Motorola’s first flagship phone in years
is now available from Verizon. In the states, it is exclusive to the nation’s largest carrier. After several years of producing popular budget-priced phones like the Moto E and Moto G series handsets, last year Motorola tried its hand in the mid-range tier. The
Motorola One Action featured an action camera on the back that allowed users to record a video in portrait mode and view it in landscape. The
Motorola One Zoom was powered by the Snapdragon 675 chipset and included a quad-camera setup on the back (including a 5MP depth sensor) and a 4000mAh battery.
So after releasing the nostalgia-tinged
Motorola razr this past February, the manufacturer figured that the time was ripe to re-enter a category that it briefly owned in 2009-2010; thus, the
Motorola edge+ was born. The phone gets its name from the 90-degree drop on both sides of its waterfall display. The 6.7-inch AMOLED screen has a 90Hz refresh rate and carries a resolution of 1080 x 2340 for an aspect ratio of 19.5:9. While some might complain about the lack of a QHD+ resolution, most will tell you that they cannot tell a 1080p screen apart from a 1440p display.
The Motorola Edge+ receives a launch day update
The Snapdragon 865 Mobile Platform, the same chipset used on the
Galaxy S20 series and most Android flagships at this point in time, powers the phone which is equipped with 12GB of memory and 256GB of storage. There are four cameras on the back including a 108MP primary camera that uses 4:1
pixel binning to produce 27MP images. The 8MP Telephoto camera delivers 3x optical zoom and the 16MP Ultra Wide-angle camera doubles as a Macro camera for extreme close-ups. There is also a time-of-flight-depth sensor that times how long it takes for infrared beams to bounce off of a subject and return to the phone. This data can help produce enhanced depth measurements used for AR and portraits. The Motorola edge+ is protected from splashes and light rain thanks to a special coating applied to the phone. Try to remember that unlike most other flagships, the device does not have an IP rating and cannot be submerged. And as we said, you can buy it today from Verizon priced at $999.99 (24 monthly payments of $41.66).
The Motorola edge+ features three rear cameras and a time-of-flight depth sensor
Motorola says that the edge+ is the fastest smartphone available with support for 5G download data speeds faster than 4Gbps. As great as that sounds, most 5G users on Verizon are happy to hit 1Gbps at this time on the carrier’s mmWave 5G network. The edge+, with its 5G capability and large screen, does come with a 5000mAh battery which the manufacturer says is good for up to two days of usage. Motorola did include a 3.5mm earphone jack and Android 10 is pre-installed; Motorola promises that the edge+ will be updated at least twice which covers this year’s Android 11 and 2021’s Android 12 updates.
Speaking of which, the Motorola edge+ has received an update today, its very first day on the market.
According to the Verizon support page that announced this, the update includes an improvement that offers better connectivity for Multi Access Point Wi-Fi Routers. It also delivers improved audio quality for USB-C Wired headsets and comes with the April Android Security Update. To install the update, make sure that your handset is connected to a Wi-Fi network or a strong Verizon Wireless signal. Also, your battery needs to be fully charged before starting the updating process. Because the phone uses an 18W “Turbo Charging” brick, it shouldn’t take terribly long to achieve this.
If you have received a notification about the update, you can download it by tapping on “Yes, I’m in.” Once the software update has finished downloading, tap on “Install now.” The device will automatically reboot after the installation is completed. If you haven’t received the notification, go to Settings > About phone > System updates and tap on “Yes, I’m in.” Once the update has been downloaded, click on Install now. After the installation is completed, the phone will restart automatically.
