A little over a year on from the introduction of the original Motorola Edge, the company has just unveiled the Edge 20 lineup, initially consisting of three high-end devices in the Motorola Edge 20, Edge 20 Lite and Edge 20 Pro (with the Edge 20 Fusion arriving a tad later).
While none of these devices feature Qualcomm’s best and brightest Snapdragon 888 chipset, high-performance silicon is still at play that renders (some of) these handsets as Motorola’s newest flagship phones.
When is the release date for the Motorola Edge 20?
Motorola unveiled the Edge 20 family at a global launch event on 29 July, which played host to the arrival of the Edge 20, 20 Lite and 20 Pro.
In markets including Europe and the UK, all three models went on sale starting 19 August. There’s a chance that the phones will arrive in China under a different name too.
The first Motorola Edge was announced in April 2020, then made available at the end of May. Obviously, since then the world has seen massive disruption through COVID-19, so shuffling the release schedule back a few months makes sense.
How much does the Motorola Edge 20 cost?
In the UK, the Motorola Edge 20 Lite costs £299.99, the vanilla Edge 20 is priced at £429.99 and the top-tier Edge 20 Pro clocks in at £649.99 SIM-free.
Availability in Blighty – outside of buying from Motorola directly – varies by device, with all three models on sale from Amazon, Carphone Warehouse and John Lewis & Partners. Carrier-wise, the Edge 20 Lite is also ranging on Vodafone and EE, the standard Edge 20 can be picked up from Tesco Mobile and the Edge 20 Pro is on Vodafone’s and O2’s books.
For reference, the previous-generation Motorola Edge came in at £549 (approx US$755) for the standard model and £725/US$999 for the Edge+ variant.
Edge 20 Pro purchases include a free Lenovo M10 Plus tablet – worth £109. Find out more in our guide: Where to buy the Motorola Edge 20 phones in the UK.
What specs does the Motorola Edge 20 offer?
While the Edge line is where you’ll find Motorola’s most premium devices right now, not all of the Edge 20 series should be considered ‘flagship’; in the same way Oppo’s Find X3 series spans the mid-range and high-end spaces.
There are also some constants across the lineup, like the use of 6.7in, high refresh rate, HDR10+, OLED displays – all supporting the full DCI-P3 colour space with 10-bit colour support. All three phones also pack in 5G, 30W fast charging (with the charger included in-box), Motorola’s ‘Ready For’ desktop-like experience and lead with a 108Mp camera, leveraging nonabinning tech and 2.1μm pixels.
Motorola Edge 20 Lite
The ‘baby’ of this new series of Edge devices pulls back primarily on performance, through its use of a MediaTek Dimensity 720 chipset, but also boasts the largest capacity battery of the trio, at 5000mAh.
- 6.7in 20:9 Full HD+ OLED display
- 90Hz high refresh rate
- HDR10+
- Full DCI-P3 support
- 10-bit colour
- 2.5D glass
- MediaTek Dimensity 720 5G-B processor
- 6GB or 8GB RAM (market dependant)
- 128GB storage
- microSD expandable up to 512GB
- PMMA rear inlay back
- Rear cameras:
- 108Mp main
- 8Mp 118° ultrawide/macro (down to 2cm)
- 2Mp depth sensor
- 32Mp front-facing hole-punch camera (w/ low light AI selfie)
- Android 11 w/ My UX
- ‘Ready for’ support (wired/PC)
- Power key-cum-fingerprint sensor
- Double-tap key for recent apps
- IP52-certified
- NFC
- 5G
- Bluetooth 5.0
- Dual-SIM
- USB-C
- 3.5mm headphone jack
- FM radio
- 5000mAh battery
- 30W fast charging (50% in 26 minutes)
- 165.89 x 75.95 x 8.25mm
- 185 grams
- Colours: Laguna Green, Electric Graphite
Motorola Edge 20
The biggest upgrades from the Lite model fall to the chipset and the display’s impressively smooth 144Hz refresh rate, but this also happens to be Motorola’s thinnest 5G phone to date, at 6.99mm.
