The Motorola Edge Plus (2023) looks like a real flagship contender - The Verge

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The 2023 Edge Plus checks all the right boxes to go toe-to-toe with Samsung, but you’re probably not going to find it on your wireless carrier’s retail shelves.

This year’s Edge Plus boasts all the right specs to take it to Samsung and Google.

Image: Motorola

We asked, and we received: Motorola is bringing its newest slab-style flagship to the US as the Motorola Edge Plus (2023). It’s priced at $799 for a base model with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, undercutting the $899 Google Pixel 7 Pro and $999 Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus by a significant margin, and it’s equipped with plenty of things you might expect from a flagship Android phone in 2023: a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, a big, smooth 165Hz screen, a stabilized main camera, a robust IP68 weather resistance rating, and wireless charging.

Weirdly, though, none of the three major US wireless carriers will sell the device — Motorola’s carrier partners for the Edge Plus include Boost Infinite (yep, that one) and Consumer Cellular. It’ll be sold unlocked by Amazon and Best Buy, but given that people in the US tend to get their phones from their carrier, the Edge Plus will be at a disadvantage.

That’s the bad news. The good news is that the Edge Plus looks really promising: there’s that Dolby Vision-certified 6.7-inch OLED with a top refresh rate of 165Hz (though just 1080p, if we’re being nitpicky), a big 5,100mAh battery, 68W fast wired charging (charger included!), and 15W wireless charging. Its 8 Gen 2 chipset is paired with 8GB of RAM and 256GB or 512GB of built-in storage. There’s support for lots of 5G, naturally, and both Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7.

There are three real cameras on the back of this phone and zero useless low-res sensors.

Image: Motorola

It’s built with an aluminum frame and Gorilla Glass Victus on both the front and back panel, with an IP68 rating for protection against dust and full water immersion. It also comes with a promise of three years of OS updates and four years of security updates, which is an extra year in both categories compared to Motorola’s previous flagship phones.

There’s a 50-megapixel f/1.8 main camera with optical stabilization and a 12-megapixel f/2.2 2x telephoto “portrait” camera. The 50-megapixel ultrawide camera with autofocus doubles as a macro camera. If you’re keeping score at home, this means that Motorola is three for three on putting useful cameras on this phone — nary a low-res macro or depth sensor (see also: last year’s Edge Plus) in sight. There’s a video portrait mode new to this year’s model, too, and standard video recording tops out at a generous 8K / 30p. Around front, there’s a 60-megapixel selfie camera.

The G Stylus doesn’t have 5G, but it does come in this fabulous “glam pink” color.

Image: Motorola

The Moto G 5G hits a little below the midrange price bracket but still includes a 120Hz display.

Image: Motorola

Motorola is also announcing a couple of budget-friendly devices: a new 4G-only Moto G Stylus and Moto G 5G. The 2023 G Stylus comes with a MediaTek Helio G85 processor, a 6.5-inch LCD with 90Hz refresh rate, and a low $199 price (along with, you know, a stylus). The 2023 G 5G offers a Snapdragon 480 chipset, a 6.5-inch LCD with 120Hz refresh rate, and a slightly higher $249 price tag.

The 2023 Motorola Edge Plus goes on sale at Amazon, Best Buy, and Motorola on May 25th with availability at Boost “in the coming weeks.” The Motorola G 5G will also go on sale unlocked on May 25th, with availability at T-Mobile and AT&T sometime after that. The Moto G Stylus arrives on May 5th unlocked and will be sold at Cricket, Straight Talk, and Walmart “in the coming months.”

The Edge Plus may not be launching for a few more weeks, but in the meantime, you can take a dive into the detailed specs below to see just what’s in store.

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