For some time now, Motorola has once again amazed its users with ever more refined products that leave nothing to chance; the Brand's work has been meticulous and carried out with care and the company has never been cradled on its historical fame, on the contrary it has always pushed on the accelerator to keep up with the times and create devices actually in line with the standards required by the market .
This Moto edge 40 it is not the first "new generation" Motorola that I happen to try, and in fact I'll spoil you already that it is the usual excellent Motorola ever: exceptional software, well-finished design and display with fantastic colors are a bit the synthesis of this review, but there is also something more that I should tell you in more detail.
Index
Motorola MOTO Edge 40 review
Design and Materials
Edge not only in name, but Edge also in reality because this new Moto edge 40 it comes with two curved edges on the sides: you know how much I am an admirer of this technology due to the issue of the considerably superior grip, so I won't spend so many words praising Motorola on this front which remains entirely a subjective matter.
What, however, is objective are the extremely small frames along the four sides, perfectly optimized to increase the useful screen surface as much as possible; speaking of the screen, the biometric sensor has been integrated in the lower part. For heaven's sake, I found it very accurate and reliable, but such a low positioning might not be the ideal solution for everyone, unless you get used to it a bit.
For the rest, compact dimensions and extremely low thickness are the perfect keywords to describe this device; I received the coloring as a test Lunar Blue, very fresh and youthful, which is characterized by a plastic back cover with opaque finishes, but the real gem is represented by the other colors which, however, have a faux leather finish, certainly more refined. This specification, however, helps to increase the overall weight of the device by 4 grams, which therefore reaches 171 grams in the version with eco-leather back cover and 167 grams for the plastic version. In any case it is thickness of the smartphone is equal to 7.6 mm.
According to the opinions of those who have tried the eco-leather version, it seems that the back cover in question retains some fingerprints so as to make the smartphone seem quite dirty; this smooth Blu in my possession, although it passes more unnoticed, however, has no problems with fingerprints during use.
In any case, all the color variants are united by the presence of a slightly protruding island for the camera which makes the smartphone dance a bit on the surfaces, nothing new and above all nothing different from what all the other manufacturers in circulation do. The smartphone does not have a headphone jack, at the bottom it houses the USB-C connector, the primary speaker, the SIM trolley and the microphone. On the upper part there is the second microphone, while the second speaker is located in correspondence with the ear capsule.
Note extremely in favor of the Motorola smartphone is, however, the presence of IP68 certification for dust and water with also the possibility of immerse the smartphone up to 1.5 meters deep for no more than 30 minutes.
Display
The display goes positively against the trends, and I'm mainly referring to Motorola's implementation of the refresh rate up to 144Hz, values poco higher than the average which is usually around 120Hz maximum and, in rare cases mostly reserved for “gaming phones” up to 165Hz. Beyond the refresh rate the one supplied a Moto edge 40 it's a great display from 6.67 "inches with resolution 1080 2400 pixels x, 20:9 form factor and P-OLED matrix panel, capable of reaching a very high peak brightness, 1200 nits.
It has all the credentials to do well, and in fact the user experience was certainly excellent for the price range in which the device is placed. The colors are quite vivid, the blacks obviously almost absolute; the only sore point I noticed on the whites that didn't convince me 100%, and unfortunately there is no real section dedicated to color improvements in the software. The company, in fact, allows through its software to choose between two predefined presets, Natural and Intense, as well as with a selector that simply adjusts the color temperature in a fairly coarse way.
However, these are my fussy observations, as the panel is more than good in daily experience and also in comparison with the main competitors in the same market segment it undoubtedly comes out with its head held high. Speaking of certifications for streaming, however, the smartphone has Widevine L1 DRM, compatibility with Dolby Vision and HDR10+.
Hardware and Performance
The hardware platform that Motorola has opted for is, for me, an absolute novelty: the new Mediatek Dimension 8020 officially makes its market debut on this smartphone, even if to the most attentive eyes, lovers of data sheets and benchmarks, this processor looks like an old acquaintance, the Dimensity 1100. In any case it is an Octa-Core CPU with 6nm with 4 x 2.6GHz Cortex-A78 cores and 4 x 2.0GHz Cortex-A55 cores; there GPU is a Mali G77 while the memory cut is unique, 8 / 256GB without any possibility of external expansion. On the connectivity front, however, the smartphone supports 5G but above all eSIMs, therefore a physical sim in Nano format and a virtual one; there is no shortage of Wi-Fi 6e, NFC and Bluetooth 5.2.
On the performance front I really have nothing to complain about; it is tradition that Motorola devices, strong with first-class software optimization, never have real problems during use, even in the most intense scenarios. In the benchmarks, the hardware chosen by Motorola slightly overtakes in single core some of its competitors in the same price range, such as the Pixel 7a or the POCO X5 Pro, but in the Antutu scores it is certainly at a disadvantage.
