The Motorola Edge Plus has just about all the things you’d hope for in a premium 5G cellphone: a Snapdragon 865 chipset, a large battery, an OLED display with a excessive refresh charge and a number of rear cameras with heavy-duty specs. Motorola took options discovered on different top-of-the-line Android telephones, put its personal Moto spin on them and constructed all of them into one of the great Android telephones I’ve tried in a very long time.
LikeLengthy-lasting battery up to now.Edge show.Best cameras on any Moto cellphone.
Don’t LikeVerizon unique.No IP ranking for water resistance.Night Vision is not nice.
But there are two issues in regards to the cellphone that may impede its success. One is its chunky construct and lack of IP ranking for water or mud resistance. The different is that it is bought as a Verizon unique within the US, which may shut out patrons. Considering the Edge Plus is competing in a sea of different 5G, Snapdragon 865-powered telephones, it wants all the benefits it will probably get. Anyone available in the market for such a tool can afford to be choosy. Want a display with a better refresh charge than 90Hz? Check out the 120Hz shows on the Galaxy S20 Plus or OnePlus 8 Pro ($999 at OnePlus). Want one thing that prices lower than the $1,000 Motorola Edge Plus? Check out the $899 OnePlus 8 Pro (once more) or the LG V60. Craving a digital camera that may shoot video at a better decision than 6K? Consider the V60 as soon as extra or any of the Galaxy S20 telephones that may report 8K video. All of those telephones are viable choices as a result of every provides its personal mixture of options, and a few will attraction to you greater than others.
After every week with the Motorola Edge Plus, I discovered it to be a lot greater than its spec listing. The cellphone is totally charming — it takes good photographs (simply not the perfect), has a promising lengthy battery life (although ultimate outcomes from testing aren’t in but) and has a putting design. If you are a Verizon buyer it is value contemplating. If you are not, there are many different choices to select from together with a scaled-down model of the cellphone referred to as the , which is accessible unlocked now for $700. Motorola Edge Plus’ wraparound show It can be lazy to check the appears to be like of the Motorola Edge Plus to current Samsung Galaxy telephones. They have an analogous design language however categorical it in another way. The Edge Plus embraces a modern industrial design in comparison with the nail-polished gloss of the Galaxy S20 and S20 Plus. As its title suggests, what defines this cellphone is its 6.7-inch OLED display that wraps across the edges of the cellphone practically 90 levels. It is beautiful and appears even higher with a 90Hz excessive refresh charge as a substitute of the extra frequent 60Hz. This means textual content appears to be like sharper, and animations and scrolling are smoother. Obviously there are telephones with greater refresh charge shows, such because the 144Hz display on Nubia Red Magic 5G gaming cellphone, however 90Hz is not any slouch. Motorola additionally claims it saves on battery drain. I used each 90Hz and 120Hz screens and there may be much less of a distinction between them than, say, a 60Hz and 90Hz one.
The display wraps midway down both sides of the Motorola Edge Plus,
Sarah Tew/CNET
When I tilt it at numerous angles, the sting both appears to be like brighter or darker than the principle, flat a part of the show. This is very obvious when I’m on the house display or in Settings. It is usually a bit distracting. Maybe it is the angle of the perimeters, or the way in which the backlighting works within the bend, however I’m stunned to see this on a cellphone at this value. But when I’m watching a video that spills over the perimeters, it is barely noticeable. The 19.5:9 ratio display is tall and slender, however the form of the cellphone makes it snug to carry. The vast facet ratio is ideal for watching many films which can be additionally shot at a large facet ratio. I watched The Good, The Bad and The Ugly on the Edge Plus and it crammed the display completely. The audio system sound good and ship strong bass. Whether I used to be enjoying the Beastie Boys, Wu-Tang Clan, Andrew Bird, Sharon Jones or the Kronos Quartet, music sounded loud and full. If you do not wish to blast your music, there’s additionally a headphone jack. There’s a fingerprint reader constructed into the entrance show. When I reviewed the Moto Z4 ($450 at Amazon), which additionally had an in-screen fingerprint sensor, it by no means appeared to work on the primary strive. The one on the Edge Plus works nice although. It’s quick and I not often should scan my finger twice to unlock my cellphone like on the Z4.
The Motorola Edge Plus appears to be like clean and modern with its waterfall show
See all photographs
Good photographs, strong macro digital camera and 6K movies This is the perfect digital camera system I’ve used on a Motorola, however I would not say it is the perfect digital camera system on any cellphone. Motorola deserves reward for what it is achieved with its digital camera {hardware} and processing. But it is nonetheless a step behind Apple and Google. There are three cameras on the again and one on the entrance. The fundamental digital camera has a 108-megapixel sensor that mixes 4 pixels into one, by means of a course of referred to as “pixel binning.” This ends in brighter 27-megapixel photographs with much less picture noise while you shoot in medium and low mild conditions. The Edge Plus captures photographs with punchy colours.
