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Motorola is probably better known these days for its budget and mid-range phones than its flagships. But the company is making another play for the flagship space with the the new Motorola Edge+Â featuring a 6.7 inch 2400 x 1080 pixel pOLED display with a 165 Hz refresh rate, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, and other premium features.
But that doesn’t mean Motorola is giving up on budget devices. The Motorola Edge+ will sell for $800 when it goes on sale later this month, but the new Moto G5 (2023) and Moto G Stylus (2023) are also coming in May with prices starting at $250 and $200, respectively.
Motorola Edge+
The Motorola Edge+ justifies its higher price tag with a speedy processor, a high-quality display, and features like an IP68 water resistance rating, 8GB of LPDDR5X memory, and 512GB of storage.
The phone also has a camera system that includes a 50MP primary camera, 50MP ultrawide camera, and 12MP telephoto camera for 2X zoom. Users can record 4K video at up to 60 frames per second or 8K video at 30 fps.
Motorola also equipped the phone with a 60MP front-facing camera that uses quad-pixel technology allowing you to save 15MP pictures that capture more light.
Other features include a USB 3.2 Type-C port with support for video output, a 5,100 mAh battery, support for 68W fast charging (wired), 15W wireless charging, and 5W wireless power sharing. The phone has an on-screen fingerprint sensor and supports face unlock.
The Motorola Edge+ comes with Android 13 and Motorola says it will receive major operating system updates for at least three years and bi-monthly security updates for at least four.
The phone also supports Motorola’s Ready For software, which allows you to pair the phone with a PC to copy data between devices, view your smartphone apps on your PC, or use the phone’s camera as a PC webcam, among other things.
Motorola says the new Edge+ goes up for pre-order May 19th, 2023 and it should be available in stores starting May 25.
Moto G5 (2023) and Moto G Stylus (2023)
The new Moto G Stylus is coming May 5 for $200 and up, while the Moto G5 (2023) launches May 25 for $250 and up.
While the names would seem to suggest that the key differences between these phones is that one comes with a stylus, that’s actually just the tip of the iceberg. Sure, both phones have 6.5 inch, 1600 x 720 pixel IPS LCD displays, 4GB of RAM and 5,000 mAh batteries, but we’re looking at different processors, storage, cameras, display refresh rates, and more.
| Moto G5 | Moto G 5 Stylus | |
| Display | 6.5 inches 1600 x 720 pixels 120 Hz IPS LCD | 6.5 inches 1600 x 720 pixels 90 Hz IPS LCD |
| Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 480 | MediaTek Helio G85 |
| Graphics | Adreno 619 | Mali-G52 |
| RAM | 4GB | |
| Storage | 128GB microSD card reader (up to 1TB) | 64GB microSD card reader (up to 1TB) |
| Cameras | 48MP (primary) 2MP (macro) 8MP (front) | 50MP (primary) 2MP (macro) 8MP (front) |
| Audio | Stereo speakers Dual microphones 3.5mm audio jack | |
| Wireless | 5G NR WiFi 5 Bluetooth 5.1 | 4G LTE WiFi 5 Bluetooth 5.0 |
| Ports | USB 2.0 Type-C 3.5mm headset | |
| Battery | 5,000 mAh | |
| Charging | 15W (wired) | |
| Security | Fingerprint sensor | |
| Dimensions | 164 x 75 x 8mm | 163 x 74 x 9mm |
| Weight | 189 grams | 195 grams |
| Price | $250 | $200 |
I’d love to see some proper coverage of Ready For as a standalone PC (not the phone-to-PC integration). It would be very much in line with the notion of small computing Liliputing is known for. Plug the phone into a desktop USB-C monitor and go to town with a modern pocket PC.
Moto needs to upgrade their Android support duration for these prices.
I’m still wondering when companies will learn to make eco friendly products, like you know, removable batteries…
But $800 is a hard sell for no SD card slot, no headphone jack, just 8GB of RAM and no removable battery, and for something that will probably be forgotten in a year any way.
p.s. Brad, have you considered opening a forum here? I’d sign up. This site seems to be better than most of the trash heaps on the net these days…
It’s kind of funny that headphone jacks and microSD card readers are still commonly available on budget devices.
If you’re willing to sacrifice performance, display quality, and camera features you could always pick up one of the new Moto G series phones and get those things…
I’ve been keeping my eyes open on a decent device. Removable batteries are important to me, as well as external storage. I’d really like to try my hand again at having a computer in my pocket to replace my aging laptop to use as my main system.
There was a post on reddit where someone using a dock actually hooked up their pinephone to a monitor and could (barely) use it as a desktop.
I really like that idea. I don’t game any more and my computing needs are few. Something I can slip in my pocket and take with me and hook up to a dock and surf the net while at home, really appeals to me.
This is why I’ve been considering the Asus Rog, for one thing.
Looking at the MotoG on gsmarena, the non-removable battery is a deal breaker for me, but I do like that it has an SD card slot and headphone jack. Thanks for the suggestion, but I’ll keep looking. 🙂
Funny indeed that it has those ports being a budget item.
Removable batteries won’t come back. At least easily removable batteries. The problem is water-proofing.
Removable batteries disappeared as soon as every smartphone maker realized that achieving an IPxx water resistance rating was an effective way to drastically reduce warranty claims. You can’t have water resistance if the back cover is removable.
I would also love to be able to swap batteries easily, but I won’t give up an IP68 rating to get that.
It’s possible, but maybe not cost effective enough for manufacturers to make. I’m too lazy to research it, but I’m sure with enough R&D it’s possible to make something that has both a removable battery and a waterproof rating.
Casio makes watches that are water proof and has a removable back so you can replace the battery, so I know it’s possible.
But companies look to cut costs and tighten their belts where ever possible, so they probably think it’s not worth the cost to make such an item, which is a shame really.
Samsung’s Galaxy S5 phones had ingress protection ratings. They did this through the use of a gasket in the cover, as well as some flats in the plastic frame where the cover pressed against.
That was exceptional, not the norm, either before or since.
Their xcover phones also have this as a feature, as well as some other phones, which are generally screwed shut.