The new $549 Motorola Edge may secretly be the best mid-range Android this year

Smartphone shoppers are eating well this year, especially if you’re on a budget. Not to be outdone by Google and Samsung, Motorola today is launching the Edge (2024). While priced like a mid-range device at $549, the device flaunts several flagship-quality features, including a 6.6-inch pOLED display that refreshes at 144Hz, a 5,000mAh battery with 68-watt fast charging, an IP68 rating, and more.

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Going off of specs alone, the new Edge should be competing with phones in the $700-$800 range, such as the Samsung Galaxy S24 and OnePlus 12. In fact, last year’s Edge model retailed for $799, so the $150 price drop is a significant one. At $549, the successor is priced to make cheaper handsets like the Google Pixel 8a and Samsung Galaxy A35 5G sweat — and I think it may just be able to pull it off.

At 6.6 inches, with relatively thin bezels and a vegan leather backing, the new Edge should be fairly comfortable to hold and consume content on. Besides the 144Hz refresh rate, which is slightly higher than the conventional 120Hz panel on competitors, the display also has a 360Hz touch sampling rate, meaning it’s very responsive to taps and swipes. That’s great news if you’re a mobile gamer (or spam-tapping for a chance to buy concert tickets.)

The edges of the display are also curved, hence the name, which you’ll either really dig or absolutely despise. Personally, I’m not the biggest fan of the design because it makes installing tempered glass screen protectors a doozy. There’s also a new Quick Button on the side of the phone that can mapped to any app or function within an app. I’d be interested to see what use cases customers come up with. Maybe quick access to ChatGPT? 

Powering the Edge is a Snapdragon 7s Gen 2, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage. The lower-end processor is one area Motorola held back on in order to drop the price of the phone, but I’m happy to see a base storage of 256GB — competing devices typically start at 128GB. There’s also 68W TurboPower charging (and 15W wireless charging) to quickly top up the 5,000mAh cell. That’s not as fast as the OnePlus 12R’s 80W rate, but it should still be fast enough to eliminate any battery anxiety.

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You also won’t have to stress about getting any water or dust into the phone as it’s rated IP68, a notable step up from the IPX8 or IP67 ratings typically found on devices in this price range.

There are two cameras on the rear: a 50MP wide with Sony’s LYTIA 700C image sensor and a 13MP ultrawide with a 120-degree field-of-view. We’ll have to see how the two perform in real-world tests, but it’s great to see Motorola sticking with fewer lenses — which hopefully means better performance and optimization — instead of adding an extra depth or macro to fluff things up. Should you need more assistance with photos, Motorola says the Edge will support Google’s Magic Editor, Magic Eraser, Photo Unblur, and more within the Google Photos app.

The Motorola Edge will be available in only one color, Midnight Blue, starting June 20 at Amazon, Best Buy, and Motorola’s website. Several carriers, including T-Mobile, Visible, and Spectrum, will also sell the device.