Motorola unveiled its first properly high-end phone since 2016 overnight, the Edge+. The Edge+ is named after it's aggressively curved screen, which is bent by almost 90-degrees. This makes the curvature a lot more pronounced than what we've seen on most curved handsets, other than Huawei's Mate 30 Pro. While the curved display is mostly aesthetic, it will light up for notifications and can be used for virtual shoulders when gaming.
The Edge+ is also notable because it still has an honest to goodness 3.5mm headphone jack on the top of the device. Analogue headphone jacks have gone the way of the dodo on almost every high-end smartphone, making its inclusion on the Edge+ all the more prominent.
Motorola claims the Edge+ is the world's fastest 5G device, touting theoretical download speeds of up to 4Gbps. However, the phone can only achieve these on mmWave 5G networks, which aren't live in Australia yet. Australian telcos are building their 5G networks using sub 6 technology, which isn't quite as fast but offers a wider range. Australian 5G networks will ultimately use a combination of mmWave and sub 6, but we likely won't see any mmWave 5G until late 2021 at the earliest. The Moto Edge+ is also compatible with sub 6 5G networks.
Key specifications for the Edge+ include a 6.7-inch 1080p+ display with a 90Hz refresh rate, a Snapdragon 865 processor, 12GB of RAM, 256GB of non-expandable storage, and a 5,000mAh battery. The phone has four rear-facing cameras, including a 108MP primary lens, 8MP telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom, a 16MP ultra-wide lens, and a Time-of-Flight lens.
The Edge+ will retail for USD$999 internationally and go on sale from May 14. Local pricing and availability have yet to be confirmed, but we'd expect to see the phone come in around $1,599 based on current exchange rates.
The Edge+ is joined by what should be a more affordable companion device, the Motorola Edge. The "regular" Edge uses the same curved design as the Edge+ - including the same 6.7-inch 1080p+ display - but its internals are a little bit more modest.
Other key specifications for the Edge include a Snapdragon 765G processor, 5G connectivity, 4GB of RAM, 128GB of expandable storage, and a 4,500mAh battery. The phone has four rear-facing cameras: a 64MP primary lens, 8MP telephoto lens with 2x optical zoom, a 16MP ultra-wide lens, and a Time-of-Flight lens. And yes, it also has a headphone jack.
Motorola has yet to announce pricing or availability for the standard Edge. It will be cheaper than the Edge+, but we don't know by how much.
Alex Choros
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