Is the Moto X50 Ultra the flagship that will finally challenge the Galaxies and iPhones?
*Header image: the Motorola Moto Edge 40 Pro
Once upon a time, Motorola phones were at the top of the world. But those days are now long gone and Motorola has been more present in the budget and mid-range segment, rarely being able to compete with the big players in the smartphone market: the Apples and Oranges... pardon, Samsungs.
But a recent teaser of the upcoming Moto X50 Ultra (or the Motorola Edge+ 2024 or Moto Edge 50 Pro - same name, different markets, most likely) are getting me excited. Could it be that Moto is ready to compete with the big players once again? Could the strong 2023 for Moto be a sign that we'll be getting a third player at the top of the smartphone scene?
What could the Moto X50 Ultra have, compared to the Galaxy S24 Ultra and the iPhone?
The main contenders for the flagship market are the Galaxy S24 Ultra and the iPhone 15 Pro Max (and eventually, the 16 Pro Max). Now, let's discuss a bit if the Moto flagship is positioned to challenge them.
- Performance, check
A recent teaser for the phone, focused on speed and AI improvements, seems very promising for the performance of the phone. The Moto X50 Pro is rumored to sport the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, which is by all means a flagship processor: fast and very capable. The chip is perfectly capable of competing with the S24 Ultra, which sports the same chip. The iPhone 16 Pro Max, which could be the other competitor, is still months away from revealing. Its predecessor though is the current contender from Apple and has the A17 Pro Bionic chip.
Here's how the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 in the Galaxy performs against the iPhone. We expect similar Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 performance from the Moto if it comes with the chip:
So, performance is mainly covered. Of course, we have other aspects of a phone's performance - mainly software, and we do hope Motorola has given some love to this department. But leaks are scarce on this, so we'll see when the phone gets released.
- Battery life, check
Battery life is another important aspect of a flagship. The Moto X50 Ultra is rumored to come with a 4,500mAh battery with support for 125W wired and 50W wireless charging. Yep, notice the ultra-fast charging that is reportedly coming to this phone: that's something the Galaxy and the iPhone don't have. Its predecessor also had incredibly fast charging, and its battery (4,600mAh) fared great on YouTube playback.
- And AI - the hot trend, check
Generative AI seems to be the trend this year with smartphones (we'll see what Apple does and whether will it hop on that trend train), and Moto is taking on the challenge. The teaser video doesn't specify exactly what AI features we'll be getting, but the mere fact the company's going for it has me thinking it's really aiming to play with the big boys.
From the Moto X50 Ultra teaser
Now, let's discuss the main areas where Moto needs to work to be a better contender:
- Cameras - mainly zoom needs work, and colors
Another important aspect of a flagship phone is the cameras. The S24 Ultra has gotten way better with cameras now with the new image processing abilities. The iPhone is also not to be underestimated.
As for the contender from Motorola, we haven't heard about cameras yet. Last year's flagship by the company sports a quite capable 50MP main camera, 50MP ultra-wide, and a 12MP 2x zoom camera. The phone is pretty good with daylight shots, although it seems to lack some of the dynamic range (shadows are not as dark as they should be), and performs great in portrait mode. The zoom, though, needs some work.
So, if Moto is really aiming to take on the big boys, it needs to feature some camera improvements, for sure.
- The elephant in the room: software updates
A flagship these days cannot really go without longevity, and that's what both Apple and Samsung are currently offering to their customers. The Edge 40 Pro (the predecessor) came with a very disappointing 3 years of software updates. A very grim situation compared to the 7 (!!!) offered by Apple and Samsung.
Moto's 2023 success and the road to flagship-ness
Moto had a pretty promising 2023. In fact, the company scored a very strong fourth quarter of 2023 and has become the fourth phone manufacturer in Europe, with its shipments growing 73% compared to last year. But many people are still going to Moto because they just need a phone, not because they want a fancy phone experience.
Flagship buyers are a different crowd. They want to be impressed, they want the latest and greatest (as they should, given the fact how expensive flagship phones are!) and Moto will need to deliver on this if it wants more people to go for its flagships.
We have the powerful chip, the AI, and the promise of a strong performer. Will this be enough to catch the attention of flagship phone buyers?
Moto's history: has Moto finally learned the lesson?
The Motorola Edge 40 Pro
Motorola, as a company, has a pretty long history, and it started way before smartphones (come on, the company's technically founded like, a century ago - in 1928!) In 1993, Motorola accounted for more than half of the mobile phone market.
And when the smartphone era began, Moto was in an ideal position to rise to the expectations, but it.. really didn't. Although the specific reasons as to why Motorola didn't become a flagship brand are vague, a brief analysis shows that the company has somewhat... well, missed the point of smartphones.
Now, with this new Moto phone and the focus on AI, maybe we're finally seeing the change that was needed some 15 years ago. It seems Moto is catching up to what we need our phones to be able to do. To some it may seem AI is just a gimmick, and I'll not be discussing AI here, but the point I'm making is about the focus: now Moto is focusing on what the "phone" can do besides... making calls.
Even though this lesson is 15 years in the making, if Moto is able to finally learn it, we may get some more (useful) competition in the flagship market. And, as you may probably imagine already: competition drives innovation. And we need innovation in the flagship market now, more than ever before. Let's hope Moto will rise up to the challenge.
FCC OKs Cingular\'s purchase of AT&T Wireless
Things that are NOT allowed: