The Motorola Edge 50 Neo could rival the Samsung Galaxy A55 as the best cheap phone of 2024

Date:
Thu, 29 Aug 2024 16:00:00 +0000

Description:
Motorola has launched the Motorola Edge 50, the Edge 50 Neo, the Moto G55 5G, and the Moto G35 5G.

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To say Motorola has had a busy year is something of an understatement. After launching the Google Pixel-rivaling Motorola Edge 50 Fusion , Edge 50 Pro and Edge 50 Ultra back in April, the Lenovo-owned smartphone maker turned its attention to foldables with the excellent Motorola Razr 2024 and Razr Plus 2024 .

Almost all of those devices sit at the sharper end of the price spectrum, but now Motorola is bolstering its mid-range and budget offering with four yes, four new smartphones: the Motorola Edge 50, the Edge 50 Neo, the Moto G55
5G, and the Moto G35 5G.

The first two of that quartet are positioned as more affordable alternatives to Motorolas flagship Edge 50 devices, but theyre no less attractive on the specs front (nor on the aesthetic front, given Motorola's ongoing collaboration with color specialists Pantone). In fact, based on what weve seen of the two new phones so far, the Motorola Edge 50 Neo, in particular, could be among the best cheap phones of 2024.

For starters, the Edge 50 Neos 399.99 price undercuts that of the Samsung Galaxy A55 (439 / AU$699) and Google Pixel 8a ($499 / 499 / AU$849), and Motorola's phone also offers more base storage than both of those models (256GB instead of 128GB). The Motorola Edge 50 Neo in Pantone Nautical Blue (Image credit: Motorola)

The Edge 50 Neo boasts a potentially Samsung and Pixel-beating camera setup, too. Youll get a 50MP main snapper, a 13MP ultra-wide camera, and a 10MP telephoto snapper on Motorolas latest mid-ranger, with the first of that number being an AI-packed Sony LYTIA sensor.

Granted, the Pixel 8a is one of the best AI phones money can buy in 2024 and its unlikely that Motorolas Moto AI software can lay a finger on Googles excellent AI feature suite but you do at least get a cold, hard telephoto sensor on the Edge 50 Neo, which is something that both the Galaxy A55 and Pixel 8a miss out on. Its worth noting that last years Motorola Edge 40 Neo didnt have a telephoto sensor, either.

Cameras aside, the Edge 50 Neo gets a 6.4-inch pOLED display with an adaptive refresh rate of up to 120Hz and a peak brightness of 3,000 nits. Again, that latter figure bests the peak brightness offered by both the Galaxy A55 and
the Pixel 8a, though if youre not a fan of compact phones, you may be better off with the 6.7-inch (though more expensive) Motorola Edge 50, or indeed the 6.6-inch Galaxy A55.

Under the hood, the Edge 50 Neo sports a MediaTek Dimensity 7300 chipset and
a 4,310mAh battery. Thats the same mid-range chipset as youll find in the
Oppo Reno 12 Pro, and while you shouldnt expect it to deliver blazing performance, we found it to be a perfectly sufficient power source for everyday scrolling, streaming, and light gaming in our Oppo Reno 12 Pro
review .

You do, however, get a larger and potentially longer-lasting battery in Oppos comparably priced Reno model, as well as faster wired charging (80W versus the Edge 50 Neos 68W). That said, the Edge 50 Neo boasts 15W wireless charging, which is a rarity at this price point. Differentiating the Edge 50 series The Motorola Edge 50 Neo series (left) and Motorola Edge 50 series (right) (Image credit: Future)

As for the differences between the Edge 50 Neo and its standard sibling, the Edge 50, the latter phone boasts a larger 5,000mAh battery and an arguably superior Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 chipset. The issue? That device costs 499 (UK pricing has yet to be confirmed), which puts it in the awkward no man's land between mid-range and flagship. By contrast, the Edge 50 Neo is more attractively priced alongside its mid-range competition, and its also the
only phone in the Edge 50 line to offer five years of OS and security upgrades.

In any case, youve now got five Motorola Edge 50 phones to choose from in 2024. That sounds like a lot, but with single configurations and prices for almost every model, Motorola argues that its mobile product offering is actually smaller (read: more accessible) than that of, say, Samsung, which makes each of its phones available in a multitude of configurations.

Were currently putting the Edge 50 Neo as well as the standard Edge 50 and the aforementioned (though decidedly lower-spec) Moto G55 5G and Moto G35 5G through its paces for a full review, so stay tuned to TechRadar for our verdict on Motorola's latest phone. You might also like The best Motorola phones 2024: top Moto smartphones for you Motorola Moto G54 5G review : try and find a better phone for the money Motorola Razr Plus 2024 review : taking cool just a bit too far



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/phones/motorola-phones/the-motorola-edge-50-neo-coul d-rival-the-samsung-galaxy-a55-as-the-best-cheap-phone-of-2024


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