In late 2021, Samsung unveiled a 200MP camera sensor for smartphones, the first of its kind. After nearly a year without a smartphone to equip it to, Motorola finally took up the mantle. In the second half of 2022, the company launched its latest smartphone, the Motorola X30 Pro, known globally as the Edge 30 Ultra.
The Motorola Edge 30 Ultra is probably the company’s most impressive smartphone to date, sporting the highest resolution camera on any smartphone, an impressive display, and the latest flagship Snapdragon processor. There’s a lot to like about this phone, and it could very well end up being one of the best Android phones of 2022.
Motorola Edge 30 Ultra: Price and Availability
Motorola initially launched the Motorola Edge 30 Ultra in China on August 11, although it was introduced as the X30 Pro. The company later launched the phone globally as the Edge 30 Ultra on September 8, with initial availability in Europe, Argentina, and Brazil. It arrives in Latin America, the Middle East, and Asia in the weeks following its global launch. So far, the device is not expected to launch in the United States.
As for pricing, the phone retails in Europe for €899. Depending on the region, the Edge 30 Ultra is available in two colorways: Interstellar Black and Starlight White.
Motorola Edge 30 Ultra: Design
While most Motorola phones have sported nearly the same exact design language in 2022, the Edge 30 Ultra deviates from the pack. On the front, the device looks similar to some of Motorola's higher-end Edge smartphones, with a curved display and minimal, symmetrical bezels. However, the hole punch is now centered, which may look better to some, depending on your aesthetic preferences.
Things also get switched up on the rear. The glass has a soft matte finish that blends into a thin sandblasted aluminum frame. The camera array also sports a different design, highlighting the larger primary camera sensor with the other two sensors underneath.
Motorola Edge 30 Ultra: Specs
As Motorola's latest flagship phone, the Edge 30 Ultra sports some pretty high-end specs, starting with a curved 6.67-inch FHD+ OLED display with a 144Hz refresh rate. The 10-bit display supports HDR10+, reaches 1250 nits of brightness, and has a touch sampling rate of 360Hz.
Under the hood, the Edge 30 Ultra is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset, which is found in many of the latest Android phones launched in the second half of 2022. It also comes with up to 12GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage (512GB in some regions).
While that's all impressive, the Motorola Edge 30 Ultra's signature feature is its camera. It's the first smartphone to sport a 200MP camera, nearly double that which you'll find on premium Android phones like the Galaxy S22 Ultra. The sensor is Samsung's ISOCELL HP1 launched late last year, capable of merging 16 pixels to output a 12.5MP image. This pixel binning provides the equivalent pixel size of 2.56μm, which should soak up plenty of light for nighttime photos and stellar 8K 30fps video.
In addition to the 200MP primary sensor, the device has a 50MP ultrawide sensor that doubles as a macro camera and a 12MP telephoto lens with 2X optical zoom. On the front is a 60MP selfie camera.
Other notable features include stereo speakers tuned by Dolby Atmos, Wi-Fi 6E, NFC, IP52/7 water and dust resistance, and face unlock.
Powering all this is a 4,610mAh battery that supports a rather impressive 125W wired charging, similar to the OnePlus 10T (in the United States). This provides a day’s worth of battery life with just a seven-minute charge. If you go wireless, the phone supports 50W, with 10W reverse wireless charging.
Motorola Edge 30 Ultra: Software
The Motorola Edge 30 Ultra runs Android 12 out-of-the-box with My UX on top. This is traditionally a lightweight “skin” that provides a “stock” Android experience, so it should be familiar to Pixel users. That said, Motorola includes a few goodies of its own, such as helpful gestures that can perform different tasks, such as a chopping motion to activate the flashlight or a twisting motion to turn on the camera.
Motorola also includes its Ready For experience, allowing users to cast their smartphone content onto an external monitor with a desktop-like UI. This can be utilized for enhanced mobile gaming on a larger screen, video calls using the phone’s rear cameras, and more.
The phone will apparently receive two OS upgrades and three years of software support.
