At a lookKnowledgeable’s Score
Execs
- Premium, light-weight design
- Robust efficiency
- First rate digital camera
- 144Hz pOLED display screen
Cons
- Curved display screen has some false enter points
- Brief software program help
Our Verdict
With an unusually premium design, a fantastic display screen, a succesful digital camera and first rate efficiency, the Motorola Edge 40 Neo is definitely the most effective Neo cellphone but. It is also the most effective sub-£300 smartphone available on the market proper now.
Value When Reviewed
Unavailable within the US
With the Motorola Edge 40 Neo, the producer has seemingly had a little bit of a rethink about its ‘reasonably priced premium’ Neo line. It’s larger and nicer-looking than the Motorola Edge 30 Neo, with a a lot bigger and curvier 6.55in pOLED show.
Regardless of this scaling up, nonetheless, the Motorola Edge 40 Neo finally ends up costing £50 much less out of the gate.
We described final yr’s mannequin as “a likeable handset that will get so much proper,” nevertheless it was let down by low cost design and poor low-light digital camera efficiency, amongst different issues. Has Motorola managed to hit the ‘premium funds’ jackpot with this yr’s revision?
Design & Construct
- Premium curved design
- IP68 rated
- Slim and lightweight
Ultimately, we’ve a Motorola Edge Neo cellphone worthy of the title. Earlier Neo telephones haven’t actually deserved their ‘Edge’ moniker, dropping the curved edges of the extra premium fashions.
Opinions could fluctuate on the worth of such a design, and we’ll go on to debate the drawbacks within the subsequent part. However there’s no denying that it’s a mightily efficient solution to make an inexpensive cellphone feel and appear dearer.
make no mistake, the Motorola Edge 40 Neo appears and feels nice
Jon Mundy / Foundry
And make no mistake, the Motorola Edge 40 Neo appears and feels nice. Moreover that curved show, there’s a pleasingly strong, silky-feeling matt end plastic rear that doesn’t really feel remotely low cost. I additionally like the way in which that it subtly curves up in the direction of the sq.(ish) digital camera module.
The Pantone branding printed on the rear cowl displays a barely gimmicky color coding partnership. My mannequin’s known as Black Magnificence, however you can even get it in Caneel Bay (marine blue) or Soothing Sea (pale inexperienced).
Whereas it’s larger than the Edge 30 Neo, that is nonetheless an agreeably compact cellphone, with a thickness of simply 7.9mm. Extra impressively, it weighs a mere 172g, which makes it extraordinarily simple to lug round.
Jon Mundy / Foundry
Maybe essentially the most spectacular determine to band round right here is ‘IP68’. That’s the extent of water and mud resistance that has been formally achieved by Motorola, and it’s the sort of element you merely don’t see this far south of £600, particularly when Motorola has a historical past of solely providing a water-repellent coating.
One of the best factor I can say for the Motorola Neo 40 Edge design is that I didn’t even examine the cellphone’s value till I had spent a number of days with the cellphone, and was genuinely shocked after I did. It is a critically stylish buyer for £300.
Display screen & Audio system
- First rate 6.55in pOLED show
- 144Hz max refresh charge
- Some palm enter points
- Ample stereo audio system
After going huge with the 6.7in Edge 20 Neo and shrinking approach down with the 6.2in Edge 30 Neo, Motorola has reached a snug center floor with the 6.55in Full HD+ Edge 40 Neo show.
It’s a wise transfer, producing a canvas that’s nonetheless undeniably on the big facet with out completely filling your arms.
It is a effectively judged display screen in different methods too. I’m nonetheless unsure that Motorola’s obsession with an elevated 144Hz refresh charge is solely worthwhile – it’s all a bit Spinal Faucet “this one goes as much as 11” – nevertheless it’s definitely a noteworthy spec in a £300 cellphone.
this can be a vibrant pOLED show that outputs wealthy, pure colors
Jon Mundy / Foundry
Extra importantly, this can be a vibrant pOLED show that outputs wealthy, pure colors – at the least when you’ve switched away from the default Saturated color mode.
It additionally will get fairly brilliant. There’s a said peak brightness of 1300 nits, although in fact that is relevant to HDR situations and doesn’t mirror basic traditional. I measured round a 3rd of that determine on a plain white display screen with autobrightness turned off, which remains to be completely first rate.