Patrick Holland/CNET
The cellphone is able to good HDR photographs however remains to be a step behind computation pictures from Apple and Google.
Patrick Holland/CNET
Look on the element the Edge Plus was capable of seize in Cheddar the cat’s fur.
Patrick Holland/CNET
The Edge Plus did an honest job exposing for the signal with minimal blow out of highlights from the solar.
Patrick Holland/CNET
The pixel binning works nicely on this cellphone. You can select to not pixel bin and as a substitute take a 108-megapixel photograph, however I like to recommend solely doing this in vibrant, even mild. Also, the file dimension is large: Expect a 25MB file as a substitute of the 8MB one created by pixel binning. So if you happen to’re making an attempt to be frugal with the Edge Plus’ 256GB of storage, pixel binning is the way in which to go. Both the principle digital camera and the 8-megapixel telephoto digital camera have optical picture stabilization. This helped with “zoomed in” photographs by lowering digital camera shake. Take a glance beneath at this 3x zoom photograph I took of a tree in my yard at sundown. This was taken at sundown with the 3x telephoto digital camera on the Motorola Edge Plus.
Patrick Holland/CNET
This was captured with the 3x telephoto digital camera.
Patrick Holland/CNET
The third rear digital camera has a 16-megapixel sensor with an ultrawide-angle macro lens. The macro lens allowed me to focus my photographs and movies simply millimeters away from my topic. In the photograph beneath you possibly can see the feel of the paper. The macro mode is able to capturing an unimaginable quantity of particulars.
Patrick Holland/CNET
Not solely was macro mode capable of focus shut, however take a look at the main points it captured within the steel.
Patrick Holland/CNET
Portrait mode on each the entrance and rear cameras works nicely too. There’s a time-of-flight sensor on the again of the cellphone that gathers depth info and makes rear portrait mode photographs particularly beautiful. I used to be impressed by how pure and correct the portraits I took have been. The cutout between the foreground and the background is likely one of the most natural-looking I’ve seen from a portrait mode on any cellphone.
Patrick Holland/CNET
But this digital camera system is not good. One of its weakest options is Motorola’s Night Vision function. Like evening mode on different telephones, the Edge Plus takes a sequence of pictures and combines them collectively for a brighter and sharper photograph. The outcomes have been higher than after I took a photograph with out Night Vision enabled, however it’s nowhere close to the extent of Night Mode on the iPhone 11 Pro or Night Sight on the Pixel 4. Video seize on the Edge Plus is nice too and you may report with as much as a 6K decision, however it may be higher. The picture high quality is ok, however white stability appears off to me and colours are oversaturated. You may like that, however it’s a tad an excessive amount of generally for me. Take a take a look at the video beneath, which features a bunch of clips I shot in 6K.
The Edge Plus additionally helps Portrait Mode video which is best than it ought to be. I’m actually impressed by a number of the outcomes I bought, however it’s nonetheless removed from good. If you get this cellphone, it is value a strive. And I believe if I performed round with it extra, I may study the sorts of environments the place it really works greatest. It solely works on the rear digital camera, however you can use it to make cool-looking vlogs if you happen to do not thoughts filming blind. Edge display options and Moto Gametime The Edge Plus runs a close to inventory model of Android 10 with a light-weight dusting of options and shortcuts by Motorola. You have the same old Moto gesture controls, such because the double karate chop to activate a flashlight and flicking your wrist to open the digital camera. But there are a selection of latest additions that benefit from the perimeters of the show. One of my favorites permits you to slide your finger down the sting to drag down the notifications shade and management panel. There’s additionally a digital pill-shaped button on the fitting edge that you should utilize to return to the earlier app or flip off the sting elements of the display. I stored it as a final app button and located I used it rather a lot. When the cellphone is confronted down, I favored with the ability to see the perimeters mild up for notifications or to point out the battery charging. One the underside proper facet of the photograph you possibly can see a button drawn with a neon blue line that may be custom-made and used as a shoulder button throughout gameplay on the Motorola Edge Plus.
