Motorola Edge 50 Neo Review: The Future of Mid-Range Gaming
Discover the Motorola Edge 50 Neo: sleek design, impressive camera, vibrant display, and fast-charging battery at an affordable price.
Motorola has perfected its Edge series and Motorola Edge 50 Neo offers excellent value, fitting well into the compact mid-range market. This year’s Neo is even better: it’s smaller than its predecessor with premium upgrades. Neo now has a 6.4-inch LTPO OLED display, MIL-STD-810H durability, a stronger chipset, wireless charging and a 3x telephoto camera. Plus, it starts with 256GB storage by default.
Motorola Edge 50 Neo Specification
| Category | Specification |
|---|---|
| 🛰️ Network | GSM / HSPA / LTE / 5G |
| 📏 Body Dimensions | 154.1 x 71.2 x 8.1 mm (6.07 x 2.80 x 0.32 in) |
| ⚖️ Weight | 171 g (6.03 oz) |
| 🛡️ Build | Glass front (Gorilla Glass 3), plastic frame, plastic back or silicone polymer (eco leather) back |
| 📱 SIM | Nano-SIM, eSIM or Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by) |
| 💧 Water Resistance | IP68 dust/water resistant (up to 1.5m for 30 min) |
| 🔒 MIL-STD-810H | Compliant (does not guarantee ruggedness or use in extreme conditions) |
| 📺 Display Type | LTPO P-OLED, 1B colors, 120Hz, HDR10+, 3000 nits (peak) |
| 📏 Display Size | 6.4 inches, 99.6 cm² (~90.8% screen-to-body ratio) |
| 📊 Resolution | 1256 x 2760 pixels (~474 ppi density) |
| 🛡️ Protection | Corning Gorilla Glass 3 |
| 📱 Operating System | Android 14, up to 5 major Android upgrades |
| 💻 Chipset | Mediatek Dimensity 7300 (4 nm) |
| 🖥️ CPU | Octa-core (4×2.5 GHz Cortex-A78 & 4×2.0 GHz Cortex-A55) |
| 🎮 GPU | Mali-G615 MC2 |
| 💾 Card Slot | No |
| 💽 Internal Memory | 256GB 8GB RAM, 512GB 12GB RAM, UFS |
| 📷 Main Camera | Triple: 50 MP (wide), 10 MP (telephoto, 3x optical zoom), 13 MP (ultrawide) |
| 🌟 Camera Features | LED flash, HDR, panorama |
| 🎥 Video Recording | 4K@30fps, 1080p@30/60/120/240fps, gyro-EIS |
| 🤳 Selfie Camera | Single: 32 MP (wide) |
| 🌟 Selfie Features | HDR |
| 🎥 Selfie Video | 4K@30fps, 1080p@30/60/120fps |
| 🔊 Loudspeaker | Yes, with stereo speakers |
| 🎧 3.5mm Jack | No |
| 🌐 Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6e, tri-band |
| 📶 Bluetooth | 5.3, A2DP, LE |
| 📍 Positioning | GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO |
| 📱 NFC | Yes |
| 📻 Radio | No |
| 🔌 USB | USB Type-C 2.0 |
| 🔒 Sensors | Fingerprint (under display, optical), accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass |
| 🔌 Smart Connect | Ready For support |
| 🔋 Battery Type | 4310 mAh, non-removable |
| ⚡ Charging | 68W wired, 15W wireless |
| 🎨 Colors | Nautical Blue, Latte, Grisaille, Poinciana |
| 💰 Price | ₹ 23,800 / £ 399.99 / € 349.39 |
| 🌞 Display Brightness | 1437 nits max brightness (measured) |
| 📊 Loudspeaker Quality | -24.1 LUFS (Very good) |
| 🔋 Battery Score | Active use score 13:29h |
Motorola Edge 50 Neo Design and handling
Motorola Edge 50 Neo keeps a familiar look but has some notable upgrades. It’s smaller than the previous model with a slightly reduced screen size, flat display and possibly thinner bezels. Phone is MIL-STD-810H compliant, making it resistant to extreme conditions like temperature shifts, humidity, dust and physical shocks, plus it has an IP68 rating for water and dust resistance.
