Motorola Edge Plus: The best cameras of any Moto phone — but I wanted more

The Motorola Edge Plus has pretty much everything you’d hope for in a premium 5G phone: A Snapdragon 865 chipset, a giant battery, an OLED screen with a high refresh rate and multiple rear cameras with heavy-duty specs. Motorola took features found on other top-of-the-line Android phones, put its own Moto spin on them and built them all into one of the most wonderful Android phones I’ve tried in a long time.

But there are two things about the phone that can impede its success. One is its chunky build and lack of IP rating for water or dust resistance. The other is that it’s sold as a Verizon exclusive in the US, which could shut out interested buyers. Considering the Edge Plus is competing in a sea of other 5G, Snapdragon 865-powered phones, it needs all the advantages it can get. Anyone in the market for such a device can afford to be picky. 

Want a screen with a higher refresh rate than 90Hz? Check out the 120Hz displays on the Galaxy S20 Plus or OnePlus 8 Pro ($999 at OnePlus). Want something that costs less than the $1,000 Motorola Edge Plus? Check out the $900 OnePlus 8 Pro (again) or the LG V60. Craving a camera that can shoot video at a higher resolution than 6K? Consider the V60 once more or any of the Galaxy S20 phones that can record 8K video. All of these phones are viable options because each offers its own mix of features, and some will appeal to you more than others.

After a week with the Motorola Edge Plus, I found it to be so much more than its spec list. The phone is absolutely charming — it takes good photos (just not the best), has a promising long battery life (though final results from testing aren’t in yet) and has a striking design. If you’re a Verizon customer it’s worth considering. If you’re not, there are plenty of other options to choose from including a scaled-down version of the phone called the Motorola Edge, which will be sold unlocked starting this summer.

Motorola Edge Plus’ wraparound display

It would be lazy to compare the looks of the Motorola Edge Plus to recent Samsung Galaxy phones. They have a similar design language but express it differently. The Edge Plus embraces a sleek industrial design compared to the nail-polished gloss of the Galaxy S20 and S20 Plus.

As its name suggests, what defines this phone is its 6.7-inch OLED screen that wraps around the edges of the phone nearly 90 degrees. It is gorgeous and looks even better with a 90Hz high refresh rate instead of the more common 60Hz. This means text looks sharper, and animations and scrolling are smoother. Obviously there are phones with higher refresh rate displays, such as the 144Hz screen on Nubia Red Magic 5G gaming phone, but 90Hz is no slouch. Motorola also claims it saves on battery drain. I used both 90Hz and 120Hz screens and there is less of a difference between them than, say, a 60Hz and 90Hz one.

When I tilt it at various angles, the edge either looks brighter or darker than the main, flat part of the display. This is especially apparent when I’m on the home screen or in Settings. It can be a bit distracting. Maybe it’s the angle of the edges, or the way the backlighting works in the bend, but I’m surprised to see this on a phone at this price. But when I’m watching a video that spills over the sides, it’s barely noticeable.

The 19.5:9 ratio screen is tall and narrow, but the shape of the phone makes it comfortable to hold. The wide aspect ratio is perfect for watching many movies that are also shot at a wide aspect ratio. I watched The Good, The Bad and The Ugly on the Edge Plus and it filled the screen perfectly.

The speakers sound good and deliver solid bass. Whether I was playing the Beastie Boys, Wu-Tang Clan, Andrew Bird, Sharon Jones or the Kronos Quartet, music sounded loud and full. If you don’t want to blast your music, there’s also a headphone jack.

There’s a fingerprint reader built into the front display. When I reviewed the Moto Z4 ($800 at Amazon), which also had an in-screen fingerprint sensor, it never seemed to work on the first try. The one on the Edge Plus works great though. It’s fast and I rarely have to scan my finger twice to unlock my phone like on the Z4.

The Motorola Edge Plus looks smooth and sleek with its waterfall display

Good photos, solid macro camera and 6K videos

This is the best camera system I’ve used on a Motorola, but I wouldn’t say it’s the best camera system on any phone. Motorola deserves praise for what it’s accomplished with its camera hardware and processing. But it’s still a step behind Apple and Google. 

There are three cameras on the back and one on the front. The main camera has a 108-megapixel sensor that combines four pixels into one, through a process called “pixel binning.” This results in brighter 27-megapixel photos with less image noise when you shoot in medium and low light situations.