Motorola Edge 50 Pro review

Competent triple camera

The Pro may not be an Ultra, but it still has a full-featured camera setup. The headliner is the 50MP main camera, of course, thanks mostly to its super-wide f/1.4 aperture. But it's also nice to see telephoto cameras on non-flagships, the 3x zoom unit here being most welcome. Also a pleasant sight is an autofocusing ultrawide, another check mark in the Edge 50 Pro's specsheet.

Another major selling point looking at the hardware alone is the selfie camera. Not only is it using a large sensor, it also has a wide-angle lens with autofocus. It can also record 4K video. This is the same selfie camera that you'd find on the Edge 50 Ultra, so if selfies are your top priority, perhaps the Pro should be good enough.

In the "AI this, AI that" department, the Edge 50 Pro promises adaptive video stabilization, advanced long exposure processing, and general dynamic range and detail enhancement magic.

Also, as somewhat of a first, there's a setting in the viewfinder that lets you capture shots and directly apply the Google Photos 'Enhance' processing. If you find yourself often doing that to your photos after the fact in the gallery, this could save you one step. However, there's no apparent way to get the pre-enhanced photo once you've saved the auto enhanced version. We'd rather shoot 'Natural' and enhance as needed.

• Wide (main):50MP OmniVision OV50E (1/1.55", 1.0µm - 2.0µm), f/1.4, 25mm, multi-directional PDAF, Laser AF, OIS; 4K@30fps
• Ultrawide: 13MP SK Hynix HI1336 (1/3.0", 1.12µm), f/2.2, 16mm, PDAF; 4K@30fps
• Telephoto: 10MP Samsung S5K3K1 (1/3.94", 1.0µm), f/2.0, 67mm, PDAF, OIS; 4K@30fps
• Front camera: 50MP Samsung JNS (likely a variation of JN1, 1/2.76", 0.64µm-1.28µm), f/1.9, 21mm, PDAF; 4K@30fps

Daylight photo quality

Main camera

Daylight photos from the Moto's main camera are solid. They have plenty of contrast (perhaps a touch too much, even) and expressive color presentation (but not excessively so) making for an overall likable tonal rendition, particularly in outdoor shots. Detail is very good, unless you stare too long at grass, which can be a little artificial looking.

Daylight samples, main camera (1x)

Motorola hosted a special press event in Morroco where we brought along our Edge 50 Pro review unit for some extra samples in addition to those from our usual locations. Here's a selection of those from the main camera, and you'll be some more from the other cameras throughout this page.

More daylight samples, main camera (1x)

This camera's minimum focusing distance isn't too extreme, but thanks to its super wide aperture you're able to capture small objects at short distances with nicely blurred backgrounds.

Daylight samples, main camera (1x)

Here's a handful of people shots to show you how the phone deals with skin tones. Those are Pantone-validated skin tones, mind you.

Daylight samples, main camera (1x), Photo mode

Daylight samples, main camera (24mm), Portrait mode

There's also a Portrait mode zoom setting that mimics a 35mm lens' field of view.

Daylight samples, main camera (35mm), Portrait mode

The full-res mode could net you a minor improvement in detail, though it's not really a meaningful benefit, plus it comes at the expense of narrower dynamic range.

Daylight samples, main camera (1x), 50MP

There's a readily available 2x button in the viewfinder, and we'd call the results okay. They're not the sharpest of images, but if you limit your viewing to the phone's display or fit-to-screen levels on a PC, you should be fine. In all fairness, you might be ever so slightly better off shooting at 50MP and cropping the center to match the 2x field of view.

Daylight samples, main camera (2x)

Telephoto camera (3x)

The telephoto camera's results are good too. Detail is decent and it's rendered naturally. Dynamic range is wide and colors are likable if not entirely the same as on the main camera.

Daylight samples, telephoto camera (3x)

The zoom camera is also quite decent as a close-up shooter, though the phone will be quick to switch to a zoomed in view from the main camera if you get too close. Either be careful with crossing the close-focusing threshold of the telephoto, or resort to Pro mode, where there's no auto switching of the cameras.

Daylight samples, telephoto camera (3x), closeups

The Pantone-validated skin tones do look good, we'll admit. The 85mm Portrait mode photos are achieved with some digital zoom from the telephoto camera and you can tell by the relative softness.

Daylight samples, telephoto camera (3x), Photo mode

Daylight samples, telephoto camera (85mm), Portrait mode

Ultrawide camera

The ultrawide doesn't ruin the positive impression either. In fact, it's more of an excellent performer in its context, delivering sharp results with wide dynamic range and pleasing colors. Its autofocusing capability is also most welcome and lets you capture nearby objects with exaggerated perspectives, or some distorted closeups.

Daylight samples, ultrawide camera

Selfies

Selfies are properly great on the Edge 50 Pro. Detail is excellent, dynamic range is nice and wide, and skin tones are pleasingly life-like, though a touch of extra saturation wouldn't hurt the colors overall.

Selfie samples

Low-light photo quality

Main camera

The Edge 50 Pro's main camera captures very good low-light photos in its default Photo mode. Exposures are balanced and natural-looking and you'd be getting reasonably wide dynamic range without excessive shadow brightening. Colors are excellent both in terms of white balance and saturation. The detail is good too, but it has somewhat of a processed quality to it.

Low-light samples, main camera (1x)

Night mode on the Edge 50 Pro will tend to put some extra effort into highlight preservation, though not a lot in terms of shadow development.

Low-light samples, main camera (1x), Night mode

At 2x, detail will get even heavier sharpening making pixel-level examination not a particularly pleasant endeavor.

Low-light samples, main camera (2x)

Telephoto camera

The phone's telephoto camera does admirably in the dark too. Sharpness and detail are great, dynamic range and tonal development are excellent even in difficult high-contrast scenes, and colors are generally on point as well.

Low-light samples, telephoto camera (3x)

Ultrawide camera

The ultrawide isn't half bad either. Pixel-level detail can be a bit soft in the shadows, but not more so than competing efforts, and better-lit scenes are rendered quite well, actually. Colors and dynamic range are also generally very good, though Night mode will still get you a little extra highlight preservation.

Low-light samples, ultrawide camera

Video recording

The Edge 50 Pro can record video up to 4K30 on all of its cameras - the three rear ones and the selfie one too. All but the ultrawide can also do 1080p at 60fps in addition to the regular 30fps.

The default codec is h.264, but you can opt for h.265 by flipping a toggle in settings. Stabilization is available in all modes, and can be switched off if you have alternative means of maintaining a steady shot.

We're not overly fond of the Edge 50 Pro's video quality, though. Its 4K clips have excessively high contrast with pretty harsh tonal extremes, particularly on the main camera and the ultrawide. Detail is kind of soft on the ultrawide, overly processed on the main camera, and possibly only the telephoto scores higher marks. The white balance varies between the three, with the main camera being most accurate, and the other two being off each in its own way. Also, neither camera managed to maintain a solid 30fps frame rate, instead hovering around the 27fps mark

In low light, the main camera does alright in most metrics, capturing good detail and okay dynamic range, while also maintaining color saturation. The other two are on the soft side of the spectrum.

Stabilization is mostly very good, though there were some small imperfections in our experience. Both the main camera and the ultrawide will stabilize walking shake quite well. The ultrawide did show a small tendency to hunt for focus as you walk. All three initiate pans smoothly but we did observe dropped frames mid-pan ruining the impression. Just pointing the phone in one direction will result in stable footage - not entirely shake free, but good enough.

Video sample playlist

You can check out the playlist below, which includes multiple video samples.