Motorola Edge 50 Neo review: Reliable phone with good camera and dashing design

After launching the premium Edge 50 Pro, 50 Ultra, standard Edge 50 and budget 50 Fusion, Motorola has launched its fifth Edge 50 variant- Edge 50 Neo-- in India.

The latest Edge50 Neo comes with good design language with vibrant colour options in addition to a new powerful MediaTek chipset and upgraded camera over the predecessor.

I used the device for close to a week, here are my thoughts on Motorola's new phone.

Design, build quality and display

Edge 50 Neo borrows a few design elements from the Pro model. It flaunts a beautiful unibody design with a sleek profile (with just 8.1 mm thickness). The triple-camera module comes in a curved square-shaped module. It fuses smoothly with the back panel with no sharp edges.

. The previous iteration Motorola Edge 40 Neo came with protruded edges, where dust starts to accumulate on it. And, have to be wiped with clothes quite often to keep them clean.

Now, the new phone has a high-quality silicone-based cover panel. It has a leather-like natural texture. Our review unit is a Pantone-curated Latte colour model. It looks nice in the sunlight. And the company offers free cover cases with matching colour.

The rail around the display features is made of sturdy material and has a flashy gold finish. It blends beautifully with the mocha latte colour of the device.

The company offers the device in three other colours-- Nautical Blue, Poinciana, and Grisaille. They look amazing too.

. On the front, the display is protected by Corning's Gorilla Glass 3 shield, which is enough to safeguard the screen against scratches.

Also, the Edge 50 Neo has undergone extreme testing to survive daily wear and tear. It comes with a MIL-810H military-grade durability rating and IP68 water-and-dust-resistance certification. It can work in extreme weather conditions and also survive a fall in a water body such as a swimming pool for up to 1.5 metres (approx. five feet) for close to 30 minutes.

. A notable aspect of the Edge 50 Neo's design is that it features a power button and volume rockers on the same side, placed one over the other. During the initial few days, I had trouble taking screenshots. Later, the muscle memory kicked in and it became normal to use.

The device features a 6.4-inch 1.5K (1200×2670p) pOLED LTPO-based flat screen and supports up to 3,000 nits peak brightness and 120Hz refresh rate.

The brightness is good enough to view multimedia content with ease outdoors. But, with direct sunlight, one might face reflection issues.

The device also features dual SIM slots (nano + nano), a type-c port, stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos audio system and an in-display fingerprint sensor. The latter works amazingly well as long as the fingertip is dry and clean.

Performance

Motorola phone houses a 4nm class 2.5GHz MediaTek Dimensity 7300 octa-core processor with Mali-G615 MC2 GPU backed by 8GB LPDDR4X RAM and 256GB UFS 2.2 storage.

The device performs smoothly in terms of launching apps faster, operating the camera and switching between multiple apps. Even with gaming, it does a good job and doesn't instantly overheat as such.

. The Edge 50 Neo runs Android 14 OS, which is more cleaner than other Moto G series phones. It has fewer third-party apps and has a generous storage capacity to install hundreds of apps.

Also, It will soon get the Android 15 update. The company will offer five years of Android and security software support. This will ensure the device will get new features and serve the owner at least up to 2029, provided it does not get physical damage.

The device comes with a 4,310mAh battery capacity, smaller than the predecessor (5,000mAh battery).

. With a full charge, it can easily last a full day under normal usage. If you are fully dependent on cellular data all day for internet data, then you have to carry a power bank or 68W Turbo-charger, which comes with a retail box.

The device can charge from zero to 100 per cent mark in under 45 minutes. It also supports 15W wireless charging.

Photography

It boasts a triple-camera module-- main 50MP main camera (with Sony LYTIA 700C sensor, f/1.8 aperture, OIS: Optical Image Stabilisation) with 13MP 120-degree ultra-wide camera (also supports macro option) and a 10MP 3x Telephoto camera with LED flash.

. It takes brilliant photos in the sunlight. The colours of the subject particularly the flowers come off as warm and vibrant rather than natural.

. But, I won't complain at all; as you can see the sample photos, are visually appealing and worthy to posted on social media platforms.

. Even in the night too, the Edge 50 Neo takes nice photos. It balances the light from sources such as neon signboards and street lamps.

. It doesn't blow up the scene in the frame without any software-induced extra lighting.

. With portrait mode, it gets perfect photos with amazing bokeh effects.

. With ultra-wide angle mode, it can cover vast expanses of the land without artificially bending structures to accommodate them in the fame.

. On the front, it houses a 32MP (f/2.4) camera. It takes amazing selfies worthy of being used for DP on social media platforms.

. Both the front and rear cameras can record 4K videos. The video quality is decent on par with most of the phones under the Rs 30,000 range.

. Final thoughts

The design language and colour scheme of the Edge 50 Neo is refreshing and visually appealing. Even the build quality is praiseworthy.

As far as performance is concerned, it worked smoothly without any issues and also delivered good battery life as well. And, the camera too, can capture amazing photos in both day and night scenarios.

. The new Edge50 Neo series is available in one configuration--8GB RAM + 256GB storage-- for Rs 23,999 on Flipkart and Motorola's e-store and authorised retail outlets in India.

.Motorola Edge 50 Pro review: Reliable phone with feature-rich camera. Get the latest news on new launches, gadget reviews, apps, cybersecurity, and more on personal technology only on DH Tech .

Motorola Edge 50 Neo review: Reliable phone with good camera and dashing design

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