Motorola Edge 50 Neo First Impressions: Unbeatable In The Segment?

From the affordable Motorola Edge 50 Fusion to the top-of-the-line Motorola Edge 50 Pro in the series, the brand has been quite busy these past few months. However, they’re not done yet and have just launched the Motorola Edge 50 Neo, which costs just Rs 1,000 more than the Edge 50 Fusion.

The smartphone segment under Rs 25,000 is quite crowded at this point. So, where does that leave Motorola’s latest addition? I’ve been able to spend a brief time with the Motorola Edge 50 Neo, and here are my first impressions!

Motorola Edge 50 Neo Specifications

What’s in the Box

As usual, Motorola includes all the riches and keeps you heavily sorted when it comes to box contents. Here’s a quick rundown:

• Color-matched case
• Compatible 68W Turbo Charger
• Type-C to Type-C cable
• SIM Ejector Tool
• Paperwork

And, finally, you also get that Motorola fragrance sprinkled on top to add to the sophistication of it all. But, is the device worth all this build-up? Read on!

Design and Build

I have with me the Nautical Blue color variant of the smartphone, but it’s not my favorite shade. I’d pick the Poinciana (orangish) color variant instead. However, there are the Latte (cream) and Grisaille (greyish) color variants as well. Right off the bat, I noticed that something was different this time around. Well, Motorola has gone with a flat display this time around, and I’m glad.

As someone who owns a OnePlus 11R and has already bumped and cracked its display due to the absence of tempered glasses (I don’t want to take the UV route), I respect Motorola’s decision. However, due to this, the phone doesn’t feel as curvy as the brand’s other offerings. But, that’s okay, since Motorola has also cut down on the size this time around.

The height and width have gone down from the Edge 40 Neo’s 159.63 x 71.99mm to 154.1 x 71.2mm. However, the Edge 50 Neo is slightly thicker at 8.1mm as compared to its predecessor’s 7.89mm sleekness.

The in-hand feel of the device can be compared to the Samsung Galaxy S23 FE, but less boxy. Neither is it as prickly and instantly settles into your palms. Moreover, it’s super lightweight, and that makes it all the more delightful to carry around. Ah, the in-hand feel of a smartphone like this is an absolute chef’s kiss!

Motorola’s obsession with vegan leather rear panels extends to this device as well, and it gives off quite a premium feel in a sea of plastic phones. Due to the incredible form factor, the plastic frame didn’t bother me one bit. The buttons are plastic too, although very tactile.

You also get an IP68 rating and MIL-810H (Military Grade) certification, so this is a pretty durable device overall.

Display and Speakers

At 6.4 inches, the display is not as compact as I’d have liked it to be. Strangely, it’s still the most compact phone in the segment. Also, the fact that this is a 1.5K resolutionpOLED panel with a 120Hz refresh rate backed by LTPO tech makes it a big win in my books. For the unaware, LTPO allows quick switching between high and low refresh rates on display without needing additional hardware for it. This translates to power efficiency and improved battery life. Bezels are also narrow, with just the top and chin being slightly broader.

This is also the very first Motorola Edge series device to arrive with LTPO. You also get Smart Water Touch 2.0, which lets all of you sweaty folks out there use it without any hassle. Neither will those rain droplets interfere, so that’s very handy in this weather. Also, this display supports Always On!

The display is quite sharp, vibrant, and exceptionally bright. Our LuxMeter recorded it hitting 3,500 nits in HDR content, which is well beyond the brand’s claimed 3000 nits cap. In HBM (High Brightness Mode) though, it hits around 900 nits of its claimed 1,400 nits, which is great too. But, yes, HDR content is stellar and I loved the deep blacks and balanced color tones all around when watching the dragon chase scene in Damsel on Netflix.

What makes the multimedia experience all the more amazing are the dual stereo speakers backed by Dolby Atmos. The sound separation is around 40:60 and the surround effect when you turn Dolby on kicks in very well. There’s slight bass too, blended well with punchy mids and clear highs.

Oh, there’s also Gorilla Glass 3 protection on top, which makes it quite scratch-resistant. However, you may not want to drop it too much.

Performance

Motorola’s latest Edge 50 Neo packs in a decent amount of power, thanks to the MediaTek Dimensity 7300. This is also the same chipset (the 7300X variant for foldable) that the way costlier Motorola Razr 50 (first impressions) went official with recently. While it’s not as powerful as the OnePlus Nord CE 4’s (review) Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 in the segment, it gets the job done.

The processor pairs up with up to 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 256GB of UFS 2.2 storage, which is disappointing. I don’t get Motorola’s overuse of UFS 2.2, which even the Razr 50 packs, by the way. It’s time that the brand ditches it for UFS 3.1. Or, go the smart UFS 2.2c route like the Nothing Phone 2a (review). RAM management is okay though, and most of the 10 apps I had open in the background resumed well.

