Motorola has announced the Edge 30, a scaled-down version of its more expensive Edge 30 Pro, coming to Europe for € 449 (about $ 475) before reaching other markets in Asia and the Middle East later this year. North America is not on that list, but Motorola says the region will get another (unspecified) Edge family unit later this year.
The Motorola Edge 30 offers a smaller screen and thinner build than the Edge 30 Pro – also known as the Edge Plus in North America. Its 6.5-inch 1080p OLED supports a fast 144Hz refresh rate, just like the 30 Pro, but uses a Snapdragon 778 chipset that is a step down from the 8 Gen 1 processor in the flagship. Rear cameras appear to be the same configuration of a stabilized 50-megapixel f / 1.8 wide, 50-megapixel f / 2.2 ultrawide, and a 2-megapixel depth sensor. There is a 32-megapixel selfie camera with lower resolution (compared to the 60-megapixel device of the 30 Pro), and video recording with the rear camera tops at 4K instead of 8K.
The Edge Plus’ / Edge 30 Pro’s higher price of $ 999 in the US and € 799 in Europe pits it against some very capable competitors like the Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus, and it doesn’t really keep up. Swapping a cheaper processor in and cutting a few features back here and there makes it a more tempting proposal with mid-pricing. But in the US, mid-range competition is also steep, dominated by – you guessed it – Samsung. If a version of the Edge 30 comes to the US, the price must be right to compete with the very good (and, for $ 449, well-priced) Galaxy A53 5G.