Motorola Edge 50 Ultra Review – The Ultimate Flagship?

While last year’s top Edge model was the Edge 40 Pro, this year, Motorola has gone a tier beyond to create the Motorola Edge 50 Ultra. The Ultra is more expensive than this year’s Pro model but brings more advanced cameras and a more powerful chipset. Additionally, only the Ultra model offers an alternative wooden backing with a seamless transition of the wood from the back to the camera housing. This vegan leather option is quite premium as well, with the craftsmanship of the eco leather feeling very authentic, soft, and leathery.

Design and Build

The Motorola Edge 50 Ultra features a glass island housing for the cameras and a thin matte aluminum frame, giving it a sturdy feel with excellent grip. As expected from a flagship phone, it is IP68 rated for dust and water resistance. The rear panel isn’t a single piece but seamlessly integrates different materials, enhancing its premium look.

Display

The Edge 50 Ultra boasts a 6.7-inch OLED display with a 1220p resolution and a 144Hz refresh rate, similar to the Edge 50 Pro. Covered by Gorilla Glass Victus, the screen is slightly curved at the edges and offers HDR10+ support, though it lacks Dolby Vision. With a peak brightness of nearly 1500 nits in auto brightness mode, the display is vivid and clear, even in bright outdoor conditions. The high refresh rate provides extra smoothness, and it can drop to 60Hz to save energy when idling.

Audio

Equipped with stereo speakers, the Edge 50 Ultra delivers excellent audio quality with good bass, clear vocals, and well-presented highs. Its loudness and clarity make it suitable for media consumption and gaming.

Biometrics and Storage

An under-display fingerprint scanner ensures fast and reliable unlocking. Storage options include 512GB or 1TB of UFS 4.0 storage, though there’s no microSD expansion slot.

Software

Running on Android 14 with the new Hello UI, the software experience is akin to stock Android but with added Moto features. The Moto App Hub is restyled for Hello UI, organizing features on a single page. Notable changes include the replacement of Ready For and Moto Connect with the new Smart Connect interface, which includes Share Hub and a display panel for external monitor connections. Moto promises three years of OS upgrades and four years of security patches for the Edge 50 Ultra.

Motorola Edge 50 Ultra Performance

The Edge 50 Ultra is powered by the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chipset, which is a step down from the top-tier Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 but still offers flagship-grade performance. It’s capable of handling multitasking, heavy gaming, and a smooth user experience. Benchmark scores show a significant improvement over the Edge 50 Pro, which uses a Snapdragon 7 Gen 3. Thermal management could be better, as the phone throttles quickly during prolonged stress tests and gets quite warm.

Battery Life and Charging

With a 4500mAh battery, the Edge 50 Ultra performs well in battery life tests, achieving nearly 13 hours of active use. It excels in call and streaming tests and does well in web browsing and gaming. The phone supports 125W wired charging, reaching 81% in just 15 minutes and a full charge in 21 minutes. It also supports 50W fast wireless charging and reverse wireless charging.

Motorola Edge 50 Ultra Cameras

The camera setup on the Edge 50 Ultra includes a 50MP main camera, a 64MP 3x telephoto camera, and a 50MP ultrawide camera with autofocus.

Main Camera

• Daylight: Photos are vibrant with high contrast and lively colors. Detail is excellent, with natural rendition of fine textures.
• Low Light: Good dynamic range, excellent detail, and well-controlled noise. Color rendition could be more enthusiastic.

Telephoto Camera

• Daylight: Respectable quality with fine detail and some graininess.
• Low Light: Saturated colors and good detail, though the white balance can be warm.
• Macro: Not well-implemented; prefers cropping from the main camera instead of using the telephoto lens.

Ultrawide Camera

• Daylight: Good detail, though slightly artificial. Great colors and dynamic range. Autofocus allows for exaggerated perspective close-ups.
• Low Light: Decent performance with soft detail. Exposures are bright with wide dynamic range.

Selfie Camera

• Daylight: Superb quality with excellent detail, likable skin tones, and vibrant colors. Great dynamic range.

Video Recording

• Main Camera: 4K footage is heavily sharpened with good color rendition and dynamic range but suffers from smearing and blurring with movement.
• Telephoto and Ultrawide Cameras: Decent 4K videos but with some softness and heavy sharpening.

Conclusion

The Motorola Edge 50 Ultra is a premium flagship with unique design elements, a near-stock Android experience, and super-fast charging. Its main drawback is the unimpressive video recording quality. However, if video quality isn’t a priority, the Edge 50 Ultra is a solid flagship worth considering.

The Motorola Edge 50 Ultra stands out as a strong contender in the flagship market, offering a blend of performance, design, and innovative features that make it a worthy consideration for anyone looking for a high-end smartphone.