Motorola Edge 20 Pro review

Two-minute review

The Motorola Edge 20 Pro is the top-end mannequin in Moto’s 2021 line of flagship telephones, that are the successors 2020’s Edge and Edge Plus. Don’t fear, you didn’t miss 18 generations of telephone in between – the corporate has jumped straight up from the unique series to 20.

Positioned because the top-end sibling to the Motorola Edge 20 and Edge 20 Lite, the Pro gives a couple of options that the cheaper variations don’t, together with a periscope digital camera for better digital camera zoom vary, a much bigger battery and an improved chipset.

Off the bat, we have to level out one factor: whatever the specs and its comparatively inexpensive value, this isn’t as attention-grabbing a telephone as these within the unique Edge series. It lacks their distinctive super-curved-edge display screen, and due to this fact the additional options that introduced, and it doesn’t really feel as premium to carry.

Looking past comparisons to the 2020 Edge series, is the Edge 20 Pro a great telephone and worthy of your cash? Well, that’s a query that’s arduous to reply – it’s an honest telephone, but in addition one with numerous points, and we didn’t discover ourselves received over by the system by the top of our testing interval.

Our important subject is within the ‘hand-feel’ division – what the system truly seems like to carry and use. It’s a large system, with fairly angular sides, and buttons on the aspect which might be arduous to achieve except you’re keen to make use of each arms. Compared to the super-curvy unique Edge, the 20 Pro feels uncomfortable and awkward.

While that’s our chief grievance, others might take subject with the options which might be lacking, however that are current in different similarly-priced telephones. There’s no wi-fi charging, no 3.5mm headphone jack, and no fast-charging (the 30W choice is sluggish in comparison with some rivals).

There are issues to love in regards to the telephone. Its cameras carry out nicely for a Moto system, the excessive display screen refresh price makes movement look easy (and beats many rivals) and we discovered that the battery comfortably noticed the system via a day of use.

Motorola Edge 20 Pro

(Image credit score: Future)

The chipset, a Snapdragon 870, is one other welcome inclusion. In phrases of uncooked efficiency it’s solely barely much less succesful than the top-end Snapdragon 888, nevertheless it permits the system to be cheaper, and it additionally doesn’t undergo from the overheating points which have plagued the 888.

So if you need a succesful system that misses out on some premium options, you possibly can do so much worse… however you possibly can additionally do higher. At this value level handsets just like the OnePlus 9 beat the Moto in lots of areas, and you will get higher telephones for cheaper. Even the usual Motorola Edge 20 is arguably a better-value proposition, because it’s a extra inexpensive system that doesn’t miss too most of the Pro’s options.

So the Motorola Edge 20 Pro is a telephone that’s price contemplating, and also you may discover it to your style, nevertheless it’s on no account essentially the most aggressive handset in the marketplace.

Motorola Edge 20 Pro value and availability

The Motorola Edge 20 Pro prices £649 (about $900, AU$1,230) which makes it a good quantity extra inexpensive than the $999 / £1,050 (roughly $1,550) Edge Plus from 2020. Motorola has defined that the bounce from ‘Plus’ to ‘Pro’ was supposed to mirror this value shift.

For comparisons to the opposite members of the Edge and Edge 20 line, you may see a desk under which compares all of them:

Motorola Edge series pricing
Phone	Launch 12 months	US value	UK value	AU conversion
Motorola Edge 20 Lite	2021	$410 (conversion)	£299	$570
Motorola Edge 20	2021	$600 (conversion)	£429	$810
Motorola Edge	2020	$699	£549	$1,015
Motorola Edge 20 Pro	2021	$900 (conversion)	£649	$1,230
Motorola Edge Plus	2020	$999	£1,050	$1,550

At its launch value, the Edge 20 Pro is competing most straight with the OnePlus 9, one other telephone with a price ticket that sits on the border between the mid-range and premium classes.

The Motorola Edge 20 Pro was first introduced for the UK and Europe, and rumors counsel it’ll be launched within the US too, although an Australian launch appears to be like unlikely because of the Edge telephones not reaching there in 2020.

However, it sounds just like the Motorola Edge 20 shall be bought because the Motorola Edge (2021) within the US , maybe with barely completely different specs, and it’s not clear if this Pro mannequin will ever go on sale there.

Design

The Motorola Edge 20 Pro is a giant telephone; we had hassle utilizing it one-handed, particularly due to its width and button placement, and it didn’t sit comfortably in our hand.

It measures 163 x 76 x 8mm. We put it side-by-side with the Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra – one of many largest units we’ve examined – and it was taller and wider.

