Alongside the announcement of their latest Razr 40 foldables last month, the Moto Edge 40 was also announced in a splash of colour offering a stylish option with plenty of performance
Priced at $699, the Motorola Edge 40 offers a budget friendly option with the option to splash out and choose the Viva Magenta coloured option or you can stick with the Infinite Black for something a little more classic..
The phone includes a borderless 6.55” pOLED display with curved edges which offers immersive video, as well as giving the phone an extremely thin profile.
Powered by a Mediatek octa-core processor, 8GB of RAM and with 256GB of on-board storage it’s got some decent specs.There’s also a large 4400mAh battery which promises to get you through the day and fast charging for a quick top up if you need it.
Motorola promises “exceptional photography capabilities” for the Edge 40, and with dual sensor array on the rear including a 50MP sensor, and a 32MP selfie camera on the rear it’s off to a good start.
I’ve spent the last two weeks with the Edge 40 and here’s how it went.
Hardware and Design
For the review Motorola have sent over the Viva Magenta coloured Edge 40, the colour a result of their partnership with Pantone. The Viva Magenta is the 2023 Pantone colour of the year and it’s striking, with the additional bonus of being in Vegan Leather finish which is soft and feels amazing in the hand.
If the colour doesn’t grab you there’s also Infinite Black which has an acrylic rear instead of Vegan Leather with a matte finish.
While there’s no chance you’ll see fingerprints on the phone, I’m still a fan of protection and there’s a clear plastic shell included in the box which lets you keep your phone protected in your pocket or in a bag. The phone is also IP68 Dust/Water resistant, so there’s an added bonus there as well.
The large 6.55” pOLED ‘endless edge‘ display dominates the front of the phone, with the borderless design curving down to the sides for an infinite look, with very little bezel on the top or bottom.
There’s not a lot to disrupt the clean lines of the phone with the glass joining the chassis at the sides which offer a slim area to grip the phone. The a volume rocker and power button built-in to the right hand side of the phone, both of which have a nice satisfying click when you press them.A SIM tray, USB-C port and speaker are located on the bottom with the bottom speaker pairing with the earphone for stereo sound that’s tuned by Dolby Atmos.
The Sound is good for a smartphone, with the Dolby Atmos tuning allowing for their surround sound.
Performance
The Motorola Edge 40 uses the Mediatek Dimensity 8020 octa-core processor, with 8GB DDR4 RAM and 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage.
In terms of components, the Edge 40 isn’t using the flagship Qualcomm processors, but the Dimensity 8020 is a very capable processor. It’s been paired with 8GB of RAM, which is running on slower DDR4 speeds, and the 256GB of storage is using UFS3.1 compared to some flagships running faster DDR5 memory with UFS4.0 which has faster transfer speeds.
While it’s not running flagship components, the Motorola Edge 40 doesn’t skip a beat. There’s times you might wait a beat before an app loads, but overall it’s a very capable system.
Display
The curved display on the Motorola Edge 40 looks great, offering a slimmer profile. It can be a little cumbersome to hold with phantom touches, but overall it looks great.
The pOLED display is high resolution and with HDR10+ certification. There’s also wide DCI-P3 colour space support, so all up the screen has excellent colour reproduction with some deep blacks. For those sticklers who want control of their colour representation with a choice between natural and saturated, or a choice to set your tone warmer or cooler.
With a Peak Brightness: of 1200 nits, the display on the Edge 40 looks great indoors or outside, even in bright sun. Even without the brightness iturned to full, t’s an easy to read display.
There’s smooth scrolling in the Edge 40 with the display capable of up to a 144Hz refresh rate – though this will drain your battery quite quickly. By default you use the Auto option which scales up to 120Hz dynamically when needed, but if you want to you can lock in options.
Camera
There’s a good camera setup on the rear of the Edge 40 with a dual sensor array comprising of a 50MP main sensor and 13MP ultra-wide on the rear, with a 32MP selfie camera hidden in a punch hole notch in the display.
The rear camera array on the Edge 40 can capture good quality shots in most lighting conditions. The 50MP main sensor snaps some very nice shots in good light, though it’s not quite on the level of the flagships.
The wide-angle camera offers a good option for a wider field of view, though the drop down to 13MP can be a little noticeable. The wide-angle sensor also adds in a macro mode if you need to get up close.
The low-light capabilities offer a good shot if you have the time to engage night mode and hold still for an additional couple of seconds.
For the selfie lovers, the 32MP camera offers a decent option to snap a pic and if you’re in low-light you can have the display light up with white to brighten the effect.
Battery
There’s a 4400mAh battery inside the Edge 40 offering all-day battery life. The phone supports fast charging up to 68W and unlike a lot of manufacturers the charger is in the box.
In terms of battery life I got a full day of hard use out of the Motorola Edge 40, but if I was using it lightly I could get up to three days of battery life. On average I was able to get into a second day quite easily, charging at my desk when needed.
The phone supports fast charging up to 68W wired, with 15W wireless charging also supported. The wall plug will get you from empty to 100% full in just under an hour if you need to top yourself up at any stage. The 15W wireless charging is a lot slower, but also very convenient and a nice bonus to find on a phone in this price range.
Software
The Motorola Edge 40 runs Android 13 with the 1st of June 2023 security patch. There’s an update to Google Play System available, but no current OTA updates at the time of the review.
As far as future updates, Motorola has promised two Feature updates for Android, taking you up to Android 15 – due to be released next year. You will also receive three years of bi-monthly security updates.
Motorola phones run the MyUX ‘skin’ with the use of the word skin feeling wrong with the Motorola software. It’s essentially stock Android with a few Motorola apps and features baked in.
The big one of course is the Moto app which is front and centre of your homescreen when you login to your phone for the first time. It’s here you can personalise your device, including choosing different layouts and colours, setup gestures, security and features like Edge Display. It’s a good app to centralise all the Motorola specific Android customisations – and I love the tips section for learning about them.
There are other apps, Family Space which lets you create custom locked home screens with access to only certain apps – great for handing your phone off to kids. Moto Secure, a privacy dashboard for your device which also lets you set up locked folders. There’s also a Moto Notifications ‘app’ or more correctly a way to unsubscribe from communications from Motorola.
All three of these apps are system level and can be disabled, but not uninstalled.
There are a few other apps including the Dolby Atmos app for configuring your audio, letting you choose from a number of profiles for the built-in phone speakers or compatible Bluetooth headphones.
Overall the MyUX software is a great choice for Motorola. It’s lightweight and runs well on the hardware with only minimal bloatware along for the ride.
Should you buy one?
The Motorola Edge 40 offers a decent mid-range option with good battery life, large colourful display and a slim profile that fits easily in your pocket.
The Vegan Leather covered Magenta Red is definitely my favourite colour and material of the year with a beautifully soft in-hand feel. I was also pleasantly surprised with the excellent performance of the Mediatek processor.
I’m not a massive fan of the curved display with a few phantom touches here and there, and the camera, while good, is still not quite as impressive as the likes of the Pixel 7a in a similar price range.
Overall though, there’s a lot to like about the Motorola Edge 40 and if you’re looking for a phone around the $699 mark it’s definitely worth checking out. You can find the Motorola Edge 40 in-store at JB Hifi and Harvey Norman, as well as online through Officeworks, Big W, The Good Guys and of course motorola.com.au.
