Motorola Edge 40 review

Chances are you’ll not know that Motorola telephones are made by Lenovo as of late, or owned by Lenovo anyway. Both approach, it’s a great factor.

Google purchased Motorola’s telephone division in 2012 however did nearly nothing good with it. Simply two years later it bought the well-known firm to Lenovo.

Quick ahead to 2023 and we now get good smartphones from Motorola, such because the Edge 40 I’ve reviewed right here as its predecessor. the Edge 30. The Android market wants strong competitors to maintain units attention-grabbing and well-priced, and the Edge 40 is definitely each of these issues.

It’s a well-designed, impressively light-weight telephone with high quality software program, a stunning display, and good battery life. However at £529.99/€599 within the UK, the cameras are inferior to, say, the Google Pixel 7a, and with solely three years of software program help, Motorola is lagging behind direct rival corporations.

That value can be a big value rise in comparison with 2022’s £379 Motorola Edge 30 – although that telephone had a less expensive plastic development and worse cameras than the newer Edge 40.

All of it means the Edge 40 is an effective telephone, and one I can advocate, nevertheless it’s shy of being an incredible one.

Design & construct

• Vegan leather-based end
• Amazingly light-weight
• Very slim

One of many Edge 40’s greatest traits is its design. It’s so mild that once I first picked it up I believed it could be a dummy unit with no inside parts. It’s solely a feather shorter than the Pixel 7 Professional however is a really noticeable 45g lighter than Google’s telephone at simply 167g.

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

It makes the Edge 40 one of many lightest telephones I’ve utilized in a very long time, all of the extra spectacular given this isn’t a small telephone. It has a 6.55in display however is slim and light-weight sufficient to simply use one-handed for lots of duties. At 7.6mm, it’s extremely skinny.

Should you go for the black or inexperienced model of the Edge 40, you get a soft-feel vegan leather-based again. I examined the black one, and it feels beautiful whereas hiding all however the greasiest of fingerprints. It additionally covers the digicam module.

There’s a blue mannequin for those who would favor a shiny acrylic again (it’s not glass). All fashions have an aluminium body, however I may have accomplished with out ‘Dolby Atmos’ being printed on the highest edge. All of the regulatory writing and ‘Made in China’ textual content is crammed onto the underside edge across the port and speaker too, leaving the again freed from this typical blemish.

The telephone is absolutely water and mud proof with an IP68 ranking, which is rare at this value level. Haptics are additionally nice, with little sharp vibrating pips for the keyboard suggestions, the place different mid-range telephones usually rattle cheaply like an previous tin can.

Display screen & audio system

• Sharp 144Hz OLED
• 6.55in
• Punchy full audio system

The Edge 40 has a giant, shiny, curved 6.55in OLED show that I loved utilizing. It’s properly calibrated out of the field, however you’ll be able to fiddle with the settings for a extra pure or saturated tone.

It’s a Full HD+ panel with a 2400 x 1080 decision. Textual content and pictures look pin sharp, and the display has a uncommon 144Hz refresh price, greater than the 120Hz discovered on the Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely or iPhone 14 Professional. However in contrast to these flagship shows it will probably’t scale right down to 1Hz to avoid wasting battery – you’ll be able to set both 60-, 120-, or 144Hz, or an auto mode that bounce between 60- to 120Hz.

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

Add to that, help for HDR10+ movies and a zippy 360Hz contact sampling price, it is a good high quality, responsive display.

Whereas many tech reviewers abhor curved screens, I don’t thoughts them. They make giant telephones really feel extra manageable in your hand, and it is smart with Android telephones the place you’re continuously swiping inwards on both facet to make use of the ‘again’ gesture, serving to your thumb glide inwards.

The stereo audio system produce surprisingly full audio contemplating the slender telephone itself. Enjoying music at full quantity on Spotify doesn’t distort, and the system is nice for gaming though my proper hand blocked the down-firing speaker on the underside of the system when taking part in panorama video games.

Specs & efficiency

• MediaTek Dimensity 8020
• 8GB RAM, 256GB storage
• Excellent efficiency

The telephone runs on the MediaTek Dimensity 8020 chipset. When operating benchmarks, it is a strong upper-mid-range chip that outstrips telephones such because the Pixel 7a with its Google Tensor G2 and Samsung Galaxy A54 with its Samsung Exynos 1380.

It even holds its personal towards the £899 Pixel 7 Professional, which additionally makes use of the Tensor G2.

In day-to-day use, I didn’t really feel the Edge 40 was a significant downgrade from flagship telephones with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 such because the OnePlus 11. It by no means floor to a halt on me and coped properly with demanding cell video games Name of Responsibility Cell and Asphalt 9. On the previous, I performed a number of rounds in a row with the gaming-specific efficiency mode on and the telephone didn’t get too heat, despite the fact that it warns you it’d.

Meaning the 8GB LPDDRX4 RAM and the 256GB UFS 3.1 storage is quick sufficient to maintain issues transferring. There’s no microSD enlargement and just one bodily SIM slot, however you’ll be able to add a second eSIM.

Connectivity is prime spec, too, with WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2, NFC for cell funds, and 5G help.

Though the worth is mid-range, the specs and efficiency of the Edge 40 make it really feel like a extra premium, costly system.

