Motorola Edge 60 Neo

I am the proud owner of the Motorola Edge 50 Neo and reviewed it here on my Blog Motorola Edge 50 Neo in 2024 and love/d the dinky little phone. Heck, I even declared it my Best Phone of 2024 in another enthusiastic post here on my Blog! So how on earth could Moto improve on this, I mused! Pleased to say that I can now tell you thanks to a generous review-loan of the Motorola Edge 60 Neo from MotoUK PR as part of the MOTOvator programme. They don't tell me what to write, nor see anything I do prior to publication. What you get here is my truth!

I've been using this device as my main phone now for about a week. As you can see from the first image, they're like two peas in a pod. Apart from the missing 'Pantone' badge on the back, the new one is physically identical to the old, as far as I can see. Which is actually not a bad thing because it's wonderfully pocketable and a great size in an ocean of 6.7" (and similar) phones these days. Capable small phones are becoming rare, so kudos to Moto for sticking with this form factor.

When I started to look at the spec-sheet, I did begin to wonder if anything meaningful had changed - and much like the recent Pixel 10a release from Google, with nothing much to talk about over the Pixel 9a - was I going to end up scratching my head as to the marketing motivation. So let's see what those changes are (on paper) before I give you my thoughts on the 'real world' changes.

But first, the obligatory unboxing! It's a very small white box, just big enough for the little phone to sit in, with an inner box holding the USB-C to USB-C cable, the usual bunch of papers, SIM Card Tray tool and a very nice (though slippery) colour-matched (in this case the same Pantone Poinciana orangey-red) and the usual odours from some sort of perfume shop! (There is one new colour this year - Frostbite, which is a kind of light green/minty-looking shade.) There's no charger in the box, which is fairly usual at this stage. The simple, clear, soft TPU case (a fiver from Amazon) I had for my Edge 50 Neo, as you might expect from the above, fits like a glove - further confirming that the shell of the phone here is identical. I do appreciate that Moto put a starter-case in the box for users to save them that fiver, but I almost always end up giving Amazon a fiver in order to get a simple, but grippy, soft TPU case. Other users/buyers might be completely happy with the supplied one here, but my hands always find these hard cases slippery.

In actual fact, the material on the back of the phone (that same Silicone Polymer - 'eco leather') is almost as grippy as my TPU - and really very nice to the touch. Without a case on at all, it's even more dinky of course and more lovely in the hand and pocket. They've added an IP6/9 rating to the ingress protection, it now has Corning Gorilla Glass 7i (over the 50 Neo's GG3) and retains the MIL-STD-810H compliance. GG7i is supposed to be better for shatter resistance over previous versions - to drops to the pavement survival - and for resisting micro-scratches too. The GG3 on my 50 Neo looks perfectly good to me, but then I do treat my phones very carefully, unlike many out there on building sites and beaches! But perhaps I shouldn't be so concerned about scratching/dropping it! It's slightly heavier by 3g which I'm putting down to the bigger battery, which is certainly a significant change.

There are two versions of this - if you get the South America unit it has a 5,000mAh battery, the Global one, 5,200mAh. This unit seems to be reporting 4,995mAh so maybe they sent me the former one. Either way, the battery hike is significant over the Edge 50 Neo's 4,310mAh. To be honest, I never had any issues with the Edge 50 Neo's battery - it would last incredibly well, as per my reports, linked above. But more is better, for sure - so it can last even longer! On testing the new model, I found that it was certainly lasting two days of my average use and my 10% Reading Test returned results of over 3 hours from 100% to 90% so I'm very happy. The same 68W wired charging (with compatible brick) is present as is 15W Qi wireless. Features that defy the phone's placing in the market. Zero to 100% in under an hour or to 50% in half-hour. Moto's blurb says that you can "power for the day in just 7 minutes". Meaning, real world, about 12 hours of mixed use as it gets you to about 30% charged.

I had thought that the Edge 60 Neo had the promise of 5 OS updates, the same as the Edge 50 Neo, but looking at Moto's UK website, it seems that maybe it's dropped to 4. I remain a little confused as to which it is and will try to seek reassurance that maybe the website has a misprint. Assuming that to be the case, yes - it's arrived on Android 15 so will get Android 20 and (presumably) Google Security Patching to October 2030 to match it. The Edge 50 Neo is the same, but obviously, one year behind on each of those now. The Edge 60 Neo (and 50 Neo) are still on Android 15 as I write, so as usual, Moto don't hurry with these things! But Android 15 is stable and fine, so no complaints. If I want bang up-to-date everything, I'll use a Pixel!

