Motorola Edge 70 review: Flipping the script

Best Prices Today: Motorola Edge 70

2025 has been the year of the ultra-slim phone. While Samsung, Honor and Oppo have been battling it out to make the world’s thinnest foldable, a new category of regular devices has also emerged. 

Samsung was first to the party in May, yet its Galaxy S25 Edge came with major camera and battery life trade-offs, despite retaining a premium price tag. 

September’s iPhone Air was a little more affordable, but suffered from the same hardware compromises, making it feel like a foolish buy when compared to the regular iPhone 17. 

Could it be third time lucky in the form of the Motorola Edge 70? Despite its name, the phone is dramatically different to its predecessor, yet retains a distinctive design, and crucially, a decent-sized battery. 

My first day or so of use did little to dampen my enthusiasm, but what about nearly two weeks? Here are my in-depth thoughts on the Motorola Edge 70. 

Design & Build

• 5.99mm, 159g
• Unique textured silicone back
• IP68/69 and MIL-STD-810H certified

I love the Edge 70’s design. It manages to be impressively thin and light, without sacrificing Motorola’s signature aesthetic and great build quality. 

At 5.99mm, it’s significantly thicker than both the iPhone Air (5.6mm) and Galaxy S25 Edge (5.8mm). Having tested both of those devices, it’s something I noticed instantly, though it’s still a different species to most phones, which regularly exceed 8mm. 

Of course, the rear camera bump protrudes significantly further, but Motorola has made the transition seamless. Rather than a separate module, it’s more integrated with the back of the phone than Apple or Samsung’s designs. 

However, what impresses me the most is its weight – or lack thereof. The Edge 70 clocks in at just 159g, making it one of the lightest phones on the market. It’s a refreshing change when coming from phones in excess of 200g, and one that you’ll instantly notice.

The unique textured design is another selling point. Instead of the glass that’s most common on flagships, Motorola has opted for silicone, adding a finish that it claims is inspired by nylon. I don’t know about that, but it does feel very pleasant to use. 

The Edge 70 is one of the best-looking phones you can buy right now

And crucially, it adds lots of grip to what would otherwise be a slippery phone, negating the need for a case. Motorola supplies one in the box, but it makes the Edge 70 look ten times uglier. Unless you really want its Qi2 magnets (there aren’t any built into the phone), I’d highly recommend going case-free. 

I’d go as far as to say that the Edge 70 is one of the best-looking phones you can buy right now, and the Pantone-inspired colour choices play a big role in that.  

I particularly like the earthy green tones of my ‘Bronze Green’ model, but you can opt for a lighter green ‘Lily Pad’ or darker ‘Gadget Grey’. Ridiculous naming aside, it’s a fun selection, with each option having a corresponding accent colour that extends around the camera lenses and the dedicated AI button.

Aside from that, there’s nothing much to report around the aluminium frame. The power and volume controls are in their usual position on the right side when in portrait orientation, while the USB-C port (it’s just about thick enough for one) is joined by the speaker grille and SIM tray on the bottom. 

However, these elements all play a role in the Edge 70’s superb durability credentials. The tough build is enough for it to receive military-grade MIL-STD-810H compliance, verifying its ability to withstand harsh environmental conditions. A mild UK autumn isn’t exactly what I’d call ‘harsh’, but it survived a few bumps and drops without any signs of damage. 

The phone also boasts both IP68 and IP69 ratings, meaning it can handle both submersion in up to 1.5m of freshwater and exposure to high-pressure and -temperature water jets. That’s on top of full dust protection, making for a very impressive combination. 

Screen & Speakers

• 6.7-inch, 1220 x 2712 pOLED
• 120Hz, but not LTPO
• Stereo speakers

I’m a big fan of the Edge 70’s display. It’s something most mid-range and flagship phones get right these days, but undoubtedly still a key strength of Motorola’s phone. 

A 6.7-inch screen, it offers a fairly typical 1220 x 2712 resolution (446 pixels per inch), which ensures that clarity and detail remain excellent. It’s a pOLED panel, allowing for a thinner and more durable design while retaining all the benefits of regular OLED, including those rich, vibrant colours and deep blacks. 

