Motorola Edge (2023) review: Should you buy it?

It’s been a protracted, winding highway for Motorola within the smartphone period. It has produced some underappreciated hits (howdy, Moto X), large misses (goodbye, Moto Z), and an absolute mountain of funds telephones within the ongoing Moto G collection. Motorola’s flagship-tier Edge telephones have been round since 2020, however the 2023 Edge Plus was the primary one that really felt prepared for the large time. Moto might need labored out the formulation as a result of the non-plus 2023 Edge is a stable machine, as effectively.

From the second you choose up the Edge, it appears like a unique breed of Android telephone. Regardless of having a 6.6-inch show, the telephone feels remarkably compact and cozy. It’s 7.6mm thick, which is noticeably lower than most trendy smartphones. Extra importantly, it weighs simply 168g, which is nothing for such a big telephone; most are simply over 200g. Equally spectacular is that the Edge weighs in on the similar mark because the Galaxy S23, which is a petite telephone with a 6.1-inch show and a meager 3,900mAh battery.

The Edge saves on weight by swapping the glass panel for plastic, nevertheless it doesn’t sacrifice the premium really feel. Just like the 2023 Motorola Razr, the Edge has a “vegan leather-based” again panel. The feel is constant and doesn’t strive too onerous to emulate actual leather-based, and I admire the additional grip, notably on an Edge telephone. It’s additionally IP68 rated, which a whole lot of Motorola’s telephones — together with this telephone’s predecessor, the Edge (2022) — are usually not. The display is coated with NEG glass, which is a hardened glass just like Gorilla Glass. It is probably not as sturdy because the name-brand Corning materials, however our evaluate unit has held up effectively regardless of using round in a pocket with some keys.

The Motorola Edge (2023) has the identical, near-universal smartphone stereo speaker association I really feel like I’ve seen 100 instances over, with one on the underside and the opposite within the earpiece. There’s no bass to talk of, however the audio stays clear as much as almost full quantity.

Motorola has a historical past of constructing Edge telephones that weren’t designed to be held by human beings. That they had weirdly sharp edges on the body and an aggressively curved show, making the telephones precarious to hold round. The aluminum body on the 2023 Edge has a matte end with chamfered edges that make it much less awkward. Mixed with the low weight and gentler curve, I discovered it a delight to deal with. The buttons are the one a part of the construct that doesn’t really feel stable. They’re barely mushy, and the ability button wiggled visibly once I didn’t press proper within the center.

The 6.6-inch OLED is total superb, that includes a 1080p decision and 144Hz refresh charge. The height 1,200 nits of brightness is loads for outside visibility, however the display doesn’t get very dim to be used in a darker atmosphere. It’s an Edge telephone, so you will get curved edges on the show. This design is more and more falling out of favor (see: Google dropping it for the Pixel 8 Professional), however the curve isn’t too substantial. Nonetheless, we’ve seen some unintentional touches on the curved areas, which is an annoyance that would have simply been prevented by simply utilizing a flat display like most different telephones in 2023.

With a reasonably middling 4,400 mAh battery, I wasn’t all that optimistic in regards to the Edge’s battery life. Nonetheless, it smashed all expectations. The Edge (2023) simply lasted two days of average use in my testing, together with net searching, messaging, video and music streaming, and light-weight gaming. When it’s time to recharge, the Edge helps as much as 68W charging, although you’ll want Moto’s newest Turbo Energy plug, a $60 add-on that doesn’t ship with the telephone. It fast-charges with regular USB Energy Supply plugs, too, nevertheless it received’t hit 68W except it additionally has PPS (programmable energy provide).

A part of the credit score for the Edge’s lengthy battery life goes to the processor, which is extra modest than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 discovered within the Edge Plus (2023). This telephone sports activities the rarely-seen MediaTek Dimensity 7030, an eight-core chip with two high-speed CPUs and 6 effectivity CPUs.

There have been instances in my testing when the telephone may have been quicker; for instance, a widget would often not load immediately, or an app may grasp for a second when returning to the foreground. These disruptions occurred typically sufficient that I seen, nevertheless it wasn’t a relentless wrestle — it’s not a sluggish telephone by any means, nevertheless it’d be truthful to count on barely extra uncooked energy from a telephone at this worth vary.

