Motorola Edge 20 Fusion review: Forgets the flash, focuses on performance

The Motorola Edge 20 Fusion is the latest addition to the company’s Edge 20 series. And like its siblings, it follows the same design principles but with slightly toned-down internals.

But with the mid-range market saturated with almost like-minded devices and even the rest of the Edge 20 family having similar builds, the Edge 20 Fusion still has some tricks up its sleeve that may make you choose it for your next device.

Design

Echoing the design philosophy of its siblings, the Motorola Edge 20 Fusion keeps things safe and simple. A little too simple for my taste but I can easily see this design in the hands of many.

Its plastic back shows off a soft sheen that’s not too quick to fingerprints but marks can be very evident in lighter conditions. There’s a small barely-there Motorola emblem in the middle and a rounded rectangle module up top.

Our unit came in the Electric Graphite color which shifts between dark blue and gray depending on the way the light hits it.

The camera bump is very noticeable.

It protrudes from the back, so much so that the phone tilts and rocks when laid down on its back. Now, of course, this no way gets in the way of the performance of the phone or its cameras but I personally don’t like having such a big bump.

If you use the included case, it gets even bulkier but you do get that added protection if you need it.

Edges are nicely rounded and the phone is comfortable to grip whether with a case or not. The device may come across a bit wide for some, though. I have a hard time using it with one hand though that may be because of the size of my hands.

But overall, the weight and in-hand feel of this phone is nice and comfortable.

For its ports and buttons, we have the volume rocker on the right side with a side-mounted fingerprint sensor/power button just below it. On the left, we have the dual sim card tray and another button to wake Google Assistant.

Up top, we have one of the microphones and on the bottom lives the second alongside the USB Type-C port and the single bottom-firing speaker.

Additionally, the Motorola Edge 20 Fusion has IP52 water resistance which should protect it against splashes.

Display and multimedia

On the face of the Motorola Edge 20 Fusion is a large 6.7-inch Full HD+ OLED display with a 90Hz fast refresh rate. Bezels are thin all around which offers a nice immersive experience.

The screen is stunning. Colors are very vibrant and true-to-life with deep blacks to contrast them. It also supports HDR10+ so watching shows or movies is even more delightful because of the extra clarity and vibrancy.

You do get this pretty prominent selfie camera front and center, though, which often breaks the image or videos on screen. It may or may not be a big deal for some but it’s something worth mentioning.

And if you’re read or watched any of my past smartphone reviews, you’ll know that I love a phone with high refresh rates. Maxing out at 90Hz, transitions and animations are smooth and really add to the overall experience of the phone.

And even with 90Hz active, the battery wasn’t quick to drain but we’ll get to that later on.

Touch response is fast as well with little to no lag even during gaming. The display’s brightness is also more than enough indoors and outdoors though you may have to max it out on a sunny day.

For audio, we have a single bottom-firing speaker. For a device with an impressive display and fast refresh rates, I would have hoped for a stereo speaker to really make it entertainment-ready.

But its single speaker is not all that bad. You get a satisfying loudness to it but it does come up a little bit thin when watching movies or shows.

Luckily, there’s a headphone jack and Bluetooth connectivity so you can easily switch to wired or wireless solutions easily.

Performance

At the heart of the Edge 20 Fusion is a MediaTek Dimensity 800U processor mated with up to 8GB of RAM and up to 120GB of internal storage. The latter is expandable up to 1TB via a MicroSD card.

Unlike the Edge 20 and Edge 20 Pro, the Fusion adopts a mid-range MediaTek chip. The 800U sits just below one of MediaTek’s faster mid-range processors but my experience with the Edge 20 Fusion was smooth and problem-free.

And coupled with Motorola’s Android 11 skin, you’re also getting useful and thoughtful features that help out with the most common tasks and phone operations.

motorola-Peek-Display-motorola

My favorites include Peek Display which lets you privately look at your notifications from the lock screen and the ‘swipe to split’ gesture that comes really handy when multitasking.

Back to its performance, if you’re a simple person who needs a powerful phone to go about your daily work tasks or even school duties, this phone has got your back.

