The Motorola Edge 50 series has been a standout for the brand this year, offering premium features across various price points. With the launch of the Edge 50 Neo, Motorola continues this trend, introducing a device that sets itself apart from its larger, more feature-packed siblings. Unlike the rest of the series, which boasts curved displays and bulkier designs, the Edge 50 Neo caters to users who prefer a compact, easy-to-handle phone without compromising on performance or premium features.
Design and Display: Compact and Comfortable
The Motorola Edge 50 Neo stands out with its compact and practical design, making it one of the most comfortable devices to hold in today’s smartphone market. With a 6.36-inch flat display, the Neo ditches the curved edges seen in other Edge 50 models, ensuring fewer accidental touches and better one-handed usability.
The phone’s body is primarily plastic, but Motorola adds a premium touch with a vegan leather back, available in Pantone-certified colors like Poinciana, Grisaille, Latte, and Nautical Blue. This not only enhances grip and reduces smudges but also gives it a stylish, durable finish. Despite its affordable price, the Neo boasts MIL-STD 810H military-grade protection and an IP68 rating, making it resistant to dust, water, and harsh conditions. However, instead of the Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection found on the previous variant, Motorola Edge 50, the Neo opts for Gorilla Glass 3, which feels somewhat outdated.
The 6.4-inch pOLED display delivers sharp 1.5K resolution (2712 x 1220 pixels) with a pixel density of 460 ppi. It supports HDR10+ and covers 100% of the DCI-P3 color space, offering vibrant colors and deep contrast. With LTPO technology, the display adjusts the refresh rate up to 120Hz for smooth performance while conserving battery life. A peak brightness of 3,000 nits ensures visibility even in bright sunlight. The 20:9 aspect ratio makes it well-suited for gaming, media consumption and everyday use.
Performance and Key Specs
The Motorola Edge 50 Neo is powered by MediaTek’s Dimensity 7300 SoC, a capable mid-range chipset that balances performance and efficiency. With 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 256GB of UFS 2.2 storage, the phone handles everyday tasks with ease, from multitasking to casual gaming.
In benchmarks, it performs well, scoring 1050 on Geekbench 6 for single-core and 3038 for multi-core, which is very competitive to other models in this price range. In daily use, the phone runs smoothly for browsing, streaming, and light gaming, though more demanding games like PUBG or Fortnite may experience occasional lag at higher settings.
Motorola’s near-stock Android 14 interface enhances the user experience with its clean, bloat-free UI. A key highlight is the promise of five years of software and security updates, making the Edge 50 Neo a solid long-term investment.
Battery Life and Charging: Solid but Compact
The Motorola Edge 50 Neo comes with a 4,310mAh battery, which may seem modest compared to some competitors. However, its energy-efficient Dimensity 7300 chipset and LTPO display, which dynamically adjusts the refresh rate, help the Neo last a full day on a single charge with regular use, including calling, social media, browsing, and light gaming. Heavy users who rely on streaming, gaming, or extensive camera use may need to recharge by late evening.
The Neo supports 68W wired charging and 15W wireless charging. The fast-charging feature is convenient, allowing the device to reach 50% in just 20 minutes. Wireless charging is also a nice addition, mostly available in premium models.
Impressive Camera
The Motorola Edge 50 Neo’s camera setup offers versatility, though it may not lead its class in every aspect. It features a 50MP primary camera with optical image stabilization (OIS), a 13MP ultra-wide sensor, and a 3x optical zoom telephoto lens—a rare and impressive inclusion in this price range, allowing users to capture distant subjects with clarity.
In well-lit conditions, the primary camera performs well, delivering sharp, vibrant images with good dynamic range. While the ultra-wide sensor isn’t as detailed, it still provides decent results for landscapes and group shots. The telephoto lens captures pleasing details and warm color tones, offering useful framing flexibility. However, the 3x optical zoom is the lens’s sweet spot—attempts to zoom beyond this result in noticeably blurred images. Despite Motorola’s claims of 30x zoom, the quality at higher zoom levels is largely unusable.
Low-light performance is strongest with the main sensor, especially in night mode, which produces well-saturated, bright images with good detail without looking artificial. However, even with night mode enabled, low-light shots from the ultra-wide and telephoto lenses tend to show noise.
On the front, the 32MP selfie camera captures crisp photos with accurate skin tones and details. Video recording supports up to 4K at 30 fps, delivering footage with decent detail, though it can appear soft in certain areas.
Verdict: A Strong Contender in the Mid-range Segment
At ₹23,999, the Motorola Edge 50 Neo offers a compelling package for those seeking a compact, reliable smartphone with a premium design and solid performance. Its combination of a vibrant OLED display, versatile camera system, 5G connectivity, and the promise of five years of updates make it one of the best value-for-money mid-range phones currently available. Motorola has crafted a well-rounded, compact smartphone with the Edge 50 Neo, delivering a balance of style, performance, and value that’s hard to ignore.
