Edge without edge screen

Review: Motorola Edge 50 Neo - Affordable with a Clear Profile

The cheapest model in Motorola's new Edge series of phones stays on the right side of the line.

Erik Mörner

Published 9 October 2024 - 09:59 Modified 24 January 2025 - 17:12

What is a cheap mobile phone today and what is good value for money, I ask myself. The Motorola Edge 50 Neo gives me quite clear answers. The price tag on the phone currently stands at 7000 kronor, about half of what the flagship in the same Edge series costs. Yet it is clear that we get a lot for the money.

Has the essentials

If we rank what is most important in a mobile phone and what we can actually do without, we can pinpoint most of the important aspects in the specifications for the Motorola Edge 50 Neo. The performance is there without being anywhere near the latest and greatest. But it is sufficient. The system chip that drives the Edge 50 Neo is the Mediatek Dimensity 7300 with a clear budget character, but at the same time with performance that Motorola utilizes effectively, making the phone feel if not fast, then at least not slow. Everyday tasks like email, web browsing, social media, banking, and web surfing are of course no problem to handle.

Perhaps more important is the screen. Unlike the rest of the phones in the Edge family, it is flat and therefore does not have rounded edges. Practically speaking, this is probably mostly an advantage. Rounded edges can have an aesthetic function but rarely add any real value in practical use. Many would probably say that a flat screen like this is the best option. Even more important, of course, is the screen's quality and the fact that this is an OLED screen. OLED means that the screen has good black levels, responds quickly with good color reproduction, and is energy-efficient, features you don't get when you go further down in price.

Showed the weaknesses

I was present in a large darkened sports arena in Belgrade when Motorola launched the Edge 50 Neo, and it was there that I first got to familiarize myself with the phone and start testing it. Such a place, dark and with distant subjects, clearly showed the camera's weaknesses. We get a main camera with 50 megapixels, and we have both a telephoto lens with three times optical zoom and a wide-angle that complements it, so there's not much more to wish for. While the phone's cameras meet most of our requirements, it is painfully clear, or was clear in those challenging conditions in the darkened arena, that the top models, which cost twice as much, from Motorola and other manufacturers, provide better pictures and video right here. The Motorola Edge 50 Neo and its cameras give me nice pictures with good color reproduction in most situations, but not when more is required. However, you know yourself what you expect from your phone, and I won't say that a better camera phone is worth the investment and the double price tag compared to what you get here in the Edge 50 Neo for this reason alone.

The phone is delivered without a charger, so you'll need to buy one separately if you need it. The phone supports 68W fast charging, so invest in a charger that can handle that, and you can quickly recharge when needed. There is also support for wireless charging, and Motorola promises both water resistance according to IP68 and a full five years of Android system updates. Looking beyond practical matters and technical specifications, I want to highlight something else that the Edge series brings, and that is charm. In recent years, Motorola has increasingly emphasized soft values like color and material. Instead of glass and plastic, black, white, and gray, which are so common, we have received backings in wood fiber, in vegan leather, and now in something called vegan suede. This is probably an effect of the smartphone market maturing and the major innovations and technological leaps becoming fewer each year. The phone becomes more of an everyday accessory that should have style and suit you as a person. Motorola has taken this to heart, and the eye-catching color options are a welcome energy injection on store shelves and in web shops' lists of new phones.

An alternative

In this price range, the most attractive competitors are almost last year's flagships. They have that little extra, and Motorola themselves are often keen to sell these at heavily discounted prices. The foldable Razr 40 is currently available, for example, for just 3400 kronor.

Camera example:

Motorola does not distinguish its many phones very clearly, and the Edge 50 Neo has a lot in common camera-wise with the Edge 50 and Edge 50 Pro that we have tested earlier. They use Google Photos as the gallery app in the phone, and that app has no problem suggesting ways to improve the pictures as soon as I browse. The Edge 50 Ultra is in a class of its own, but it also costs twice as much.