📱 Review: Motorola Edge (2024) – A Mid-Range Contender with Premium Touches
The smartphone market is fiercely competitive, especially in the upper mid-range segment. Motorola has been a consistent player here, and the Motorola Edge (2024) Unlocked (8GB/256GB), particularly the striking Midnight Blue variant made for the US market, is their latest effort to stand out. Retailing at a competitive price point, the Edge (2024) offers a blend of premium design, a fantastic display, and solid battery life. But in a crowded field, does it cut the edge?
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| Motorola Edge (2024) |
✨ Design and Build Quality: The Premium Feel
One of the Edge (2024)'s most immediate selling points is its aesthetic. The phone is wrapped in a Midnight Blue vegan leather finish, which gives it a distinctly premium feel that is often missing from phones in this category.
Ergonomics: The phone is remarkably slim and lightweight at just 174g and 8.1mm thick. The curved glass display flows elegantly into the aluminum frame, making it comfortable to hold and contributing to its "Edge" namesake. While the vegan leather back is grippy and resists fingerprints, some users have noted that the material might attract dirt or show signs of wear over time without a case.
Durability: Crucially, the Edge (2024) is built with an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance, a welcome feature that adds peace of mind. The display is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3.
Storage and Connectivity: The US unlocked version comes with a generous 8GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage. Note that, like many modern mid-range devices, it does not include a microSD card slot for expansion.
🖼️ Display: A Visual Feast
Motorola consistently equips its Edge series with excellent displays, and the 2024 model is no exception.
Technology: It features a vibrant 6.6-inch P-OLED display with an FHD+ resolution ($1080 \times 2400$ pixels) and a density of approximately 402 pixels per inch (ppi).
Refresh Rate: The main highlight is the buttery-smooth 144Hz adaptive refresh rate. This makes scrolling, gaming, and animations incredibly fluid.
Brightness: The screen also boasts increased peak brightness, reaching up to 1300 nits, ensuring excellent outdoor visibility even in bright sunlight.
Experience: Colors are punchy, blacks are deep (a trademark of OLED), and the curved edges—while sometimes prone to reflections—add a layer of immersion for media consumption.
🚀 Performance and Software: Snappy and Streamlined
The Edge (2024) is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 chipset, built on a 4nm process.
Speed: Paired with 8GB of LPDDR5 RAM, the processor delivers solid, reliable performance for daily tasks, app multitasking, and even moderate gaming. It’s snappy in general use and rarely suffers from lag. While not a top-tier flagship processor, it is a significant upgrade from its predecessor and holds its own against competitors in its price bracket.
Software: It runs on Android 14 with Motorola’s clean and minimalist My UX interface. Motorola has done well to keep the software experience close to stock Android while adding useful, non-intrusive features like "Ready For" support, which allows the phone to connect to external displays for a desktop-like experience.
Updates: A common criticism of Motorola has been its software update policy. The company promises 2 years of OS updates and 3 years of security updates for the Edge (2024), which is reasonable, though not quite matching the longer support cycles offered by Samsung and Google.
📸 Camera: The 50MP Dual Lens Setup
The camera system is often a make-or-break factor for mid-range phones. The Edge (2024) sports a dual-camera array on the back:
Main Camera: A 50MP sensor (with a large 1/1.5" sensor size and $1.0\mu m$ pixels) featuring Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) and multi-directional Phase Detection AutoFocus (PDAF).
Ultra-wide Camera: A 13MP sensor with a $120^\circ$ field of view and AutoFocus (AF), which also doubles as a decent macro lens.
Selfie Camera: A 32MP front-facing camera with AutoFocus.
Performance:
Daylight: In bright daylight, the main 50MP camera captures detailed and vibrant images. The inclusion of OIS helps significantly with clarity and low-light performance.
Weaknesses: However, closer inspection can reveal some limitations, with reviewers noting that fine details can sometimes look smudged or processed, and colors can occasionally appear artificially boosted. The ultra-wide camera generally performs well but shows the expected drop in detail compared to the main sensor.
Video: Video recording maxes out at 4K at 30fps and includes gyro-EIS for good stabilization.
For the average user, the camera is perfectly capable for everyday social media sharing, but it may not compete with the photographic excellence of a Google Pixel in the same range.
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| Motorola Edge (2024) |
🔋 Battery and Charging: Excellent Endurance
Battery life is a major strength of the Motorola Edge (2024).
Capacity: It packs a substantial 5000 mAh battery, which, combined with the efficient Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 chip and P-OLED display, easily provides all-day endurance, often extending into a second day of light use.
Charging: Charging is exceptionally fast, supporting 68W TurboPower wired charging. This allows the phone to charge from empty to full in under an hour.
Wireless Charging: It also includes 15W wireless charging, a feature that is still a welcome premium addition in the mid-range category.
⚖️ Verdict: A Refined Mid-Range Offering
The Motorola Edge (2024) Unlocked is a strong, well-rounded device that makes subtle but meaningful improvements over its predecessor. It appeals to users who prioritize design, display quality, and battery life.
| Pros | Cons |
| Gorgeous 144Hz P-OLED display. | Camera performance can be inconsistent in detail. |
| Excellent 5000 mAh battery life and fast 68W charging. | Software update commitment is shorter than competitors. |
| Premium feel with vegan leather back and IP68 rating. | No expandable storage (microSD card slot). |
| Solid performance from the Snapdragon 7s Gen 2. | Curved screen may not appeal to everyone. |
The Motorola Edge (2024) finds itself in a slightly awkward price bracket upon release, but for those seeking a premium-feeling, unlocked device with fantastic endurance and a beautiful screen—especially when found on sale—it is an excellent choice and a true competitor in the US mid-range market.