If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times – the fight for best Android phone is hotter than it ever has been. Where you might previously have had a couple of good attempts, they'd almost always fall into the shadow of whichever Samsung phone was released that year.
That's not the case anymore, though. Don't get me wrong, phones like the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra are undeniably good handsets, but they aren't alone on that tier anymore. Phones like the Google Pixel 7 Pro and the Xiaomi 13 Pro have raised the bar for the rest of the pack, and proven that Samsung might not be the best use of your hard-earned cash.
Another competitor we really liked from last year was the Motorola Edge 30 Ultra. It was the first phone to feature a 200MP camera, and surprised our reviewer with a really competent overall performance.
Now, leaked specs for what appears to be its successor have leaked – and they've got me excited. The details come from SnoopyTech, a well-versed tech tipster with a long history and a decent track record for this kind of information.
Dubbed the Motorola Edge 40 Pro, you may think that the handset was lower in the range than an 'Ultra'. It still could be, but Motorola are notorious for having confusing naming conventions, even changing between countries for the same handset. Based on the price and specs, though, I'll stick my neck out and say this is the follow-up to the Edge 30 Ultra.
So, what is rumoured to be on offer? Well, for starters, we've got the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 powering things – great start. That's paired with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, which should be more than enough to power through tasks without breaking a sweat.
Elsewhere, it'll run Android 13, pack a 6.67-inch FHD+ display with a 165Hz refresh rate, and offer 125W charging. Last time out, we we're super impressed with the charging speed, which made up for a bit of a weedy battery life. The battery size is still 4,600mAh, which is lower than the 5,000 which has become something of a benchmark.
But the most interesting spec leak comes in the camera, where it appears that the 200MP sensor has gone. According to the leak, users will get a 50MP main sensor, a 50MP ultrawide and a 12MP telephoto lens. If true, that's a bold step. Okay, we all know that the megapixels don't make the camera, but 200MP sensors are still such a rarity that it gave the Edge 30 Ultra a bit of added edge.
I really hope – again, if the leak is true – that Motorola have put some work into the computational photography side of things. It's absolutely possible for a 50MP sensor with good tech going on inside to be as good – maybe even better – than a 200MP sensor which doesn't.
In terms of pricing, Snoopy suggests an €899 price point. That translates to roughly £790 / $975 / AU$1,450 when directly converted, though don't expect that to be an accurate reflection of retail pricing. What it does mean, though, is that it should sit significantly below the S23 Ultra. And with such a full spec sheet, that could be a really attractive addition to the market.
There's no word yet on when the handset might be released. Last year, the Edge 30 Ultra was released in September, so we can reasonably expect it to be a few more months yet.