As for benchmarks, the numbers are not exceptional. Take a look:

However, despite being compact, the Motorola Edge 50 Neo barely gets warm. Even after an hour or so of gaming, the phone didn’t cross the 35-degree mark (in an AC environment), which is excellent. Moreover, gaming brings such joy on a not-so-big phone like this, as it snugly fits in your palms. With that being said, here’s a look at the kind of graphics and settings you can expect in games from it:

Cameras

While I didn’t get a chance to do a full-fledged Nikon Zf-like (review) photo walk with the Motorola Edge 50 Neo, it was enough to give me an idea. While the 50MP Sony Lytia 700C primary sensor and 13MP ultra-wide are good and all, it’s the 10MP telephoto sensor that is the highlight here.

It’s most likely the cheapest phone to provide telephoto with3x optical zoom capabilities. While there’s the Realme 12 Pro, its telephoto sensor is maxed out at 2x. As for the camera performance itself, daytime shots are quite nice with good dynamic range captured.

However, unlike the color saturation that I have noticed in Edge 50 Fusion and Edge 50 Pro’s shots, it’s more natural here. There are good details too, with exposure handled very well.

The ultra-wide is also pretty good, and you see way better details than those 8MP ultra-wide sensors that phones in the segment carry. Most importantly, the telephoto works very well and doesn’t pose an awkward color disparity either. Details exceeded my expectations as well when I zoomed in.

Night shots are good too, with light sources being handled well with shadows and highlights being balanced out nicely. But, color tones are not as natural as during the day, and there’s some boosting at play.

As for human subjects, portraits turn out great, and the skin texture and hair detailing are great. Edge detection and depth mapping are also not overdone. However, I did notice that the skin tones are not exactly true to life and are slightly boosted. Selfies have similar processing, although the details are good.

In the case of videos, the Motorola Edge 50 Neo can shoot at up to 4K 30FPS. Shots through the primary sensor are quite stable, thanks to OIS. However, I noticed that you can’t shuffle between the sensors when shooting at 4K. It’s only possible at 1080p 30FPS.

Software Experience

I have grown very fond of Motorola’s revamped Hello UI (review) over the last couple of months. From those smooth animations to a much improved haptic system over the OG MyUX skin, it’s all looking and feeling good.

However, I have noticed that Hello UI is not the most consistent and performs differently on different devices.

Hello UI on the Edge 50 Neo is butter smooth, and I haven’t encountered any bugs or glitches so far. Moreover, it’s the cleanest Android skin in the segment, right after Nothing OS. But, it’s definitely a lot more feature-rich, and Smart Connect (previously Ready For) has my heart.

Our talented senior tech writer Arjun Sha also recently found out that Smart Connect works with any Android phone, which is so cool. In addition, you also get to see apps like Moto Unplugged, which can come in very handy. While there’s Facebook and LinkedIn pre-installed, that’s about the bloatware you get, which you can uninstall as well.

Most importantly, the Motorola Edge 50 Neo is backed by 5 years of major OS updates and security patches. Given that it comes with Android 14-based Hello UI right out of the box, you can expect it to be seen till Android 19. I really hope Motorola doesn’t mess up the updates and delivers them on time (fingers crossed).

Battery Life and Charging

The Motorola Edge 50 Neo doesn’t pack as much fuel with its 4,310mAh battery. However, with 1.5K resolution, Always On, and a bit of casual usage, I could get around 5 hours of screen on time, which is a bit less than what I’d expected from the LTPO tech. I guess some battery optimization is needed here.

My casual usage involves a lot of doom scrolling on Instagram and Facebook, being active across X, Reddit, and Feedly, as well as throwing some CoD Mobile into the mix. So, it can actually get you through 6 hours or so if you have lower usage than mine. I also noticed that there was a 4% battery drain when the phone was idle through the night.

As for charging, while I couldn’t analyze it in detail when the phone was at 24%, it took it around 40 minutes to fully charge. So, yeah, it’s decent enough.

Is the Motorola Edge 50 Neo Worth Your Money?

While I have reviewed quite a few phones in the budget like the Nothing Phone 2a and OnePlus Nord CE 4, I barely have thoughts about using them as my primary device. With the Motorola Edge 50 Neo, I’m in line to use it as my daily driver as soon as possible. It’s just that good.

I’m really glad that Motorola didn’t cut corners anywhere apart from that plastic construction and slightly underperforming processor. However, you still get IP68 and a Military-Grade construction, which is rare in this segment.

Then comes the near-compact and bright 6.4-inch 1.5K 120Hz pOLED display with a nice speaker setup. On top of all that, there’s that amazing camera system that punches above its weight with that mighty telephoto sensor. Had the battery optimization been top-notch, this would have been an even more impressive phone.

5 years of software updates is super impressive too, particularly if Motorola is able to stick to the promise. No other phone in the segment offers beyond 3 years of software updates, with the closest rival being the OnePlus Nord 4 (4+6 policy), which is costlier as compared to Motorola Edge 50 Neo’s price of Rs 23,999 (excluding bank offers).

All things considered, the Motorola Edge 50 Neo is the most value-for-money smartphone in this segment this year. Well done, Motorola!