Back is made of vegan leather, adding a soft, grippy texture and the compact size makes it easy to hold and use one-handed. The Edge 50 Neo comes in Pantone-approved colors: Poinciana, Latter, Grisaille, and Nautical Blue. The buttons are easily accessible, although the fingerprint reader near the bottom might feel slightly awkward.
There’s a single SIM slot with eSIM support as an alternative. Overall, the Edge 50 Neo is well-built, portable, and has a stylish design likely to catch attention.
Motorola Edge 50 Neo Key Features
- Display: The Edge 50 Neo offers an upgraded 6.4-inch LTPO OLED screen with 120Hz refresh rate, HDR10+, and 10-bit color depth. It reaches 1,473 nits in auto mode for bright outdoor use.
- Battery: Although the battery is reduced to 4,310mAh, it delivers strong battery life thanks to efficient hardware, giving around 13.5 hours of active use.
- Charging: Supports 68W fast charging, reaching 80% in 30 minutes with an optional TurboPower charger.
- Durability: The Edge 50 Neo is MIL-STD-810H and IP68 certified, making it resistant to water, dust, and extreme conditions.
- Design: The Neo has a vegan leather back and compact design, making it comfortable for one-handed use. It’s available in Pantone-approved colors like Poinciana and Nautical Blue.
- Audio: Features a solid stereo speaker setup with clear sound quality and a “Very Good” loudness score.
Software and Performance
Motorola Edge 50 Neo runs Android 14 with Motorola’s Hello UI, which keeps things close to a simple, stock Android feel. Motorola promises this phone will get five major Android updates and security patches for five years, making it a solid long-term option.
One highlight is Motorola’s “Ready For” feature, which lets you connect to a bigger screen—both wirelessly and with a cable—creating a desktop-like experience that’s rare on phones in this price range.
The Edge 50 Neo uses the MediaTek Dimensity 7300 chip, which is efficient but falls behind stronger Snapdragon processors in benchmarks. It performs smoothly in most areas but can lag a bit in the camera app. Storage options include 8GB/256GB and 12GB/512GB, though both use the slower UFS 2.0 standard. However, the chip runs cool and stable, so even in stress tests, the device doesn’t overheat.
Camera
Motorola Edge 50 Neo has a versatile triple-camera setup with a 50MP main, a 10MP telephoto, and a 13MP ultrawide camera. Here’s a simplified breakdown of the camera performance:
- Main Camera (50MP): Good in daylight, with sharp details and adequate dynamic range. Photos sometimes look overly contrasty due to inconsistent HDR. The Enhanced mode can add more vibrancy but isn’t consistent.
- Telephoto Camera (10MP, 3x Zoom): Sharp in bright light but struggles in shadows and indoors, with some softness and noise.
- Ultrawide Camera (13MP): Decent detail but tends to be dark with high contrast. It also supports close-up shots with autofocus, offering fairly detailed macro photos.
- Selfie Camera (32MP): Produces lively images with good dynamic range, keeping faces well-exposed even in challenging light. However, HDR may make faces appear slightly glowy or reddish.
Cameras perform well in daylight but have some limitations with HDR and in low-light conditions. The camera app can be slow, especially when switching lenses or shooting at night.
Motorola Edge 50 Neo Pros and Cons
| ✅Pros | ❌Cons |
|---|---|
| 👜 Compact and easy to hold | 📸 Camera quality can be inconsistent |
| 🌟 Bright LTPO OLED screen | 🐢 Camera app is slow |
| 🔋 Good battery life, fast charging | ⚡ Better chipsets available at this price |
| 📷 Versatile camera with 3x zoom | ❌ |
| 📱 Clean Android with 5 years of updates | ❌ |
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Conclusion
Motorola Edge 50 Neo has limited competition among small-screen phones, making it stand out. It offers features like a telephoto camera and wireless charging which are rare for its size. It also has a high-quality LTPO OLED display, fast charging and long battery life. Plus, design is comfortable to hold with a soft, grippy finish.
However, if you’re not specifically interested in a compact phone, you might find better options at a similar price. Edge 50 Neo’s performance and camera quality didn’t meet expectations.
