Motorola Edge 40 Review: A Class Apart?

The Motorola Edge 40 is the most recent entrant within the record of smartphones below Rs. 30,000 in India, which at present appears to be the business’s sizzling section because it has witnessed fairly a lot of new launches currently. Additionally it is fairly crowded with the likes of the Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G (Review), iQoo Neo 7 (Review) and the recently-launched Poco F5 5G (Review). Whereas most smartphones round this value intention to be the jack of all trades, plenty of them prioritise efficiency. The Motorola Edge 40 then again distinguishes itself with its smooth design and a few flagship-killer specs.

Launched as a successor to final yr’s Motorola Edge 30 (Review), the Edge 40 packs some promising {hardware} for the worth. With all that’s on provide, does the Motorola Edge 40 have an precise edge over the competitors? Right here is our full overview that can assist you discover out.

Motorola Edge 40 value in India

Motorola has launched the Edge 40 in a single 8GB RAM + 256GB storage configuration in India. The telephone is priced at Rs. 29,999. It’s out there in three color choices — Nebula Inexperienced, Eclipse Black and Lunar Blue. The previous two variants have a vegan leather-based rear panel, whereas the latter possibility has a PMMA acrylic again.

Motorola Edge 40 design and show

Design is usually subjective however what many customers would respect is a telephone which affords a premium in-hand really feel. The Motorola Edge 40 definitely checks the field right here in my view with its faux-leather rear panel. The corporate despatched us the Nebula Inexperienced color, which definitely appears to be the shade of the season. That is maybe one in every of my favorite shades of inexperienced after the Lime Inexperienced color of the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite 5G (Review) and the Lime color of the Samsung Galaxy A34 5G (Review). With the Edge 40, it isn’t simply the color that is interesting however the in-hand really feel as nicely.

Motorola Edge 40 is simply 7.58mm thick

The textured floor, coupled with the curved edges of the telephone and the light-weight construct (7.58mm thick, 171g weight) add to the wonderful in-hand really feel. Furthermore, you additionally get a metallic body and an IP68 score for water and mud resistance, which isn’t frequent in telephones below Rs. 30,000.

On the entrance of the Motorola Edge 40, there’s a 6.6-inch curved-edge pOLED show with very skinny bezels on the high and backside, which helps provide an immersive viewing expertise. Nevertheless, the acute curvature on the edges of the show and the slim type issue led to many unintended touches, making a ghost-touch-like impact whereas enjoying video games. I’d have most popular a much less pronounced curvature such because the one on the Realme 10 Pro+ 5G (Review).  

Motorola Edge 40 has a reasonably skinny chin bezel

The total-HD+ decision show affords good viewing angles however colors are fairly saturated by default for that vivid expertise. You will get extra pure, hotter tones by switching to the ‘Pure’ setting within the show settings. The Motorola Edge 40 additionally has a HDR10+ playback certification however apps comparable to Netflix and YouTube weren’t capable of detect it after I examined it. The in-display fingerprint sensor works nicely and can also be positioned appropriately below the show, making it snug to make use of. 

The Edge 40 is at present the one smartphone below Rs. 30,000 in India to supply a 144Hz refresh price show. Nevertheless, it looks as if many apps are but to benefit from this as in my expertise, the show was largely working between 60Hz and 120Hz.

Motorola Edge 40 specs and software program

The Motorola Edge 40 packs a brand new MediaTek Dimensity 8020 SoC, which is basically a tweaked model of the Dimensity 1100 SoC. It comes with 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM with 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage. There’s a 4,400mAh battery with assist for 68W TurboPower quick charging. Notably, there may be additionally 15W wi-fi charging assist, which is unparalleled on this section.

When it comes to software program, the Motorola Edge 40 runs on the most recent Android 13-based MyUX pores and skin. The customized Motorola pores and skin is among the many only a few Android skins on the market to supply a clear software program expertise whereas including a number of options on high. The Edge 40 doesn’t characteristic any third-party bloatware. It continues to supply assist for a number of customisation and personalisation choices, comparable to altering icons, wallpapers, fonts, sound, and so on.

Motorola additionally affords assist for varied gestures that may set off sure duties, comparable to double tapping the rear panel to set off customised actions, twisting the wrist twice to open the digital camera, turning the torch on or off with two karate chop motions, and so on.

Motorola Edge 40’s person interface is kind of clear and clean

The corporate can also be providing Lenovo’s ThinkShield safety and privateness options throughout the Moto Safe app. Customers can test all of the permissions together with privateness indicators for digital camera, microphone and site entry throughout the app.

Motorola has promised to offer two main Android updates, and safety assist for 3 years for the Edge 40.

