Motorola Edge 50 Neo Review: A new page turned for Motorola

Motorola Edge 50 Neo Intro, Well, we have yet another Motorola Edge phone, and this time it is called the Motorola Edge 50 Neo. But as you will find out from this review, it is somewhat of a special one in Motorola's lineup, as it marks not one but two firsts for the Edge series.

Not only is the new Neo the first Edge to drop the... edge, i.e. the curved display, but it is also the first to come with 5 whole years of software support. It also comes with amazing battery life that beat even its more pricey Edge 50 Pro counterpart, and Google's latest mid-range phone.

Unfortunately, you won't find the Edge 50 Neo in the U.S. market. You will, however, be able to purchase it in countries such as the U.K. and across the rest of Europe. In the United Kingdom it will cost you £399, and in European countries it goes at approximately €479.

Motorola Edge 50 Neo

What we like

Great camera system for the price
Good performance to power efficiency ratio
5 years of software support

What we don't like

Plastic build
No charger in the box

Disclaimer: We use a new review rating system at PhoneArena, which is why the total score of all devices tested under this protocol is lower than you might be used to. We believe it's a better system, covering a number of categories and providing a holistic view of the device, and we encourage you to look at the scores in context, rather than focusing on the number. You can learn more about our PhoneArena Review Score here.

Table of Contents:

Specs
Design and Display
Camera
Performance
Software
Battery and Charging
Audio Quality and Haptics
Should you buy it?

Motorola Edge 50 Neo Specs

The Edge 50 Neo comes with a much-needed design refresh. More specifically, we are talking about the camera module at the back, which was a bit outdated on the previous model but has now been improved to be more in the rest of Motorola's Edge lineup.

The phone is also significantly shorter, a bit narrower, but a little thicker. It measures at 154.1 x 71.2 x 8.1 mm and weighs 171g. I am not sure if it is the size, or the more blocky design, but I felt very confident while handling the Edge 50 Neo. It was also very comfortable to hold.

Speaking its blocky shape, the phone now has flat sides with curved edges, much like the latest flagship phones on the market. Unlike the flagship phones though, it comes with a plastic frame, and a plastic or vegan leather back.

The volume and power buttons are easily reachable and feel tactile and satisfyingly clicky, although that's the case for most phones nowadays so we kind of expect that from Motorola at this price range.

Durability is also pretty good, with an IP68 dust and water resistance rating that is the same level you get with the most premium phones. That being said, the display is not as durable, with only Gorilla Glass 3 protecting it. But, to be fair, that is the same protection that the Pixel 8a comes with.

As for the colors, you get to pick from Nautical Blue, Latte, Grisaille, Poinciana: all certified Pantone colors. The names might seem weird to you if you are unfamiliar with Motorola's partnership with Pantone.

For the uninitiated, Pantone is a company renowned for its color matching system. They provide a standardized way to identify, communicate, and control color across various industries, including graphic design, fashion, product design, printing, and manufacturing.

Our unit comes in the Poinciana color, which is a shade of red... a shade of red that we think is not particularly appealing. We would recommend any of the other shades that the Edge 50 Neo comes with.

During the unboxing of the Edge 50 Neo you will find less goodies than one would typically expect from Motorola. While there is a case (a rather unsightly one), there is no screen protector or charger inside. Of course, you do get a USB-C charging cable and the usual documentation.

Unlike the other Motorola phones with the Edge moniker, the Edge 50 Neo does not have a curved display. Instead, it is completely flat, with uniform bezels that are thin enough to not be noticed during use.

The display itself is OLED and has a resolution of 1256 x 2760 pixels. Watching content on it is perfectly enjoyable, especially with the added bonus of zero unintentional inputs and light reflections thanks to the flat display.

The brightness was also enough to keep text readable in moments with strong direct light, although I wouldn't say it was enough for me to enjoy a video without feeling the need to reach for shade.

Display Measurements:

The Edge 50 Neo performed noticeably better than its predecessor in our display lab tests. 200 nits higher brightness might not sound like much, but it brings the new Neo into what we consider Excellent display brightness. Of course, one of its main competitors, the Pixel 8a, has an even brighter display, but Google's phones are known for excelling in that area anyway.

Biometrics are handled via an optical fingerprint scanner, which is a bit slow if you are unlocking the phone while the display is turned off — it takes about a second and a half. If the display is active, then the speed is acceptable.

Of course, you can also opt for face unlock, but if you want better protection I wouldn't recommend it. It is the quicker way to unlock the Edge 50 Neo though.

Motorola Edge 50 Neo Camera

The Edge 50 Neo's camera performance is pretty evenly spread out between the three cameras at the back and the selfie camera. That is to say that all of them gave pretty decent results during our PhoneArena Camera Score testing, without any major differences in image quality.

We don't know what algorithms Motorola is using to improve the Edge 50 Neo's image quality, but the photos that come out of each camera are far better than what we expected. There is ample detail across the whole camera system and HDR seems to be handled well with preserved details in the bright and dark areas.

The post processing can be a bit too much at times though, and the color accuracy is not consistent between the three cameras at the back. The main camera seems to lean more towards the warmer tones, while the ultra towards cooler ones.

The selfie camera was somehow one of the more impressive snappers on the Edge 50 Neo, as it handled contrast and color accuracy very well. To top it all off, the level of detail is more than enough to snap a clear image.

