Motorola takes its partnership with Pantone beyond design with display and camera calibration from the iconic color specialist
(Image credit: Motorola)
Motorola has announced its Edge 50 Fusion, Edge 50 Pro, and Edge 50 Ultra, three sleek smartphones with curved screens, striking style, and the freshest Moto cameras around. In addition to the phones, the company's partnership with Pantone across both screen and camera colour calibration is also noteworthy, and the Edge 50 Pro and Ultra also offer Google's auto-enhance photo processing in-camera for automatically pumped-up shots.
Motorola has long been a reliable choice for anyone looking for excellent value, especially when it comes to design, display, and performance. However, its smartphone cameras have struggled to compete above the $/£350 mark with stiff competition from the likes of Nothing, OnePlus and Redmi.
Having spent some time with the Edge 50 Pro, it looks like Moto's photo processing has taken a step in the right direction and embraced computational photography with a degree of finesse. Our Motorola Edge 50 Pro review is in the works, so check back for that in the coming days, but for now, let's deep-dive into the Edge 50 Series in a bit more detail...
(Image credit: Motorola)
Motorola Edge 50 Ultra
Whichever Motorola Edge 50 you pick up, in the display settings is a color mode that's Pantone Validated, and it's aptly called Natural. If you do opt for the Ultra, its display is a 6.7-inch 1220p panel with a crisp 446 pixel-per-inch pixel density, making it relatively large and as sharp as it needs to be.
With its silky 144Hz refresh rate, the Edge 50 Ultra's screen is smoother than any mainstream flagship while also competing with 10-bit and 100% P3 color and a peak brightness of 2,500 nits.
Flip the phone around, and if you pick up the Peach Fuzz or Nordic Wood options, you're in for some standout styling, and it's also available in a more traditional Forest Grey color. All three color options are IP68 water and dust resistant.
(Image credit: Motorola)
Also around the back is the Edge 50 Ultra's triple camera system, with a 50MP main camera, a 50MP ultra-wide camera, and a 64MP periscope telephoto camera.
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The main camera's spec is most impressive with its 1/1.3-inch sensor size and f/1.6 aperture, while the ultra-wide camera's party trick is autofocus, so it can capture macro shots. As for the telephoto camera, its 3x zoom reach and f/2.4 aperture should combine to make it well-suited to portraits and product shots.
Motorola's also got high-resolution selfies covered with the front camera's 50MP sensor matched with an f/1.9 aperture, and whichever camera you use, turning on Google's auto-enhance feature will give your pictures extra polish.
Powered by the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen 3, running Android 14 and with either 512GB or 1TB storage, while the Edge 50 Ultra isn't a shoo-in for best camera phone of 2024 based on its specs, it still looks competitive and packs plenty of highlights, not least of all that optional wood finish.
Motorola Edge 50 Pro
(Image credit: Motorola)
The Edge 50 Pro dials back the spec and price without downgrading the 50 Ultra's display, packing the same 6.7-inch, 144Hz 1220p screen, it looks standout at the phone's price.
The main areas the Edge 50 Pro pares things back are the cameras and performance, with the phone's 50MP main sensor sporting a smaller 1/1.55-inch sensor size matched with a very fast f/1.4 aperture and OIS.
The Pro's ultra-wide camera has a 13MP resolution but still focuses up close to an object for macro snaps, and the 10MP telephoto camera isn't a periscope lens, but still captures with a 3x optical zoom and has OIS.
The Motorola Edge 50 Pro is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 from Qualcomm, matched with 12GB RAM and a generous 512GB storage. At its price, while it isn't too hard to find more power for less, you'll be hard-pressed to get 512GB storage in a package that looks as good as the Edge 50 Pro.
The Edge 50 Pro and Ultra both charge at up to 125W, come with high-speed chargers in the box, and also support up to 50W wireless charging.
Motorola Edge 50 Series prices and availability
The Motorola Edge 50 Ultra will be available in the UK and other European countries from mid-May for £849, approximately $1,055 / AU$1,650. The Edge 50 Pro is available right now for £599, approximately $750 / AU$1,165.
Alongside the Edge 50 Ultra and Pro, Motorola also announced a lower-cost, dual-camera Edge 50 Fusion, set to launch in mid-May for £349, approximately $435/AU$680.
With Huawei and Xiaomi achieving huge success after partnering with Leica, OnePlus and OPPO's cameras becoming amongst the best around following their partnership with Hasselblad, and Vivo's Zeiss partnership producing one of the best camera phones of 2024 – the X100 Pro – Motorola's Pantone partnership could mark a turning point for its photography cred.
Check back in the coming week for our full review of the Motorola Edge 50 Pro, with our Edge 50 Ultra review to follow in May.
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Basil Kronfli is a freelance technology journalist, consultant, and content creator. He trained in graphic design and started his career at Canon Europe before moving into journalism. Basil is also experienced in video production, independently running the YouTube channel TechEdit, and during his time at Future, he worked alongside the Digital Camera World team as a senior video producer.
