The Motorola Edge+ (2022) is the latest and greatest flagship Motorola's position in the smartphone market has been largely focused on affordable devices. If you're in the U.S. and are shopping for a phone between $200 and $300, there's a good chance you're going to buy one from Motorola.
Because of this, it's always exciting whenever Motorola goes beyond the budget market and releases something a bit more powerful. The Motorola Edge (2021) was announced in August 2021 as a 'value flagship.' It's not quite as capable as the latest iPhone or Galaxy S, but it has very powerful specs and a competitive retail price of $699. In February 2022, Motorola went all-out with the Edge+ (2022). It's an objectively better phone than the Edge (2021) in more ways than one, but is it enough to justify spending an extra $300?
Starting with the display, the Edge+ (2022) and Edge (2021) are remarkably similar. They're similarly sized (6.7 inches and 6.8 inches, respectively), have Full HD+ resolutions, and 144Hz refresh rates. Where the Edge+ has an upper hand is with the type of being used. The more expensive phone uses pOLED technology, resulting in more vibrant colors and deeper blacks than the Edge's LCD display. The phones also have a lot in common with their designs — sharing a side-mounted fingerprint sensor, USB-C charging, and no 3.5mm headphone jack.
Other Differences Between Edge+ (2022) & Edge (2021)
One area where the Edge+ (2022) does have a substantial advantage is performance. The Edge+ (2022) touts a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor with a choice between 8 or 12GB of RAM. By comparison, the Motorola Edge (2021) has a Snapdragon 778G processor and maxes out at 8GB of RAM. What does all of that mean? While both phones have plenty of horsepower for most apps and casual gaming, the Edge+ (2022) has a lot more wiggle room. Compared to the Snapdragon 778G, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 has a significantly higher GPU frequency, a 25 percent faster U clock speed, and a more power-efficient design. For power s who demand a lot from their phone, that alone is a big reason to consider the Edge+ (2022) over the Edge (2021).
Other differences between the Edge+ (2022) and Edge (2021) aren't quite as drastic, but they're still worth mentioning. s 15W wireless charging and 5W wireless power share. Both phones also 30W wired charging.
The only other major thing separating the Edge+ and Edge is the software situation. The Edge+ (2022) ships with Android 12 out of the box and is promised two years of major OS updates. That's not good compared to other manufacturers, but it's much better than the Edge (2021) currently running Android 11 and promised just a single update to Android 12. So, what's the final verdict? If you really want a Motorola smartphone and have $999 to spend, the Motorola Edge+ is worth splurging for. It has a nicer-looking display, much better performance, a more advanced camera, wireless charging , and a better update policy. The Motorola Edge (2021) is a fine choice if $699 is the most you can spend, but if that's the case, you're honestly better off with something like the Google Pixel 6.
Source: Motorola