The measurement brings with it a number of points. We needed to stretch to achieve a lot of the display screen in any respect; the side-mounted fingerprint sensor was so excessive that we couldn’t attain it simply; and when stretching our arms, the flat edges of the system dug into our palms sufficient that we may really feel it, which wouldn’t be the case if we weren’t stretching. The Edge 20 Pro’s hand-feel was simply ‘off’.

Motorola Edge 20 Pro

(Image credit score: Future)

Above the fingerprint scanner on the telephone’s proper edge is the quantity rocker, and we discovered this inconceivable to achieve with out altering how we held the telephone, or utilizing our different hand. There’s additionally a Google Assistant button reverse, and once more we discovered it inconceivable to achieve with one hand, however in contrast to on another Moto telephones, it’s additionally small so that you’re unlikely to press it by chance.

The telephone has a USB-C port on the backside, however there’s no 3.5mm headphone jack, in fairly a uncommon flip for Moto telephones.

On the again is an oblong digital camera bump housing the three lenses, flash, and zoom microphone (for audio zoom – extra on that within the Cameras part). It’s not too thick, so whereas it does cease you from laying the handset flat on a desk, it doesn’t make pocketing the telephone difficult.

The handset has a glass back and front, except you go for the Vegan Leather model which has a again clad in fake leather-based, and each the leather-based or glass choices are blue. Neither mannequin has an IP score, however in line with Motorola the telephone is water repellant (don’t take it for a swim, then).

Display

With a 6.7-inch display screen, the Motorola Edge 20 Pro gives fairly a little bit of viewing actual property, as does each different member of the Edge household. Unlike on the last-gen fashions, the display screen is flat all the best way to the sides, and is damaged up by a round cut-out for the entrance digital camera.

Motorola Edge 20 Pro

(Image credit score: Future)

It’s an OLED show with a 1080 x 2400 decision and help for HDR10+, which is about according to most competing units.

One shock spec is the 144Hz refresh price, which implies the display screen picture updates 144 instances per second. For a very long time 60Hz was the norm, however lately a number of handsets have come out with 90Hz or 120Hz shows; 144Hz is quicker once more, and solely a handful of telephones match or exceed this quantity.

As a end result, movement on the Edge 20 Pro’s show appears to be like fairly easy, a characteristic some telephone followers will actually recognize, though not everybody will discover the distinction, or care a lot.

Cameras

The Motorola Edge 20 Pro has a robust array of cameras – which is a bizarre factor to jot down a few Moto telephone, provided that their snappers are often sub-par. It’s not a improbable digital camera telephone, on account of some questionable optimizations, however we have been nonetheless impressed with the images it took.

We’ll begin with the 32MP, f/2.3 selfie digital camera, which took photos that have been shiny and colourful. We discovered ourselves avoiding Portrait mode, nonetheless, as its background blur results weren’t at all times correct, and it optimized facial options in a curious method.

Motorola Edge 20 Pro

(Image credit score: Future)

Case in level: in comparison with the identical selfie taken with Portrait mode disabled, in Portrait mode, highlights have been boosted for our hair, making every strand seen, whereas a world brightness increase not solely lightened our face but in addition our garments, decreasing general distinction and making the picture rather less hanging.

Now onto the principle cameras. The headliner is a 108MP f/1.9 snapper, which is joined by a 16MP f/2.2 ultra-wide digital camera, and a 8MP f/3.4 periscope digital camera that takes 5x optical zoom snaps.

Pictures taken with the principle digital camera have been filled with element, particularly if we used the 108MP mode (regular photos are solely 12MP except you allow High-Res mode). They appear to have fairly a naturalistic look, extra like photos from a Huawei system than the auto-saturated pictures that Samsung Galaxy telephones have a tendency to provide, which some might like and a few might not.

To get the perfect snaps, we did must take photos into an enhancing app, as ‘naturalistic’ can very simply imply ‘dull’ in low-light settings or on overcast days. But, due to the plentiful colour and brightness info captured by the sensor, we may usually flip a snap into an awesome Insta submit.

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Motorola Edge 20 Pro camera sample — Taken in Photo mode - not the darkish jacket and hair. (Image credit score: Future)

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We took some low-light photographs as nicely, and these usually appeared good, with Night mode doing a great job of balancing exposures and brightening shadows. Unfortunately the mode mechanically jumps into motion, whether or not you toggle it or not, and we have been unable to take comparability pictures consequently. This doesn’t sound like an issue, however robust distinction could make for hanging photos, and by mechanically brightening darkish areas the digital camera doesn’t provide the choice to optimize distinction

Photographs taken with the ultra-wide digital camera retained the identical colour profile as these from the principle snapper, although typically they appeared slightly extra saturated, and as you’d think about given the decrease sensor decision in comparison with the principle digital camera’s High-Res mode, you’re shedding slightly element too.

