Motorola Edge 20 Fusion First Impressions: Mid-Range Master?

Motorola is launching new smartphones in its Edge series in india, the Motorola Edge 20 and the Motorola Edge 20 Fusion. Both of them are priced under Rs. 30,000 and sport OLED displays as well as 5G-ready processors. I got my hands on the Motorola Edge 20 Fusion, the more affordable of these two devices. With prices starting at Rs. 21,499, does the Edge 20 Fusion deliver better value than the competition? Here are my first impressions.

Motorola Edge 20 Fusion price in India

The Motorola Edge 20 Fusion starts at Rs. 21,499 in India for its base variant which has 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. Its higher variant with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage is priced at Rs. 22,999. You get two colour options for the Edge 20 Fusion: Electric Graphite and Cyber Teal. I had the former for review.

The Motorola Edge 20 Fusion sports a big 6.7-inch full-HD+ OLED display. This panel has a 20:9 aspect ratio, 90Hz refresh rate, support for HDR10, and Corning Gorilla Glass 3 for protection. You can switch between different colour modes and also adjust the colour temperature of this display to your liking. At the top of the display is a hole that houses the 32-megapixel selfie shooter.

The frame of the Motorola Edge 20 Fusion is made of plastic and is curved towards the back of the smartphone, making it comfortable to hold. Motorola has gone for a side-mounted fingerprint scanner on the Motorola Edge 20 Fusion, which is integrated into the power button on the right side. The scanner is easy to reach, though the volume buttons that are positioned above it need a slight stretch. On the left are the SIM tray and a button to summon the Google Assistant. The Motorola Edge 20 Fusion has a USB Type-C port at the bottom along with a 3.5mm headphone jack, the primary microphone, and the loudspeaker. The top of the frame only has the secondary microphone.

The Motorola Edge 20 Fusion has a side-mounted fingerprint scanner

Motorola has gone with a plastic rear panel, and my Electric Graphite unit picked up smudges rather easily. The Edge 20 Fusion has a triple camera setup at the back. The module protrudes significantly, causing the device to rock when kept on a flat surface. You get a 108-megapixel primary camera, an 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera and a 2-megapixel depth sensor. The ultra-wide-angle camera is also capable of taking macro shots.

Motorola has kept the device thickness down to 8.25mm, and it weighs 185g. The Edge 20 Fusion is also IP52 rated for splash resistance. You get a 5,000mAh battery and a 30W Turbo charger in the box. The charger has a USB Type-C output, and a Type-C to Type-C cable is bundled in the box. You also get a case in the box.

The Motorola Edge 20 Fusion is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 800U SoC and is offered in 6GB and 8GB RAM variants. Storage for both remains unchanged at 128GB. It has a hybrid dual-SIM slot arrangement and can take in two 5G SIMs, or one SIM and a microSD card. You can expand storage by up to 512GB on this device.

The Edge 20 Fusion has a triple camera setup

In terms of software, you have Motorola's lightly customised MyUX interface on top of Android 11, and my unit was running the August Android security patch. The UI is very similar to stock Android with the addition of a Moto app and Facebook (which could be uninstalled), apart from Google apps.

The Moto app has a list of Moto Actions, which are shortcut gestures that you can use to perform actions on the phone. Older Moto actions such as the double-chop to toggle flashlight and the double-crank gesture to launch the camera are still available. Motorola has promised an upgrade to Android 12 as well as Android 13 for the Motorola Edge 20 Fusion, along with two years of security updates. It also claims to offer business-grade security with its end-to-end ThinkShield for Mobile protection.

One noteworthy software feature on the Edge 20 series is called Ready For. This allows you to connect the smartphone to an external display to use all your apps and games on a big screen. Ready for PC lets you connect your smartphone to a Windows PC, but you'll need a companion app for that. I will be testing this during the full review..

If you are in the market for a smartphone with clean software and capable hardware, the Motorola Edge 20 Fusion does show some promise. But how does it fare against the competition? Stay tuned to Gadgets360 to find out.