Nearly the one criticism I’ve in regards to the Motorola Edge 40 Neo’s show is its twin curved nature. Whereas it’d add a dose of sophistication to a less expensive cellphone, I did expertise a few of these telltale false palm presses as the perimeters of my holding hand interacted with the wrap-around contact floor.
Motorola has equipped a set of stereo audio system that are completely first rate for the cash. They lack low-end punch, as you’d anticipate for £300, however they’re loud and clear. Join a set of headphones and also you’ll additionally get Dolby Atmos help.
Specs & Efficiency
- MediaTek Dimensity 7030 with 12GB RAM
- Robust efficiency for the cash
- Beneficiant 256GB of storage
Motorola has fitted the Edge 40 Neo with MediaTek’s Dimensity 7030 SoC. That’s not essentially the most mainstream of chips, however our benchmark checks counsel that it’s a substantial step ahead from the Edge 30 Neo and the Poco X5 5G with their Snapdragon 695 chip.
Certainly, it handily tops most sub-£300 telephones within the uncooked efficiency stakes.
Jon Mundy / Foundry
As these benchmarks counsel, utilizing the Edge 40 Neo is a largely easy expertise, even with the show set to 144Hz, which is how I had it for many of the take a look at interval. It doesn’t have the snap or fast-loading apps and internet pages of a real flagship, however the overwhelming majority of individuals merely wouldn’t discover the distinction.
Certain, you’ll be able to spend extra to get extra, however the Edge 40 Neo hits that candy spot the place we’re speaking marginal features for all however essentially the most intensive of energy customers or players. The benchmarks beneath present it’s not far off the Google Pixel 7a in Geekbench 6 which prices £449 and likewise outpaces the £349 Samsung Galaxy A34 5G.
It helps that right here within the UK you additionally get 12GB of RAM as commonplace, which is a beneficiant quantity at this value. You additionally get 256GB of storage, which is Motorola going effectively and really above and past – that’s double the most cost effective iPhone 15 and Pixel 8.
Motorola Edge 40 Neo benchmarks
It’s a totally nice digital camera to shoot with in most situations
Cameras
- Massive, succesful 50Mp 1/1.5in fundamental sensor
- 13Mp ultra-wide matches the tone, if not high quality
- No telephoto or pointless additional sensors
- Mediocre 32Mp selfie digital camera
The Motorola Edge 40 Neo’s digital camera system is led by what seems to be the identical 50Mp 1/1.5in Omnivision OV50A sensor that you just’ll discover in Motorola Edge 30 Fusion, the Motorola Razr 2022, the Huawei P50 Professional, and the Moto G84 5G. Other than the latter, these are all pricier telephones.
This bigger sensor, backed by OIS (optical picture stabilisation), is able to scooping up extra gentle and capturing detailed, brilliant, well-balanced pictures. It’s a totally nice digital camera to shoot with in most situations, and I used to be impressed by how wealthy and pure the colors appeared, whereas dynamic vary was additionally on level.
Jon Mundy / Foundry
Shifting to lesser lighting situations, the Edge 40 Neo maintained its composure when taking pictures indoors in average lighting, with some significantly tasty meals pictures. Evening mode pictures show the true hole to flagship telephones, nevertheless it’s nonetheless a really credible efficiency, with brilliant, detailed pictures.
This spectacular fundamental shooter is backed by a 13Mp ultra-wide digital camera. As you’d anticipate, it’s not in the identical league as that 50Mp fundamental shooter, nevertheless it’s fairly respectable. It may well’t even method the element or distinction captured by the primary sensor, however the tone is broadly related, which is an achievement in a funds cellphone.
There’s no telephoto digital camera, however nor are there any foolish depth or macro sensors cynically designed to fill out the roster. You may seize 2x pictures, however know that they’ll be cropped in on that fundamental sensor, and so will wrestle for wonderful element.
Rounding up the package deal is a 32Mp selfie digital camera, which sounds spectacular, however doesn’t really take significantly nice pictures. Element is OK, however I discovered my pores and skin tone to be weirdly false trying.
I favored the choice between two focal lengths – one fairly shut up, one wider – however the former is actually a crop of the latter. You’re higher off sticking with the huge possibility.
Battery Life & Charging
- 5000mAh battery
- Battery comfortably lasts a full day
- 68W charger bundled in
The Motorola Edge 40 Neo comes with a 5000mAh battery, which is a pleasant measurement given how svelte the cellphone feels.
