Motorola Edge 70 Pro review
Design, build quality, handling
As mentioned, Motorola tends to play to the beat of its own drum when it comes to design. Granted, the display glass has gotten a lot less-curvy this year, but it is still a far cry from the trendy look of flat fronts, extra-wide frames and wide curved corners. Honestly, we can appreciate this approach to design for its superior hand feel.
The Edge 70 Pro is impressively thin at just 7.2mm - a whole mm thinner than last year's model. This is enhanced even further visually by the very thin middle frame.
The textured eco leather (silicon polymer) back flows seamlessly into the color-matched middle frame as well as the color-matched camera island. The design and overall shape of which, by the way, have become sort of a Motorola signature at this point. Of course, there is the long-standing "M" logo smack in the middle of the back panel, complete with just a slight recess in the texture - perfect for resting your thumb while taking a phone - classic!
Another Motorola staple is, of course, the PANTONE partnership. The Edge 70 Pro is available globally in a total of five colors. Our review unit is in Zinfandel, which is a variation of Burgundy and definitely not as vivid as most product photos make it out to be. It's rather deep and dark in person.
Beyond that, there is Lily White, Titan, Tea and Chicory Coffee. While we can't say for sure, since we haven't exactly felt the others in person, there is probably a slight difference in texture between the colors as well. Titan is being described as a fabric finish, tea is more satin and lily white is apparently marble in nature.
In any case, Motorola went all in on color-matching every detail of the phone they could, even including the buttons.
Motorola Edge 70 Pro
Speaking of the buttons, there is nothing really standout in this department. We do wish the volume rocker and power button were a bit wider, but that's just part of the design. At least they are nice and clicky.
The left side of the frame also holds a button - a singular Moto AI button. Other than that, it is empty. You might notice that there are no antenna lines. That's because the middle frame is actually made of plastic - a fact that, frankly, surprised us since the finish makes it look convincingly like metal.
Even though the Edge 70 Pro has a stereo speaker setup, there is no top-firing speaker. Instead, you get a speaker/earpiece combo above the display. That pretty much leaves the top bezel empty except for a couple of small holes. The bottom side is quite busy: the main speaker, the Type-C port, the SIM tray and the main microphone hole. Also, interestingly enough, this is where the obligatory CE markings are hidden - pretty clever placement.
The Edge 70 Pro not only looks good but it also feels good in the hand. Well, it is pretty slippery, which is worth noting. Other than that, it fits snugly in the hand. It also feels perfectly solid with practically no flex or hollowness to the chassis.
The Edge 70 Pro has an IP68/IP69 ingress protection, which should allow it to survive a dip of up to 30 minutes in up to 1.5 meters of fresh water. Also, high-pressure water jets. In typical Motorola fashion, there is also MIL-STD-810H compliance for withstanding transport shocks and temperature shocks. The front is protected with a Gorilla Glass 7i layer.
Circling back to controls for a second, the display bezels are pretty thin, and there is nothing clearly visible here other than the speaker slit. All the sensors are nicely hidden away underneath the actual panel.
The Edge 70 Pro uses a standard optical under-display fingerprint reader. It is both snappy and accurate, so no complaints there.
