The Motorola Edge X30, which was announced in China at the end of last year, is coming to the US as the Motorola Edge Plus (or 30 Pro in Europe and other markets). It comes with higher specs than the 2021 Motorola Edge offered, starting with the flagship Android-du-jour chipset, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. While Motorola appears to have addressed Some of our complaints about this mid-range deviceThis is also a much more expensive phone at $999, which makes it much higher for its feature set.
The Edge Plus checks a lot of the boxes for a flagship phone in 2022: There’s a large 6.7-inch 1080p OLED display with a refresh rate of up to 144Hz, and 5GHz sub-6GHz including the C band (it will be for the Verizon version of the phone mmWave, which is an open model that won’t), a 4800mAh battery, 8GB or 12GB of RAM, 30W fast wired charging, and 15W wireless charging. Motorola even includes a 30W charger in the box, which is a strange leftover from years past.
Motorola is also introducing a new smart stylus, which is sold separately as a bundle with a case designed to be carried. It’s an active stylus in the context of Samsung’s S Pen that can do more than the simple passive stylus sold with phones like Motorola’s Moto G Stylus. Like the S Pen, it is pressure sensitive and can be used as a remote control for certain actions without the stylus touching the screen. Motorola says it will announce pricing and availability for the stylus and case “in the coming weeks.”
There are two 50-megapixel cameras on the Edge Plus’ back panel: a standard wide f/1.8 aperture with optical image stabilization and f/2.2 ultrawide. The main camera should offer improved autofocus, which was a weak point in the 2021 Edge. The third lens on the phone’s rear triple camera array is a 2-megapixel depth sensor of questionable utility. On the front, there is a 60MP selfie camera.
However, there are a few spots on the spec sheet that don’t look rosy, especially for the $1,000 phone. The weather resistance is only rated IP52, which means there is some protection against water splashes, but it cannot be fully submerged like IP68 devices in this class.
There’s glass on the front and back of the phone, which is fine, but it’s the older Gorilla Glass 3 and 5, respectively. The Pixel 6 and Samsung S22 Plus use the latest Gorilla Glass Victus (Victus Plus In a S22 bag) on the front to protect against scratches and drops. The Edge Plus is also built with a polycarbonate plastic outer frame instead of aluminum. Motorola says it will support the Edge Plus with three years of security updates, which also fall short of the best support policies among Android phones.
If nothing else, Edge Plus is another high-end Android option in the US, where We have a few precious devices to choose from. The Edge Plus is available unlocked for $100 USD for a “limited time”. It will be offered by Verizon and other carriers in the coming months, according to Motorola.