Video Quality

The Edge 50 Neo comes with the Dimensity 7300 processor (4nm). It is the same chip that the company uses for its budget foldable, the Motorola Razr 50 that's also known as Razr (2024) in the U.S. Depending on where you get it from, you can have 8GB or 12GB of RAM. Our unit is the latter version.

Frankly, we were caught a bit off guard with how well the Edge 50 Neo performed during gaming sessions. Even with games that were more demanding such as Genshin Impact. I also had no trouble keeping a high score in League of Legends Wild Rift, even with the graphics at higher settings.

It wasn't all rainbows and sunshine though. We did experience the occasional hiccup in the camera app, and some other apps were loading rather slowly at times. But these were rare occasions no deal-breaker.

Performance Benchmarks:

While the Edge 50 Neo matches its predecessor in terms of single-core performance, the Dimensity 7300 chip delivers higher multi-core speeds, as well as higher 3D Graphics performance. The Tensor G4 of the slightly more expensive Pixel 8a, however, demolishes it on all fronts.

Storage-wise, depending on where you are buying the Edge 50 Neo from, you can get it either in a 8/256GB configuration, or 12/512GB. In the UK it is currently only available in 8/256GB, where as in Spain it is only available in 12/512GB. Sadly, there is no microSD card slot, so what you get is what you have as far as storage goes.

Motorola Edge 50 Neo Software

The Motorola Edge 50 Neo is somewhat of a special phone for the company. Why? Well, because it is the first to come with 5 years of software support. That includes major Android updates as well as security patches. Up until now, the company's phones were infamous for their rather short software support window, but it appears the latest Neo model will serve as a turning point when it comes to that topic.

Something that spoils the good news, however, is the fact that the Edge 50 Neo comes with Android 14 out of the box, and not the latest Android 15 update. In other words, the last Android update that the phone will get is Android 19 in 2028.

As for the user experience, it is pretty much vanilla Android. Of course, all of the Motorola features that come with its Android skin are here, such as the gestures to quickly launch the camera and flashlight, which I have always been a fan of. I am also very happy to see that there is no bloatware, unlike some other phones in this price range like the Galaxy A55.

Motorola also offers the Moto app, which allows you to quickly and easily personalise your new Motorola phone. This eliminates the need to manually sift through settings to adjust everything to your liking.

Motorola Edge 50 Neo Battery

The Edge 50 Neo's battery is significantly less than the Edge 40 Neo's, going from 5000 mAh to 4310 mAh. That is, nevertheless, very comparable to the Pixel 8a, one of its competitors, which has a 4492 mAh battery.

As you can see from the results of our battery life test below, the Edge 50 Neo performs better than both the Google Pixel 8a and the model from last year, although with a smaller battery. My own experience was that the phone had an excellent battery life because it lasted me nearly two whole days on a single charge.

It goes without saying that if you want a phone that will last you the entire day and even into the next, the Motorola Edge 50 Neo is among the most dependable models available. In every one of our battery life tests, it outperforms its predecessor, its more costly counterpart, and one of its fiercest rivals.

Even with its more affordable mid-range smartphones, like the Edge 50 Neo, which has 68W of cable charging built in, Motorola currently offers some quite rapid charging speeds. There was only one occasion when I needed to top it off, but it was more than enough for me to do so.

The addition of 15W wireless charging, which sets the new Neo apart from its predecessor, is a very welcome improvement.

In our charging tests, the Edge 50 Neo takes less time to go from 1 to 100% even if it has the same wired charging speed as its predecessor due to its smaller battery. The more costly Edge 50 Pro charges at 120W, almost twice as fast, and charges substantially faster as a result.

With the right charger, the new Neo can now handle 15W of wireless charging, if that's more your style. With the prior model, that feature wasn't available.

Motorola Edge 50 Neo's Haptics and Audio Quality
We were a little taken aback by this inexpensive Android phone's audio quality. At higher volumes, we anticipated some distortion or a "tinny" sound, yet the Edge 50 Neo sounds superb regardless of the volume setting. Like most other phones, the lowest frequencies—the bass—are hardly audible, but the middle frequencies sound rich and distinct and the higher range is nicely audible.

Listening to podcasts and talking head videos on YouTube was enjoyable. Even with the two speakers' very meager bass, the music was still more than pleasurable. The fact that the audio volume was distributed more equally between the lower and top speakers—something you can't claim about many phones in this price range—was another pleasant surprise.

While haptic feedback isn't perfect, it's also not so awful that you should turn it off. If the haptics on the Edge 50 Neo were excellent enough, I would be one of those users who prefers to keep this option enabled.

Finally, as the phone lacks a 3.5mm audio connector, you will need to use Bluetooth headphones or a USB-C to 3.5mm adaptor.

Is it something you should purchase?

The Motorola Edge 50 Neo has a lot of great features if you can get past its plastic construction. This is unquestionably a well-rounded mid-range Android phone for the price Motorola is asking, with a fantastic mix of display and audio quality to satisfy your media consumption needs.

Additionally, the surprisingly powerful chipset on board allows you to play games with higher graphics settings. The phone's battery lasts longer than that of some of its primary rivals and more costly models, demonstrating its ability to preserve battery life.

With the addition of a telephoto lens, the camera system—which is crucial for many users these days—becomes even more adaptable and performs admirably all around.

The fact that Motorola finally provides extended software support—five years, to be exact—means that you can easily retain this phone for years to come and still receive new features and UI improvements with future Android updates, which really makes this a terrific choice if you are in this price bracket. (*)