The screen is large enough. I was able to work on my emails or quickly edit articles on the go. Flying from app to app was no problem though heavier apps like Lightroom had me closing down some for a smoother experience.

As for gaming, you’ve got a pretty good processor and a decent amount of RAM which makes light gaming a good fit. I’ve been playing Moonlighter a lot which really isn’t a heavy game but it runs with no hitches. Visuals and graphics come alive as well thanks to the OLED screen.

Heavier games like Genshin Impact did surprisingly better than expected. The game does automatically set graphics to low but it could handle medium just fine. It’s best to close down some apps, though, just to lessen the background load on the phone.

Cameras

The Motorola Edge 20 Fusion offers a mixed mag of premium features and this includes a 108-megapixel main camera headlining its triple camera system. You’ve also got an ultra-wide-angle that performs well and outputs clean images, with no visible distortion on the sides. And lastly, a macro camera.

The main shooter offers detailed photos but color reproduction could use a bit more work. Noise or grain also tend to show up even under slightly overcast conditions

But for the most part, we could capture nice and bright photos with clean edges and soft depth.

Around the front is a 32-megapixel shooter for selfies which is a hit and miss for me. Sharp and clean photos are achieved in bright light but step indoors and you’ll be getting visible noise.

The software does exert some effort to remedy this by smoothing things out.

There are also different modes that give you fun and more interesting ways to take photos or videos. Spot Color isolates a single color, a feature we also saw on the Reno5. There’s also Dual Capture, Live Filters, and more.

Additionally, it also comes with beautification filters but I found these tend to darken my skin color a bit when set to automatic so I would rather go manual with its settings.

Overall, all of the cameras on the Edge 20 Fusion are just enough to be suitable for the everyday user. Its most obvious weakness is its low-light performance but the quality is still more than acceptable and the software enhancement do make it a little bit better.

Battery

Powering this phone is a 5000mAh battery which lasts about a day and a half with intermittent use. Having it as my daily driver, it spent a lot of time on the usual apps without taking too much of a toll on the battery.

I also had the 90Hz screen active and put in about an hour or two of gaming within those two days as well.

I can safely say that the battery-saving technologies on this device really shine. Even with its fast refresh rate active, we’re given a very decent amount of power to get through the day.

The phone comes bundled with a TurboPower 30W charger which was able to refill the battery to full in about an hour and 15 minutes. Not the fastest around but not bad at all and still fit for quick top-ups.

But overall, the battery life of the Motorola Edge 20 Fusion is something to love. You’re getting next to no compromise in performance out of the box and you can even extend its life by altering its settings.

Creature feature

Creature Feature is what we call our favorite feature, or features, of a device that we believe makes it stand out.

And for the Motorola Edge Fusion 20, it would have to be two things — its OLED display and battery life.

As I’ve already said, the display on this phone is so vibrant and so bright. I really enjoyed watching and playing on it and, coupled with long battery life, it became an easy phone to love and even easier to get used to.

Final thoughts

The Motorola Edge Fusion 20 is a straight-to-the-point device for people with simple needs. Heroing battery life and snappy performance, it’s a great companion as well for those who use their device both for work and play.

The simplicity of the device aims to divert users’ attention to its features that work to increase productivity and provide a hassle-free smartphone experience.

Compromise comes in the form of a bulky exterior and average camera performance but you’re getting all its other features at a pretty good deal at just PhP 16,995.

There’s also a bundle available at launch up until October 21 that gives you PhP 1000 off (bringing it down to just PhP 15,995) plus you can get a Lenovo S2 Smartwatch and Lenovo HT28 Headset for free.

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4 features that make realme 9 a great 4G phone

06/22/2022

The realme 9 series is expanding yet again! Having recently launched, the realme 9 4G sandwiches itself between the more affordable realme 9i and the realme 9 Pro.

It’s an interesting build, that’s for sure. For one, it doesn’t have 5G which may be a turn-off for some users given that 5G is becoming more widely available and reliable but it does offset this by offering more-than-essential features that you’re more likely to use (and enjoy) on a daily basis, anyway. 

