Focused more on features than fashion, the Motorola Edge 50 Neo has got it where it counts.
There was a time when mid-range Android handsets were a dull and drab affair, but these days people expect their smartphones to look like a million bucks even if they cost well under a thousand.
Motorola has long offered a great mix of mid-range form and function, thanks in part to the fact that it produces several versions of its Edge series. This time around you’ve got the standard Edge 50, Edge 50 Neo, Edge 50 Fusion and Edge 50 Pro (it doesn’t look like the Edge 50 Ultra is coming to Australia).
While they’re far from ugly, the Neo models are typically a cheaper version of the standard Edge that forgoes a little of the elegance. Alternatively, the Fusion models tend to retain the standard Edge’s slick look and feel while sacrificing a few features.
So it is this year with the new $699 Motorola Edge 50 Neo, coming in $100 cheaper than the standard Edge 50. This Neo is the Australian successor to the Edge 30 Neo (considering that the Edge 40 Neo never made it to our shores).
Motorola has bumped up the price by $100 from the old Edge 30 Neo, but in return, it’s undergone a major transformation both inside and out.
Motorola Edge 50 Neo review
First impressions
The first thing you notice about the Motorola Edge 50 Neo is that it forgoes the elegant “Endless Edge” display with bevelled edges found on some of the other Edge 50 models, in favour of more traditional straight sides.
The handset is also a fraction thicker than the standard Edge 50. Flip the Neo over and it’s nice to see that it retains the curved edges on the raised camera array, although the camera array isn’t as pronounced because the Neo isn’t as thin.
The Edge 50 Neo also sports a slightly smaller screen at 6.4 inches, as opposed to the standard’s 6.7 inches, although it’s still a nice step up from the old Edge 30 Neo’s 6.28-inch screen.
A tall 20:9 aspect ratio ensures the Edge 50 Neo isn’t too wide to hold comfortably. While those straight sides aren’t as elegant as the “Endless Edge” display, they do allow you to get a better grip on the handset.
The frame is plastic rather than aluminium, and comes with a vegan leather back, once again keeping the opulence in check.
You’ll find volume buttons along the right-hand edge of the handset, above a power button placed near the middle so it’s easy to reach. The button lacks a fingerprint reader, instead it’s built into the display.
Look closely and you’ll notice the Edge 50 Neo’s side buttons stick out a fraction more than the standard’s buttons, in another area where Motorola has dialled down the elegance.
Pantone colours are a big selling point with many Motorola handsets, although the Neo’s choice of colours is a little more muted than the rest of the Edge 50 range. Like most Motorola phones, the Edge 50 Neo comes with a basic protective case, which is now colour-matched rather than transparent.
Across the bottom of the handset, you’ll find the SIM port along with USB-C but no old-school 3.5 mm headphone jack. Speakers at the top and bottom allow for Dolby Atmos stereo sound.
Power up the Motorola Edge 50 Neo and you’re faced with a very bright, super-sharp 2670×1220 pixel pOLED display – here Motorola hasn’t made any sacrifices in terms of picture quality and at 460 ppi it is actually a tad sharper than the standard Edge 50.
Interestingly, the Edge 50 Neo’s display almost doubles the HDR Peak Brightness of 3000 nits – even more than the Edge 50 Pro – to reveal greater detail in the brightest highlights and deepest shadows. As such, it’s a shame that it only supports HDR10+ video content and not Dolby Vision.
Motorola hasn’t compromised when it comes to ruggedness, retaining the standard Edge 50’s IP68 rating to ensure the Neo is dustproof and waterproof up to 1.5 metres for 30 minutes – meaning it should survive an unexpected dip.
