Motorola Edge Plus review: excellent Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 performance and battery life, a sturdy build, and fast charging, but a curved display hampers usability
It's much closer to being a true flagship competitor, but the Edge Plus 2023 lacks the extra something that it needs to stand up to the category leaders.
Context & Ripple Effects
This is Motorola's third swing at a true flagship, and the review arc is consistent: the 2020 Edge Plus had top-tier specs but a Verizon exclusive and no waterproofing, and the 2022 model paired excellent battery with just two OS updates and no telephoto. The $999 2023 Edge Plus closes much of that gap — Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 performance, sturdy build, fast charging — yet the verdict lands where the last two did: close to the category leaders, not among them.
What changed is the nature of the compromise. The recurring hardware omissions of prior generations have given way to a design choice the reviewer flags directly — a curved display that hampers usability — suggesting Motorola is now losing ground on refinement rather than specification.
First-order effects
- Flagship buyers comparing against Samsung's and other category leaders' 2023 devices get a phone that matches on silicon and battery but concedes on day-to-day usability, keeping Motorola out of the default shortlist.
Second-order effects
- With spec parity no longer the differentiator, Motorola's premium identity migrates to form factor — the Razr Plus foldable reviewed a month later becomes the line's attention-getter, and the ultra-thin Edge 70 extends that playbook.
Third-order effects
- Three generations of 'close but not quite' verdicts point toward Motorola ceding the conventional flagship tier to the incumbents and consolidating its premium brand around differentiated hardware — foldables and thin designs — where curved-display-style refinement penalties matter less.
The trend: Motorola's premium strategy is shifting from chasing spec parity in the conventional flagship tier toward form-factor differentiation through foldables and ultra-thin designs.