Motorola Edge 20 Pro review

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Introduction

Motorola's Edge series appear to have lost some of the initial meaning behind the name - the pair of original Edge handsets from last year had curved screens, the 2021 models are all flat. But looking at the spec sheet, the Edge 20 Pro we have here is certainly well worthy of its 'Pro' moniker.

Flat as it may be, the 6.7-inch OLED display has all sorts of eye-grabbing features, including a 144Hz refresh rate, HDR10+ certification, and the capability to display a billion colors. But the Edge 20 non-Pro has the same one, so the Pro-ness must be elsewhere.

It's not the main camera either - the 108MP primary unit is, too, shared with the lesser model, as is the 16MP ultrawide. Ah, but the Pro has a 5x zoom periscope tele as opposed to the vanilla phone's conventional 3x - that's more like it. Plus, that high-res main shooter offers some additional modes on the Pro, including 8K recording - missing on the Edge 20.

Then there's the chipset. The Edge 20 Pro opts for an SD870 - a seasoned pro at a sensible price and a tangible step up from the Edge 20's SD778. A staple of high-end Moto's, the Ready For functionality for desktop PC-like experience on an external screen is present here as well, and the 800-series Snapdragon is even better suited to the task.

The Edge 20 Pro gets a battery capacity upgrade over the plain model, the 4,500mAh number looking better than the 4,000mAh of the non-Pro. The 30W charging is a bit more amateurish, and it may end up costing this Moto points when we're tallying the results in the end. So too is the lack of stereo speakers - it raises eyebrows on the Edge 20, but is nearly unacceptable at this level in the lineup.

Motorola Edge 20 Pro specs at a glance:

• Body: 163.0x76.0x8.0mm, 185g; Glass front (Gorilla Glass 5), glass back or eco leather back; Water-repellent design.
• Display: 6.70" OLED, 1B colors, 144Hz, HDR10+, 1080x2340px resolution, 19.5:9 aspect ratio, 385ppi.
• Chipset: Qualcomm SM8250-AC Snapdragon 870 5G (7 nm): Octa-core (1x3.2 GHz Kryo 585 & 3x2.42 GHz Kryo 585 & 4x1.80 GHz Kryo 585); Adreno 650.
• Memory: 128GB 6GB RAM, 128GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 12GB RAM; UFS 3.1.
• OS/Software: Android 11.
• Rear camera: Wide (main): 108 MP, f/1.9, 1/1.52", 0.7µm, PDAF; Ultra wide angle: 16 MP, f/2.2, 13mm, 119˚, 1.0µm; Telephoto: 8 MP, f/3.4, 126mm, 1.0µm, 5x optical zoom, PDAF, OIS.
• Front camera: 32 MP, f/2.3, (wide), 0.7µm.
• Video capture: Rear camera: 8K@24fps, 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/240/960fps, gyro-EIS; Front camera: 1080p@30fps.
• Battery: 4500mAh; Fast charging 30W.
• Misc: Fingerprint reader (side-mounted, capacitive); NFC.

Motorola Edge 20 Pro unboxing

The Edge 20 Pro comes in a compact navy-blue box with shiny but small-ish branding on the sides and top. Inside, the phone is already in a soft silicone case - protected even before you take it out of the package. Underneath the phone, the 30W TurboPower adapter awaits and a USB-C cable is also included.

We received our Edge 20 Pro in a bundle with a Ready For USB-C to HDMI cable, itself in a dedicated retail box. The phone and the cable were in another shared box, retail-grade as well, suggesting some markets may get the same bundle. Our quick search on several European retailers' websites didn't return results for such a combo, however.