Motorola Edge 50 Fusion Review: Style Over Substance?
The Motorola Edge 50 Fusion is the latest addition to Motorola’s mid-range Edge 50 series, joining its siblings, the Edge 50 Pro and Edge 50. While the series boasts a stylish and modern design overall, the Edge 50 Fusion seems to be more about aesthetics than performance. With a focus on durability and design, does the Fusion deliver a compelling experience for users seeking a mid-range smartphone? Let’s dive into the review and see if it makes the cut.
Design: Plenty to Choose From But Lacks Uniqueness
The Motorola Edge 50 Fusion follows the design trends of its siblings, featuring rounded corners, curved edges, and a 3D curved-edge display. It’s noticeably lighter than the other two, weighing in at 175 grams, thanks to the omission of wireless charging features.
Motorola offers a variety of finishes for the Edge 50 Fusion. The Forest Blue option boasts a basic polycarbonate rear panel, while the Hot Pink and Marshmallow Blue variants come with vegan suede and vegan leather rear panels respectively. These finishes provide a unique tactile experience, with the vegan leather providing excellent grip.
The camera module sits almost flush with the rear panel, contributing to the phone’s sleek appearance. Motorola also includes a color-matched, environmentally-friendly translucent case in the box, adding another layer of protection.
Durability is a strong point for the Edge 50 Fusion. It boasts an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance, allowing it to withstand submersion in up to 1.5 meters of fresh water for up to 30 minutes. However, unlike the Edge 50, it misses out on the MIL-STD-810H certification for ruggedness.
Despite its stylish design and impressive durability, the Edge 50 Fusion lacks a truly unique character. It feels like a generic mid-ranger that borrows heavily from its siblings while failing to stand out with its own distinct features.
Display: Beauty With Flaws
The Edge 50 Fusion features a 6.67-inch, 1080 x 2400 pixel pOLED display with a refresh rate of 144Hz. While the high refresh rate contributes to smoother scrolling and navigation, it feels a bit unnecessary considering the phone’s hardware limitations, especially for demanding games.
The display boasts 1,200 nits of brightness, ensuring readability under direct sunlight. Motorola’s Aqua Touch feature, which allows for comfortable use with wet hands, functions well. The 720Hz PWM/DC dimming is a welcome addition, reducing eye strain during extended use.
However, the display suffers from color banding issues, particularly noticeable in dimly lit scenes. While the phone supports Widevine L1, enabling full-HD streaming, the lack of an HDR certification hinders its potential for a more immersive viewing experience.
Ultimately, the Edge 50 Fusion’s display is a mixed bag. While it offers a bright and vibrant experience, the color banding and lack of HDR capabilities detract from the overall quality.
Software: A Familiar Yet Bloated Experience
The Edge 50 Fusion runs Hello UI based on Android 14. While the UI remains generally clean and customizable, it’s far from the near-stock Android experience of the past. Motorola has unfortunately added bloatware, including preinstalled apps like Facebook and Netflix. These apps can be uninstalled, but their presence adds unnecessary clutter to the software.
Furthermore, the native weather app is riddled with ads, a surprising addition for a mid-range phone. While the Edge 50 Fusion doesn’t boast the AI-enabled features found in the Motorola Razr 50 Ultra, most of these features, like Magic Eraser, Unblur, and Best Take, are sourced from Google apps and aren’t unique to Motorola.
Motorola’s attempt to differentiate Hello UI with bloatware and AI features falls flat. The software feels more like a standard Android skin with unnecessary additions that offer little in terms of added value.
Performance: Meets Expectations But Lacks Excitement
The Edge 50 Fusion is equipped with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 processor paired with 8/12GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 128/256GB of UFS 2.2 storage. The combination delivers smooth performance during daily multitasking and app usage, with minimal lag and stuttering. Apps remain in memory, reducing app restart frequency.
