Motorola Edge 30 review: Doesn’t have EDGE compared to rivals

Some phones like to sell you a gimmick or two – a flashy design, or the highest resolution camera, or the fastest charging solution you can imagine in a phone! And then there are phones that just try to do a bit of everything and end up not being good at most things! If you understand the drift, you have understood what we are going to say about the Motorola Edge 30! After a fantastic package that was the Motorola Edge 30 Pro, Motorola’s release in the sub- ₹30,000 places is rather an offer without interest.

On its social media portals, Motorola claims that the Edge 30 is the thinnest, thinnest and what not! It also launches the Snapdragon 778G+ chipset, which is currently the fastest 700-series chip we’ve seen on our shores. It even gets two 50MP cameras on the back and a 144Hz pOLED screen! A technical sheet that makes your mouth water! But is it as drool-worthy as it is in the real world? I used the Edge 30 for about 10 days to find out.

Motorola Edge 30 design

For a phone called the “Edge”, it’s obvious to expect something edgy; something flashy that turns heads. The Motorola Edge 30 is unfortunately none of that. Nice look? It’s safe, but it’s not catchy! By giving the Edge 30 a boxy look, Motorola definitely tried to enter the design segment followed by companies like Apple, Samsung and others, but making the Edge 30 much lighter. As the phone is sleek (6.79mm) and lightweight (155 grams), it is very convenient and comfortable to hold. However, the rear panel, including the camera bump, attracts smudges. Moving on to the front, the Motorola Edge 30 has a fairly large 6.5-inch display with thin bezels, a selfie camera at the top center, and an in-display fingerprint sensor at the bottom.

Motorola Edge 30 screen

A large screen with a decent viewing angle, quick touch response and vibrant colors are some of the things you expect from a mid-priced phone. And the Motorola Edge 30 ticked the boxes well. With the screen size of 6.5 inches, the phone offers a decent viewing experience. It has a 10-bit pOLED display with a refresh rate of 144Hz. You can change the refresh rate to 60Hz, 144Hz, or Auto. Initially I was using the phone keeping the refresh rate at 144Hz which worked perfectly, even the touch response was fast and showed no lag. However, the battery consumption has increased. You’ll notice a difference to the same extent you switch to auto mode or 60Hz refresh rate.

Be it binge watching, playing games, scrolling through social media or just surfing the internet, everything managed to work impressively. When it comes to color accuracy, saturated mode is enabled by default, which has the effect of lightening some colors, and someone who prefers natural colors will need to change this by going into the settings.

Motorola Edge 30 performance

Motorola with its Edge 30 brings Snapdragon 778G + 5G chipset to India. The phone runs on Android 12 and performs amazingly well. Edge 30 is free from bloatware or pre-installed apps, giving you a great user experience with its clean and easy-to-use user interface. From loading apps, using multiple apps, to other basic day-to-day activities such as calling, browsing the internet, gaming, using social media apps, etc., whatever whatever task you throw at the phone, it handles it with ease and class without throwing tantrums. or disturb you in any way.

If you are a gaming enthusiast, Motorola Edge 30 is a phone you might like. From light games like Subway Surfer, Temple Run to high end games like Call of Duty, BGMI among others, the phone is capable of giving you awesome gaming experience. You will experience better graphics performance compared to phones using the Snapdragon 778G or the Snapdragon 695 chip.

And then there’s the software experience, which is easily one of our favourites. You get the Google Pixel-like UI with Material You elements, which are all clean and tidy. It looks funky and is devoid of bloatware apps or adware. It’s not exactly stock though, as Motorola sprinkles in its own custom bits to make it easier to live with. In fact, there’s enough for customization fans to play around with. The Motorola Edge 30 also supports gestures, one-handed mode, video call effects and more. When the video call effect is enabled, you will be able to use background blurring, audio zoom and subject tracking effects, thus making your video call experience more exciting and enjoyable.

The phone also displays the total usage time of the phone and this is also divided into sections and apps. It further shows the number of notifications you receive and unlocks performed, under the Digital Wellbeing and Parental Controls section in Settings. You can even set Bedtime Mode and Focus Mode to stop being disturbed or distracted by notifications and alerts that aren’t important. Read also : Motorola Edge 30, “the thinnest 5G phone in the world”, is launched in India; Check price, specs here

The phone has dual stereo speakers that support Dolby Atmos and Snapdragon Sound. The audio was loud and clear and thus helped to enhance the entertainment experience. Even when the phone is connected to headphones, the sound performance is outstanding. Talking about calling experience and Wi-Fi or internet connectivity, the phone offers 5G technology which is still something to come in the country. While with 4G connectivity, audio and video calls were satisfactory.

Motorola Edge 30 Cameras

When you get excellent camera performance from phones going under Rs. 25,000, like Oppo F21 Pro among others, your expectation with Motorola Edge 30 increases. For me, the clicked images didn’t impress; they are just average. The Motorola Edge 30’s sports triple camera includes a 50MP main rear camera, 50MP ultra-wide angle, 2MP depth camera and 32MP front camera.

Images extracted colors accurately, clarity and sharpness were also good. However, compared to the camera outputs of other phones in this price range, you may be a bit disappointed. Also compared to photos clicked in daylight in normal or portrait mode, I liked more those taken at night using night vision mode.

You can check out the sample cameras here for clarity.

As for the videos, they also looked good. There are several other camera modes you can explore like Pro mode, spot color, panorama, dual capture, among others.

Motorola edge 30 battery

Battery capacity is another area that disappoints! At a time when companies are offering a 4,500-5,000 mAh battery with a 65W and faster charger, the Motorola Edge 30 comes with a 4,020 mAh battery. Although this could be one of the reasons for the lightness of the phone! With a battery of around 4000 mAh and a 144 Hz screen you can’t expect good battery backup and yes the Edge 30 will only give you around a day of battery life on a single charge with a about 4 hours normal usage which includes calls, web browsing, social media scrolling, and more.

On weekends, if you feel like watching a 3 hour movie or playing high end games for around 30 minutes or more, you will need to charge the phone twice a day. The phone also comes with a 33W charger so it takes around 50 minutes to an hour to fully charge from 10%.

Verdict

Trying to pass the spec sheet makes the Motorola Edge 30 difficult in most areas. With this phone, you get a decent design and overall performance, but the phone fails to impress with its camera output and battery backup, especially for the price offered. The phone brings Snapdragon 778G + 5G to India, and is thin and light, but those things alone make it hard to ignore the competition in the sub- ₹30,000 smartphone spaces. When it comes to best cameras with fun modes, Oppo F21 Pro and Realme 9 Pro+ can be considered better options. For better battery life with fast charging, you can consider Xiaomi 11i Hypercharge and Realme 9 Pro+. Even the Xiaomi 11 Lite NE 5G is a good lightweight option to consider, especially with its 10-bit AMOLED display and Snapdragon 778G chip.

However, the Motorola Edge 30 offers one of the best Android experiences in this price range, and also one of the fastest chipsets in this segment. If you’re looking for a solid Android experience with a powerful chip and a good screen, you can consider the Motorola Edge 30. For those who want good cameras, long battery life and faster charging, the competition has better products to offer.