Motorola Edge 30 Neo review

Introduction and specs

The Motorola Edge 30 lineup came in two parts this year. From March through May, the company introduced the vanilla Edge 30 and Edge 30 Pro, whereas the Edge 30 Neo, Fusion, and Ultra arrived in the second half of the year with slightly different designs and brought a bit more to the table.

The subject of this review is the Edge 30 Neo, which is the most affordable of the bunch, but aside from the Snapdragon 695 SoC, the device comes off as a well-rounded device, which arrives in a market segment that's relatively unsaturated. Surely, there are quite a few alternatives price-wise, but the size of the Edge 30 Neo makes it somewhat unique.

Motorola Edge 30 Neo specs at a glance:

• Body: 152.9x71.2x7.8mm, 155g; glass front, plastic body; Splash and dust resistant.
• Display: 6.28" P-OLED, 120Hz, 1080x2400px resolution, 20:9 aspect ratio, 419ppi.
• Chipset: Qualcomm SM6375 Snapdragon 695 5G (6 nm): Octa-core (2x2.2 GHz Kryo 660 Gold & 6x1.7 GHz Kryo 660 Silver); Adreno 619.
• Memory: 128GB 6GB RAM, 128GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 8GB RAM.
• OS/Software: Android 12.
• Rear camera: Wide (main): 64 MP, f/1.8, 0.7µm, PDAF, OIS; Ultra wide angle: 13 MP, f/2.2, 120˚, 1.12µm, AF.
• Front camera: 32 MP, f/2.4, (wide), 0.7µm.
• Video capture: Rear camera: 1080p@30/60/120fps; Front camera: 1080p@30fps.
• Battery: 4020mAh; Fast charging 68W, 5W Wireless charging.
• Misc: Fingerprint reader (under display, optical); NFC; stereo speakers.

There aren't many compact phones to choose from, especially in the mid-range class, so the Neo is a breath of fresh air of sorts. And it's also running quite capable hardware. The 6.28-inch, 120Hz OLED display is not only fast but bright as well. Memory configurations start at 6GB/128GB, the main camera is 64MP with OIS, and the secondary ultrawide camera uses a much-appreciated 13MP sensor instead of the overused and underwhelming 8MP one.

There's also a pair of stereo speakers, an under-display fingerprint reader and a respectable 4,020 mAh battery supporting not only 68W fast charging but also wireless charging. For some, 4,020 mAh capacity might not sound a lot, but as it's the case with compact smartphones, some compromises are needed, and battery capacity is often the first to go.

In addition to the rare features in the budget class outlined above, the Edge 30 Neo is one of the few devices running a clean Android OS. This has always been a key selling point for Motorola phones, so you can add that to the list of advantages as well.

It's evident that the Edge 30 Neo wants to stand out from the crowd with more than just a couple of quirky features. On paper, the Neo should appeal to anyone looking for a compact phone with pure Android. Still, Motorola's competitor holds several key hardware advantages over its rivals, and we take a deeper dive into the next pages to see if it's worth your hard-earned money.

Unboxing the Motorola Edge 30 Neo

The Motorola Edge 30 Neo comes in eco-friendly packaging with seemingly recycled paper. It holds the usual set of user manuals, a wall charger rated at 68W and a USB-C to USB-C cable for data transfer and charging.

There's also a transparent, hard case instead of your regular soft silicone covers that OEMs usually ship with their phones.