A Motorola returned to bet on smartphones in the premium segment in 2020, and brought three new models just over a year later. With a total of five devices with OLED screen and advanced features, the question remains: which is the best Motorola Edge to buy today?
And as the year-end deals are coming, Canaltech will help you choose the model that best suits your needs to wait for the right promotion. In other words, in addition to explaining what kind of use each version of Motorola Edge is ideal for, we’ll also show the price range of each one, so you can understand when one of them is really on a discount during Black Friday.
The list below was made according to the analyzes made by the Canaltech team, which recently had in hand the three Motorola Edges from 2021. Bearing in mind that the price ranges informed here take into account the price variation charts for the last six months available in the Zoom price comparison. If you choose to buy a product on the links shared here, you can pay Canaltech a commission, but don’t pay anything more for it.
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Best Motorola Edge for Photos: Edge 20 Pro
The most advanced cell phone in the line at the moment is the Motorola Edge 20 Pro, which is the most powerful processor version among the 2021 releases. The model has some minor improvements over its predecessor, the Motorola Edge+, with a small platform update, moving from the Snapdragon 865 to the 870, and some camera tweaks. The screen and battery have some disadvantages, but nothing that affects usability so much — and, in the case of the screen, it’s not even considered a weakness for everyone.
Edge 20 Pro has a 6.7-inch OLED screen with Full HD resolution (1080 x 2400 pixels) and 144 Hz refresh rate, as well as support for HDR10+. The display is flat, unlike last year’s models, which have cascading sides. In addition to the Snapdragon 870 platform, the device has 12 GB of RAM memory and 256 GB of internal storage, with no space for a micro SD card.
The battery is 4,500 mAh, 500 mAh less than its predecessor, but recharging is faster, with 30 W support. The camera set is pretty much the same, with 108 MP main, super wide angle of 16 MP and an 8 MP telephoto lens with 5x optical zoom (it was 3x on Edge+). The front has 32 MP, a resolution higher than the predecessor, as well as videos, which can reach 8K on the rear and 4K on the front. Therefore, this is the best Motorola Edge for taking photos and also for recording videos today.
Some minor downsides to offer nice improvements. And the current price is more interesting than last year’s model, ranging from R$ 3,700 to R$ 4,500 in the last six months. In other words, it is possible to find it at less than R$4,000 with relative ease, and any offer in which it is close to that value may already be worth it.
Best cost-effective Motorola Edge: Edge 20
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There are three cell phones in the line that can be found for less than R$3,000, but only one could be the best value for money. We chose the Motorola Edge 20 in this regard for two main factors: it is an experience considerably superior to the Edge 20 Lite; and will have more system updates, as well as being a little better overall than the 2020 Edge.
The screen is the same as the Edge 20 Pro, with 6.7 inches, Full HD resolution (1080 x 2400 pixels), 144 Hz and HDR10+. The platform is intermediate, a Snapdragon 778G chip, with an octa-core processor up to 2.4 GHz. The Brazilian model’s memory has 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage, also without the possibility of expanding it with a micro SD card.
The Motorola Edge 20 is the version with less battery, as it has 4,000 mAh of charge, and also recharges with power of up to 30 W. And the camera set is practically the same as the Edge 20 Pro, with a main 108 MP, ultra 16MP wide and 32MP selfies, but the 8MP telephoto lens has 3x optical zoom. In addition, the device records videos in 4K with the rear set and Full HD with the front.
With even few disadvantages compared to the Edge 20 Pro, the Motorola Edge 20 is well worth it at its current price. It can be found at around R$ 2,900, and has been on a downward trend since August, when it cost R$ 3,600. In other words, it can get even closer to the amount charged by the Motorola Edge 20 Lite in the next weeks. But even with the extra investment now, it pays off more by being more advanced in almost every aspect.
Cheaper Motorola Edge: Edge 20 Lite
Being the cheapest does not always mean being the best value for money. This is the case with the Motorola Edge 20 Lite, which is priced considerably lower than the other two mid-tier models in the lineup, but doesn’t deliver enough experience to justify the smaller investment. You spend less, but make major sacrifices on camera and performance. That’s why the Edge 20 is a better indication, even if its price is a little higher.
But if you still prefer to give the Lite version a try, it’s good to know what to expect. The technical sheet mixes some features of the Edge with the Edge 20, while the platform used is a solution from MediaTek, instead of the Qualcomm. It is the Dimensity 720G, which has an eight-core processor up to 2.0 GHz. The device also has 6/128 GB of memory, and has space for a micro SD card to expand the space. The screen is pretty much the same, but the maximum refresh rate is 90 Hz.
At least this model has 5,000 mAh battery and accepts charging up to 30 W. And the camera set is also very similar to the other models, with 108 MP main and 8 MP ultra wide, although the third sensor is of depth, with 2 MP. The front has 32 MP. Despite this, the results are not pleasing, according to the tests that Canaltech carried out with the device. The highlights are the screen, decent performance and good charge duration.
If you want a good Motorola Edge and want to pay really cheap, you can find the Lite for around R$ 2,200, and its price has stabilized around this range in recent months. For that amount, it’s a good phone, but I insist: you’ll have a much more interesting experience with the Motorola Edge 20, considering the cost-benefit ratio.
Which Motorola Edge does not buy?
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Of the five models available (Edge, Edge Plus, Edge 20 Lite, Edge 20 and Edge 20 Pro), all still deliver very good experience. For those who bought a first generation version, there’s no need to switch to a newer one. You can wait for the next updates. However, to buy today, the Motorola Edge and Edge+ do not look so interesting today, as they should only receive one more system update, and the price of the 2021 releases is already nice.
And the Motorola Edge+ becomes even less indicated for its price, which ends up being higher than the Edge 20 Pro. The difference may not even be very big, but the disadvantages are enough to justify the option for the newer model. The good points of last year’s cell phone are the bigger battery, support for wireless charging and the cascading screen — and the latter may not even be considered a good point by everyone. Otherwise, the latest smartphone is better or at least as good as its predecessor.
Edge Plus has a 6.7-inch cascading OLED display with Full HD resolution (1080 x 2340 pixels), 90 Hz refresh rate and HDR10+ support. The Snapdragon 865 platform is the previous version of the 870 used on the Edge 20 Pro, and the amount of memory is the same on both devices: 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. The battery is 5,000 mAh with 18 W wired and 15 W wireless recharge, including reverse.
The set of cameras is pretty much the same, with the removal of the ToF camera, but some improvements like compensation. Video recording, for example, has a maximum resolution of 6K on Edge+, against 8K on Edge 20 Pro. The selfie camera goes from 25MP to 32MP in the changeover generation, and video capture also has a different resolution, going from Full HD to 4K. Otherwise, they are practically the same sensors, with 108 MP main, 16 MP ultra-wide and 8 MP telephoto lens.
You can find Edge+ for a price that can range from R$ 3,600 to R$ 4,400, and the value has only increased since the third end of October. In other words, you would possibly pay more for a phone that will receive fewer Android updates than newer models, without having any big advantages to compensate.
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