Motorola Edge 40
- D
- Downhunter
- dMH
- 06 Nov 2023
I have been using the phone for about a month, when choosing the phone I was guided by the review on GSMArena and the opinions on this forum, so I decided to note my remarks and observations and then share them here. Because of the comment length limit, I'll focus on remarks considering phone cameras.
Generally, the phone is OK, I bought a used one for about $300 (the current regular price in Poland is $430). I was tempted by the bargain price, good reviews, and the f/1.4 aperture of the main camera. Previously, I had a Samsung A41, which I decided to replace due to frequent faults (an increasingly quiet speaker, even after replacing it once, and multiple charging port failures despite multiple replacements).
As for the Motorola Edge 40 5G - it is a good phone, but I wouldn't call it balanced, when buying it we decide on a few compromises. First of all, we get a beautiful-looking body and screen (curved edges), but the screen responds to accidental touches on its edges (or rather, due to accidental touches on the side of the screen, it does not respond to the right touches); a camera that takes great portraits and night photos, but cannot take a good photo of A4/letter paper document; nice finish on the back but impractical. Advantages: all connectivity (WiFi, GPS, Bluetooth) works quickly and reliably, fingerprint sensor works great as well, applications launch quickly and work smoothly, clean Android is good and fast, the included Moto software is useful and there is not too much of it, there are only 2 games which have frequent lengthy ads but they can be uninstalled (preferably without running them), the ultrawide camera is good, macro photos are great, the speakers can be loud and create a nice stereo effect, charging is lightning fast, and the 68W charger is bundled.
My main problem with the phone concerns the main camera and it is a problem with the phone and, frankly speaking, with the phone's review on the GSM Arena. Most often, I use the camera to photograph landscapes or people, and it is good for this purpose, although not very good (I will explain why later). However, the second most common use of the camera is to take photographic notes, for example taking a photo of a business card, a label, a page of text, or an item in a store. Unfortunately, the main camera is very poorly suited for such a task because it starts to catch focus for an object the size of at least an A4/letter sheet of paper, and especially in the case of objects located close, the blurs in the corners of the screen are large (in fact, outside of the center of the screen the bright sharp objects are noticeably blurred). And that's not all, when taking photos of close objects, barrel distortions of the image are visible, which is unsightly when photographing rectangular objects that fill almost the entire frame, such as a sheet of text, etc. It is true that the ultrawide camera is capable of taking sharp photos from a smaller distance and there are no barrel distortions, but it is often difficult to use it for this purpose because you have to bring the phone closer to the subject, which is not always possible, and when it is possible, it often results in the phone casting a shadow on the photographed object. The f/1.4 aperture was probably the most important argument for me, apart from water resistance, in favor of buying this phone. However, after a few weeks of use, I would prefer a camera with an aperture of f/1.8 and a sharp image without distortions that could be captured from a shorter distance.
I usually take a photo using only one hand - I take the phone out of my pocket, press the power button twice to turn the camera on, frame the object of interest, press the volume button once to activate the camera shutter, then turn off the screen with the power button and put the phone back in my pocket. With earlier phones, this worked reliably even in winter during snowfall and with gloves on. Unfortunately, the Motorola Edge 40 from time to time (but definitely too often by far) does not take a photo after pressing the volume button - probably the expected time of pressing the volume button is incorrect and/or the volume button does not respond when a screen touch is detected at the screen edge. Moreover, the photo is not saved when, after taking a photo in low light conditions I turn the camera off when an inscription to hold the phone still is still displayed for a second after pressing the shutter. Probably additional data from the matrix is needed to optimize the photo, but if they are not available, a photo of lower quality should be saved, not any photo at all. The moment we want to capture will not be repeated and we will not have a 2nd chance to take this photo.
The above information about the camera was missing in the otherwise comprehensive and very useful review on GSMArena - maybe you haven't tried to take photos from a close distance or used the volume button as a shutter button - unfortunately, I do.