Motorola Edge 40 efficiency and battery life

The Dimensity 8020 SoC within the Motorola Edge 40 is kind of highly effective for its section. Be it routine duties comparable to switching between apps, scrolling by social media, and so on, or enjoying video games, the machine provided a clean expertise typically. In BGMI, I used to be capable of play with as much as ‘Extremely’ framerate and HDR graphics. Initially, I observed some stutters whereas enjoying on the highest settings, nonetheless, after a few rounds, the efficiency was fairly clean. Name of Obligation: Cellular then again ran easily.

I did discover the telephone getting barely heat across the digital camera module after about 45 minutes of gameplay, which appeared regular. Actually, contemplating how slim the telephone is, I’d give a bonus level to Motorola for the nice warmth dissipation that ensured sustained efficiency throughout prolonged gaming periods.

The Motorola Edge 40 scored 7,64,083 factors in AnTuTu (v10) which is behind the present section chief, the Poco F5, which scored 1,094,798 factors. In Geekbench 6, the telephone scored 1,103 and three,588 factors within the single-core and multi-core exams.

Motorola Edge 40 comes with a 68W charger within the field

When it comes to battery life, the Motorola Edge 40 can final a full day with medium utilization and no gaming. Nevertheless, play video games for an hour or so and also you may must cost the machine by the tip of the day. The Edge 40, on common, gave me 7 hours, half-hour of screen-on time. In our HD video loop check, the telephone lasted for 15 hours, 31 minutes, which is simply above common.

Happily, you get 68W quick charging and through our testing, it persistently charged the Edge 40 from zero to 75 p.c in half-hour. You additionally get 15W wi-fi charging, which may come in useful when you have wi-fi chargers at residence or at work.

Motorola Edge 40 cameras

The Motorola Edge 40 encompasses a dual-camera setup with a 50-megapixel f/1.47 major digital camera with assist for optical picture stabilisation (OIS). There’s additionally a 13-megapixel sensor with an ultra-wide lens that may shoot macro photographs as nicely. For selfies, the Edge 40 encompasses a 32-megapixel entrance digital camera.

The first digital camera captures good particulars, however at instances sharpens the picture a bit an excessive amount of. Additionally, the colors are a bit too saturated with the intention to provide a vibrant look. Whereas the software program tries to enhance the dynamic vary within the processing, it may be a hit and miss. Due to the huge aperture, the first digital camera affords a shallow depth of discipline when taking pictures close-up topics. In low mild, there’s a good stability of particulars and colors with well-exposed shadows and managed highlights.

Motorola Edge 40 major digital camera samples (faucet to see full measurement)

The ultra-wide digital camera can also be fairly good for the worth. There’s distortion across the edges however that is fairly frequent for ultra-wide digital camera lenses. The ultra-wide sensor additionally helps autofocus, which implies that you would be able to get very near a topic to shoot high-resolution macro pictures. This definitely is a a lot better implementation than the 2-megapixel macro sensors that we see in lots of smartphones throughout completely different value factors. That being stated, the macro photographs weren’t as color correct as they might have been.

Motorola Edge 40 ultra-wide, macro digital camera samples (faucet to see full measurement)

The rear essential digital camera can shoot portrait photographs at 24mm, 35mm and 50mm. Whereas topic segmentation is correct typically, the blur seems to be unnatural and the pores and skin tones regarded too gentle when capturing human topics.

Motorola Edge 40 essential digital camera samples (Prime to backside: 24mm, 35mm, 50mm portrait modes)

The entrance digital camera fails to get pores and skin tones proper more often than not. I might see a slight crimson hue within the selfies clicked by the Motorola Edge 40. Additionally, whereas portrait mode affords a creamy background blur, it additionally blurred out elements of my face.

Entrance digital camera pattern shot on Motorola Edge 40 (faucet to see full measurement)

When it comes to video recording, the Motorola Edge 40 can shoot as much as 4K 30fps or 1080p 60fps. I preferred the general color replica and dynamic vary efficiency of the rear and entrance cameras. The rear digital camera comes with OIS, which does a good job. There’s additionally a Horizon lock characteristic, which locks the orientation of the body even once you flip the telephone the wrong way up whereas recording 1080p movies. 

Verdict

The Motorola Edge 40 packs some succesful {hardware} wrapped in a curvy, smooth physique that screams premium from a distance. The handset affords a superb in-hand really feel, nice multimedia expertise and comparatively good efficiency. The software program too, is kind of feature-rich and clear.

The Edge 40 additionally delivers some options that are unparalleled within the section comparable to an IP68 score, a 144Hz pOLED curved-edge show, and wi-fi charging.

Nevertheless, the cameras positively want extra work. Whereas the {hardware} and options appear stable on paper, Motorola must work on optimising them additional for that aggressive edge.

If you’d like an all-rounder smartphone below Rs. 30,000 and are keen to compromise a bit on the cameras, the the Motorola Edge 40 will be thought-about. We really feel that the Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G (Review) and the Samsung Galaxy A34 5G (Review) provide barely higher digital camera efficiency. For sheer uncooked processing energy, you may definitely think about the Poco F5 (Review).