Motorola claims that the Edge 70 can hit a peak brightness of 4500 nits, which surpasses both the iPhone Air (3000 nits) and Galaxy S25 Edge (2600 nits). While the maximum figure I recorded at home of 493 nits isn’t particularly impressive, outdoor visibility (including bright sunlight) is excellent, which is the most important thing. 

However, there are two small compromises compared to the very best displays in the business. Firstly, there’s no LTPO tech, meaning the auto-adjusting refresh rate is limited to a range of 60-120Hz. You still get the benefits of the silky-smooth scrolling and transitions, just without the option to drop down to 1Hz when not required and conserve battery life. 

I’m a big fan of the Edge 70’s display

The under-display fingerprint scanner is also optical rather than ultrasonic, although I can’t say I noticed. It was fast and reliable throughout my testing, and secure enough to be used to log into sensitive apps and authenticate payments. 

Audio quality is a pleasant surprise. The Edge 70 uses the common combination of a single downward-firing speaker and earpiece for a stereo setup, but it produces impressively punchy sound. 

Equally adept at music, podcasts or social media videos, it offers strong clarity and a nice depth to the sound, making it ideal for casual listening. It also gets far louder than most phones, though the tinny sound and distortion at high volumes mean it’s not worth going that far. 

Specs & Performance

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 chipset
• 12GB RAM
• 256- or 512GB of non-expandable storage

Before testing the Edge 70, performance was the area I was most concerned about. While the iPhone Air and Galaxy S25 have compromises in many areas, performance isn’t one of them. How would the Edge 70’s decidedly mid-range Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 hold up? 

Very well, as it turns out. I’m not going to pretend that the phone’s performance blew me away, but it was fast enough to handle all everyday tasks with relative ease. The 12GB of on-board RAM certainly helped. 

During my time with the phone, my typical usage involved plenty of web browsing, social media and YouTube videos, plus messaging apps, photography and navigation. 99% of the time, it was a smooth and reliable experience, even when multitasking or quickly switching between apps. 

However, there were occasional hesitations and stutters from time to time. They didn’t affect the usability of the Edge 70 in any significant way, but it means I’d guard against using the phone for demanding workloads such as complex apps or serious gaming. 

Performance on the Edge 70 shouldn’t be a concern, even if it isn’t absolutely top tier

I doubt you’re buying a super-thin handset for that anyway, though. The bottom line is that performance on the Edge 70 shouldn’t be a concern, even if it isn’t absolutely top tier. 

The only model available in the UK offers a generous 512GB of storage. That’s good news, because there’s no option to expand via a Micro-SD card.

There are also no dual physical SIM card slots, so if you want two numbers on the Edge 70, you’ll have to opt for an eSIM. And while Wi-Fi 6e and Bluetooth 5.4 aren’t quite at the cutting edge of connectivity, they’re plenty good enough for years to come. 

Motorola Edge 70 benchmarks

Cameras

• 50Mp, f/1.8 main rear lens
• 50Mp, f/2.0 ultrawide with 120-degree field of view
• 50Mp, f/2.0 selfie

Just like the other ultra-slim phones, the Edge 70 has made clear compromises when it comes to the cameras. 

The most obvious one is the lack of a telephoto lens, meaning there’s no possibility of optical zoom photography. The digital equivalent is predictably underwhelming, with a sharp decline in detail and dynamic range once you go beyond 2x, which is simply a cropped version of the 1x photo. It speaks volumes that Motorola limits digital zoom to 20x, at which point the image has become a blurry mess. 

At the other end of the scale, ultrawide photos benefit from a dedicated 50Mp sensor, which enables a 120-degree field of view. Results are much more in keeping with the main lens, so you can safely switch between the lenses without worrying too much. 

Overall, the 50Mp main camera is a very decent mid-range lens, even if it can’t compete with the best camera phones around.  

In good lighting, the vibrant colour scheme and accurate exposure come to the fore, producing an image which is pleasing to the eye, if a little unrealistic. Dynamic range is generally good, making it equally adept at street photography and landscapes. Minimal shutter lag allows you to quickly snap a well-exposed photo that’s in focus most of the time, which can’t be said for all phones. 

It’s also very adept at portrait photography, delivering an attractive background blur and generally accurate edge detection. Most phones use the telephoto lens for portraits, so the results without it here are impressive. 