Benchmark scores are on par with other mid-range smartphones but lag behind those powered by the higher-end MediaTek Dimensity 8300 Ultra processor, like the Poco X6 Pro.
| Benchmarks | Motorola Edge 50 Fusion | OnePlus Nord CE4 | Poco X6 Pro |
|---|---|---|---|
| AnTuTu v10 | 612,950 | 8,14,981 | 14,37,717 |
| PCMark Work 3.0 | 14,055 | 12,124 | 13,322 |
| Geekbench Single | 1,018 | 1,154 | 1,420 |
| Geekbench Multi | 2,949 | 3,000 | 4,404 |
| GFXB T-rex | 104 | 60 | 120 |
| GFXB Manhattan 3.1 | 49 | 60 | 115 |
| GFXB Car Chase | 25 | 39 | 68 |
| 3DM Slingshot Extreme OpenGL | 4,758 | Maxed Out | Maxed Out |
| 3DM Slingshot | 6,414 | Maxed Out | Maxed Out |
| 3DM Wild Life | 3,035 | 5,423 | Maxed Out |
| 3DM Wild Life Unlimited | 3,065 | 5,553 | 9,842 |
While the Edge 50 Fusion can handle casual gaming titles like Call of Duty: Mobile and Asphalt Legends Unite without any issues, demanding games push the phone’s limits. The lack of a dedicated cooling mechanism makes the phone prone to overheating, especially during intensive tasks and gameplay. This heat is mainly felt on the display, potentially impacting the user experience.
Dolby Atmos enhances the audio experience, delivering clear, immersive sound. This is especially noticeable during gaming sessions.
While the Edge 50 Fusion offers decent performance for everyday tasks, its susceptibility to overheating and its inability to compete in demanding gaming scenarios hinder its appeal to demanding users.
Cameras: A Disappointing Performance
The Edge 50 Fusion’s camera system falls short of expectations, despite the inclusion of a primary camera featuring Sony’s newer LYTIA 700C sensor. Image quality appears overprocessed, particularly in the HDR department, with exaggerated backgrounds, especially skies. Colors are over-saturated, with greens and blues leaning towards an Instagram filter. Textures and details in images lack the sharpness expected from a mid-range smartphone.
While the Night mode produces sharper images with better texture, the results are still underwhelming compared to some competitors.
The ultra-wide-angle camera further disappoints with noticeable purple fringing and clipped highlights. Images appear soft and lack sharpness, even despite the presence of autofocus.
Selfie camera performance is a mixed bag. Daylight selfies are sharp and detailed, but skin tones tend to be reddish and oversaturated. While edge detection is decent, low-light selfies are barely passable with or without the auto-screen flash.
The video recording experience is underwhelming. 1080p recordings lack clarity and detail, appearing scaled down. While 4K video at 30fps offers better image quality, the presence of clipped highlights indicates a lack of dynamic range.
The Edge 50 Fusion’s camera performance is a major letdown. The over-processing, lack of sharpness, and poor video quality make it a major flaw in an otherwise decent phone.
Battery: A Middling Performer
The Edge 50 Fusion boasts a 5,000mAh battery, which is impressive in itself. However, considering the increasing battery capacities in competing mid-range smartphones, it falls short of expectations.
In comparison to the OnePlus Nord CE 4, which boasts a remarkable battery life of 32 hours and 21 minutes in our test, the Edge 50 Fusion manages 24 hours and 24 minutes.
In daily use, the phone can last for a day and a half with casual use but requires a recharge at the end of the day with heavy usage. The 68W fast charging technology provided by the included charger enables a full charge in 46 minutes in normal mode and 36 minutes in Charge boost mode.
Overall, the Edge 50 Fusion’s battery life is decent, but it doesn’t stand out from the competition. While the fast charging capabilities are a welcome feature, the average battery life is a minor drawback.
Verdict: A Style-Driven Mid-Ranger
The Motorola Edge 50 Fusion presents a blend of style, durability, and decent hardware, but it feels like an unfinished product. The subpar camera performance and lackluster battery life, coupled with its mediocre gaming performance, leave users with mixed bag experience.
The Edge 50 (Rs. 27,999 onwards) offers a more compelling value proposition, boasting enhanced durability, wireless charging, and a telephoto camera. However, the OnePlus Nord CE 4 and Poco X6 Pro stand out as more well-rounded options. The Nord CE 4 impresses with its exceptional battery life, while the Poco X6 Pro delivers superior performance for demanding gamers.
Ultimately, the Edge 50 Fusion struggles to attract buyers who prioritize performance and functionality over style. Its strengths lie in its design and durability, but its limitations in other key areas make it a difficult recommendation.