Motorola also traded the Lite’s depth sensor for an optically stabilised 3x telephoto sensor and while the company’s ‘Ready For’ tech is present here too, it’s now wireless, rather than wired.
- 6.7in 20:9 Full HD+ OLED display
- 144Hz high refresh rate
- 576Hz touch response rate
- HDR10+
- Full DCI-P3 support
- 10-bit colour
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G processor
- 6GB or 8GB RAM
- 128GB or 256GB storage
- Glass front & back
- Rear cameras:
- 108Mp main
- 16Mp Ultrawide/macro
- 8Mp 3x optical telephoto w/ OIS
- 32Mp front-facing hole-punch camera (w/ low light AI selfie)
- Android 11 w/ My UX
- ‘Ready for’ support (wireless/PC)
- Power key-cum-fingerprint sensor
- Double-tap key for recent apps
- IP52 certified
- NFC
- WiFi 6
- 5G
- Dual-SIM
- Bluetooth 5.2
- USB-C
- 4000mAh battery
- 30W fast charging
- 163 x 76 x 6.99mm
- 163 grams
- Colours: Frosted Black, Frosted Emerald, Frosted White
Motorola Edge 20 Pro
The main shift from the standard Edge 20 to the Pro model comes with the introduction of Motorola’s first periscopic camera system, granting the Pro up to 5x optical zoom and 50x ‘Super Zoom’.
The Pro can also capture up to 8K resolution, thanks in part to a beefier Snapdragon 870 chipset and is the only member of the Edge 20 family to boast a vegan leather finish, alongside some glass-backed colourways.
- 6.7in 20:9 Full HD+ OLED display
- 144Hz high refresh rate
- 576Hz touch response rate
- HDR10+
- Full DCI-P3 support
- 10-bit colour
- 2.5D Gorilla Glass 5
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 processor
- 12GB RAM
- 256GB UFS 3.1 storage
- Glass front & back
- Rear cameras:
- 108Mp main
- 16Mp Ultrawide/macro
- 8Mp 5x optical periscopic telephoto w/ OIS
- 32Mp front-facing hole-punch camera (w/ low light AI selfie)
- Android 11 w/ My UX
- ‘Ready for’ support (wired/wireless/PC)
- Power key-cum-fingerprint sensor
- Double-tap key for recent apps
- IP52 certified
- NFC
- WiFi 6
- 5G
- Dual-SIM
- Bluetooth 5.1
- USB-C
- 4500mAh battery
- 30W fast charging
- 163 x 76 x 7.99mm
- 190 grams (glass back), 185 grams (vegan leather back)
- Colours: Midnight Blue, Irridescent White, Blue vegan leather
One strange omission for this series of devices is the move away from displays with curved edges. It was thought that the original Motorola Edge and Edge+ got their name from their curved-edge displays, a feature that wasn’t present on the Edge S (the Chinese name for the Moto G100), while the Edge 20, Lite, Pro and Fusion all appear to sport flat displays.
As for software, while these phones enjoy the latest Motorola experiences – including wireless ‘Ready For’ support – Motorola confirmed that all three phones are currently only on track to receive two major OS updates and two years of Android security updates in their lifetime; a notably weaker outlook to longevity, compared to Samsung and OnePlus’ recent promises.
We discuss how the Motorola Edge 20 line slots into the wider smartphone scene as part of our weekly podcast, Fast Charge:
Motorola Edge 20 Fusion
While the global launch event on 29 July confirmed the presence of three Edge 20 devices, leaks in the lead-up to their unveiling also made reference to a fourth entry, initially unearthed by Deals N Tech, called the ‘Edge 20 Fusion’.
Paired with prior spec leaks from Evan Blass ( @Evleaks on Twitter), at least one iteration of the Fusion looks to be a variation on the vanilla Edge 20 that’ll be exclusive to Verizon in the US.