Frankly, don't know if I would buy this phone again. The short depth of field is really great for portraits and other photos with a background that needs blurring, on night photos you can see more than with the human eye (they may be too bright by default, but this can be corrected) and the noise level is acceptable. Perhaps a software update will improve the non-reliable shutter release with the volume button and, to some extent, fix the distortions near image edges.
Perhaps it would be possible to build a camera in a phone that has a variable aperture size, I'm not talking about the aperture adjusted in several steps like in regular standalone cameras, but about two possibilities: an aperture of f/1.4 for portrait photos, etc., cutting out the photographed object from the background, and an aperture of a higher value at which distortions and blurriness in the corners disappear and the depth of field increases, for photographic notes/documentary photos.
A software update could improve several other strange features of the camera as well:
- turning on Google Lens in camera mode always switches to the main camera even when macro or wide-angle is used - this makes no sense when you can take a photo in any of the cameras and turn on Google Lens in the photo
- the photos are a bit too smoothened (visible when enlarged) and there is no way to adjust it, the colors are sometimes unnatural (the sky is too cyan-turquoise) and a bit exaggerated.
- you can save videos in HEVC but only for 4K 30 FPS, switching to Full HD disables recording in HEVC and switching recording to HEVC switches to 4K. First of all, it is simply idiotic to switch resolutions without warning the user, and secondly, it is idiotic that HEVC, which is a more economical format, does not work in Full HD mode, especially in Full HD 60 FPS (the processor power required for Full HD 30/60 FPS is lower than for 4K).
The camera has a very cool function that allows you to record images simultaneously from the front and rear lenses - for photos and videos. The manual describes how to activate this mode and how to switch between a small image from the front camera embedded in a large image from the rear camera or vice versa. You can also divide the screen into two halves and have the image from one lens in the upper part and the image from the other in the lower part. While recording such a video, you can switch between modes and change the position of a small image embedded in a large one. However, when recording such material from two lenses, it would sometimes be useful to turn off the selfie lens and devote the entire screen surface to the image captured by the rear lens. There is no word about such an option in the manual, but it is a defect not of the software but of the manual itself, as such a mode also exists. Before you start recording the video, you can use a small undocumented icon appearing on the screen (a talking human bust) to hide the window with the preview from the selfie camera and then, after starting the recording, this window will be shown when we talk and disappear when we are silent, also we will be able to turn it on ourselves (the window will then appear for a moment and will disappear unless we start talking) and hide this window (then it will not show up even when we speak). A nice, well-thought-out function, too bad it's not described in the manual.
- D
- DSLR
- 8WB
- 06 Nov 2023
I'm wondering if I should pick this one, or maybe go with the 40 neo or Galaxy A54. Battery makes me doubt as I'm a heavy user.
- ?
- Anonymous
- GRN
- 04 Nov 2023
Tooluka, 30 Oct 2023My current phone is S10P with Corning Glass 6 according to ... more"Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity"
Obviously there's no point for them to falsify the test, but it's very well possible that those guys just made a mistake. And seeing some of their other videos, they don't really seem to know a lot and many of their comparison videos seem dodgy. Unfortunately this is the case with most tech YT channels anyways.
- alhasandude
- PAI
- 31 Oct 2023
I compared the spec with other phones I thought the phone must be having some kind of issues with the performance. But I'm just seeing people here just crying for headphone jack 😂😂😂
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- Tooluka
- JyL
- 30 Oct 2023
My current phone is S10P with Corning Glass 6 according to this site. And over past 4 years it is completely covered in the microscopic short scratches. They are completely invisible when the screen is on, so I'm not bothered. The point is - if they were a few times deeper, then they will be visible with display on, and that would be extremely annoying.
Regarding the video - I literally stumbled upon it on random, and unlike the original JerryRigEverything channel he has no estalished reputation (for me). I didn't link it here because of that. But I don't see any point why would that channel falsify a single mid-budget phone model from a second tier vendor (objectively Lenovo is not a top tier, yet)?