It enabled me to get by a full day of heavy utilization (5 hours of display screen on time) with round 25% left within the tank. That’s a really strong end result provided that I used to be operating with the display screen set to the total 144Hz restrict.
It’d sound worrying that the Edge 40 Neo didn’t rating too extremely on the usual PC Mark Work 3.0 battery take a look at, dropping greater than 2 hours wanting the ten hour mark that the Poco X5 5G and the Redmi Be aware 12 5G reached.
Jon Mundy / Foundry
Keep in mind, although, that this rating was achieved with that 144Hz setting fairly than the same old 120Hz. Dropping the refresh charge to 120Hz added one other hour to that rating, whereas going with the default Auto setting introduced the rating as much as 9h 17min.
That’s nonetheless effectively wanting the competitors, and several other hours wanting the Moto Edge 30 Neo, suggesting that the Dimensity 7030 isn’t essentially the most environment friendly chip available on the market in the case of a sustained synthetic load. In sensible mixed-use phrases, nonetheless, I’ve no qualms by any means.
Motorola bundles a speedy 68W charger with the Edge 40 Neo, which is most welcome. It’ll get the battery from empty to virtually half-full in simply quarter-hour, and on to a wonderful 82% in half an hour.
Software program & Apps
- Android 13
- Clear UI and minimal bloatware
- Two main OS updates, three years of safety updates
Motorola’s super-clean tackle Android is just about legendary by now, at the least amongst tech journo sorts. It’s blissfully freed from flab, with menus and icons largely as supposed by Google.
That’s to not say that Motorola’s fingerprints aren’t on this UI. The Moto app is your window onto the corporate’s approach of doing issues, providing entry to considerate gesture-based shortcuts, enhanced safety, and personalisation choices.
Household House, in the meantime, enables you to create an area in your cellphone for teenagers, limiting entry to apps, designing a bespoke house display screen, setting cut-off dates and establishing passwords.
Jon Mundy / Foundry
We will’t let Motorola fully off the hook for its method to software program. It’s not completely free from bloatware, with TikTok, Fb, and Reserving.com all preinstalled. But it surely’s just about the cleanest, most nice Android-based OS exterior of Google’s inventory efforts.
Motorola is promising full OS updates (so as much as and together with Android 15) and three years of safety updates. It’s not the most effective on the market within the grand scheme of issues, with the likes of Samsung providing double that for OS updates so limits the lifespan of the handset which is a disgrace.
Value & Availability
The Motorola Edge 40 Neo is accessible in simply mannequin right here within the UK, with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. It prices £299.99 immediately from the Motorola web site.
Different well-liked on-line retailers like Amazon are additionally carrying the cellphone. The Edge 40 Neo just isn’t obtainable within the US.
At this value, the primary competitors comes from Xiaomi’s funds sub-brands, with telephones such because the Poco X5 5G and the Redmi Be aware 12 5G broadly in the identical class because the Edge 40 Neo with equal configurations.
Apparently, Motorola’s personal Moto G84 5G is just £50 lower than the Edge 40 Neo sitting in our funds cellphone class, although the gulf in school feels a lot wider.
Try our chart of the most effective mid-range telephones to see extra choices.
Must you purchase the Motorola Edge 40 Neo?
Motorola has supplied a startlingly full premium funds cellphone within the Edge 40 Neo. Its design and construct high quality are higher than just about all the pieces else in its weight class.
Efficiency is robust, the show is brilliant and fluid (the tune of 144Hz), and the 50Mp fundamental digital camera is able to capturing genuinely good pictures.
Throw in strong battery life, quick charging, and Motorola’s famed clear method to software program, and you’ve got what might very effectively be the most effective cellphone you will get for lower than £300.
Specs
- Android 13
- 6.55in, FHD+, OLED, 144Hz, curved show
- In-display fingerprint sensor
- MediaTek Dimensity 7030
- 12GB LPDDR5 RAM
- 256GB storage
- 50Mp, f/1.8 fundamental digital camera
- 13Mp ultra-wide digital camera
- As much as 4K @ 30fps rear video
- 32Mp front-facing digital camera
- Stereo audio system
- Twin-SIM
- Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6e
- Bluetooth 5.4
- 5000mAh battery
- 68W charging
- 159.6 x 72 x 7.9mm
- 172g
- Launch colors: Black Magnificence, Soothing Sea, Caneel Bay