The 50Mp main camera is a very decent mid-range lens, even if it can’t compete with the best camera phones around

The Edge 70 struggles a lot more in low-light conditions, though, especially where there are elements of light and dark in the same photo. Individual leaves on trees become a homogenous blob, while the brightening of shadows can often look artificial. 

However, the front-facing 50Mp camera has a trick to combat this. Whenever you go to take a selfie in low-light conditions, a ring around your face automatically lights up as if you had an external light source. The resulting images are far better than the usual nighttime selfies, so I can see other companies copying Motorola’s approach. 

During the day, it’s a bit more hit-and-miss, with backgrounds often ending up over- or underexposed. You can get really good selfies, but it requires more patience. 

The Edge 70 offers video at up to 4K 60fps, though the default 1080p at 30fps is the sweet spot between quality and storage space for most people. Optical image stabilisation (OIS) on the main lens ensures footage remains steady, though it lacks the colour accuracy and detail of photos. If you want a great ultra-slim phone for video, the iPhone Air is your best bet. 

Battery Life & Charging

• 4800mAh silicon-carbon battery
• 68W wired charging
• 15W Qi wireless charging (Qi2 requires case)

Motorola has defied expectations by equipping the Edge 70 with a very competitive 4800mAh battery. 

How? By opting for a silicon-carbon (Si/C) cell, which offers a greater energy density, allowing for the same capacity within a smaller total area. 

We’ve seen phones with a similar-sized battery disappoint when it comes to battery life, so that’s no guarantee of good stamina, but Motorola has undoubtedly delivered. 

Rather than struggle to make it through a whole day, the Edge 70 consistently made it to the end of my day with charge to spare. While working from home, I could extend that to two full days, equating to around seven hours of screen-on time. Not bad at all. 

However, our usual PCMark battery test, which simulates real-world tasks at around 200 nits of brightness, doesn’t reflect that. The Edge 70’s score of 11 hours and 2 minutes is worse than the Galaxy S25 Edge (12 hours and 18 minutes), but that doesn’t tally with my experience at all. 

Battery life is undoubtedly a strength of the Edge 70, which is more than can be said for the iPhone Air or Galaxy S25 Edge

Ultimately, battery life is undoubtedly a strength of the Edge 70, which is more than can be said for the iPhone Air or Galaxy S25 Edge. 

Charging speeds are also very competitive, with support for 68W wired speeds. As usual, no charger is included in the box, and the 67W charger I usually test phones with wouldn’t power it up for some reason. With a 65W laptop one, the phone went from 0-39% in 30 minutes, with a full charge taking just over an hour and a half, but I know the Edge 70 can do much better than that. 

There’s also 15W Qi wireless charging, while attaching the included case enables compatibility with MagSafe and Pixelsnap magnetic accessories. 

Software & AI

• Motorola My UX software
• Based on Android 16
• 4 years of OS upgrades, 6 years of security updates

The Edge 70 runs Motorola’s My UX software over Android 16. 

Historically, the company’s approach to Android has been a very light touch, deviating only slightly from the experience on Pixel phones. As a result, it’s been a key strength of Motorola’s phones over the years. 

However, what began as a gradual creep of bloatware has become a full-blown invasion. After setting up the phone, I was staggered by the volume and variety of extra pre-installed apps that I had no say over. 

Software used to be one of the key strengths of Motorola’s phones. On the Edge 70, it’s the device’s most high-profile weakness

Motorola’s own selection of apps is bad enough. I counted over a dozen, plus the Perplexity AI assistant that it uses for generative AI tools. I have no practical use for any of these. 

Then there are the apps that you’d rather not have pre-installed but might be interested in using. I’m talking about the likes of Facebook, TikTok, Pinterest and LinkedIn – I’d prefer to choose myself whether they’re installed, but they’re not the most egregious. 

It’s a different story when it comes to the avalanche of annoying games, though. I seriously can’t think of anyone who would want Toon Blast, Tile Explorer, Solitaire and Vita Mahjong on their phones. If you do, simply download it yourself – that’s the whole point of the Play Store! 

By default, the ‘Google’ and ‘Moto’ folders in the app drawer are joined by a ‘Games’ one, which houses the titles mentioned, but also acts as a storefront for yet more bloatware. There’s even the option to play ‘2048’ games without downloading anything – thanks so much for your generosity, Motorola. 

