Motorola did everything possible to launch its premium mid-range smartphone. The event was held at Yankee Stadium. The company called it the New Motorola Edge during the presentation. It fills out its specs list very nicely. Although it clearly draws from the Motorola Edge 20 Pro, which was announced just a few weeks back, this model is only available for the U.S. While Motorola made a lot of noise with its premium-grade features, it isn't surprising that the phone will only be available at a mid-range cost for a limited time. Motorola will cut $200 from the regular price of the phone at launch. This is a great deal for what could be one of the best surprise devices of the year. It promises to address many of the issues that we had with the original Motorola Edge. VPN Deals: A lifetime license for $16, and monthly plans starting at $1. I had the opportunity to play with the New Motorola Edge (2021), and got a few thoughts about the company's latest offering for the U.S. It's certain to be one of the most unlocked phones available this Fall. Motorola Edge (2021): Price, availability and pricing.
Source: Nick Sutrich / Android Central
The Motorola Edge (2021), will be unlocked at Best Buy, B&H and Amazon on September 2. Although the phone retails at $699, it will be available unlocked for $499 during the promotional launch price. If you are considering buying one, it is a good idea to do so sooner than later in order to get the best price. The phone will be sold by Verizon and Spectrum Mobile in the United States in the next few months. However, no specific date has been set. It will be available in Canada later in 2021. Motorola Edge (2021): A significant upgrade in specs
Source: Nick Sutrich / Android Central
The new Motorola Edge (2021), although half the price of its predecessor, packs a faster Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G processor. It felt just as fast as I would expect for a flagship device. The new 6.8-inch, 144Hz display is an upgrade to the last year's 90Hz Motorola Edge display. It's also an upgrade from an OLED panel display to an LCD display. The specs were doubled and the price was cut in half compared to the 2020 Motorola Edge. It has 576Hz touch latency which makes touching the screen feel instantaneous. This time it's completely flat, unlike last year's Motorola Edge which had curved screen edges and gesture-based actions. The Snapdragon 778G supports both Wi-Fi 6E and 5G connectivity, as well as 5G mmWave over Verizon's network. The frame is made of metal and glass, and a huge 5,000mAh battery is inside. A 30W turbocharging charger with an included charger makes it quick and easy to top up. The 108MP main camera is hidden beneath the large number of lenses. This is an upgrade to last year's 64MP model. The hardware wasn't the main reason why last year's Motorola Edge had such poor camera performance, but we'll get to that later. Motorola claims it is now using the massive 108MP sensor for 9-in-1 pixels binning. This effectively makes those pixels 2.1 millimeters in size. Motorola calls these "ultra pixels", just as it did with the HTC One M7. The 32MP front-facing camera also uses 4-in-1 pixels binning to get a 1.4 micron pixel size. This should significantly improve low-light performance.
It was difficult to verify these claims because the hands-on took place at Yankee Stadium in broad daylight. Motorola also included a ultra-wide-angle camera on the back and a depth sensor, further making Motorola spend quite a lot of time promoting its new photography software. Let's talk about this a bit further. This phone is quite different than last year's and closely matches other 2021 phones. It also features a flat display, a trend that has been steadily growing over the past few years. Motorola will replace some of the last year's edge gestures by using a side-mounted power button that triples as a fingerprint sensor, and a capacitive key. Motorola Edge (2021), Gesture genius Motorola Edge: Software that matters
Source: Nick Sutrich / Android Central
Motorola appears to have made a significant upgrade in its software smarts, backing up mostly premium-level specs. Motorola has been able to offer a stock experience, with some quality-of-life features added on top. This is what it has been doing for many years. Motorola's weaknesses weren't in its lack of features; they were due to a lack post-purchase support at the operating system level.
Motorola has committed to software updates for first time in recent memory.
This problem was addressed by Motorola. The New Motorola Edge (2021), which will be shipped with Android 11 and receive two major OS updates, as well as bi-monthly updates, for at least two year. This is in addition to security and app updates via Google Play and Google Play Services. Motorola is also drawing on the expertise of its parent company, Lenovo. We will highlight ThinkShield for Mobile. This security portfolio for enterprises is very similar to Samsung Knox. It covers more than the base operating system and hardware-level security. It also includes supply chain controls to ensure that Motorola products don’t end up on a blacklist.
Motorola uses gestures to differentiate its phones from other Android phones. The most recent Android design update, My UX by Motorola, is really impressive. It's not yet pushing Material You design language for Android 12, but it does offer tons of customization options, including icon theming and changing system UI colors. Another new feature is the ability to double-tap the power button to open a shortcut menu. It's double tap, not double click. It took me a while to get that one right, since the power button is simultaneously a capacitive key as well as a fingerprint scanner all in one universal side-mounted switch. Motorola spoke about the dynamic nature and shortcuts that you can make with this key. However, I was unable to see them in action. Motorola's great gestures, which include a few that the company hopes users will adopt, are still available. These great features, such as double twisting the phone to activate the camera and double cutting to turn the flashlight on or off, have been around for a long time. Motorola Edge (2021), Ready for anything Motorola Edge: Your all-in-one smartphone
Source: Nick Sutrich / Android Central
Motorola's Ready For tech is designed to compete with Samsung's similar features. You can cast to any Miracast enabled TV using the on-phone Ready For software. But it's more than just media and screencasting. It's a complete desktop-class suite that works well with a wireless keyboard or mouse. Motorola demo was shown on one of the stadium TVs. This was a poor choice considering the TV's low performance specs, but I was impressed by what I saw.
This release clearly shows that Motorola is going after Samsung, particularly at the Enterprise level.
Ready For was demoed by Motorola using a keyboard and mouse, just like you would use a computer to control it. Motorola's software also featured side-by-side window snapshots that can be done by clicking on an icon at the top of the application bar. This makes window snapping easier than ChromeOS or Windows. Any app that you have installed can run from this interface, since it is running on the phone.
Source: Nick Sutrich / Android Central
Motorola also discussed Ready For PC, but was unable to demonstrate it. Ready for PC aims to highlight both Microsoft's and Samsung’s Link to PC features found on Samsung flagships such as the Galaxy Z Fold 3. These feature can share its screen with a Windows 10 PC but also some Android applications. Motorola claims its features are more extensive than Samsung's, but we will have to wait to see the review. Motorola Edge (2021), The new mid-range king.
Source: Nick Sutrich / Android Central
The new Motorola Edge is $500. It's hard to argue against it on paper. While it is still possible to tell whether the software experience will hold up, Motorola has created a compelling phone that feels much more expensive than its price. It's hard to say if the full retail price feels like that, but based on last year's Motorola Edge, it is clear that clean software helps keep the experience stable for long periods of time.