Modern design choices

A phone’s look and design may not exactly be essential but I’ve rarely encountered anyone who would choose a device, phone or otherwise, without taking design into consideration.

But we’re not just talking about colors, or at least not yet.

The realme 9 4G makes sure to keep up with today’s trends starting with rounded edges that make the phone very comfortable to grip. And it’s tiny, too.

It’s the lightest in the series and is slim enough to live comfortably in my pocket for a couple of hours.

We also have a pleasingly small and unintrusive punch-hole notch and an in-display optical fingerprint scanner similar to the top-of-the-line realme 9 Pro+.

Now on to colors, you can grab the realme 9 4G in either black, white, or the incredibly flashy Sunburst Gold which is what our unit came in.

I’ve heard from others that the black colorway is a bit prone to fingerprints but this yellow one isn’t, thankfully. Though a wipe down every so often wouldn’t hurt to keep that gold color shining.

The plastic back is flat and smooth but underneath is a texture that kind of resembles the look of bent or distorted metal.

And finally, a silver frame provides a nice neutral balance to the otherwise very loud color. I personally think this was a better decision rather than fully encasing the device in all yellow.

Binge-ready display

Everyone in the whole wide world probably uses their phone to watch videos. But in terms of entertainment, some features are better than others and the realme 9 4G has pretty great ones.

I already mentioned that it has AMOLED and, similar to the in-display fingerprint sensor, is a feature you’ll only find on the realme 9 Pro+. And it’s even brighter at 1000 nits.

It has a 90Hz refresh, too, which makes scrolling through menus and even playing some games more enjoyable.

At 6.4-inches, it doesn’t have the biggest display but it is ample enough for everyday use.  And being both thin and light, the realme 9 4G is comfortable to use even during long hours.

And finally, we have Widevine L1 certification so you can enjoy streaming your favorite shows or movies in Full HD goodness.

Its shortcoming? The single speaker. While it is pretty loud, the quality just isn’t what I would want when watching or playing.  I would personally opt for a nice pair of TWS buds or go wired since it does have a 3.5mm headphone jack

Big battery, fast charging

We have a 5000mAh battery on the realme 9 4G which is pretty standard. Much like my experience with other phones with the capacity, you should be able to achieve a whole day’s use without needing to top up.

But more than that, what I appreciate is that it remains a slim phone despite its big battery.

realme ships a 33W fast charger as well that promises 50% in just 30 minutes and a full charge in a little over an hour.

Shipped with Android 12

We are getting Android 12 features through the latest realme UI 3.0 software which the phone comes with out of the box.

I’m a fan of Android 12’s multiple productivity features so I’m glad to see that the realme 9 4G runs it and that we’re also guaranteed 2 years of software updates. For security patches, realme says it will receive updates for at least 3 years.

While it may not seem like a big thing, it’s definitely something to consider. With up to 2 years of software updates, you’ll be able to keep your phone longer and still have the latest software features, adding to its value as a device that can run long term.

What about its cameras?

Offering a triple camera system headlined by a 108-megapixel camera, the realme 9 4G’s cameras were able to produce sharp and detailed photos provided there’s enough light. It’s not the best in the series but it offers enough flexibility that you can get pretty great-looking photos in different scenarios.

With everything else the realme 9 4G offers, it’s not unexpected to find shortcomings in the camera department. The 108-megapixel main has its shining moments, definitely, and the setup would perform well as an everyday snapper.

Though if you are more serious about photography or videography, I would highly suggest spending a little more for the realme 9 Pro or the realme 9 Pro+.

Final thoughts

I’ll admit I first found the realme 9 4G a bit ambiguous, especially when put beside the rest of the members of the 9 series.

But after some time with it, I found that it’s a device that offers a really great set of features for a base model and, if paired with 5G, may end up with a higher price tag.

That being said, it’s easy to claim the realme 9 would be perfect for someone looking for a non-5G phone with pretty great entertainment features and a flashy, stand-out design.

The realme 9 4G is already available for PhP 14,999 and is available through realme’s authorized stores and Lazada PH. 

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