While the specs for this device are mostly identical, the North American unit reportedly sports a larger display and battery, as well as a tweaked camera setup, closer to that of the Edge 20 Lite.
Here are the leaked specs that differ from the standard Motorola Edge 20:
- 6.78in Full HD+ (2460×1080) 120Hz OLED display
- 108Mp + 8Mp (ultrawide w/ macro mode) + 2Mp (depth) rear cameras
- 5000mAh battery
- 6.99mm thick
Separately, Motorola India announced a different phone, also going by the name ‘Motorola Edge 20 Fusion’ on 17 August – exclusively via online retailer, Flipkart – with the phone going on sale on 27 August.
This flavour of Fusion runs on a MediaTek Dimensity 800U chipset but specs otherwise match that of Motorola Edge 20 Lite. Here’s a full spec rundown:
- 6.7in 20:9 Full HD+ OLED display
- 90Hz high refresh rate
- HDR10+
- Full DCI-P3 support
- 10-bit colour
- 2.5D glass
- MediaTek Dimensity 800U processor
- 6GB or 8GB RAM (market dependant)
- 128GB storage
- microSD expandable up to 1TB
- 2.5D front cover glass
- PMMA rear inlay back
- Rear cameras:
- 108Mp main
- 8Mp 118° ultrawide/macro (down to 2cm)
- 2Mp depth sensor
- 32Mp front-facing hole-punch camera (w/ low light AI selfie)
- Android 11 w/ My UX
- ‘Ready for’ support (wired/PC)
- Power key-cum-fingerprint sensor
- Double-tap key for recent apps
- Google Assistant key
- Down-firing single speaker
- IP52-certified
- NFC
- 5G
- Bluetooth 5.0
- Dual 5G SIM support
- USB-C
- 3.5mm headphone jack
- FM radio
- 5000mAh battery
- 30W fast charging
- 165.89 x 75.95 x 8.25mm
- 185 grams
- Colours: Cyber Teal, Electric Graphite
Motorola Edge (2021)
On 19 August, Motorola announced a new version of the Motorola Edge, destined exclusively for the US market (with expansion into Canada at a later date), to serve as a replacement to last year’s model under the same name.
While Motorola frequently rebadges its international releases when bringing them to the US in particular, the 2021 Edge is technically a unique creation all its own.
It’s clear – based on the phone’s design and spec sheet – that this year’s Edge was clearly conceived in conjunction with the Motorola Edge 20 line (namely as a blend of the standard Edge 20 and Edge 20 Lite), however, the second-generation Edge sports a larger 6.8in 144Hz LCD in place of the OLED displays that the 20 family sport.
Here’s the Motorola Edge (2021) full spec sheet:
- 6.8in 20.5:9 Full HD+ LCD panel
- 144Hz high refresh rate
- 576Hz touch sampling rate
- HDR10
- 2.5D glass
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G processor
- 8GB RAM
- 256GB storage
- PMMA rear inlay back
- Rear cameras:
- 108Mp main
- 8Mp 118° ultrawide/macro (down to 2cm)
- 2Mp depth sensor
- 32Mp front-facing hole-punch camera (w/ low light AI selfie)
- Android 11 w/ My UX
- ‘Ready for’ support (wired/wireless/PC)
- Power key-cum-fingerprint sensor
- Double-tap key for recent apps
- IP52-certified
- NFC
- 5G
- Bluetooth 5.2
- USB-C
- 5000mAh battery
- 30W fast charging (50% in 26 minutes)
- 169 x 75.6 x 8.99mm
- 200 grams
- Colours: Nebula Blue
The phone is available unlocked, directly from Motorola, priced at US$699.99 (the same as the original Motorola Edge), however, the company is offering a limited-time starting price of just US$499.99. The phone is also up for grabs from retailers like Best Buy and Amazon US, as well as carrier availability, including Verizon and Spectrum Mobile, planned “in the coming months.”
To see what the Motorola Edge 20 family is up against, be sure to take a look at our best budget smartphone, best mid-range smartphone and best smartphone guides.