VERDICT:So, the query is – does the Motorola Edge 40 Neo recreate the magic of the Moto Edge 40 within the sub-₹25,000 worth phase? The reply to that’s fairly a convincing sure. It shines in the identical areas the Moto Edge 40 did and it manages to try this on a tighter price range. The telephone has one of many cleanest UIs in the marketplace, a classy and premium design, a brilliant and fluid show, and quick charging. What it lacks is the efficiency chops that among the newest sub ₹25K telephones serve up in spades.
It’s been three months since Motorola launched the Motorola Edge 40 (overview) in India, but it surely nonetheless holds its place as among the best mid-range smartphones available in the market. Whereas the Edge 40 is a implausible possibility below ₹30K, Motorola doesn’t have too many standout choices within the sub-₹25K worth phase. To deal with this hole in its portfolio, the corporate has introduced out a stripped-down model of the Moto Edge 40 dubbed the Motorola Edge 40 Neo. It takes the essence of what made the Moto Edge 40 successful and tries to emulate that within the decrease mid-range area. Priced at ₹23,999, the Moto Edge 40 Neo contains a premium vegan leather-based design (very like the Edge 40), a 144 Hz pOLED 10-bit panel, a 50 MP OIS-enabled main digital camera, a big 5,000 mAh battery, and far more. Nonetheless, confronted with competitors from the likes of the iQOO Z7 Professional (overview), Infinix Zero 30 5G (overview), and Realme 11 Professional (overview), is that this one value your hard-earned cash? Has it recreated the magic the Edge 40 had? Let’s discover out.
Motorola Edge 40 Neo Review: Construct and Design
The Motorola Edge 40 Neo has nearly each design attribute of its dearer sibling. The telephone is slim at simply 7.9 mm and is light-weight at merely 170 g. As soon as once more, Motorola has collaborated with Pantone for the colors which embrace Caneel Bay, Soothing Sea, and Black Magnificence. I received the Pantone Caneel Bay variant for overview and this one, alongside the Soothing Sea variant, comes with an attractive vegan leather-based rear panel. The Black variant, alternatively, has a matte black PMMA rear panel.
The Motorola Edge 40 Neo is merely 1 g lighter than the Edge 40. Motorola claims that the Edge 40 Neo now dethrones the Edge 40 to grow to be the world’s lightest 5G smartphone with IP68 safety. The telephone is dust-sealed and waterproof as much as 1.5 metres for half-hour, and it is among the ONLY smartphones at this worth to supply an IP68 ranking, which is implausible.
You can’t deny how premium and svelte the Motorola Edge 40 Neo seems – it punches means above its worth vary with its snug curved edges on the back and front and the colourful and strange colors. There are different slim and light-weight telephones with leather-based backs at this worth although together with the slimmer iQOO Z7 Professional and the brand new Infinix Zero 30 5G. Nonetheless, neither comes packing an IP ranking, not to mention an IP68 ranking, which is normally present in premium telephones.
The Motorola Edge 40 Neo strips down some construct parts to chop prices in comparison with the Edge 40 although. For example, the body is now plastic. The Edge 40 had an aluminium body, however at below ₹25K, I gained’t complain. The Edge 40 Neo can be barely thicker at 7.9 mm in comparison with 7.6 mm on the Edge 40. Regardless, the Moto Edge 40 Neo is among the best-designed telephones below ₹25K with the bonus of IP68 mud and water resistance. Additionally, you get stereo twin audio system with Dolby Atmos assist that sound great. The sound is loud, punchy and clear, so props to Moto right here.
