate of up to 360Hz (in gaming mode). The
display peaks at 2,500 nits and uses DC dimming. The 10-bit color rendering
gives it HDR10+ support and a certification for HD streaming from Netflix and
Amazon.
Pantone is responsible for the Peach Fuzz
colorway, but the color specialists also tested the display and certified it as
Pantone Validated and Pantone Skintone Validated. The camera system is
validated by Pantone as well. The Ultra is built around an aluminum frame, the
front features Gorilla Glass Victus with an anti-fingerprint coating. It is
rated IP68 for dust and water resistance.
Like the Pro, it has a 4,500mAh battery
with 125W TurboPower charging over USB and 50W wireless. Motorola says that
plugging in for 4 minutes is enough to last you the rest of the day. Wired and
wireless power sharing is available too.The phone is available as single-SIM
(SIM or eSIM) and dual-SIM (SIM and eSIM). It supports the latest Wi-Fi 7
(802.11be) and Bluetooth 5.4, as well as Ultra Wide Band (UWB). The latter
offers accurate distance and angle readings relative to other UWB-enabled
devices like your friend’s phone or a UWB tag. Additionally, the USB-C port
offers both USB 3.2 and DisplayPort 1.4 connectivity.
The phone comes with stereo speakers with
tuning by Dolby Atmos, plus Dolby Head Tracking is also supported (Motorola
just happened to also unveil new earbuds today). The Motorola Edge 50 Ultra
will go on sale in select European countries in the coming weeks. The base
model will have a price of € 1,000. Additionally, the phone will be available in
Asia, Latin America and Oceania. Check out our hands-on review for more on the
phone.