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

Digital camera & video

• Foremost 50Mp f/1.4 sensor
• Strong however oversharpens
• Ultrawide and selfie cams serviceable

The dearer Motorola Edge 40 Professional has triple rear cameras, however on the Edge 40, you lose the optical telephoto lens and are left with two on the rear. These primary and ultrawide sensors are good, however not nice. If you’d like the perfect telephone digicam for this value, there are higher choices.

The Edge 40’s primary digicam is a 50Mp f/1.4 sensor. That is an impressively quick aperture for a smartphone digicam and means it permits extra mild with a view to enhancing low mild images outcomes.

In a nutshell, the Pixel 7a has a greater digicam than the Edge 40 and prices much less. However for those who want the design on the Motorola you ought to be happy with the principle sensor, notably in broad daylight. Photographs are sharp and colors pop properly, although for those who zoom in there’s not plenty of element. Outcomes are additionally normally over-sharpened, lending the photographs a little bit of a harsh tone that isn’t true to life.

The ultrawide digicam is serviceable however the high quality dips because it’s utilizing a 13Mp f/2.2 digicam with a 120-degree area of view. Zoom in and also you’ll see a good bit of noise, nevertheless it’s completely good for capturing landscapes or becoming in additional of a scene you’re up near. It may also be used to shoot up shut with a macro mode that works properly.

A 32Mp f/2.4 entrance dealing with digicam is sort of good for fast selfies and group photographs or video calls – all you’ll seemingly want it for, in spite of everything.

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

Battery life & charging

• A full day’s energy
• Quick charger in field
• Wi-fi charging

Battery life on the Edge 40 is fairly first rate. The 4400mAh cell lasted me a complete day persistently with no points however did have a tendency to empty fairly shortly once I was utilizing it lots. That’s to be anticipated, however I discovered it somewhat erratic.

It’s definitely not a two-day telephone on one cost, and it solely lasted eight hours and 51 minutes in our commonplace battery take a look at – however in actual life, it’s higher than that.

There’s a 68W charging brick and cable within the field, not at all times a given in 2023. I received it to cost to 47% in quarter-hour from flat, which could be very fast. In half-hour, it was at 87%. It is a whole lot quicker than the Galaxy S23 sequence and the Pixel 7 sequence in a telephone that prices much less.

It can also wirelessly cost at 15W, and I received it charging efficiently on a number of Qi charging pads, together with Apple’s MagSafe charging puck. There’s no reverse wi-fi charging to prime up different peripherals off the again of the system.

Software program & updates

• Glorious, considerate software program options
• Solely two years of Android updates
• Solely three years of safety updates

I’m annoyed by the software program of the Edge 40, however not in the best way you may anticipate. Actually, that is amongst my favorite flavours of Android you will get your palms on. It’s expressive with out altering an excessive amount of, and Motorola provides helpful issues that even Google Pixel telephones don’t have.

Probably the most annoying factor is Moto is simply giving this telephone two years of Android software program updates and simply three years of safety patches.

Google provides three years and 5 years respectively, whereas Samsung gives 4 and 5. Persons are, rightly, holding onto their telephones longer now, and for a telephone that prices greater than £500/€500, Motorola needs to be doing much better than two OS updates.

I just like the Moto-only font the telephone ships with, however you’ll be able to change it within the settings together with a ton of different belongings you’d anticipate to have the ability to tinker with given that is an Android telephone.

I notably love the considerate touches similar to PIN pad scramble that randomly scrambles the place of the numbers each time you enter your lock display PIN quantity so potential thieves and fraudsters can’t work out your PIN shortly from glancing on the typical place of the numbers.

You too can open the digicam with a fast double flick of the wrist, whereas a double chop activates the torch.

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

Worth & availability

The Motorola Edge 40 prices £529.99/€599, obtainable within the UK and a number of other European nations.

Within the UK you should buy it direct from Motorola or John Lewis.

In Europe it’s obtainable direct from Motorola.

This places it in direct competitors with fellow Android telephones the £449/€509 Google Pixel 7a and £449/€499 Samsung Galaxy A54. I’d choose the Edge 40 over the A54 however would select the Pixel over the Edge 40 for Google’s mixture of superior digicam and software program help.

You may additionally wish to pay somewhat extra to get the common £599/€649 Google Pixel 7 that has higher cameras nonetheless, or lower your expenses and get the superb £369/€399 all-rounder OnePlus Nord 2T.

Verdict

The Motorola Edge 40 is an effective telephone at an affordable value. The vegan leather-backed model is likely one of the most tasty and good feeling telephones I’ve ever used, all of the extra improved by its extremely slim and light-weight construct.

Intelligent software program additions such because the gestures for opening the digicam or the peek show to make use of the always-on operate to preview or open notifications actually add worth to Android and are a great purpose to select this telephone over others in its value vary.

It’s irritating that the telephone will solely get two Android platform updates and solely get safety help till 2026. This isn’t lengthy sufficient when the telephone can be adequate to maintain going for at the very least 5 years.

If this doesn’t trouble you then it’s a strong alternative within the mid-range market.  

Specs

• 6.55in, FHD+, 144Hz pOLED show 
• MediaTek Dimensity 8020
• 8GB RAM 
• 256GB storage 
• 4400mAh battery 
• 68W wired charging 
• 15W wi-fi charging 
• Cameras: 
  • 50Mp, f/1.4 OIS primary digicam 
  • 13Mp, f/2.2 ultrawide digicam 
  • 32Mp, f/2.2 selfie digicam 
• IP68 
• 158.4 x 72 x 7.6 mm 
• 167g 
• Android 13