The chipset has been hiked up a notch to the Mediatek Dimensity 7400 (4nm) from 7300. This brings it more up to date, perhaps to service MotoAI, which is now included - so another change. The same is probably true for the increased RAM, up to 12GB from 8. It does feel a little more nippy around the UI, an incremental improvement, regardless of the MotoAI being used or not.

There are certainly more storage/RAM options available this time around - plenty of combinations (depending on region) up to 512GB/12GB RAM and down to 128GB/8GB. This one, as I say, has 12GB RAM and it's the 256GB version. I do think that this is probably the sweet spot in 2026 for most people, though basic users will no doubt still be happy with 128GB. The storage has been upped from UFS 2.2 to uMCP which is apparently more power-efficient, enables the phone to run cooler under load, slightly faster - to be honest it feels pretty much the same to me, but then I'm not a heavy gamer or video recorder/editor - and I suspect that the vast majority of buyers/users of this phone won't be either. But another incremental improvement can't be bad.

The MotoAI then, yes, is a difference. The 50 Neo didn't have any of this (outside of what was added to the camera and inside Google's tools) whereas the 60 Neo has the same suite as the, for example, Razr 50. So no dedicated physical MotoAI button like the Edge 60 Pro for example, but via software you can get to, and use, all the tools in the suite. I've published another Blog post here depicting the range of facilities and functions of MotoAI, so do click through. Maybe the Edge 70 Neo will add a hardware button.

I do, sadly, have to come to MotoBloat! I guess that it's the way OEMs these days get/keep prices down, knowing that in a short time the RRP will be undercut in retail, so doing deals with App developers and software houses. You can see why - and most people will just ignore it all, not even know it's there or just accept that this is how the modern world is. However, what is good here, for the likes of me, is that for those who are bothered by it, it's pretty much all uninstallable. So 20-minutes of tinkering and it can be abolished! Here's a list though - Adobe Scan, Opera Browser with VPN, Booking, Perplexity, Microsoft Copilot, LinkedIn, Amazon Music, Facebook, Instagram, a Games Folder (can be disabled), loads of childish games during setup - some forced on, some can be denied, Temu, Pinterest, PDF Reader and Suggestions in App Tray (can turn off in settings). Now, to be fair, many users/buyers might want some of this stuff and be pleased that it's on there by default - but it feels all a bit OTT to me.

Talking of the RRP, it started out at £379 in the UK (£20 cheaper than the 50 Neo on release - and with more RAM this time) but I have already seen it on Moto's UK website for £299 (and even £269 at one point). So it becomes, despite the above, terrific value for money.

One of the things I like very much about Moto is that they continue to go their own way while other OEMs are bending over backwards to sheepishly copy what Apple are doing. Example here being the battery percentage readout. It's really annoying that other OEMs are going with the figures inside the icon which, in some cases - looking at you Samsung and Nothing - make it illegible with anything other than a 4-year old's eyes. They say that these changes are coming with 'base Android' and it's Google's fault - well, clearly that's not true if Moto can still do their own thing with the Status Bar. And I do have other Moto devices here on Android 16 and again, retained. Well done Moto. Also, when selecting a Widget - even Google for Pixel have now adopted this one - their own widgets (or suggested ones) on the first panel, then you have to swipe left to get to the usual list of widgets. Small, but annoying. An Apply style App-gathering overview or whatever it's called. Some are offering this as an option, so fine, but some forcing it. This, after Apple users themselves had say that it's confusing and crap. Well, kudos to Moto, I say, like Sony Xperia - sticking to what they think is the best and ignoring the fads. Well done.

The best surprise for me was that the speakers are markedly improved. And I thought the speakers' output on the 50 was very good indeed. Somehow they have made these louder and clearly better quality output. Tested with YouTube Music, same track and also with my own 320kbps .mp3 files too. This is a real surprise and for me, that's almost worth the upgrade alone. It seems that the 7400 chipset has processing power that the 50 Neo didn't, being Hi-Res Audio certified meaning that the internal DAC supports higher bit depths. So more dynamic range regardless of any acoustic improvements inside the body of the phone due to component changes. Hopefully all that means something to audiophiles - but for me, I'm delighted that the sound output is even better. Bluetooth has been hiked from v5.3 to 5.4 but I'm not convinced that I'd notice the difference. BT works beautifully well with all the peripherals I have here.

