It was Friday, the new iPhone 14 Pro went on sale and should cost at least 1,300 euros. Then came the message from Motorola: The new Edge 30 Ultra comes with a Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1, 256 GB storage, 12 GB RAM, a triple camera set with 2x zoom, 200 megapixel camera, 125 watts – Fast charging system, 8K video or 4K with HDR 10+ – for only 900 euros. Did Motorola defy gravity here, or what was going on here? We wanted to take a closer look at that.
Motorola Edge 30 Ultra: Specifications
| Motorola Edge 30 Ultra |
|---|
| Display: 6.67 inch pOLED display at 144Hz, resolution: 2400 x 1080 px (Full HD), 394 ppi, 1.07 billion colors |
| Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 (4G) Octa-Core: 1× Cortex-X2 @ 3.2GHz + 3× Cortex-A710 @ 2.75GHz + 4× Cortex-A510 @ 2.0GHz |
| 256GB ROM 12GB RAM No memory expansion |
| triple camera with 200MP wide angle (f/1.9) 50MP ultra-wide angle with f/2.2 and macro function 12 MP telephoto camera with 2x zoom f/1.6 Video up to 8K @ 30 fps or 4K HDR10+ @ 30 fps Front camera 60 MP, f/2.2, 4K video |
| 5G, WiFi 6E (2.4 and 5 GHz), Bluetooth 5.2/BLE, USB Type-C 3.1 Gen 1, IP52, NFC, GPS, A-GPS, LTEPP, SUPL, Glonass, Galileo
Face recognition, fingerprint sensor in the display Including charging cable and fast charging plug, transparent case |
| Battery with 4610 mAh and 125 W SuperCharge (50 W wireless), 10 W reverse charging |
| Operating System: Android 12 with My UX |
| Dimensions: 161.76 x 73.5 x 8.39 mm, 199 grams |
| Price: 899 euros |
Motorola Edge 30 Ultra: the camera
200 megapixels in the main camera is actually the current top value in a smartphone, but as we know, more megapixels is not automatically better. This reduces the pixel size to 0.64 µm; Motorola, however, combines 4 pixels to 1 with a size of 2.64 µm in the now usual pixel binning. For this, the manufacturer installs a very large 1/1.22 inch sensor. The system is supported by optical image stabilization (OIS).
Motorola recently did it without a zoom in its own Edge flagships — but not now in the Edge 30 Ultra. In any case, the second camera here has a lossless 2x zoom with 12 megapixels, a bright aperture of f/1.6 and a pixel size of 1.22 µm. The third camera has a 50MP ultra-wide angle format and a macro option.
Not every smartphone also offers 8K video. The Edge 30 Ultra does that at 30 fps. The 4K feature with HDR10+ at 30 fps should be much more exciting for videographers anyway. Meanwhile, slow motion goes up to 960 fps in Full HD resolution.
The front camera also has a very high resolution of 60 megapixels. Again, Motorola uses quad-pixel technology to connect small pixels from 0.61 µm to 1.22 µm. 4K video up to 30 fps is possible.
Speed: Motorola is not slow
Motorola is installing the currently fastest Qualcomm chip, the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1, along with UFS 3.1 storage and LPDDR5 RAM. In Germany, the manufacturer offers only one well-equipped memory configuration: 256 GB with 12 GB of RAM. When it comes to speed, the latest WiFi 6E can’t hurt. That, of course, does not apply to USB 3.1 (Type-C) and Bluetooth 5.2.
The screen? Also not to be mocked: a 6.67-inch pOLED display with up to 144 Hz – which is great for online games designed for it. The display completely covers the DCI-P3 color space. The manufacturer leaves the resolution at FHD+ (2400×1080 pixels) and thus 394 ppi. The maximum brightness is 1250 nits – this isn’t a top value, but you should still be able to see something well, even in bright sunlight.
There are also dual stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos tuning, an in-display fingerprint sensor and facial recognition.
And then there’s the fast charging mode with 125 watts wired or 50 watts wireless. Unfortunately, Motorola won’t let you know how long it takes to fully charge the 4,610 mAh battery, which is fully proportioned to your satisfaction. With the cable version, this should be done in less than half an hour.
Edge 30 Ultra: What About Updates?
Is there nothing to fault at all? Well, we always find some little things. The operating system is still Android 12. That’s fine in principle; Google is usually the first to launch a new Android version in October with its own pixel phones. But Motorola has not yet communicated if and when an update to Android 13 should come and how many years users can expect updates.
Then the housing is not completely protected against dust or permanent immersion, but only against splash water according to IP52. That the housing is only hardened with Gorilla Glass 5 (7 Victus would be the newest) should be less important by now. A silicone case is included in the delivery and a screen protector is applied.
The variant available in Germany is a dual SIM version. A memory expansion is not planned. It’s great that the 125W TurboPower charger is included – after all, you need it. The device is also Ready For – so you can connect it to monitors or TVs and then use it as a gaming hub, slideshow or even a PC with simple capabilities.
Conclusion
In the hustle and bustle around the big flagships, it is often a bit lost that there are other, much cheaper top smartphones. An Apple iPhone 14 Pro with 256 GB of memory costs 1,429 euros – the Motorola Edge 30 Ultra for more than 500 euros less does not have to hide from the big name, at least in terms of equipment.
Of course, Motorola mainly wanted to compete with the equally expensive OnePlus 10 Pro. However, tests will now show whether the Edge 30 Ultra is not even suitable for much higher demands. We would like to look into that for you!