- A
- Abe
- B}@
- 24 Oct 2023
Tooluka, 23 Oct 2023Almost ordered it, even despite poor support but then I tho... moreWhile my experience may not speak for everyone, I've used the phone for over a month and with fairly heavy use. There is not a single scratch on the screen, not even the micro scratches that accumulate due to swiping social apps. I use the device with the provided case but no screen protector applied. One aspect I am careful of is not using the phone when my hands are dusty or after being out for a while. This ensures anything imbedded in my fingers do not scratch the screen with said micro scratches.
- ?
- Anonymous
- GRN
- 24 Oct 2023
Tooluka, 23 Oct 2023Almost ordered it, even despite poor support but then I tho... moreGreen line issue is present on every single AMOLED display phone out, unlike how you think this isn't just limited to Motorola phones. Even Samsung and apple flagships have reports of such issues. So far, this issue hasn't been reported on edge 40 so maybe it's fine.
Also, how trustable is this Indian JerryRigEverything channel? This phone glass isn't as scratch resistance as GG, but it ain't plastic to scratch at level 2.
- T
- Tooluka
- JyL
- 23 Oct 2023
Almost ordered it, even despite poor support but then I thought to check videos and came across an Indian JerryRigEverything channel. So apparently Edge 40 front glass scratches as low at 3 and even 2 hardness. That's fingernails level of hardness :) . Modern Corning glass only starts to scratch at around 6. Also it seems that there is a widespread issue of a bright green lines across the screen on Motorola p-oleds, which is not repairable, screen or phone must be replaced.
Terrible disappointment really. Guess I'll go with a boring plain A54 or A34.
- V
- Veaceslav
- mGh
- 23 Oct 2023
It supports Dolby Atmos (which you don't indicate in the specs) And why there is no information about the DAC?
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- Docoptik
- gI9
- 21 Oct 2023
Anonymous, 26 May 2023Screen protection? Gorilla glass?I think not, it's NEG.
- U
- Unreserved Nick
- rKx
- 20 Oct 2023
TVR, 20 Oct 2023Would this one be a good upgrade from a Xiaomi 11 Lite 5G N... moreDisplay is good. I used s20 Fe 5g earlier to this. This Moto has screen which is almost as good as that one
Battery is also as expected esp with turbocharger.
- T
- TVR
- 8WB
- 20 Oct 2023
Would this one be a good upgrade from a Xiaomi 11 Lite 5G NE?
I'm disappointed with the Xiaomi as the screen quality is not good, and battery life is ... Bad.
Would like to know if this phone has a good display with no issues, and if battery isn't bad at all.
- U
- Unreserved Nick
- 2WB
- 18 Oct 2023
Anonymous, 16 Oct 2023People using this device - Can you tell how much SoT (Scree... more5-5:30 hours around, with moderate usage.
- A
- Amitsen
- CbG
- 17 Oct 2023
There is a problem why Motorola does not support its own call dialer .How long will Google support you motorola
- ?
- Anonymous
- y52
- 17 Oct 2023
Anonymous, 16 Oct 2023Patches don't matter.. How much "Average" Da... more4-5 hr, fb, one full charged, it can be used FULL day (24hr)
- justasmile
- vjq
- 16 Oct 2023
For those who are complaining about the price, $412 USD is not really the right price. It's actually around $320, which considering the specs you get, it's a decent price.
- ?
- Anonymous
- 7k3
- 16 Oct 2023
People using this device - Can you tell how much SoT (Screen On Time) , Moto Edge 40 Offers on Single FULL Charge ?
- ?
- Anonymous
- 7k3
- 16 Oct 2023
Unreserved Nick, 14 Oct 2023Sorry, it's sept patch, available nowPatches don't matter.. How much "Average" Daily Screen On Time your are getting on ONE SINGLE CHARGE. How many times you have to charge this phone in a day?
Anybody can reply owning Moto Edge 40
- U
- Unreserved Nick
- rJ7
- 14 Oct 2023
Unreserved Nick, 14 Oct 2023New oct security patch available.Sorry, it's sept patch, available now