Excellent mid-range phone tripped up by its own flaws

Motorola has a new, premium mid-range smartphone in its lineup that could pose a serious challenge to considerably more expensive phones: The Edge 70 Plus costs around US$ 650 and feels even more premium than its price would suggest thanks to high-end materials and good build quality.

Pantone colors for the Edge 70 Plus

Motorola's partnership with the color experts at Pantone has also come into play here, resulting in several color options to choose from: Mountain View, Grey Lilac and Milky Blue, or dark green, pearlescent and light blue. There is also a light green variant, but it is currently unavailable in Europe.

Our pearlescent review unit feels comfortable in the hand thanks to its rounded edges, and at just 159 grams, it is easy to use for extended periods.

Expandable storage and performance

The 256 GB of storage can be expanded via microSD, which is not necessarily a given in this price range, and the card reader also performs reasonably quickly in our testing.

For the processor, Motorola uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3, an SoC that offers ample power for smooth everyday use. 

We also liked the bright display with accurate colors, the camera's good low-light performance and the promise of updates through 2031.

What to consider before buying

However, there are a few things to bear in mind regarding most of these otherwise strong aspects of the Edge 70 Plus: While the SoC is fast enough for everyday use, it certainly does not deliver the best performance for the money. Most similarly priced competing devices offer considerably more power. 

Although the build quality is good, the phone creaks when gripped a little more firmly, which detracts from its premium feel.

And the update promise comes with a caveat: Motorola says it will keep updates available on its servers until 2031, but whether new updates will actually continue to arrive until then is questionable.

You can find our detailed analysis of the undeniably interesting Motorola Edge 70 Plus in our full review.