Motorola has announced the Edge 30, a pared-down version of its pricier 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 device later in the 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, like the 30 Pro, but uses a Snapdragon 778 chipset that’s 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’s a lower-res 32-megapixel selfie camera (compared to the 60-megapixel unit on the 30 Pro), and rear camera video recording tops out at 4K rather than 8K.
The Edge Plus’ / Edge 30 Pro’s higher price tag 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 in a less expensive processor and paring back a few features here and there makes it a more tempting proposition with midrange pricing. But in the US, the midrange competition is steep, too, dominated by — you guessed it — Samsung. If a version of the Edge 30 comes to the US, the price will have to be right to compete with the very good (and, at $449, well-priced) Galaxy A53 5G.
wazup.