Patrick Holland/CNET
Perhaps one of many coolest issues you are able to do with that edge is have two digital shoulder buttons when utilizing Moto Gametime. It seems like utilizing a sport controller. I custom-made the buttons for PUBG, for instance, so the fitting shoulder button assaults and the left shoulder button kneels. This straight-up turns the Motorola Edge Plus right into a gaming cellphone, albeit with out the aggressive styling and light-up emblem. Top of the road Android efficiency The Motorola Edge Plus helps each millimeter wave and Sub-6 5G, which assist future-proof the cellphone for just a few years because the 5G community is constructed out extra. Verizon’s 5G service wasn’t accessible the place I used to be testing the cellphone, however I stay up for making an attempt it out someday sooner or later. In phrases of processor efficiency, the Motorola Edge Plus hangs with the quickest Android telephones out proper now. It scored practically similar to its Snapdragon 865 siblings the Galaxy S20 Plus and OnePlus 8 Pro. 3DMark Slingshot Unlimited
Note:
Longer bars point out higher efficiency
Geekbench v.5.0 single-core
Note:
Longer bars point out higher efficiency
Geekbench v.5.0 multicore
Note:
Longer bars point out higher efficiency
The Edge Plus’ 5,000-mAh battery is identical capability because the LG V60 and the Galaxy S20 Ultra. I’m nonetheless working battery-drain checks with the cellphone, and can replace this overview sooner or later with the outcomes. In each day use, it simply made it by means of two days for me. But if you happen to want a recharge, the cellphone has 15W turbo charging in addition to wi-fi charging and reverse wi-fi charging. Motorola Edge Plus specs in comparison with Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus, OnePlus 8 Pro, LG V60, Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra
Motorola Edge Plus
Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus
OnePlus 8 Pro
LG V60 ThinQ 5G
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra
Display dimension, decision
6.7-inch FHD OLED
6.7-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X
6.78-inch AMOLED; 1,440×3,168 pixels
6.8-inch OLED; 2,460×1,080 pixels
6.9-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X
Pixel density
NA
525ppi
513ppi
395ppi
511ppi
Dimensions (Inches)
6.34×2.81×0.38 in
2.9×6.37×0.30 in
6.51×2.93×0.35 in
6.67×3.06×0.35 in
2.99×6.57×0.35 in
Dimensions (Millimeters)
161.1×71.4×9.6 mm
73.7×161.9×7.8mm
165×74.4×8.5 mm
169.3×77.6×8.79 mm
76.0×166.9×8.8 mm
Weight (Ounces, Grams)
7.16 oz; 203g
6.56 oz; 186g
7.02 oz; 199g
7.72 oz; 218g
7.76 oz; 220g
Mobile software program
Android 10
Android 10
Android 10
Android 10
Android 10
Camera
108-megapixel (commonplace), 8-megapixel (telephotos), 16-megapixel (macro/ultrawide-angle)
12-megapixel (wide-angle), 64-megapixel (telephoto), 12-megapixel (ultra-wide), time-of-flight digital camera
48-megapixel (commonplace), 48-megapixel (ultra-wide), 8-megapixel (telephoto), 5-megapixel (‘colour filter’)
64-megapixel (commonplace), 13-megapixel (wide-angle), time-of-flight digital camera
108-megapixel (wide-angle), 48-megapixel (telephoto), 12-megapixel (ultra-wide), time-of-flight digital camera
Front-facing digital camera
25-megapixel
10-megapixel
16-megapixel
10-megapixel (commonplace)
40-megapixel
Video seize
6K
8K
4K
8K
8K
Processor
Qualcomm Snapdragon 865
64-bit octa-core processor (Max 2.7GHz + 2.5 GHz + 2.0 GHz)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 865
Qualcomm Snapdragon 865
64-bit octa-core processor (Max 2.7GHz + 2.5 GHz + 2.0 GHz)
Storage
256GB
128GB, 512GB
128GB, 256GB
128GB
128GB, 512GB
RAM
12GB
12GB
8GB, 12GB
8GB
12GB, 16GB
Expandable storage
No
Up to 1TB
No
2TB
Up to 1TB
Battery
5,000 mAh
4,500 mAh
4,510 mAh
5,000 mAh
5,000 mAh
Fingerprint sensor
In-screen
In-screen
In-screen
In-screen
In-screen
Connector
USB-C
USB-C
USB-C
USB-C
USB-C
Headphone jack
Yes
No
No
Yes
No
Special options
5G enabled
5G enabled; 120Hz refresh charge; waterproof (IP68)
5G enabled; Warp Charge; reverse wi-fi charging; waterproof (IP68); 120Hz refresh charge
5G connectivity; waterproof (IP68); wi-fi charging, Fast Charging 4.0
5G enabled; 120Hz refresh charge; 100X zoom; waterproof (IP68)
Price off-contract (USD)
$1,000 – Verizon unique
$1,199, $1,349
$899 (8GB RAM/128GB), $999 (12GB RAM/256GB)
$800 (with out Dual Screen case); $900-$950 (with)
$1,399 (128GB), $1,599 (512GB)
First printed on April 30.