Motorola Edge 40 Neo Review: Show
Regardless of being cheaper, the Motorola Edge 40 Neo surprisingly has some show enhancements in comparison with the Edge 40! You’ve received an analogous 6.55-inch FHD+ pOLED panel with 144 Hz refresh price and HDR10+ assist. However on the Moto Edge 40 Neo, you’ve additionally received assist for 1 billion colors and better peak brightness, which is implausible. Now, the issue I had with the Moto Edge 40 has sadly not been solved – Adaptive Refresh Fee mode nonetheless solely goes as much as 120 Hz, so to see 144 Hz in motion, you would need to hold it lively on a regular basis. This is able to clearly deplete your battery life. Disappointing.
That apart, this smooth curved display screen seems implausible with nice colors, deep blacks, and implausible viewing angles. There have been surprisingly few unintentional touches on the sting of the display screen – it really does a fairly first rate job at rejecting unintentional nook touches. HDR content material seems nice on YouTube, however sadly, it isn’t supported on Netflix to this point.
The show can be actually brilliant; as I discussed, brighter than the dearer Edge 40. In our checks, I recorded 1280 nits of brightness utilizing a LUX meter on Auto Mode below daylight, which is good for this worth vary. So, display screen visibility is strong in any situation. General, this can be a beautiful curved show with spectacular specs and real-world efficiency.
Motorola Edge 40 Neo Review: Efficiency
The Motorola Edge 40 Neo is the world’s first telephone to function the MediaTek Dimensity 7030 SoC. It’s really not something new although since it’s the rebadged model of the Dimensity 1050. The Moto Edge 40 Neo additionally sports activities 8/12 GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 128/256 GB of UFS 2.2 storage. And, there’s no expandable storage possibility.
Beginning off with artificial benchmarks, I in contrast the Moto Edge 40 Neo to similarly-priced telephones such because the iQOO Z7 Professional, Infinix Zero 30, Tecno Camon 20 Professional, and Realme 11 Professional. Sadly, it got here out on the backside in AnTuTu with a rating of 5,22,651. Compared, the iQOO Z7 Professional blew previous it with a rating of seven,13,216. I additionally put it via GeekBench, and the Moto Edge 40 Neo was as soon as once more across the backside of the barrel, particularly with regards to Multi-Core efficiency.
In PCMark Work although, I received a strong rating of 14,512, which implies the telephone will excel at finishing productiveness duties with ease. The telephone additionally exhibits very low throttling. I ran the CPU Throttling Check for quarter-hour with 20 threads and the telephone solely throttled to 94 per cent of its peak efficiency, which is great. The telephone does warmth barely with heavy workloads, but it surely does throttle its efficiency, so it ought to be clean more often than not.
I additionally examined the storage speeds through Androbench and the Moto Edge 40 Neo was outperformed by nearly each different telephone I examined it in opposition to in the identical worth vary. I received solely 1003 MB/s Sequential Learn Velocity and 919 MB/s Sequential Write Velocity, which is significantly decrease than the Infinix Zero 30, Tecno Camon 20 Professional, and Realme 11 Professional.
To check the GPU, I ran a few benchmark checks to gauge the efficiency. Once more, I used to be upset right here. In 3D Mark Wild Life Excessive, the place most of its rivals scored above 1,000 factors, the Moto Edge 40 Neo solely clocked in 699 factors. In GFXBench, the telephone scored nearly as little as the Realme 11 Professional whereas the opposite rivals blew previous it.
The identical factor was mirrored in real-world gaming as nicely. In Name of Responsibility: Cell, I booted the sport at Excessive graphics however I used to be nonetheless going through some body drops. The efficiency will not be very clean. It was solely after I turned down the graphics to Low or Medium when the efficiency improved. General, this isn’t the perfect telephone below ₹25,000 for energy customers and players. Multitasking and fundamental day-to-day duties work nicely, however I wouldn’t name it a very highly effective system.
As for the software program, you’ve received Android 13 with Moto’s MyUX pores and skin on prime. As we’ve seen earlier than, this pores and skin is fairly mild on bloatware. The one app I may deem as bloatware was Fb – however most customers would set up this anyway. There are additionally just a few Google and Moto apps within the combine, however no video games, or different third-party functions, which is superb. You’ve additionally received perks reminiscent of Prepared For, Household Areas, and Moto Safe as nicely. The corporate is offering assured upgrades to Android 14 and Android 15 in addition to three years of safety updates – which is first rate, however not the perfect.
