I’ve been utilizing the Motorola Edge 50 Professional for the previous couple of weeks with no actual complaints, however that’s primarily as a result of I’ve slowly accepted it’s yet one more Motorola smartphone with the identical outdated issues.
As soon as once more, what is usually an excellent smartphone is plagued with the identical points we’ve written about for some appreciable time, and sadly, the corporate appears to have no real interest in altering its methods.
What’s good concerning the Motorola Edge 50 Professional
Earlier than we get all adverse, let’s discuss concerning the construct, design, and ergonomics. The Motorola Edge 50 Professional appears to be like very good, particularly within the Luxe Lavender colour seen in our photographs. The curved display screen neatly meets the vegan leather-based rear cowl and by no means feels sharp or uncomfortable regardless of the tapered 8.2mm thickness. The slim chassis emphasizes the low 186-gram weight, and this telephone disappears if you slip it into your pocket.
Many manufacturers have shunned the curved display screen, and I’m actually happy Motorola has not. The digicam module blends into the again of the telephone, so it’s not such a serious design assertion as it may be on different telephones. All of it makes the Edge 50 Professional look modern and fashionable, and I’ve not skilled any fatigue holding it both. It’s a genuinely nice telephone to point out off, maintain, and carry round. The vegan leather-based is sort of sticky, although, and as soon as lint or muck is on it, it’s a ache to fully take away.
The 6.7-inch pOLED display screen is superb too, and I recognize its 144Hz most refresh charge, nonetheless I’ve not felt the necessity to change from the Auto setting. It adjusts between 60Hz, 120Hz, and 144Hz relying on use, and it has judged the scenario with out a downside for me. The height 2,000-nit brightness hasn’t activated for me fairly often, however it has at all times appeared vibrant sufficient to see, even in daylight. If you decide up the Motorola Edge 50 Professional and take within the display screen, it’s an instantly spectacular telephone.
The place it goes flawed
All of it begins properly with the Edge 50 Professional, and I do just like the telephone, however there are a number of points that proceed to annoy with Motorola telephones. My largest bugbear is that the Edge 50 Professional does not have an always-on screen. It sits there on the desk with the massive 6.7-inch display screen, solely black, on a regular basis. It’s the solely producer I can consider that doesn’t present an always-on display screen characteristic on any of its smartphones, no matter value or display screen expertise.
In accordance with Motorola, it’s all about effectivity and battery life, however it doesn’t appear to be an issue for different manufacturers, so this excuse makes little sense. I discover it very annoying that I can’t look on the display screen to see the time or notifications once I stroll previous it and should faucet the display screen to see something. It’s the prime purpose why I don’t wish to use the Edge 50 Professional any longer than I’ve to.
Then there’s the software program. Motorola claims it should ship Android model updates to the Edge 50 Professional for the following three years, which is healthier than lots of its different telephones however nonetheless behind Samsung and Google. Ongoing assist is one factor, however worse is the pre-installed app concern. Throughout setup, I used to be given no alternative however to put in a group of apps and video games, starting from Adobe Scan and Fb to Royal Match and Mind Check. I don’t need them, however I’ve no alternative whether or not they’re put in throughout setup. Worse, the system prioritized them, and I waited far longer to put in my very own apps, together with important messaging and e-mail apps.
The undesirable apps range relying on the place you might be on the earth, however what is a continuing are the annoying adverts and notifications. Digital Traits’ Cellular Editor Joe Maring had a worse time with Motorola phones and pre-installed apps than I did, and in the event you don’t concentrate throughout telephone and app setup, it’s straightforward to comply with obtain adverts within the climate app and every kind of pointless notifications too. None of those issues are new, however all proceed to spoil each Motorola telephone.
Inconsistent digicam
The always-on display screen and frustration with pre-installed apps have been ongoing issues with Motorola telephones, they usually threaten to destroy what’s in any other case an excellent telephone. Now we come to the digicam. It’s definitely not horrible, however it’s inconsistent, and that’s one other unlucky Motorola trait.
How do you want your main colours? When you shouted “vivid,” then the Motorola Edge 50 Professional’s digicam is for you as a result of it avoids a refined contact and goes for all-out, in-your-face vibrancy every time it may well. The U.Ok. — the place I’ve been testing the Edge 50 Professional — has been fortunate sufficient to see the solar for a short while, and the digicam has made probably the most of it. Even when it’s overcast, it goes out of its method to preserve the tone cheery.
Check out the primary and wide-angle photographs of the pond, wall, and greenery within the gallery. The principle digicam amps up the colours and goes heavy on the HDR, leading to a sharable photograph, however one which isn’t consultant of the true world. The wide-angle photograph reveals way more practical colours and tone, and placing the 2 aspect by aspect actually reveals the primary digicam’s exuberance. The principle digicam has misjudged the scene a number of instances, inflicting it to blow out the sky in its quest for visible punch. I don’t wish to use a digicam the place I must guess if the photograph will look first rate or not.
The digicam app has a 3x optical zoom characteristic, together with a 2x shortcut within the app. Each may give nice outcomes, however I’ve present in some conditions the 3x zoom can battle with colour accuracy and focus, leading to a number of pictures that had been unusable. The Motorola Edge 50 Professional’s digicam is, once more, typical Motorola. I’ve taken photographs that look glorious however then others which are actually horrible. The inconsistency over lower than 75 photographs is a priority, because it suggests it’s going to occur greater than infrequently.
Issues apart, is it price shopping for?
I just like the Motorola Edge 50 Professional. From the stable battery life (two full days with out a downside supplied you don’t play graphically intensive video games) to the virtually excellent design, it has been a dependable and easy-to-live-with companion. However I can’t get previous the dearth of always-on display screen, and I shouldn’t should ignore the built-in climate app on account of adverts or fiddle uninstalling apps I don’t need.
I’m not achieved but both, as we come to a different Motorola downside: the worth. It’s 600 British kilos, or round $760, and it’s an excessive amount of when the Google Pixel 8, the OnePlus 12R, the Samsung Galaxy S24, the Apple iPhone 15, and so many others all exist, together with the brand new Realme GT 6. The Edge 50 Professional doesn’t have a flagship processor — it’s a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 — and though the battery prices rapidly, the mixture of the midrange chip and small 4,500mAh cell doesn’t lend itself to loads of intense gaming.
It’s too costly given the competitors, however that’s not the tip of it as Motorola recurrently reductions its telephones, so you might not pay this value in any respect. Motorola has performed this sport for some time, and it could make it far simpler for everybody and far much less complicated to match with different fashions to only give it a decrease retail value within the first place.
Add this to all the remainder of the little annoyances, and the Edge 50 Professional finally ends up feeling like an excessive amount of effort to personal, which is a disgrace when nearly all the points may very well be so simply cured.
