While using the Motorola Edge 50 Ultra, I heard over and over again, “That wooden case is nice.” I would explain, “It’s not the case, it’s the panel!”. But people rarely expect anything beyond the usual matte and glossy finishes. Honestly, I don’t blame them. Motorola took a wild detour with the Edge 50 Ultra, at least in terms of design. The aesthetics of the phone don’t grab attention, yet it’s far from ordinary. Beyond the looks, the phone is also packed with some serious AI that I had a lot of fun exploring. After spending a couple of weeks with this woody wonder, if you’re curious about the Motorola Edge 50 Ultra, I highly recommend checking out my detailed review.

A walk in the woods: The design and feel of the Edge 50 Ultra

Motorola phones have never been too big on the design front. I have reviewed enough Motorola phones to say this with confidence. They have always taken a very subtle approach with a clean rear panel and carefully placed camera modules. With the Edge 50 Ultra, things haven’t changed that much. The usual camera sensors—three this time—are neatly arranged on a slightly higher camera module. The only difference is the rear panel that mimics real wood but isn’t real wood. Motorola says they have used recycled materials and PVC for the panel. It feels good in the hand. I wish Motorola had opted for a chocolate brown finish instead of oak. The light colour attracts fingerprints, smudges, and if you are eating while using the phone, turmeric stains may remain. To fix this, Motorola provides a hard silicone case in the box.

The Edge 50 Ultra comes in two other colours: black and peach with a vegan leather finish. For protection, the device is IP68 rated to protect it from water and dust.

With dimensions of 161.09 x 72.38 x 8.59 mm and a weight of 197 grams, the phone feels solid without being bulky, and strikes a balance that is ergonomically and aesthetically pleasing.

Great display for movies and gaming

The Edge 50 Ultra features a 6.7-inch Super 1.5K pOLED display. With a resolution of 2712 x 1220 pixels and a pixel density of 446ppi, images and videos on the screen have great clarity and colours. The HDR10+ support and 10-bit colour depth also ensure true colours and deep contrast, whether streaming HDR content on Netflix or gaming with a 144Hz refresh rate. The device has dual speakers that offer great sound output.

The phone has a maximum brightness of 2500 nits. The visibility of its display is as good as indoors. The 360Hz touch rate, especially in gaming mode, provides ultra-responsive touch interaction which was crucial for precise gaming actions and smooth scrolling through apps and websites.

Solid performance, long-lasting battery

The Motorola Edge 50 Ultra has a Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 processor. It is paired with 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM (plus RAM Boost 3.0). I could easily juggle multiple apps and play graphics-heavy games without any lag. I played Asphalt 9 and Call of Duty for hours and did not face any lag or heating issues.

The 512GB of UFS 4.0 storage meant I never had to worry about running out of space for my massive media collection and apps. It kept things snappy with quick read and write speeds, making the whole experience seamless. The Edge 50 Ultra runs on Android 14 with Motorola’s My UX interface, the Edge 50 Ultra offered a user-friendly and customisable experience that suited my preferences.

In the Geekbench 6 test, the phone scored 1945 in the single core test and 5077 in the multi core test. Geekbench scores do not mean much to ordinary users, what really matters is that the phone performs impressively in everyday use just like the benchmark tests.

Another feature of the Edge 50 Ultra – the biggest feature in my opinion – is its built-in AI photo generator called Magic Canvas. Like Copilot, it turns text into images that you can use to create custom wallpapers. The best part? You don’t need to download any additional apps to enjoy this functionality.

Talking about battery life, I put the phone through the PCMark battery test. It ran for 16 hours continuously and even after that the phone had 20 percent battery left, which is quite good. I did not notice any overheating issues during the entire test.

On days of moderate use, I easily went a full day and into the next morning without needing to recharge. When it came time to power up, the 125W TurboPower charging did the job well – charging from 0 to 100 took about 30 minutes, which was impressive. The option for 50W wireless charging provided added convenience, allowing me to charge without plugging in, and the 10W Wireless Power Sharing feature was useful for charging other Qi-enabled devices on the go.

The camera performance isn’t too bad either

As a photography enthusiast, using the Edge 50 Ultra’s camera system was a great experience. The 50MP main sensor impressed me with its ability to capture sharp, detailed shots in daylight. I’ve taken some great portraits of my colleagues using this sensor, where colors are vibrant, skin tones look natural, and subjects stand out beautifully against the background.

The macro mode was excellent at capturing intricate details, and what stood out was the stability even at 100x optical zoom. Usually, at such high zoom levels, cameras tend to shake, but the Edge 50 Ultra maintained amazing stability. One problem I faced, however, was the image processing. While it made some photos better, in other situations, it seemed to lose the essence of the scene. For example, while photographing the moon on a clear night with clouds, I saw a clear view through my viewfinder. Yet, after capturing the image, the moon appeared blurry and hazy, losing its distinctive shape and details. This inconsistency in image processing is frustrating, especially when aiming for precise and clear shots.

Low-light shots from the Edge 50 Ultra were good, but image processing remained a persistent issue. The camera took longer than expected to process photos in low light conditions, and the results were not particularly satisfactory. Other than that, there’s not much to complain about the camera’s performance. It focuses exceptionally well, especially in close-up shots, blurring the background beautifully to create a natural bokeh effect. The selfie camera also performed impressively, delivering satisfactory results.

Should you buy the Motorola Edge 50 Ultra?

If you want a phone that looks good and performs well, the Motorola Edge 50 Ultra is a great choice. Its wooden design makes it stand out from other phones and the large 6.7-inch screen shows vibrant colors and clear images. With a powerful processor and plenty of storage, it can handle multiple tasks and games without slowing down. The battery lasts all day and charges quickly. Additional features like AI-generated wallpapers and water resistance make it a great value. Having said that, the Edge 50 Ultra’s camera may not perform well in low light and there are some issues with image processing in different camera modes. However, the latter issue can be fixed via an OTA update.

Essentially, if you prioritise camera performance or prefer a more traditional design, you can look at other phones, but for everyone else, the Motorola Edge 50 Ultra is a great option for those wanting a stylish and powerful smartphone.