The optical fingerprint scanner on the Edge 50 Neo, over time, felt as though it was becoming not so good as it was at the outset. When I first bought it, I didn't feel that this was the case, but now having set up this new model, I can tell the difference. I don't know if that is something that naturally deteriorates over time as more and more data is being background-processed, but here it is also faster and more reliable. Maybe to do with the hiked chipset or yes, perhaps because freshly set up. Even if this 60 Neo does go the same way, what's great is that the face unlock works beautifully so in most lighting conditions, by the time the finger gets anywhere near the screen, you're in anyway! No complaints really, but it will be interesting over time if it needs retraining or resetting in the same way.

The Always on Display works as well as the 50 Neo - all present and correct, supported by the whole Peek Display thing, nice and bright - and unlike the Razr models with recent updates, doesn't kick-down a notch when it thinks it's not needed to be so bright. Long may the brightness remain, when there's such a good battery that the LTPO screen really doesn't impact. The screen, incidentally, is exactly the same (aside from the GG7i) as the older unit. It's capable of 3,000nits and is bright, colourful and vibrant - like most Moto P-OLED screens are. The refresh rate is the same at 120Hz, same 6.36", 20:9 and 460ppi. A joy to use, especially at that dinky size. The AoD is one of, if not the, best one out there at the moment. You get a big 'hollow' clock and underneath it the day, date and weather icons. Towards the foot of the screen there is a row of Notification icons (which behave much like Peek did), a fingerprint scanner and battery percentage readout. When a notification comes in, the 'hollow' clock fills itself in so you can see the difference. So that's a big and developed feature.

There's no HDMI-Out here, for 'tis the modern way for everyone to go wireless, but I can report that wireless works really well with TV or PC here under the Smart Connect Moto software. It's really cool to use and I think now better than DeX, since Samsung stripped out the Windows software and compatibility. Smart Connect is by far the leading system in the phone world and runs rings around the likes of Microsoft's Phone Link or the BBK Group's link-up software. The phone can, 100% be run from my Windows PC and whatever I want to send to my SmartTV or Roku, off it goes and does it. No latency - it just works (with a decent home network of course). Copy/paste, cross-control of mouse, keyboard - file management, multiple devices - it needs to be experienced to appreciate. Long may they continue to invest in this system.

The cameras on the phone are exactly the same as they were on the 50 Neo, a 50MP f1.8 main shooter, a 3x Zoom camera on the secondary and close-up shots with the wide-angle lens are excellent with the auto-focus in attendance - and even the Selfie is the same 32MP. I have no complaints, again, for the average demands of the average user in the photography department. For a deeper dive, click through on my links above for the main review of the 50 Neo - it really all looks/feels the same to me.

Needless to say (but I will anyway!) the phone works beautifully with my other Moto peripherals like the excellent Moto Watch Fit, Moto Buds+ (my reviews linked for each) and the Moto Buds Loop (which I have yet to review).

So, probably much like my previous writings, I ask what could be better. Last time I asked for something better than GG3 - fixed. A 3.5mm audio-out socket - a tall-order for 2026! A microSD Card facility - well, as I said earlier, 256GB really is the sweet spot for most. An UltraSonic (or capacitive) fingerprint scanner, I cried! Well, there's not either of those but, as I said above, I do think it feels better in use. A 68W TurboPower charger in the box? Yes, same applies - EU regulations or not, it's one way that OEMs are clearly keeping down the cost to consumers. I also appealed for no bloat - well, we don't have that - but at least it's all uninstallable and doesn't seem to come back at every security (or I'm assuming) OS update.

Was it worth it, is the question. Well, for me it was as it's a loan unit! But the question for me is that when it goes back, will I buy my own. The two things which might twist my arm - well, no, three - are the clearly better-sounding speakers, the (even) bigger battery and the price. As someone who already has the last generation model in-hand, with 5 OS updates and security to 2029, it's a big ask. If I didn't have the 50 Neo but had the chance to play with the 60 Neo for the first time, then yes - I certainly think that I would buy it. So upgrade, maybe not (at least the price comes down a bit) but new-user, who favours a dinky little phone with all the above Moto goodness, yes - for sure. Highly recommended. Plenty more discussion on this, and other phone-related exploratory adventures with Joe Hickey and I on our weekly/fortnightly audio podcast, the Phones Show Chat and in video form on Joe's YouTube Channel, Screen On Time.