Motorola, a company best known for its budget and midrange phones, on Wednesday took an enormous step forward into the premium phone market and launched the Motorola Edge and Edge Plus. Both phones join the Motorola Razr as high-end offerings from the Chicago-based company. Whereas the Razr was criticized for its middle-of-the-road tech, the Edge and Edge Plus are brimming with cutting-edge specs that rival Samsung, OnePlus and Apple. It is as if Motorola went to the specs grocery store and emptied the shelves.

The $1,000 Motorola Edge Plus has the same price as the Samsung Galaxy S20, the same size screen as the Galaxy S20 Plus and the same 5,000-mAh battery and 108-megapixel camera as the Galaxy S20 Ultra. (The Edge Plus is not currently available in the UK and Australia, but as a guide, the Galaxy S20 starts at £799 and AU$1,349 in those countries. The Edge will cost £549 in the UK.)

The Edge is meant as a slightly pared-down and less expensive option. Motorola hasn't announced the price, but the more affordable phone will launch sometime this summer. Motorola is taking a similar approach to both phones as OnePlus did with its 8 and 8 Pro, although both Edge phones use the same size display.

Motorola Edge Plus specs vs. Motorola Edge, OnePlus 8 Pro, Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus, Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra

	Motorola Edge Plus	Motorola Edge	OnePlus 8 Pro	Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus	Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra
Display size, resolution	6.7-inch FHD OLED	6.7-inch FHD OLED	6.78-inch AMOLED; 1,440x3,168 pixels	6.7-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X	6.9-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X
Pixel density	NA	NA	513ppi	525ppi	511ppi
Dimensions (Inches)	6.34x2.81x0.38 in	6.36x2.8x0.37 in	6.51x2.93x0.35 in	2.9x6.37x0.30 in	2.99x6.57x0.35 in
Dimensions (Millimeters)	161.1x71.4x9.6 mm	161.6x71.1x9.29 mm	165x74.4x8.5 mm	73.7x161.9x7.8mm	76.0x166.9x8.8mm
Weight (Ounces, Grams)	7.16 oz; 203g	6.63 oz; 188g	7.02 oz; 199g	6.56 oz; 186g	7.76 oz; 220g
Mobile software	Android 10	Android 10	Android 10	Android 10	Android 10
Camera	108-megapixel (standard), 8-megapixel (telephotos), 16-megapixel (macro/ultrawide-angle)	64-megapixel (standard), 8-megapixel (telephotos), 16-megapixel (macro/ultrawide-angle)	48-megapixel (standard), 48-megapixel (ultra-wide), 8-megapixel (telephoto), 5-megapixel ('color filter')	12-megapixel (wide-angle), 64-megapixel (telephoto), 12-megapixel (ultra-wide), time-of-flight camera	108-megapixel (wide-angle), 48-megapixel (telephoto), 12-megapixel (ultra-wide), time-of-flight camera
Front-facing camera	25-megapixel	25-megapixel	16-megapixel	10-megapixel	40-megapixel
Video capture	6K	4K	4K	8K	8K
Processor	Qualcomm Snapdragon 865	Qualcomm Snapdragon 765	Qualcomm Snapdragon 865	64-bit octa-core processor (Max 2.7GHz + 2.5 GHz + 2.0 GHz)	64-bit octa-core processor (Max 2.7GHz + 2.5 GHz + 2.0 GHz)
Storage	256GB	128GB	128GB, 256GB	128GB, 512GB	128GB, 512GB
RAM	12GB	10GB	8GB, 12GB	12GB	12GB, 16GB
Expandable storage	Up to 256GB (UFS 3.0)	Up to 1TB	No	Up to 1TB	Up to 1TB
Battery	5,000 mAh	4,500 mAh	4,510 mAh	4,500 mAh	5,000 mAh
Fingerprint sensor	In-screen	In-screen	In-screen	In-screen	In-screen
Connector	USB-C	USB-C	USB-C	USB-C	USB-C
Headphone jack	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
Special features	5G enabled, 90Hz refresh rate display	5G enabled, 90Hz refresh rate display	5G enabled; Warp Charge; reverse wireless charging; water resistant (IP68); 120Hz refresh rate	5G enabled; 120Hz refresh rate; water resistant (IP68)	5G enabled; 120Hz refresh rate; 100X zoom; water resistant (IP68)
Price off-contract (USD)	$999 - Verizon exclusive	TBD	$899 (8GB RAM/128GB), $999 (12GB RAM/256GB)	$1,199, $1,349	$1,399 (128GB), $1,599 (512GB)