Motorola Edge 40 Neo Review: Digicam
On paper, the Motorola Edge 40 Neo has a digital camera setup that’s similar to the Moto Edge 40. You’ve received a 50 MP main digital camera with Optical Picture Stabilisation, a 13 MP ultrawide shooter that additionally works as a macro and depth lens, and a 32 MP selfie digital camera. Nonetheless, the aperture of the first digital camera is f/1.8, which is narrower than the f/1.4 aperture on the Moto Edge 40.
So, naturally, the digital camera isn’t capable of let in as a lot mild because the 50 MP shooter on the Moto Edge 40 and that is obvious once you click on photos in low mild. The low-light photos aren’t as detailed and noise-free because the Moto Edge 40. Moreover, the Evening Mode photos take fairly a very long time to shoot and except your fingers are fully nonetheless, you’re nearly all the time going to finish up with a shaky or blurry shot. So low mild efficiency may use some work.
Photos from the first digital camera look superb in daylight although. I clicked some sharp, detailed-looking pictures when there was satisfactory lighting, nonetheless, the dynamic vary – whereas first rate – will not be excellent. There are cases the place the highlights are overblown, however truthfully, I’m nitpicking right here given the Edge 40 Neo’s inexpensive price ticket.
Portraits additionally look superb with nearly flawless edge detection. Pores and skin tones look fairly pure as nicely, and the element retention is sweet for the worth.
Ultrawide photographs from the 13 MP digital camera should not dangerous; the colors are constant, however the shadows do lack some element. You can even click on macro photos via this digital camera and so they look fairly spectacular! As for selfies, the telephone does nicely right here. The pores and skin tone depiction may very well be higher, however not less than the element and dynamic vary are fairly sound.
Motorola Edge 40 Neo Review: Battery life
The Motorola Edge 40 Neo has a much bigger battery than its pricier sibling. It contains a 5,000 mAh cell with assist for 68 W quick charging. No wi-fi charging right here although. The battery life is common for the worth. I examined the battery with the telephone’s refresh price set on Auto Mode, so naturally, if you happen to go for 144 Hz, your mileage will differ – in all probability drastically.
In our 4K video loop check, which we do on each telephone we overview, the Motorola Edge 40 lasted 14 hours and 35 minutes till the battery died out. That is constant sufficient with the battery efficiency of different rivals such because the Infinix Zero 30, iQOO Z7 Professional, and Realme 11 Professional. So, the battery life is nothing extraordinary but it surely doesn’t fall brief both.
Most customers ought to comfortably get via a day’s value of utilization, and if you happen to’re a lightweight consumer, chances are you’ll even squeeze out a day and a half value of battery. The 68 W charging is sort of speedy – the telephone expenses as much as full in just below an hour, which is fairly first rate. Additionally, the charger is supplied within the field, which is one thing I’m having to say greater than I’d prefer to lately.
Motorola Edge 40 Neo Review: Verdict
So, the query is – does the Motorola Edge 40 Neo recreate the magic of the Moto Edge 40 within the sub-₹25,000 worth phase? The reply to that’s fairly a convincing sure. It shines in the identical areas the Moto Edge 40 did and it manages to try this on a tighter price range. The telephone has one of many cleanest UIs in the marketplace, a classy and premium design, a brilliant and fluid show, and quick charging. What it lacks is the efficiency chops that among the newest sub ₹25K telephones serve up in spades. You gained’t have the smoothest gaming expertise however if you happen to can stay with that, the Motorola Edge 40 Neo is a winner. The ₹23,999 worth level is a fairly candy spot however as a part of an introductory low cost provide, you may even seize the telephone for as little as ₹20,999.