I was amazed by the Motorola Edge 60 Pro’s epic battery life – and you will be too

Introduction

It took a few tries, but Motorola’s Edge series has finally found its niche. Sitting above the best mid-range phones but not quite in true flagship territory, they’re an appealing blend of Eastern and Western phone philosophies. Where else can you get both streamlined software and distinctive design, and big batteries with rapid charging speeds? The Edge 60 Pro continues that streak.

Beyond one of the largest battery capacities you’ll find in its class, the successor to the Edge 50 Pro brings more power and upgraded cameras. There have a been one or two backwards steps elsewhere on the spec sheet, but Moto has managed to reign in the price as a result. At £599 it undercuts both the Google Pixel 9 and OnePlus 13R’s retail price (though both can now be had for less if you shop around), and is significantly easier on your wallet than a Samsung Galaxy S25.

As ever, Motorola US is doing it’s own thing, so the closest comparison is the Motorola Edge (2025) – though that makes do with lesser MediaTek power, and isn’t such a battery behemoth. In countries where you can buy one, though, the Edge 60 Pro might just be the left-field alternative to draw you away from the usual suspects.

Design & build: smell for leather

Only true Moto geeks will spot the differences between this phone and the last-gen Edge 50 Pro. The overall design is largely unchanged, with the same quad-curved front glass (this time protected with Corning’s Gorilla Glass 7i for extra drop resistance), and similar materials on the back panel.

This time you get either leather or nylon-effect finish, depending on whether you go for the Shadow grey, Dazzling Blue or Sparkling Grape purple colours. They’re all Pantone-approved, of course, and more fingerprint-resistant than almost any other phone I’ve used recently. I’m expecting the finish to hold up over time better than the Alcantara used on the Razr 60 Ultra.

The central frame is polycarbonate now, which feels like a step back from the metal one seen on last year’s phone. A cheaper Pixel 9a arguably feels more lavish as a result. It does help keep the weight in check, though; at 186g this is a light phone for its size, and the way the edges curve inwards makes it feel slimmer in your hand, too.

The Moto has a nicer unboxing experience than the Pixel, as the packaging is perfume scented (yes, really), and the colour-matched case is a nice inclusion.

It’s the new shortcut key on the right side of the phone that marks the Edge 60 Pro out as a child of the AI age. A press-and-hold brings up the Moto AI menu, while a double press can trigger one of a few functions. More on those in the software section.

It’s great to see both IP68 and IP69 ratings, meaning this phone can withstand the elements as well as the best flagships on sale right now. I’ll never buy a phone with a lesser rating again, after my wife managed to ruin her handset with a trip through the washing machine.

I can’t fault the under-display fingerprint sensor, which is as quick and accurate as any optical sensor you’ll find for this sort of money. There’s face unlock too, but not the secure kind you can use with banking apps.

Screen & sound: colourful curves

You’ll need to take a magnifying glass to the spec sheet to see where the Edge 60 Pro and Edge 50 Pro differ on displays. Both have 6.7in OLED panels, both have 1220p resolutions and both curve inwards at the edges in a subtle enough way they don’t awkwardly cast light reflections.

While the outgoing phone had a 144Hz refresh rate, though, here you’re getting 120Hz. Personally I didn’t notice a difference, as the Edge 50 Pro would usually reserve its highest setting for games. 120Hz still feels perfectly smooth when scrolling or gaming on the Edge 60 Pro, with no obvious stalling or stuttering when swapping the refresh rate based on what was happening onscreen.

On the plus side, colours are well-judged using the Natural preset (which is active out of the box) – which is no surprise, given Pantone’s involvement. Contrast and black levels are as good as any mid-range OLED, and viewing angles leave nothing to grumble about either.

maximum brightness has also more than doubled from last year, to a retina-searingly bright 4500 nit peak. Even though you’re never going to see that in typical use, the automatic brightness could push things impressively high. I put this up there with some flagship phones that cost twice the price for outdoor visibility. HDR10+ support really comes into its own here, letting streaming shows balance engaging highlights with deep shadows.

It helps that the down-firing main speaker and earpiece tweeter get decently loud, so you won’t have to scramble for earbuds just to enjoy a box set or three. There’s a bit of distortion at maximum volume, but there’s enough oomph at 70% that I never really needed to crank it to the max.

Cameras: wide eyed

Quite a few phone firms have stepped up their ultrawide camera game lately. Motorola is the latest, swapping the Edge 50 Pro’s lowly 13MP unit for a far more capable 50MP snapper, complete with autofocus for macro photography. It joins the 50MP lead lens (which now uses Sony hardware instead of Omnivision) and 10MP telephoto, which is good for 3x optical zoom shots.

The laser autofocus module has been ditched in the process, but I can’t say I missed it. This phone is quick enough to lock onto static subjects and has a software-enhanced action shot mode that deals with moving targets pretty effectively, as long as you lead your shot a bit to account for some mild shutter lag.

Colour, contrast and exposure consistency between the three lenses is rather tidy, with just a little variation around very bright highlights. Dynamic range is good across the board, and there’s not a huge quality gap between the 10MP telephoto and the other two higher pixel count cameras, at least in good light. Motorola’s image processing isn’t quite as nuanced as the best cameraphones in this price bracket, but it’s arguably as close as it’s ever been here.

Pantone’s colour science is in full effect, with natural-looking hues in pretty much all lighting conditions. Skin tones are accurate and textures are well preserved by the main lens. There’s plenty of detail on show, and lots of natural bokeh for close-up shots. The portrait mode does a decent job when it comes to edge detection and faux background blur, too.

