advantage
- 144MHz AMOLED display
- thin and light
- decent performance
- price payable
- No bloatware
cons
- No MicroSD storage expansion
- moderate battery life
- Cameras could do better in low light
Costing Β£379.99 in the UK, Motorola edge 30 it’s an affordable mid-range phone, although some compromises have been made to reach this price point.
When it comes to looks, the Moto Edge 30 punches above its weight. It’s available in a single color, which Motorola calls Meteor Grey, although it’s actually more of a bluish hue. The back is plastic rather than glass, but it still tends to leave finger marks.
The 6.5-inch display is housed in slim bezels and the phone measures 159.38mm tall and 74.236mm wide. That results in a claimed screen-to-body ratio of 87.6%, though calculated at 86.2%. The Edge 30 weighs 155g and has an extremely slim profile of just 6.79mm.
This obviously means that the rear camera bump sticks out significantly, leading to desktop instability when the screen is pressed. Motorola provides a clear plastic bumper that, while obscuring the Meteor Gray livery, provides protection and stability. The ingress of dust and water is prevented, to a certain extent, thanks to a IP52 (‘protected against dust’ and resistant to ‘dripping water’).
The 6.5-inch Motorola Edge 30 has a 144 MHz AMOLED screen and three rear cameras: 50 MP wide angle, 50 MP ultra wide angle and 2 MP depth. It runs on Qualcomm’s mid-range Snapdragon 778G+ 5G chipset with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage. There is no MicroSD card slot for storage expansion. Images: Sandra Vogel/ZDNet
The screen is the most impressive feature of this phone. It’s a 6.5-inch AMOLED display with FHD+ resolution (2400 x 1080, 20:9, 405ppi), HDR10+ support, and a maximum refresh rate of 144Hz. This can be set to always on, or you can opt by 60 Hz at all times, or let the phone handle the refresh rate automatically. I found the screen to be clear and crisp in auto mode. There is an in-display fingerprint sensor.
Unfortunately, the speakers are not up to par with the screen in terms of quality. They produce a lot of volume, but the audio is quite weak and lacks bass tones. There is no 3.5mm headphone jack.
There are three cameras on the rear: 50MP f/1.8 wide angle with OIS; 50MP f/2.2 ultra wide angle (118Β°); and a 2MP f/2.4 depth sensor. It can record 4K video at 30fps, 1080p video at up to 120fps, and 720p video at up to 960fps. The front camera is a 32MP f/2.25 unit that can shoot 4K video at 30fps.
The test photos I took were passable for everyday snaps, and the front camera, located at the top center of the screen, takes pretty good selfies. My limited night time testing revealed some weaknesses, with highlights being overexposed and brighter areas, and darker areas underexposed.
The Motorola Edge 30 works with Qualcomm’s mid-range Snapdragon 778G+ 5G chipset with 8GB of RAM. This platform became geekbench 5 CPU scores of 819 (single core) and 2843 (multi core). That’s quite respectable, given that latest generation phones It currently scores around 1000 and 3500 respectively. Edge will accommodate two Nano-SIMs, but there’s no support for a MicroSD card to boost the 111GB ββof storage left behind when the operating system has taken its share of the installed 128GB. Motorola offers a refreshing and light touch android 12 install without bloatware.
The Edge 30’s 4,020 mAh battery kept the phone going for just 7 hours and 22 minutes under the PC Mark for Android Work 3.0 battery life Test. The 33W ‘TurboPower 33’ charger is no match for the 150W chargers in leading flagship phones, but you’ll need to keep it on hand for daytime top-ups if you have demanding workloads.
Motorola’s Edge 30 is something of a mixed bag. It’s very thin and light, with the 144MHz AMOLED display being the star of the show, along with decent mid-range performance. It looks smart enough, though the build quality reflects its affordable price. Other pros and cons include a lack of MicroSD storage expansion, moderate battery life, and so-so cameras, especially in low-light conditions.
Motorola Edge 30 Specifications
| operating system | android 12 |
| chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G+ 5G |
| RAM | 8GB |
| Storage | 128GB |
| MicroSD card slot | No |
| Display | 6.5-inch AMOLED |
| Resolution | FHD+ (2400 x 1080, 20:9, 405ppi) |
| Colors | 1.07 billion (10-bit color) |
| Update frequency | 144Hz |
| HDR | HDR10+ |
| color range | DCI-P3 |
| Dimensions | 159.38mm x 74.24mm x 6.79mm (6.28 x 2.92 x 0.27in) |
| Weight | 155g |
| Dust and water resistance | IP52 |
| Screen-to-body ratio (claimed) | 87.60% |
| Port | USB-C |
| SIM | 2x Nano SIM |
| networks | 2G GSM, 3G UMTS/HSPA, 4G LTE, 5G (sub-6GHz) |
| Wifi | Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax, 2.4GHz/5GHz/6GHz) |
| Bluetooth | 5.2 |
| NFC | Yes |
| Location | GPS, AGPS, LTEPP, SUPL, GLONASS, Galileo |
| Audio | 2x speakers, 2x microphones |
| 3.5mm headphone jack | No |
| rear cameras | 50MP f/1.8 wide angle (OIS) β’ 50MP f/2.2 ultra wide angle (118Λ) β’ 2MP f/2.4 depth |
| Frontal camera | 32MP f/2.25 |
| battery capacity | 4200mAh |
| Battery life (claimed) | 32.7 hours |
| charging | Turbo Power 33 |
| In the frame | Edge 30 headset, 33W TurboPower charger, USB-C cable, guides, SIM tool, protective case |
| Price | Β£379.99 |
Alternatives to consider
As the cost of living rises, many smartphone buyers are shifting their focus from expensive flagships to budget, mid-range phones. There is an ever-increasing range of options at lower prices β here are three main contenders.
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