From phones (even made of wood) to headphones: what’s new from Motorola for 2024

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At a thousand meters high, over the Moroccan deserttaking photos with the new Motorola Edge 50 Ultra and Edge 50 Pro is an experience within an experience: all around, the absolute quiet of a hot air balloon flight, incredibly stable and silent, capable of transmitting a sense of peace never experienced first, at least until the pilot activates the burners that spit fire into the belly of the balloon and cook your head.

In your hands, smartphones that focus entirely on the user experience thanks to a soft and functional designto new materials that are pleasant to the touch, to an operating system with no frills yet full of features (some of which are based on AI) that make them easy and pleasant to use to take photos whose colours, for the first time ever, are certified by Pantone.

Oltre a Edge 50 Ultra e Pro, in Marrakech the company also presented the Edge 50 Fusionmore accessible version of the new smartphone range, together with the new family of Moto Buds earphones, which includes the Buds Plus with Sound by Bose. Here’s what we discovered when we previewed these products.

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Edge 50 Ultra: the top of the range made of wood

Let’s start from the top of the range: the Motorola Edge 50 Ultra is available covered in fine materials such as real wood (beautiful to look at and splendid to the touch), with the special edition pearlescent polymer finish handmade in Italy, or even in premium vegan material And the Pantone color of the yearcalled Peach Fuzz: “Before being used in the production of a phone, each material must meet 3 specific requirements – he explained Ruben Castano, head of customer experience and design by Motorola – It must be pleasant to the touch, not slippery, and not collect fingerprints. Furthermore, as well as being resistant, the material must also be completely renewable like our vegan leather which comes from plants, or the wood itself. AND a goal that is very close to our hearts”. Castano added that the design of the new series of products was designed to be genderless and ageless and that it is the result of a long selection process that started with twenty initial proposals.

The broad display pOLED Super HD (1220p) da 6.67”well integrated into the design thanks to the very thin sandblasted aluminum frame, is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus glass and returns sharp images and vivid colors even in bright light, offering 13% more resolution than the previous generation.

On the Edge 50 Ultra (which during this trip we were able to experiment to a limited extent) Motorola has put its best photographic technology: the smartphone is equipped with a main lens with a 50MP sensor, f/1.6 aperture, phase detection autofocus, optical stabilization and quad pixel technology to absorb up to 20% more light and get better performance at night. The telephoto lens is equipped with a 64MP sensor and f/2.4 aperture, with 3x optical zoom and Super Zoom digital 100x, while the wide-angle lens with macro vision has a 50MP sensor and f/2.0 aperture. Finally, there is also a 50MP selfie camera with autofocus.

In addition to the hardware, the software: the camera system that equips Edge 50 Ultra uses moto ai technology to choose the best settings and increase the quality of each shot in real time, making the task easier even for those with no photographic experience. Between AI-enabled features include adaptive stabilization, Auto focus tracking to keep the subject in focus even when it moves in the frame, the motion shots option – which automatically increases and adjusts the shutter speed based on different lighting conditions – and long exposure, which allows you to obtain artistic light trails or uniform waterfalls. Cute too Style Sync function, which uses AI to synchronize the style of the phone interface with that of your outfit: just photograph your clothing and the system will generate unique images to use as wallpaper and lock screen.

Under the body, no surprises: Motorola Edge 50 Ultra is a top of the range and can only fit the ubiquitous Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, which powers all the key functions of the phone and which can count on 16 GB of RAM, expandable thanks to RAM Boost, and up to 1 TB of storage space. As for audio, the Edge 50 Ultra supports it Dolby Atmos and also Dolby Head Tracking, but only as long as it is used in combination with the new buds+ bikes. The protection degree is IP68. Finally the autonomy: here it is guaranteed by the 4500 mAh battery with TurboPower charging from 125W (very fast, it must be said), while wireless charging is 50W.

There is no start date for sales yet, but we already know Motorola Edge 50 Ultra will cost starting from 999 euros and will be available in Forest Grey, Nordic Wood and Peach Fuzz colors.

Edge 50 Pro, a good compromise

With a design that closely resembles the top of the range Ultra, the Motorola Edge 50 Pro it is a smartphone that aims to bring much of the quality expressed by the new range to a wider audience: for example, here too we have a sandblasted aluminum frame and a finish in premium vegan material or in a special pearlescent edition handmade in Italywhich makes the smartphone very pleasant to hold in the hand.

Here the mobile platform used is Snapdragon 7 Gen 3, while the memory can count on 12 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage. The pOLED display is 6.7″ at 144 Hz with Super HD resolution and HDR10+ certification, while the audio also supports Dolby Atmos immersive sound and the Dolby Head Tracking function if combined with the new Moto Buds Plus headphones. The protection degree is IP68. Interestingly, the Motorola edge 50 pro also features 125W TurboPower charging and 50W TurboPower wireless charging.

Less articulated than that of the Ultra, the photographic department of the Edge 50 Pro does its duty thanks to the main camera with 50MP sensor, quad pixel technology, optical stabilizer, laser autofocus and, above all, the widest aperture available in a smartphone, equal to f/1.4, which according to Motorola lets in 64% of extra light. The wide angle instead has a 13MP sensor with f/2.2 aperture and Macro Vision for shooting up to 3 centimeters away, while the 10MP 3X telephoto lens with optical image stabilization is an interesting plus for a product in this range.

Thanks to Moto AI technology, the Edge 50 Pro also includes some of the main ones features powered by AI and available in the top-of-the-range device, including the new photo enhancement system, adaptive stabilization, Auto Focus Tracking, long exposure and Style Sync.

Motorola Edge 50 Pro is already on sale in Italy at starting price of 699 euros in the colors Black Beauty, Luxe Lavender and Moonlight Pearl.

Edge 50 Fusion: accessible quality

Available in colours Marshmallow Blue (in materiale premium vegano)Hot Pink (vegan suede) or in the Forest Blue color, the Motorola Edge 50 Fusion is the most accessible of the products presented in Marrakech which nevertheless maintains the Main characteristics of quality of the new range, from IP68 protection and Corning Gorilla Glass 5 glass.

The photographic system is equipped with a 50MP Ultra Pixel main camera with LYTIA’s LYT-700C sensor, f/1.88 aperture, ultra pixel technology and optical image stabilization. Here the focusing technology is called all-pixel and is designed to improve night photography. The equipment is completed by a 13MP wide-angle camera with Macro Vision and a 32MP front camera with Quad Pixel technology.

Il Full HD+ borderless pOLED display is 6.7″ with 10-bit color depth and 144Hz refresh rate, while the audio system is Hi-Res certified, with the device being equipped with stereo speakers and supporting Dolby Atmos sound for more immersive audio.

When it arrives in Italy, Motorola Edge 50 Fusion will be on sale at starting price of 449 euros in Forest Blue, Hot Pink and Marshmallow Blue colors.

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Moto Buds, music according to motorola

This review of Motorola news concludes new Moto Buds Plus true wireless headphones with Sound by Bose and moto buds, both featuring Hi-Res audio and equipped with dynamic and adaptive noise cancellation. The Moto Buds Plus earphones compatible with Dolby Head Tracking when combined with the latest family of Motorola Edge smartphones equipped with Dolby Atmos, are on sale for 129.90 euros in the Forest Gray and Beach Sand colors. The Moto Buds earphones, however, they cost 59.90 euros and are available in Starlight Blue and Glacier Blue colors.