Motorola Edge 50 Neo specs and price in Australia
| Display size | 6.4 inches, 20:9 aspect ratio |
| Display resolution | 2670×1220 pixel, 460 ppi |
| Display technology | pOLED HDR10+ 100% DCI-P3 colour space 10-bit; Over a billion shades of colour Refresh rate: 120 Hz HDR Peak Brightness: 3000 nits Touch sampling rate: 360 Hz (gaming mode) |
| Bands | 5G: sub-6 4G: LTE 3G: WCDMA 2G: GSM |
| Chipset | MediaTek Dimensity 7300 |
| GPU | Octa-core (4×2.5 GHz Cortex-A78 & 4×2.0 GHz Cortex-A55) |
| GPU | Mali-G615 MC2 |
| Rear cameras | 50 MP Sony – LYTIA 700C sensor f/1.8 aperture 1.0 µm pixel size | Ultra Pixel Technology for 2.0 µm Quad PDAF Optical Image Stabilisation (OIS) |
| 13 MP Ultrawide angle (120° FOV) Macro Vision f/2.2 aperture 1.12 µm pixel size PDAF |
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| 10 MP Telephoto 3x Optical Zoom f/2.0 aperture 1.0 µm pixel size PDAF Optical Image Stabilisation (OIS) |
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| Front camera | 32 MP f/2.4 aperture 0.7 µm pixel size | Quad Pixel Technology for 1.4 µm |
| RAM | 12 GB LPDDR4X |
| Onboard storage | 256 GB uMCP |
| microSD slot | No |
| Charging | USB-C 2.0 – 68 W TurboPower 15 W wireless charging |
| Battery | 4310 mAh |
| Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax 2.4 GHz | 5 GHz | 6 GHz Wi-Fi 6E Wi-Fi hotspot |
| Bluetooth | 5.3 |
| Operating system | Android 14 |
| Security | On-screen fingerprint reader Face Unlock ThinkShield |
| Ruggedness | IP68 underwater protection MIL-STD 810H |
| Dimensions | 154.1 x 71.2 x 8.1 mm |
| Weight | 171 gm |
| Colours | Pantone Poinciana, Pantone Poinciana, Pantone Grisaille |
| Price (RRP) | $699 |
| Warranty | 2 years |
| Official website | Motorola Australia |
Features
Under the bonnet, the Motorola Edge 50 Neo is the same as the standard Edge 50 in many ways.
It runs the latest version of Android 14, featuring Motorola’s My UX with minimal bloatware. Motorola promises a very generous additional five years of platform updates and five years of bi-monthly security updates – supporting it for around twice as long as the standard Edge 50.
One key difference is that the Edge 50 Neo runs on a MediaTek Dimensity 7300 chip rather than the Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 powerplant found in the standard. You’d imagine this would give the standard handset the upper hand, but the performance difference is not as much as you’d expect.
The Neo’s processor is still accompanied by a very generous 12 GB of RAM and 256 GB of onboard storage, but no SD expansion slot.
You’ve got support for sub-6 GHz 5G networks, with the advantage of Dual SIM relying on one Nano SIM and one eSIM – making it easier to pick up a virtual eSIM when travelling overseas.
Thankfully, Motorola hasn’t made any compromises when it comes to photography, sticking to the Edge 50’s triple-camera array rear. There’s a 50 MP primary shooter, 13 MP Ultrawide angle (120° FOV) and a new 10 MP Telephoto with 3x optical zoom (a key advantage compared to the similarly-priced Edge 50 Fusion). Both the primary shooter and the telephoto lens benefit from optical image stabilisation.
Around the front you’ve got a 32 MP selfie camera, relying on a pinhole in the display rather than a notch.
Battery capacity is down from 5000 mAh to only 4310 mAh, but that’s more than offset by the lower power demands of the smaller display – considering that Motorola says the Neo is good for up to 34 hours rather than 30.
When it comes to recharging you’ve still got the advantage of 68 W TurboPower fast charging via USB-C 2.0, with an AC adaptor in the box, or 15 W wireless charging.
Quality
GeekBench 6 reveals benchmarks of 1,052 single-core, 3,033 multi-core and 2,601 GPU OpenCL, which are respectable considering the Neo’s price tag. It’s about on par with rivals like the Samsung Galaxy A55, but short of the more expensive Pixel 8a.
It’s interesting that the Neo is only about 5 per cent less powerful than the standard Edge 50, whereas the old Edge 30 Neo was about 25 per cent less powerful than the standard Edge 30.
Rather than these results indicating that the Edge 50 Neo is more powerful than expected, they really highlight that the standard Edge 50 is less powerful than expected – it’s actually a tad less powerful than its predecessor in the standard Edge 40.
When it comes to photography, the Edge 50 Neo’s results are unsurprisingly very similar to the standard Edge 50, considering they share the same camera array. Yet the Edge 50 Neo actually comes out slightly ahead, most likely due to the onboard image processing rather than the camera hardware.
You still get great balanced colours and plenty of detail, but the Neo’s colours are a little more natural. Similarly, the low-light performance is actually a tad better. Meanwhile, the 3x optical zoom performance remains admirable if not breathtaking, and will satisfy those looking for greater zoom without breaking the bank.
Diving into the camera menus reveals the standard Edge 50 has “Shot optimisation – enhance photos with automatic tuning and AI scene detection” enabled by default. The same feature is missing on the Edge 50 Neo, even with the latest firmware installed, but will presumably come down the track.
It’s a good reminder of the fact that you can’t always trust AI and other image manipulation to actually improve your images.
Who is the Motorola Edge 50 Neo for?
The Motorola Edge 50 Neo makes compromises in all the right places for savvy smartphone shoppers on a budget who’d rather sacrifice style than substance. OS and security support for five years ensures great value for money.
As a result, the Edge 50 Neo is hard to beat, especially when you still get the same great camera and other features as the standard Edge 50 while only taking a minimal performance hit.
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