Motorola is getting back in the smartphone game in a big way with the debut of the 2022 Edge Plus, a new flagship smartphone with specs that will give Samsung and Google a run for their money.
Notably, this includes the same Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor and X65 5G modem found in Samsung’s latest Galaxy S22 series. Motorola is making it clear that it wants to keep moving beyond its focus on midrange and budget Android smartphones.
Motorola made an attempt to jump back into the flagship market two years ago with the 2020 Edge Plus, however that device largely failed to make much of a mark in a landscape that was already dominated by a wealth of other options. The venerable smartphone maker isn’t giving up, however, and this year’s Edge Plus update promises to be a serious contender.
What’s new in the 2022 Edge Plus
On the outside, the 2022 Moto Edge Plus features a 6.7-inch pOLED display that’s capable of 2400 x 1080 FHD+ resolution with support for HDR10+. While that’s not much different from its predecessor, this one gets a nice boost to a 144Hz refresh rate. It’s also backed up by Qualcomm’s Adreno GPU, making it a smartphone that will particularly appeal to gamers.
The rear triple-lens camera also looks largely the same on the outside, although Motorola has given it a larger oval camera bump, likely to accommodate bigger and more sophisticated sensors.
Motorola has made some pretty significant changes to the rear camera specs. Rather than a main 108-megapixel camera accompanied by a 16MP ultrawide lens, you’re getting two 50MP sensor, for handling everything from ultrawide shots to extreme close-ups. The third sensor isn’t necessarily a camera that you’ll shoot with, but rather a depth camera sensor to provide data for the advanced computational photography features.
Motorola also promises the camera will deliver 32 times more focusing pixels, for faster performance even under lowlight conditions. And the 50MP cameras offer enough extra pixels to take advantage of four cells merge output, which combines four pixels into a single massive “ultra pixel” for better lowlight photography.
The new camera system also supports video capture at resolutions of up to 8K UHD at 24 frames per second (fps), and 4K at a full 60 fps. Slow-motion videos are capped at FHD resolutions, but support frame rates of up to 960 fps.
For connectivity, the Snapdragon X65 in the Edge Plus should offer the same 5G performance as this year’s other flagship smartphones, including support for ultrafast mmWave bands. Motorola is also offering Wi-Fi 6E, letting those with compatible routers take advantage of the faster and less congested 6GHz wireless frequencies.
The Edge Plus also packs in a 4,800 mAh battery, which Motorola promises will allow for full 5G speeds without sacrificing performance. The company didn’t offer any estimates on how much battery life we can expect, so we’ll have to wait until we get our hands on one and put it through its paces, which should allow us to provide some more real-world numbers.
The Edge Plus also supports 30-watt TurboPower fast wired charging, and the more typical 15W Qi wireless performance. It can also reverse charge other accessories at up to 5W speeds.
The Edge Plus also has a smart stylus/folio accessory that can be purchased separately, though it may ship with some devices depending on regional availability. Like the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, the stylus can be used for navigating, editing, highlighting, and more. The folio will offer a place to store and charge the stylus, though reverse wireless charging will need to be turned on.
Lastly, Motorola is also the first smartphone maker to support the new Snapdragon Spaces XR Developer Platform. When tethered to the Lenovo A3 ThinkReality smart glasses, developers will be able to create new immersive experiences powered by the Edge Plus.
When’s it coming?
The new Motorola Edge Plus will be available in Cosmos Blue and Stardust White, and it’s coming to all the usual retailers like Best Buy and Amazon.com, as well as Motorola.com, of course. Verizon customers will also be able to get it at launch for a limited-time price of $900, and it will be coming to Boost Mobile and Republic Wireless in the coming months.
Outside the U.S., the Motorola Edge Plus will be known as the Motorola Edge 30 Pro when it launches in select markets in Latin America, India, the Middle East, Asia, and Europe.
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