The benchmark scores mirror this, because the Motorola Edge (2023) fails to impress when stacked towards different inexpensive flagship telephones. Maybe most damningly, the Edge (2023) barely scores greater than the Motorola Edge (2022)’s ~2,500 peak in 3DMark’s Wild Life GPU check. Once more, it’s removed from horrible, however don’t count on this to be a gaming powerhouse. On the very least, although, the spectacular PCMark rating suggests it’ll be a good on a regular basis performer for combined use.

The 2023 Edge ships with Android 13, however Motorola guarantees two years of OS updates and three years of safety patches. That’s removed from the most effective replace coverage amongst Android telephones, nevertheless it does imply you’ll get Android 14 and 15… finally. We’ve by no means been overly impressed with Moto’s replace velocity or consistency, so don’t count on that Android 14 replace immediately. In actual fact, on the time of the Edge (2023)’s launch, its predecessor, the Moto Edge (2022) remains to be caught on Android 12.

Nonetheless, the software program put in out of the field is total superb. It’s acquired Motorola’s normal customizations like Moto Show for notification administration, and gestures to activate the digital camera or flashlight. The chop-chop flashlight gesture is especially great. On the similar time, new additions to Moto’s software program haven’t been nearly as good; for instance, the barely-there implementation of Materials You.

Sadly, there’s a bloatware downside on the Edge. It ships with quite a few third-party apps like Reserving.com, LinkedIn, and a complete suite of Swish apps. We noticed these on a number of Moto G telephones this 12 months, however this time, the Swish branding is gone. Most of those apps set up your apps of a sure sort, like video games or buying, recommending new ones for which the developer will get paid. The Swish privateness coverage says the corporate can promote your information (together with real-time areas) to its companions. They usually’ll undoubtedly have your location to promote — Swish additionally makes the inventory climate app on the Edge. We suggest eradicating all these apps.

The Edge sports activities a 50MP major digital camera and a 13MP ultrawide. Motorola has by no means been recognized for imaging prowess, and the Edge (2023) received’t be difficult the most effective digital camera telephones. Nonetheless, it does present a marked enchancment in comparison with earlier vanilla Edge telephones. So long as there’s good mild, the Edge captures sharp, detailed photographs. It slows down rather a lot in dim mild, which makes motion nearly unimaginable to seize. The ultrawide tends to look a bit muddy, however these pictures are wonderful so long as you don’t zoom and crop. You may see a choice of pattern photographs beneath, and full-resolution variations can be found on this Google Drive folder.

Video tops out at 4K and 30fps. I used to be stunned at how satisfactory the video was; the 4K video is sharp and comparatively vibrant. Nonetheless, the 30fps is dismal at this worth level. You’ll in all probability nonetheless get higher total outcomes with 1080p video, which helps 60fps, because it seems a lot smoother.

Regardless of some blemishes, the 2023 Edge is a stable providing from Motorola, and the value is palatable at $600. The comfortable fake leather-based on the again is a refreshing change from the ocean of glass slabs, and it’s good to make use of an enormous telephone that isn’t enormously heavy. When you don’t thoughts the digital camera weaknesses, some pesky bloatware, and also you’re not fearful about well timed software program updates, this might be a stable choice. It’s a dependable, light-weight machine that received’t break the financial institution or your again.

• Motorola Razr ($699.99 at Amazon): The Razr (2023) has rather a lot in widespread with the Edge; it’s acquired the identical software program construct, a pretend leather-based again, and a suitable however not wonderful digital camera. It’s $100 extra however folds in half while you’re not utilizing it.
• Google Pixel 8 ($699 at Amazon): The Pixel 8 retails for $800, nevertheless it has the most effective digital camera expertise out there at its worth tier. The show can also be brighter than the Edge, and we favor Google’s model of Android.
• Samsung Galaxy S23 FE ($599.99 at Amazon): The $600 Samsung Galaxy S23 FE is greater and heavier than the Edge, nevertheless it has a extra highly effective processor and higher cameras.
• Motorola Edge Plus (2023) ($599.99 at Amazon): At $800, the Motorola Edge Plus has somewhat extra headroom to pump up the specs. It strikes to a quicker Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip, provides a 2x telephoto digital camera, and will increase battery capability to 5100mAh. Nonetheless, it’s not as skinny or mild because the cheaper Edge.