The app drawer is home to yet more baffling decisions. I enjoy the row of suggested apps at the top on most phones, but here, the fourth slot is used to advertise yet more apps I have no use for.

Next to it is a ‘Newsfeed’, which seems to almost exclusively surface articles from the tabloid press documenting the worst of humanity. Lovely. 

Then there’s the Live Lock Screen, which tries to fix a feature which wasn’t broken at all. Who wants to see the time and your notifications when you can scroll between meaningless articles and overt adverts? It beggars belief. 

Thankfully, all the bloatware can be uninstalled and the annoying features turned off. But it shouldn’t have to be this way, and it adds lots of extra time onto my usual one-hour setup process. 

Motorola’s AI efforts aren’t extensive and include variations of features we’ve seen many times before. Alongside the fun but ultimately limited generated images and playlists, there are three main tools: ‘Take notes’ (record, transcribe and summarise audio), ‘Remember this’ (save ‘memories’ for recall later), and ‘Update me’ (notification summaries). All three seem to work well and could be useful, but to call them game-changing would be a massive exaggeration. 

By default, Moto AI uses its integration with Perplexity for its AI virtual assistant, then Copilot Live for real-time conversations. Both work pretty well, but you can also access Gemini and Gemini Live via a long-press of the home button, and that’s still my personal preference. 

The general software experience is fairly strong, with interesting widgets and themes, an intuitive quick settings panel and slick multitasking features. But it’s totally undermined by all the bloatware and ads being shoved in your face.  

Software used to be one of the key strengths of Motorola’s phones. On the Edge 70, it’s the device’s most high-profile weakness. 

In terms of support, Motorola has committed to four years of OS updates and six years of security patches. That’s fairly typical for a mid-range phone in 2025, though it’s worth noting that the cheaper Pixel 9a and Galaxy S25 FE offer seven years of both. 

Price & Availability

In the UK, the Motorola Edge 70 is available in only one configuration – 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage – costing £699. 

You can buy one outright directly from the Motorola website, or on contract via the likes of Vodafone, Voxi and iD Mobile. 

However, Motorola has confirmed that the phone won’t be available in the US. 

That UK price puts it right at the top of what we’d consider a mid-range phone, with the Samsung Galaxy S25 FE (from £649) and Xiaomi 15T Pro (from £649) its main competition at this price point. 

But it’s much more affordable than its ultra-slim rivals, with the iPhone Air starting at £999 and Galaxy S25 Edge available from £1,099. 

Should you buy the Motorola Edge 70?

Probably not, though it is the best example of an ultra-slim phone so far. 

The Edge 70 combines that thin and light chassis with genuinely strong battery life, immediately raising it above the iPhone Air and Galaxy S25 FE. Its design is one of the best on any phone, with great aesthetics and top-tier durability. 

While the cameras aren’t quite top tier, you can get some excellent results from both the main and selfie lenses. However, the lack of a telephoto lens means zoom photography is pretty awful. 

But the big surprise is the poor software experience. Motorola’s once-slick take on Android has become a bloated mess that’s full of useless pre-installed apps and ads at every turn. Meanwhile, the commitment to only four years of OS upgrades falls behind the likes of Apple, Samsung and Google. 

The Edge 70 gets a lot right, including a more affordable price tag than rivals, but it’s a phone I simply can’t recommend. 

Specs

• My UX, based on Android 16 
• 6.7-inch, 1220 x 2712, pOLED, 120Hz  
• Optical fingerprint scanner  
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 chipset 
• 12GB RAM  
• 512GB storage 
• 50Mp, f/1.8 main camera 
• 50Mp, f/2.0 ultrawide  
• 50Mp, f/2.0 selfie  
• Up to 4K @ 60fps rear video  
• Stereo speakers  
• Wi-Fi 6E 
• Bluetooth 5.4  
• 4800mAh battery  
• 68W wired charging  
• 15W Qi wireless charging  
• 159.9 x 74 x 5.99mm
• IP68/69 certified  
• 159g
• Colours: Pantone Gadget Gray, Lily Pad, Bronze Green

Best Prices Today: Motorola Edge 70