The periscope digital camera permits you to zoom as much as 5x optically, or 50x digitally, though as you get nearer to the max digital zoom snaps grow to be unusably blurry. 5x zoom photos appeared… nicely, they have been okay, however the comparatively low-res sensor can depart photos wanting slightly fuzzy. Plus, colours didn’t look as daring as in photos taken with the principle or ultra-wide cameras.

Video recording will be executed at 1080p, 4K or 8K, and at 24, 30, or 60fps, although if you wish to file in 8K the framerate tops out at 24fps. We discovered the system surprisingly succesful for recording high-res footage for pretty lengthy quantities of time with out heating up or capturing stuttery footage.

The telephone gives a modest vary of seize modes together with Portrait, Night, 108MP and document-scanning images. Portrait (on the principle digital camera) was helpful for photos of individuals, because the software program tweaked picture settings to make the topic stand out extra, although typically the modifications have been refined.

Camera samples

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Specs and efficiency

The ‘brains’ of the Motorola Edge 20 Pro’s operation is the Snapdragon 870 chipset. Now technically this isn’t the perfect processor obtainable to Android telephones, with the Snapdragon 888 besting the 870 when it comes to energy. However, the distinction between the 2 is slight, and the 870 doesn’t deliver with it the oft-reported overheating points with the 888, making the not-quite-as-top-end chipset an awesome decide for a lot of funds telephones.

We discovered the Edge 20 Pro highly effective sufficient to deal with all of the video games we threw at it, from top-end experiences like PUBG Mobile with all of the settings maxed out, to Rome Total War: Barbarian Invasion, and for lengthy stretches of play.

The telephone stunned us by returning a multi-core rating of 2878 once we put it via a benchmark take a look at; that’s virtually precisely the identical rating because the 2875 of the Moto G100 (which has the identical chipset), however far under the 3369 of the Poco F3 or the 3381 of the Vivo X60 Pro, each of which additionally use the 870. However, such variations are unlikely to be noticeable in real-world use.

The chipset is paired with 12GB RAM, which is a good quantity, in addition to 256GB storage, which once more is an honest providing, although there’s no approach to increase on it.

Motorola Edge 20 Pro

(Image credit score: Future)

This is a 5G telephone, so that you’ll be capable to hook up with next-gen networks, though this is dependent upon your contract and the place you reside, so your mileage relies upon extra on these elements than the Edge 20 Pro itself. We used the handset to connect with 5G networks operated by the UK’s Vodafone simply nice.

This is among the few Motorola telephones to not have a 3.5mm headphone jack, and whereas the loudspeaker is match for goal, it’s not going to provide the sonic high quality headphones will. We’d suggest forking out on a USB-C to three.5mm adaptor, and even higher some wi-fi earbuds, for the perfect audio expertise.

Software

Like all Motorola telephones, the Edge 20 Pro makes use of a clear model of Google’s Android working system, with the system operating Android 11 out of the field. It’ll virtually undoubtedly be eligible for the improve to Android 12, and possibly future builds of the software program too, after they roll out.

That means the software program appears to be like how it might on a Pixel telephone, with out the overlays and design tweaks some firms add. Icons are round, downloaded apps are saved in an app drawer, and the notifications checklist is break up up into media, conversations, ‘standard’ app notifications and ‘silent’ pings (ie, reminders from sure apps).

Motorola does deliver a couple of of its personal methods, within the type of its super-useful time-saving actions. These allow you to shortly set off features with particular gestures, our favourite of which is doing a double ‘karate chop’ motion to activate the flashlight.

Motorola Edge 20 Pro

(Image credit score: Future)

If you’re new to Motorola telephones it might take you a short time to get used to actions, however when you do it’s arduous to return.

The telephone ships with a cable for, and is due to this fact suitable with, Ready For. This is Motorola’s Dex rival, which helps you to join your system to an exterior monitor corresponding to your laptop display screen or TV for sure features.

You can use Ready For for work, utilizing apps on the larger display screen; for entertainment, casting content material from streaming apps onto a giant display screen, for video calls, and for a couple of different functions. It’s probably a really helpful service, though some will get extra use out of it than others.

Battery life

The Motorola Edge 20 Pro’s 4,500mAh battery does its job, and we discovered the telephone to usually final a day between expenses. This wasn’t the case once we used the system closely, however with common use – occasional social media, streaming music, the odd picture – the battery simply made it via to the top of the day.