Motorola Edge 20 review

Introduction

Back in July, Motorola unveiled an exciting trio of Edge 20 smartphones with a few shared key features - HRR OLED screens, 108MP primary shooters, 5G connectivity, and 30W fast charging.

Today, we will be exploring the Motorola Edge 20. With a powerful Snapdragon 778 chipset and a 3x tele camera, the regular Edge 20 model is the most balanced one of the trio. There is a Pro model with a flagship Snapdragon 870 SoC and 5x periscope camera, while the Lite model runs on the basic Dimensity 720 platform and has no zoom camera.

Before we continue, we want to warn you not to confuse this Motorola Edge 20 with the US-exclusive Motorola Edge (2021) that is a reworked Edge 20 version, or the India-exclusive Motorola Edge 20 Fusion, which is based on the international Edge 20 Lite model.

So, the first thing you will immediately notice about this new Motorola Edge 20 is that it is not a curved smartphone like the original Edge, just on the contrary. It has lovely flat sides, screen and rear panel and is incredibly thin at 7mm. As usual, the Edge 20 is splash-proof thanks to its water-repellent build.

The Motorola Edge most impressive feature is the 6.7" OLED screen with 10-bit colors and 144Hz refresh rate. It supports a dynamic refresh rate too, but we will talk more about this in our display section. For now, let's say it sure looks great on paper.

This Edge 20 model is based on the Snapdragon 778G 5G chipset, which offers a powerful processor and GPU. It should be enough for smooth HRR gaming, and there is 5G connectivity, too. The Edge 20 Pro is the one with the flagship-grade Snapdragon 870 SoC, but it sure sounds like a bit overkill for a 1080p screen, don't you think?

Anyway, the rear camera of the Edge 20 is thoroughly interesting. It has a 108MP primary snapper with Samsung's ISOCELL HM3 sensor, followed by an 8MP camera with 3x optical zoom and a 16MP ultrawide shooter with autofocus for cool macro photos. The selfies are handled by a front 32MP camera. The Pro model offers 5x zoom instead of 3x, while the Lite model has no tele camera.

The Motorola Edge 20 also shines with 30W fast charging and clean-ish Android 11 with some cool Moto tricks.

Motorola Edge 20 specs at a glance:

• Body: 163.0x76.0x7.0mm, 163g; Glass front (Gorilla Glass 5), aluminum frame, glass back (Gorilla Glass 3); Water-repellent design.
• Display: 6.70" OLED, 1B colors, 144Hz, HDR10+, 1080x2340px resolution, 19.5:9 aspect ratio, 385ppi.
• Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G 5G (6 nm): Octa-core (1x2.4 GHz Kryo 670 Prime & 3x2.2 GHz Kryo 670 Gold & 4x1.9 GHz Kryo 670 Silver); Adreno 642L.
• Memory: 128GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 8GB RAM; Unspecified.
• OS/Software: Android 11.
• Rear camera: Wide (main): 108 MP, f/1.9, 1/1.52", 0.7µm, PDAF; Telephoto: 8 MP, f/2.4, 79mm, 1.0µm, 3x optical zoom, PDAF, OIS; Ultra wide angle: 16 MP, f/2.2, 13mm, 119˚, 1.0µm.
• Front camera: 32 MP, f/2.3, (wide), 0.7µm.
• Video capture: Rear camera: 4K@30fps, 1080p@30/60/120/240fps, 720p@960fps, gyro-EIS; Front camera: 1080p@30fps.
• Battery: 4000mAh; Fast charging 30W.
• Misc: Fingerprint reader (side-mounted); NFC.

Looking at the specs of the Motorola Edge 20, we can think of only two possible issues - the omission of stereo speakers and the battery capacity. Other mid-range smartphones are offering dual speakers and 4,500mAh or more capacity, especially larger phones like the Edge 20.

Without further ado, here is the Motorola Edge 20.

Unboxing the Motorola Edge 20

Motorola Edge 20 ships within a thin blue box, which contains a 30W power adapter with a USB-C port and a USB-C cable.

The phone also arrives with a transparent silicone case, and it's already put on for your convenience.