I took a lot more ultrawide shots than I normally would with a phone at this price, as it does a great job of squeezing out detail – even for far-off subjects and more expansive architecture. Everything stays sharp to the edge of the frame, too.

The telephoto lens loses some lustre at night, where its lower pixel count starts to work against it. In contrast, the main camera keeps noise to a minimum and balances exposure well, keeping highlights without sacrificing shadows.

Zoom snaps in general are this phone’s biggest weakness on the photography front, as 3x really is your limit; the camera app makes you manually pinch in further, rather than offer up a 6x shortcut, and zooming that far is hitting the limits of what a 10MP sensor can capture. 2x snaps from the main sensor were noticeably less crisp than native 1x ones, though, suggesting Motorola has some work to do on its cropping and processing algorithms.

No autofocus for the selfie camera is another regression from the Edge 50 Pro, but it didn’t seem to harm the phone’s ability to take sharp shots through its punch-hole lens. I still think keen photographers will gravitate to a Pixel 9, but Edge 60 Pro owners won’t feel at all short-changed by the shots it can produce.

Software experience: get smart

The Edge 60 Pro doesn’t get off to the best start, forcing a bunch of third-party apps on you during the initial setup. Then it encourages you to download a bunch more before you first reach the homescreen. The stock weather app is loaded with ads, too. This isn’t a cheap phone, so it’s disappointing to see – especially given Motorola usually has such a delicate touch when it comes to customising Android.

Hello UI mixes up the icons, menu layouts and fonts from Google’s default, and there’s no shortage of customisation options and gesture shortcuts if you want them. You can pick from a (fairly limited) set of widgets to appear on the lock screen, and a handful of Motorola’s productivity-minded tools are waiting for you in the app drawer, but otherwise you’re largely looking at Google’s stock app selection.

Moto AI is the major new feature, which expands on Google Gemini and Circle to Search with a bunch of tools accessed by the physical shortcut key on the side of the phone. A press-and-hold brings up a menu with things like “remember this” which stores a screenshot in memory so you can ask about it later, and “take notes” which records audio with fast and fairly accurate transcription. I like having everything under a single banner, rather than having to swipe around the operating system to find each function, but Motorola still needs to work on teaching its “update me” message summaries to understand context before it’s properly helpful.

The firm is also lagging behind on long-term software support. You’re still only getting three years of new Android generations, which is half what Google and Samsung now offer. Moto will be forced to improve for its next generation if it wants to comply with new EU rules, but that won’t have any effect on existing products. If you keep your phone for the long haul, that’s something to consider.

Performance & battery life: weekend warrior

Motorola has shifted from Qualcomm to MediaTek power for the Edge 60 Pro, but has still stuck with a mid-tier chip. The Dimensity 8350 Extreme might sound like it has extra oomph over the regular version, but the name seemingly just marks it out as having a slightly different set of behind-the-scenes tools when it comes to gaming.

Don’t think that makes it any sort of slouch, though. The Edge 60 Pro trades back and forth with the Pixel 9a depending on the test, and easily keeps pace with the rest of the mid-range pack. Day to day performance feels right on the money, with apps opening quickly enough and multitasking not feeling like a burden. The 12GB of RAM surely helps on that front.

If outright power matters most a OnePlus 13R remains your best choice, but there’s comfortably more grunt here than you’ll get from either a Samsung Galaxy A56 or the Nothing Phone 3a Pro.

The Motorola comfortably edges out the Pixel on gaming performance, with even demanding 3D games being perfectly playable. Frame rates weren’t as consistent as a flagship, but I didn’t have to dial the detail levels back at all. The phone warmed up under load but never got toasty, so the fps didn’t drop after a particularly long play session.

You can really get your game on for a while with this phone, too. Motorola has managed to squeeze a 6000mAh battery inside the Edge 60 Pro, which is comfortably 20% more capacity than you’ll find from Samsung, Nothing or Google. It easily lasts a full day of heavy use, and will get pretty far through a second day if you tone things down a bit. There’s little else in its price bracket – and nothing as slim – that can last as long between trips to a plug socket. A OnePlus Nord 4 comes closest, but is still several hours of constant video playback behind.

Charging speeds have dipped a bit from last year; maybe because of the new battery chemistry? That said, 90W is still good enough for a full charge in under an hour through a compatible power brick. Wireless charging has taken a bigger hit, down from 50W on the Edge 50 Pro to 15W here, which could be frustrating if you’ve got a suitably speedy Qi puck.

Motorola Edge 60 Pro verdict

The Edge 60 Pro is a proper antidote to identikit smartphones with flat sides and screens. Motorola’s mix of unique materials and curved-edge glass really help this phone stand out, and what’s underneath is pretty convincing too. There’s ample performance, the software is simple without being basic (with AI enhancements you might actually want to use) and it’s as weather-resistant as they come.

It’s a shame to see some of last year’s specs dialled down, notably charging speeds and selfie camera autofocus, but nothing has dipped low enough that it loses ground to close rivals. In all other respects photography has stepped up from the previous generation, helping Moto close the gap to the current class leaders.

Battery life is ultimately the Edge 60 Pro’s biggest draw. If you’re after a does-it-all device that can last entire weekends between refuels and won’t cost as much as a flagship, it absolutely deserves to be on your shortlist.

Motorola Edge 60 Pro technical specifications