You know, however, how much I am not a lover of these numbers, above all because in practice they leave the time they find. To be honest, the only scenario that put this smartphone in a bit of a crisis was massive gaming, and by massive I mean extended for over half an hour and with titles of the caliber of Call of Duty.
More specifically I am referring to temperatures tend to rise a little above the norm and, consequently, slightly limit the performance of the smartphone which inevitably loses a few frames during games or shows micro-lag in the interface when we leave the games. Everything returns to normal quite quickly, but it is necessary to report it.
Software
If I had to find negative words against Motorola's software, I would simply say that the company has only guaranteed two major updates to this smartphone, because otherwise it is the usual exceptional confirmation of all time. I really love Motorola's software choices which for years has come up with clean and essential software, like Google did. There Android version here is 13 with security patches recently updated on April 1, 2023.
Its integrations, its hand, is limited and intelligent: Motorola's intervention can be seen in the usual apps dedicated to the family with the Family Space, but also the Privacy Hub MotoSecure or even ready for, the platform very similar to Samsung's Dex that allows you to transform your smartphone into a real computer after connecting it to a monitor via USB-C.
Thanks to this technology it can be used Moto edge 40 on a large screen, interact with installed apps or even make and receive video calls using the smartphone cameras. Of course, there are certainly some limitations as the software is not born for this type of use, but the experience is positive. To make the experience more complete, you can use a bluetooth keyboard and mouse, but alternatively, if you don't have any, the smartphone turns into a real touchpad.
Camera
As a good mid-range as this Moto Edge 40 presents itself, I must say that the photographic sector also satisfied me and perfectly reflects the market range. The lens compartment is made up of a main 50MP f / 1.4, followed by a 13MP ultra-wide with 120° FOV and f/2.2 and one aperture 32MP selfie camera with f/2.4 aperture; I really appreciated Motorola's wise choice to bring only two cameras to this smartphone, and not three, one of which is usually useless in most scenarios.
The most attentive will not have missed the 1.4 focal aperture of the main lens which represents the biggest improvement in this new generation of Edge 40: for the less experienced, an aperture of this type guarantees a double benefit, first of all it is able to let in more light than other smartphones, and secondly in portraits it manages to provide greater precision with the bokeh, which is not only "simulated" via software but also achieved at the hardware level.
Beyond these technicalities, the main camera manages to capture photographs full of detail and with an impressive dynamic range; of course, in some cases the colors are a bit too fired (perhaps the fault of the automatic HDR), but I must say that I personally appreciated them more than others. I also liked the portrait mode, it provides natural and balanced footing, without that nasty false clipping effect. Even in the evening it does a good, surprising and above-average job: here the wide aperture of the sensor plays to the advantage of this smartphone which, even at night and in low light, manages to capture beautiful details without having difficulty managing the lights.
Even the wide-angle camera, contrary to expectations, gave me good results: the photos are free of distortion, there is good focus and even the colors are comparable (at least during the day) to the primary camera, without too many qualitative differences even if we are talking about a 13MP lens alone. In the evening this sensor, unfortunately, fails to give its best so I do not advise you to rely on it in the evening shots. Selfies are just enough, don't expect miracles or a top-of-the-class definition; in the evening they are unusable, unless you want to shoot a "virtual" super flash on your face, almost blinding.
I videos reach 4k at 30fps, but in this price range it is always advisable to record in FullHD at 60fps to make the most of the optical and digital stabilization.
Autonomy
The choice of battery is quite unusual, but given the extremely low thickness it was frankly to be expected. Moto Edge 40, in fact, arrives with a unit on board 4400 mAh able to recharge wired up to 68W and wireless up to 15W. It is a battery that, all in all, allows you to get to the evening without difficulty, but certainly if we intend to compare it to some smartphones of its same range, such as the last POCO F5 Pro, for example, is placed a few points lower.
However, the day of even intense use closes it quite admirably and without too many sacrifices; if, however, your use should put it extremely under pressure, you can set the display to 90Hz to recover something. The 0-100 recharge, on the other hand, takes about 40 minutes.
Price and Considerations
Motorola Edge 40 arrives in Italy officially a €529,90 in the single 8/256GB memory size, a quite crowded but also rather complex price range to conquer: with figures exceeding 500, albeit of poco, a product with few flaws is expected, and this Motorola has all the credentials. However, many players collide with him: there is Pixel 7 at a very interesting street price, there is Nothing Phone, but also some Samsungs.
In short, it is impossible for him to emerge as the undisputed winner, but in the light of what we have seen, the Moto Edge 40 can boast of a beautiful design, an excellent display, good but not perfect hardware, and a convincing camera in most scenarios. What will blow her away? Definitely personal judgement.
NB If you do not see the box with code or the link to the purchase, we advise you to disable the AdBlock.
⭐️ Discover the best deals online thanks to our exclusive Telegram channel.
