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Motorola's new $999 Edge Plus gains stylus support, competes with Samsung's S22 Ultra
Motorola on Thursday announced the Motorola Edge Plus, an update to its flagship smartphone. The announcement arrives on the same day as preorders for Samsung's Galaxy S22 lineup are set to arrive, including the Galaxy S22 Ultra.
Why is that important? Because, on paper at least, the new $1,000 Edge Plus looks like it'll directly compete with Samsung's $1,200 flagship.
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Motorola has learned a lot about how its customers use a stylus thanks to the Moto G Stylus, and now the company has brought that same functionality over to the Motorola Edge Plus. The S22 Ultra, of course, is a Note in a Galaxy S-series' body with support for Samsung's S Pen stylus.
The Edge Plus uses Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor, has 8GB or 12GB of memory, up to 512GB of storage, and a 4,800mAh battery. The OLED display measures 6.7-inches, with a resolution of 2400x1080.
There's a triple camera array on the back of the phone. A 50-megapixel main camera, another 50-megapixel camera for ultra-wide angle photos, and a 2-megapixel depth camera. The front-facing camera is 60-megapixels.
The stylus support comes from a new smart stylus that's part of a bundle that includes a folio for storing the digital pen. Which is to say, the Edge Plus doesn't have a dedicated silo to store the pen in the phone's housing -- a feature that the S22 Ultra has.
Also: The best stylus phones out right now
Motorola also announced improvements to its Ready For PC platform that allows you to connect your Edge Plus phone to an external display and use your phone as a desktop or laptop replacement -- similar to Samsung's DeX software on Galaxy phones.
So, when can you get the Edge Plus in your hands? Good question.
Right now, all Motorola is saying is that the Edge Plus will be available in the US as an unlocked phone from Best Buy, Amazon, and Motorola. Motorola isn't announcing a launch date, though. The only thing that Motorola will say is that at launch the Edge Plus will be $899 for a limited time, instead of its regular $999 price.
Also included in today's announcement is the news that the Edge Plus will be available directly from Verizon, Boost Mobile, and Republic Wireless "in the coming months."
Hopefully we'll have an official launch date soon.
What do you think? Does the Motorola Edge Plus offer enough to take on Samsung's Galaxy S22 Ultra? Let us know what you think in the comments below.