The Motorola Edge Plus has 5G

We've seen a lot of phones with 5G launched this year, and the Edge was designed from the start to run on 5G. The Motorola Edge Plus supports both sub-6 and millimeter wave up to 5 gigabits per second. Motorola claims its optimizations will result in the "fastest ever" 5G. We'll have to test those claims.

The Edge Plus has a 108-megapixel rear camera

There are three rear cameras on the Motorola Edge Plus. The main camera has a 108-megapixel sensor which combines groups of four pixels to produce a 27-megapixel image. Motorola says that the sensor is almost three times larger than the 12-megapixel sensors used in other phones, which could help improve brightness and reduce image noise.

I'm excited to try out the Edge Plus camera system in more depth. But the few photos I took looked good on Edge Plus' screen.

The Edge Plus can record 6K videos with 20-megapixel photo grabs during recording. Despite the Edge Plus having a Snapdragon 865 processor, which is capable of 8K recording, Motorola thought 6K better paired to the main camera sensor.

There's also a video portrait mode, a special long exposure mode with a shutter speed of up to 32-seconds and Night Vision which stacks eight photos and combines them into a single shot that's brighter, sharper and has more detail.

And then on the front, housed in the hole-punch display, is a 25-megapixel selfie camera. 

The Motorola Edge Plus has a 90Hz waterfall display

The name Edge refers to the 6.7-inch "endless edge" display that wraps around the sides of the phone. While it's not the first phone to have a waterfall display, it is absolutely stunning in-person. The edge can light up different colors to show your battery charging, alarms and notifications. There's also a neat widget you can access for shortcuts. Motorola built-in grip and touch suppression to minimize any accidental screen touches.

If the edges are too much, you can go into Settings and select which apps use the edges and which don't. When the edges are off, they turn black and the screen looks like a normal regular display. During my time with the phone, I didn't see an "all or nothing" switch for turning the edge on and off.

The edges get well-used in the new Moto Gametime mode. You can set them up as shoulder buttons or reposition your on-screen buttons so they're in a better place for gameplay.

I'm not sure how helpful the Edge screen will be in daily use. It's obviously reminiscent of Samsung Galaxy phones and their edge displays. But the gaming functionality pushes it toward gaming phones such as the Asus ROG Phone 2 and Black Shark 2 Pro but without the glowing logo.

Speaking of gaming phones, the Edge's 21:9 ratio screen has a 90Hz variable refresh rate which makes animations look smoother, text and images more crisp and can make gaming (especially high-frame-rate games) more immersive. You can also choose to override the variable setting and lock it in to 60Hz or 90Hz.

Motorola Edge Plus vs. Motorola Edge

In many ways the Motorola Edge is fundamentally the same phone with the same display as the Edge Plus, but made with a more svelte body. It has Sub-6 5G support but not the faster millimeter-wave flavor of 5G. Instead of a Snapdragon 865 found in the Edge Plus, it has a Snapdragon 765 processor. Instead of a 5,000-mAh battery, it has a 4,500-mAh battery. Instead of an 108-megapixel main camera, it has a 64-megapixel main camera. 

The biggest difference is price. We don't know exactly what that will be yet, but we have to surmise that if the Motorola Edge Plus is $999 then the Motorola Edge will be cheaper when it's released sometime this summer.

Also I should note that in the US the Edge Plus is a Verizon exclusive, but the Edge will be sold unlocked. We look forward to testing out both phones for a review.