Moto Edge 50 Ultra vs Galaxy S24 Ultra: Key differences

Intro

Moto’s Edge 50 Ultra is now out, and it’s easily Motorola’s best-spec’d phone released so far in 2024. This one relies on the basics: it sports the latest and greatest Qualcomm chipset, has a trio of very promising cameras at the rear, a superb OLED display, very fast charging, tons of storage, and a friendly design. Undoubtedly, one of the best flagships Motorola has ever released.

Which one should you get? Are Galaxy users missing out on the latest Moto flagship or not?

Design and Size

Sleek Android catwalk stars

With an aluminum frame and either a wooden or a vegan leather back, the Moto Edge 50 Ultra is a sleek phone with small bezels and Gorilla Glass Victus up front. In a world where most phones default to a glass back frame, Motorola makes a stand with an intriguing selection of backs, which might not necessarily suit just about anyone. For example, I absolutely love vegan leather on phones, while some of my colleagues barely tolerate it. 

The Motorola Edge is not a small phone, but it’s one that’s surprisingly light. Weighing just 197gr, it’s noticeably easier to hold than other flagships, like the Galaxy 24 Ultra, which weighs 232gr. You will certainly notice a difference. 

Meanwhile, the Galaxy S24 Ultra has a titanium frame, as well as Gorilla Glass Victus at the back and Gorilla Glass Armor at the front. It has a nearly flat design, with a completely flat display and only the side frame curved outward for a more comfortable grip. That said, the Motorola Edge 50 Ultra has a curved screen, just as the “edge” in its name suggests. 

Both phones are IP68-rated, meaning that you can dunk them in up to 1.5m of water for up to 30 minutes. The Galaxy S24 Ultra has the built-in S Pen stylus on deck, while the Moto Edge 50 Ultra doesn’t have a wildcard feature of the same rank. 

Display Differences

The Motorola Edge 50 Ultra comes along with a 6.7-inch OLED display, with Corning Gorilla Victus on top. The display has a super-smooth 144Hz refresh rate, which means it’s a tad smoother than your regular 120Hz-capable flagship. However, noticing the difference in your everyday life might be challenging. 

The Galaxy S24 Ultra, on the other hand, comes with a 6.8-inch OLED display, with a dynamic refresh rate that goes up to 120Hz. What’s impressive on the Galaxy S24 Ultra is its super-high maximum brightness, which makes outdoor legibility an excellent experience. Even better, the Galaxy S24 Ultra comes with Gorilla Glass Armor, which has antireflective properties, thus doing away with those pesky reflections even better than most phones out there.  

Both phones have relatively thin bezels, but the Moto device leaves the impression of being more bezelless thanks to its curved display. The Galaxy S24 Ultra, on the other hand, has a completely flat display, which maximizes the screen real estate. That’s great for heavy S Pen users. 

A major difference between the two phones is the in-display fingerprint scanner. The Galaxy S24 Ultra has an ultrasonic one, while the Motorola Edge 50 Ultra boasts an optical one. Generally, ultrasonic fingerprint scanners are much faster and more accurate than optical ones, so the Galaxy S24 Ultra has the upper hand here.

Performance and Software

Not all Snapdragons are made the same

There’s a difference in the GPU units as well: the newer but humbler Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 employs the Adreno 735 unit, while the Snapdragon boasts the Adreno 750 GPU. This means that if you’re a gamer, the Galaxy S24 Ultra will provide a better experience. 

In terms of memory and storage, the entry-level Moto Edge 50 Ultra comes with 12GB of RAM and 512GB storage, while the 512GB and 1TB versions come with 16GB of RAM. Meanwhile, the Galaxy S24 Ultra comes with 12GB of RAM in all three storage variants: 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB variants. 

Meanwhile, there are tons of AI features on the Galaxy, living under the Galaxy AI name. The Samsung flagship also comes with Android 14, but will receive seven years of software updates and security patches, which is superb.

Camera

Triple versus quad camera 

The Galaxy S24 Ultra is certainly the better-equipped and more versatile camera phone. It has two telephoto cameras, 3x and 5x ones, while the Motorola Edge 50 Ultra has a single 3x telephoto camera. 

Moving on to the main cameras of the two devices, the Motorola has a 50MP main camera with a 1/1.3″ sensor and larger 1.2µm pixels, while the Galaxy S24 Ultra has a 200MP main camera with a similar 1/1.3″ sensor but smaller 0.6µm pixels. 

The megapixel differences continue on to the telephoto cameras. The Motorola boasts a 64MP one with 3x optical zoom, while the Galaxy has a 50MP periscope with 5x optical zoom and a less impressive 10MP one with 3x optical zoom. 

The Edge 50 Ultra has a sharper 50MP ultra-wide camera, while the Galaxy S24 Ultra still relies on the tried-and-tested 12MP ultra-wide.

Audio Quality and Haptics

The Galaxy S24 Ultra, on the other hand, is one of our favorite when it comes to loudspeaker quality. Its haptic feedback is also superb, with accurate vibrations. 

Battery Life and Charging

Can the Moto beat the Galaxy?

The Motorola Edge 50 Ultra comes along with a 4,500mAh battery, while the Galaxy S24 Ultra relies on a 5,000mAh one. Thus, we expect that it could be difficult for the Motorola phone to outlast the Galaxy flagship, which delivers superb endurance. 

However, when it comes to charging, the Edge 50 Ultra is a much faster charging device. It supports up to 125W wired charging, which is spectacular, but what’s also intriguing, the 50W wireless charging support! Finally, you can charge your Qi-enabled gadgets like earbuds and smartwatches with up to 10W of reverse-wireless charging.

Meanwhile, the situation is not that good on the Galaxy S24 Ultra: the 45W wired and 15W wireless, as well as up to 4.5W of reverse-wireless charging are much less exciting charging features. 

Specs Comparison

Summary

When considering the best value you can get, the Galaxy S24 Ultra appears as the better suited device to maximize the bang for the buck you will get. It has it all: superb display, camera, performance, battery life, a stylus, and longer software support at a slightly higher price, which is great.