Motorola Edge 50 Ultra review: A budget-friendly flagship with a few surprises

The Motorola Edge 50 Ultra is a unique-looking device with some features that make it a strong contender in a sea of flagships.

The woody finish of Motorola Edge 50 Ultra makes it a centre of attention wherever you take it. (Image: Bijin Jose/The Indian Express)

At a time when smartphone brands are reeling under saturation in terms of design innovation, Motorola has come up with a unique device — the Motorola Edge 50 Ultra. The name Ultra for major brands carries some weight, as these phones are usually the company’s best offering, accompanied by a heavy price tag. The Ultra phones typically bring the best hardware and software, which justifies the price. 

Contrastingly, Motorola’s new Edge 50 Ultra redefines what it means to be Ultra with some premium features being offered at an accessible price. I have been using the Motorola Edge 50 Ultra for two weeks now, here’s a deeper dive into the experience to let you know if the device is actually an ultra device in terms of features and functionalities. 

Unboxing and design

This was a unique experience as the moment I opened the box, a waft of cool scent akin to sweet ocean mist hit the air. The cologne-like scent was refreshing and had stuck to the device for a few days. The box had the usual literature, a 125 W turbocharger with a Type C charging cable. The device comes in three shades of Forest Grey, Nordic Wood, and Peach Fuzz. Our review unit is the Nordic Wood edition.

The Motorola Edge 50 Ultra has a thin profile, it feels great on the hands.(Image: Bijin Jose/The Indian Express)

The Motorola Edge 50 Ultra has a design much similar to its predecessor, with a similar size and silhouette. What I found to be particularly striking was the wooden finish, although not real, this one is a close imitation. One could feel the wood, holding it felt smooth and premium. 

At 200 gram, I felt the new Edge 50 Ultra managed to keep the weight in check as it felt feather-light. It feels sturdy owing to the curved front and back supported by an aluminium chassis. Compared to recent flagships from other brands, this one feels light and comes with incredible haptic feedback. The device also features the IP68 rating for water and dust resistance and Corning Gorilla Glass protection on the display. This is a saviour, as I was relatively carefree during the recent Delhi rains. 

Immersive display

The display is a 6.7-inch pOLED panel that offers a resolution of 2712×1220 pixels and a spectacular viewing experience. The screen supports HDR10+ and boasts a 10-bit colour depth. Motorola claims that the display is capable of showing over a billion shades of colour. This makes it ideal for streaming videos and other OTT content.

Impressive display on the Motorola Edge 50 Ultra. (Image: Bijin Jose/The Indian Express)

One shortfall is that the device lacks HDR support for Netflix, and is a noticeable omission as the brand claims it to be an ‘Ultra’ device. It features a 1.5 K resolution, with a 144 Hz refresh rate and a peak brightness of 2,500 nits which makes a highly legible display under direct sunlight. The 144 Hz refresh rate made the device super snappy, with smooth scrolling across all apps, and it also enhanced the gaming experience on the device.

The peak brightness of up to 2,500 nits makes the display highly legible under direct sunlight. (Image: Bijin Jose/The Indian Express)

The Motorola Edge 50 Ultra comes with Dolby Atmos which offers an enriching sound experience. The dual stereo speakers are outstanding as they offer a perfect balance of sound be it for music or watching movies. The phone also supports spatial audio and hi-res audio making it perfect for those who prefer to use their TWS earphones. 

On the camera front, the device comes with a 50 MP main camera, a 50 M ultra-wide/macro lens, a 64 MP OIS-backed telephoto lens on the rear panel, and a 50 MP front camera. The device is capable of stable 4 K video recording and comes with Pantone validation which ensures accurate skin tones in images. 

Sample Image (Image: Bijin Jose/The Indian Express)

Sample Image (Image: Bijin Jose/The Indian Express)

Sample Image (Image: Bijin Jose/The Indian Express)

Sample Image (Image: Bijin Jose/The Indian Express)

The camera performance is good as I got to click some eye-pleasing photos. It has 1x, 3x, and 6x zoom with clean images. The portrait mode has four settings 25 mm, 35 mm, 50 mm, and 80 mm. The camera produces rich images with incredible details. Moreover, features like AI Zoom, Long Exposure, Magic Eraser, and Bokeh, make the photography experience cool. However, the night mode is passable. 

Performance

The new Motorola Edge 50 Ultra is powered by the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 and 12 GB of LPDDR5X RAM (expandable with an additional 12 GB through RAM Boost 3.0). The chipset is very powerful with an AnTuTu benchmark score of around 15 lakh. While this is not the most powerful chipset for the price, at the same time it does justice to its ultra tag with a powerful performance. You can jump from one app to another with ease. Be it video recording or gaming, I did not face any heating issues thanks to its vapour chamber thermal system. 

Although not a gaming phone, gaming experience on the Motorola Edge 50 Ultra is incredible. (Image: Bijin Jose/The Indian Express)

The device only comes in a 12 GB RAM and 512 GB storage option and features Android 14 supported by Motorola’s proprietary Hello UI which is a notable upgrade compared to Motorola’s older MY UX/UI. It has great animations with eye-catching icons. It sports a USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type C port which has multiple purposes, as one could charge the device, or even mirror it on another display via a cable, or transfer data to and fro from external storage devices instantly, etc. 

AI features on Motorola Edge 50 Ultra

This Motorola device comes with features like Magic Canvas under its Moto AI which allows you to create images from text prompts. Another feature is Style Sync, which allows you to use the design and patterns in your surroundings to create wallpapers. Moto SmartConnect is a feature that allows you to connect your device as a small window on your laptop allowing you to open apps from your phone using a keyboard and mouse.

The device comes with a 4500 mAh battery supported by a 125 W Turbopower charger. The Edge 50 Fusion came with a 5000 mAh battery, however, with the turbopower charger, the Edge 50 Ultra is fully charged in under 30 minutes. It also has 50 W wireless charging and even a 10 W power sharing. This made it easy for me to charge my iPhone. The call quality and connectivity were top-notch.

Verdict

The Motorola Edge 50 Ultra is compelling as a whole package as the device delivers premium features. Although the processor is not top-tier, I feel it’s a combination of innovative design, powerful performance, advanced camera features, and some vibrant AI features. The device is ideal for those looking for a flagship experience at an accessible price. The Motorola Edge 50 Ultra is a solid smartphone