Motorola Edge S is a low-cost 5G phone with the Snapdragon 870

Motorola today launched the Motorola Edge S, an affordable flagship smartphone with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 870 chipset. With a starting price of just CNY 1999 (~ $ 309), Edge S is one of the most cost-effective smartphones on the market. When it launches internationally, it will undoubtedly have a slightly higher price due to import / export costs, GMS licensing, IP rating certification, etc., but it will still be one of the cheapest budget flagships on the market. Sure, we’ll cover the device’s launch when it launches outside of China, but for now, here’s a preview of what to expect.

Under the hood, the Motorola Edge S is the first phone to feature the Snapdragon 870. Announced earlier this month, the Snapdragon 870 is essentially a Snapdragon 865 ++. It features a faster “Prime” core clocked at 3.2 GHz and presumably the same GPU speed improvements as the Snapdragon 865+, but in all other respects, it’s the same chipset that powers most of the flagships of the Android 2020 Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 888 definitely outperforms the Snapdragon 865 and, by extension, probably outperforms the Snapdragon 870, but you won’t lose much when choosing a phone with the Snapdragon 870 instead of one with the Snapdragon 888.

The Snapdragon 870 will be paired with 6 or 8 GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 128 or 256 GB of UFS 3.1 storage, the latter of which is expandable with a microSDXC card up to 1 TB. Most importantly, the Snapdragon 870 is paired with a discrete Snapdragon X55 modem, which allows the Motorola Edge S to connect to 5G sub-6GHz networks.

What else do you get with the Motorola Edge S? It has a 6.7-inch LCD panel with a resolution of 2520 × 1080, which makes it quite tall. Unlike the other two devices in the Motorola Edge series, the Edge S does not have a curved screen, but offers a refresh rate higher than normal at 90Hz. A Full HD + LCD at 90 Hz is definitely a step below the Quad HD + OLEDs at 120 Hz found in some 2020 and 2021 flagships in the Galaxy S21 Ultra, but will likely satisfy most users.

The entire device is powered by a large 5,000 mAh battery, which can be recharged using a 20W wired charger. No wired or even wireless fast charging is definitely one of the big commitments here, but it is what we expected given the low price. Fortunately, the 3.5mm headset has not been cut from the device. In addition, for those who like physical fingerprint readers, you will be happy to know that there is a reader mounted on the side.

Triple cameras are also standard: a 64 MP main image sensor is accompanied by an 8 MP ultra wide angle sensor and a 2 MP depth sensor. Below the double perforated cutouts on the front are two cameras: a 16 MP main camera and an 8 MP ultra wide angle image sensor.

The software experience is where things get interesting. The Motorola Edge S runs Android 11 out of the box and is the first Motorola phone to support the company’s new desktop mode software, which we detailed exclusively at the beginning of last month. Motorola is selling a dock that you can use to connect your phone to an external monitor, such as a TV or monitor. Given Motorola’s track record, we don’t expect this device to receive an operating system update in addition to Android 12, however.

The Motorola Edge S is on pre-order in China, but will most likely debut internationally in the near future under the name Moto G100, according to Evan Blass. Blass also reports that the Moto G10 and Moto G30 can also get alongside the Moto G100. This will undoubtedly make Motorola’s Moto G line even more confusing, but it is difficult to argue against the value offered.