All You Need To Know About The Motorola Edge 40 Pro

As the fourth biggest phone brand in the UK and a hot competitor to Google and Huawei, all eyes are on the latest release from Motorola, the Edge 40 Pro. Released in December in China as the X40, it comes while there’s still only speculation about the other models in the 40 range – and in fact the high spec of the 40 Pro suggests it might replace the 40 Ultra.

That in itself is a draw of the phone: it’s a premium bit of kit, with an impressively high screen refresh rate, allowing for smooth gaming and media streaming. Add into the mix its fast charging (it takes less than half an hour to charge from 0% to 100%) and a user interface that’s reassuringly similar to the Google Pixel, and there are plenty of draws to make up for its just-okay areas, like the camera.

The real question is, overall is it worth your hard-earned money? Let’s take a closer look at the Motorola Edge 40 Pro.

Camera

The set-up of the camera is as one might expect. There’s a triple set of rear lenses – a 50MP main camera (which comes with optical image stabilisation), a 50MP ultrawide camera, and a 12MP telephoto lens. Turn it around, and you’ll find a 60MP selfie camera. So far, so standard. The good news is that images are captured quickly, meaning you won’t miss that critical moment. It’s just a shame that the pictures don’t pop in the same way as other camera phones, which is largely to do with the software that synthesises the images. While you can manually adjust them, if you’re after outstanding photos, there are arguably better phones out there.

Battery performance

The 40 Pro has a 4600mAh battery – a little less than Samsung and Google’s flagship phones, which have 5000mAh batteries. But as it has software that conserves the battery, it can last for around six hours of screen time, or a day or over of normal use. Where it does shine amongst its competitors is that it has super fast 125W wired charging, which takes it from 0% to 100% in around 23 minutes. The wireless charging is much slower at 15W, so that’s an aspect to be mindful of.

Design and display

It speaks to the elevated nature of the 40 Pro that it shares a lot of design features with the Edge 30 Ultra – for example the rear camera layout and the soft-touch matte glass. Coupled with the curved edges that have also given Samsung’s Edge phones a contemporary feel, it’s a winning design.

Gamers will love the display on the phone too. It’s a 6.7” curved OLED screen with a taller 20:9 aspect ratio. The phone has upped from 144Hz to an impressive 165Hz refresh rate, so you’ll get a clear and smooth experience in even fast-moving games. The refresh rate is adaptive so it won’t drain battery.

Its materials are top-class too. It’s now Gorilla Glass Victus that covers the phone on both sides, and it has an IP68 dust and water-resistance rating – pretty much the highest you can get.

Tech spec

As a flagship phone made with gamers in mind, it’s no surprise that it uses the newest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset. It combines with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage (the 512GB version isn’t available in the UK). The OS installed is Android 13, and Motorola promise three more Android version updates, plus four years of security support. While that sounds very reasonable – though less than Google’s five-year support for its Pixel phones – it’s worth noting that the Edge 30 hasn’t been upgraded to Android 13 even though the update came out in August 2022, and it only just rolled out on the Edge 30 Pro.

You can expect the latest connectivity tech and a decent UI: it’s a general Android experience with some Motorola additions, but not all of them are useful – for example, they push you into downloading Moto apps when you set up, though you can un-approve these manually.

Price and availability

The Edge 40 Pro is available now in Interstellar Black. It costs £799 – £50 more pricey than the Edge 30 Ultra when it launched last year, another indicator that the 40 Pro could well replace the 40 Ultra. The price point is in line with a flagship’s premium model – it’s £50 cheaper than the Xiaomi 13 and Google Pixel 7 Pro.

 

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