Moto Edge 50 Ultra unveiled with SD 8s Gen 3, 64MP 3x periscope and real wood back
Do you miss the days when Motorolas could be styled with real wood backs? The new Motorola Edge 50 Ultra has a real wood option along with two vegan leather colorways â Forest Grey and Peach Fuzz (Pantoneâs Color of the Year 2024).
There was no Ultra model last year, so this isnât a sequel but rather an upgrade over the Edge 50 Pro that was unveiled a couple of weeks ago. The Ultra brings more processing power and a better camera setup compared to the Pro.
It is based on the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3, a huge step up from the 7 Gen 3 chip inside the Pro. You get more RAM too, 12GB or 16GB (LPDDR5X) with more available via RAM boost. The storage is 512GB or 1TB (UFS 4.0).
The camera upgrades start with the main module, which is equipped with a 50MP 1/1.3â sensor â large enough to have 1.2µm pixels before quad pixel binning comes into play. It has omni-directional autofocus and OIS for the f/1.6 lens.
The standout camera is the 3x 72mm periscope, which is equipped with a 64MP sensors (0.7µm pixels) and a bright f/2.4 aperture. Next up is the 50MP ultra wide camera (0.64µm pixels), its f/2.0 lens has 122° field of view and autofocus for macro shots. The cameras use a laser autofocus system and a 3-in-1 sensor that helps with exposure, auto white balance and flicker detection.
The front camera has a 50MP sensor (0.64µm) with an f/1.9 lens with autofocus. All three cameras can record 4K video at 60fps. The main cam on the back and the selfie also have slow-mo modes at 1080p (120fps on the front, up to 960fps on the back).
Since 2024 is the year of AI, artificial smarts have been employed to help the camera. AI automatically adjusts the shutter speed and level of stabilization based on the scene. It also handles auto focus tracking. The new Photo Enhancement Engine optimizes the images for detail in the highlights and shadows, clarity, color and bokeh.
The Motorola Edge 50 Ultra is built around a curved 6.7â P-OLED display with 2,712 x 1,220px resolution (20:9). It runs at 144Hz and has a touch sampling rate of up to 360Hz (in gaming mode). The display peaks at 2,500 nits and uses DC dimming. The 10-bit color rendering gives it HDR10+ support and a certification for HD streaming from Netflix and Amazon.
Pantone is responsible for the Peach Fuzz colorway, but the color specialists also tested the display and certified it as Pantone Validated and Pantone Skintone Validated. The camera system is validated by Pantone as well.
The Ultra is built around an aluminum frame, the front features Gorilla Glass Victus with an anti-fingerprint coating. It is rated IP68 for dust and water resistance.
Like the Pro, it has a 4,500mAh battery with 125W TurboPower charging over USB and 50W wireless. Motorola says that plugging in for 4 minutes is enough to last you the rest of the day. Wired and wireless power sharing is available too.
The phone is available as single-SIM (SIM or eSIM) and dual-SIM (SIM and eSIM). It supports the latest Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be) and Bluetooth 5.4, as well as Ultra Wide Band (UWB). The latter offers accurate distance and angle readings relative to other UWB-enabled devices like your friendâs phone or a UWB tag. Additionally, the USB-C port offers both USB 3.2 and DisplayPort 1.4 connectivity.
The phone comes with stereo speakers with tuning by Dolby Atmos, plus Dolby Head Tracking is also supported (Motorola just happened to also unveil new earbuds today).
The Motorola Edge 50 Ultra will go on sale in select European countries in the coming weeks. The base model will have a price of â¬1,000. Additionally, the phone will be available in Asia, Latin America and Oceania. Check out our hands-on review for more on the phone.