A trio of 108MP Motorola camera phones – the Motorola Edge 20 Lite, Edge 20 and Edge 20 Pro – have been announced after a quiet year from the manufacturer in the premium space.
Motorola hasn’t been quiet in general, launching a bunch of low-cost and mid-range phones with 48MP and 64MP sensors. That said, none have packed Samsung’s now widely adopted 108MP camera sensor – until now.
• Read more: Best camera phones
The Motorola Edge 20 series enjoys a few threads of common DNA: big pixel-count 108MP resolutions sensors, 6.7-inch HDR10 OLED displays (with variable refresh rates), minimalist, matte finishes and 5G mobile data speeds. As for which is the fanciest phone of the three, that would be the Edge 20 Pro, while the Edge 20 sits in the middle, and the Edge 20 Lite is the most affordable.
Motorola Edge 20 Lite
The Motorola Edge 20 lite starts at a OnePlus Nord 2-beating £349.99 ($490) price, positioning it in the midrange camp. Available in Electric Graphite and Lagoon Green, its main 108MP camera is matched with an ultra-wide / Macro Vision set-up and a depth sensor. Selfie fans are also serviced with big pixel counts, thanks to a 32MP front camera that uses quad-pixel tech (pixel binning) to shoot better photos at lower resolutions across lighting conditions.
What’s also mighty for the price is the fact the Edge 20 Lite features a 6.7” OLED display, which sports a 90Hz refresh rate and wide FullHD Plus resolution.
Where are the cost-saving compromises to be had? Under the hood, of course, and the Edge 20 Lite packs a MediaTek Dimensity 720 chipset versus Qualcomm chips on the more premium models. That said, it’s matched with 6GB RAM which is ample, and there’s a massive 5000 mAh battery too, so we don’t anticipate any performance or battery woes.
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Vying for the title of best budget camera phone, we’ll see if it can topple the (also 108MP) Redmi Note 10 Pro when we get one in for review.
Motorola Edge 20
The Edge 20 is Motorola’s slimmest 5G phone ever at 6.99mm. Once again, with a 108MP and a 16MP ultra-wide, the phone also features a OnePlus 9 Pro-matching 3x equivalent zoom complete with OIS. As for the screen, the Edge 20’s display pumps up the refresh rate to a flagship-beating 144Hz, while retaining the HDR10+ goodness seen on the Lite.
The phone features a 4000mAh battery, which is smaller than the that of the Lite, but its size enable that sleek design. There’s still respectable power, with the Edge 20 powered by a more premium Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G 5G chipset. Costing £499.99 (roughly $700), you can pick up the Edge 20 in Frosted Grey, Frosted White and Frosted Emerald.
Motorola Edge 20 Pro
As for the Edge 20 Pro, it’s the first Motorola phone to feature a periscope camera, which features a 5x equivalent optical zoom packing OIS, alongside the 108MP main camera and 16MP ultra-wide. When shooting with the periscope camera, Moto took great pride in showcasing the handy preview window in the camera UI so you can see what you’re zooming in on in the context of a big picture. The phone also features Dual Capture view, so you can enjoy split-screen selfie / primary camera recording simultaneously.
Powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 chipset, the same as found in the Vivo X60 Pro, and featuring the same 144Hz screen refresh rate as the Edge 20, the Pro is clearly the most premium of the bunch across the board. As for its battery, it sits in the middle of the other two with a 4500mAh capacity; a standard spec seen in phones like the OnePlus 9 and the Oppo Find X3 Pro.
Available in Midnight Blue and Iridescent White with a glass finish, or in Vegan Leather, the phone also packs options when it comes to styling, and costing £699 (roughly $980), it sits in the low-cost flagship space with other phones like the iPhone 12 Mini.
Available to buy in the UK in August 2021, with availability in other regions to follow, all three look like camera champs in their price ranges thanks in a big way to that their 108MP sensors.
Read more:
OnePlus Nord 2 review
Redmi Note 10 Pro review
OnePlus 9 Pro review
Oppo Find X3 Pro review
iPhone 12 Mini review
