We subjected the Motorola Edge 30 Pro to our rigorous SBMARK camera test suite to measure its performance in terms of photo, video and zoom quality from an end-user perspective. This article explains how the device performed in a variety of tests and different common use cases and aims to highlight the most important results of our tests with an extract of the acquired data.

Overview

Key Camera Specifications:

  • Primary: 50MP 1 / 1.55 “sensor, 1.0µm pixel, f / 1.8 aperture lens, multidirectional PDAF, OIS
  • Ultra-wide: 50MP 1 / 2.76 “sensor, 0.64 µm pixel, 114˚ field of view, f / 2.2 aperture lens
  • Depth: 2MP sensor, f / 2.4 aperture lens
  • Video: 8K at 24 / 30fps, 4K at 30fps, 3.2K at 60fps, 1080p at 30/60/120/240 / 960fps, 10-bit HDR10 + (4K at 30fps tested)

Pros

  • Good exposure of photos and videos in most lighting conditions
  • Stable and pleasant white balance
  • The wide depth of field keeps all subjects in group photos in focus
  • Well controlled noise in outdoor videos
  • Effective video stabilization on static scenes

versus

  • Unstable exposure and autofocus in consecutive shots
  • Color ghosting and quantization artifacts
  • Fairly high noise levels in most conditions
  • Poor zoom quality, low level of detail in most zoom settings
  • Video exposure instability
  • Loud noise in video in low light conditions
  • Desaturated colors in videos in low light conditions

Competing in the Premium price segment, the Edge 30 Pro is Motorola’s latest flagship phone. It is powered by Qualcomm’s fastest chipset, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, and comes with a 6.7-inch OLED display that supports a 144Hz refresh rate. A sleek camera bump with a rounded finish on the back. of the device houses three lenses. A 50MP main camera with an f / 1.8 aperture lens is assisted by a 50MP f / 2.2 ultra wide-angle sensor and a 2MP depth sensor. The ultra-wide doubles as a macro lens. As a result, the macro capabilities of the Edge 30 Pro should be a step up from the 2MP macro lenses that are common on today’s budget and mid-range phones, including many of Motorola’s G-series phones.

In our SBMARK Camera ranking, the Motorola Edge 30 Pro is not among the best devices, but in the right lighting conditions, it captures photos and videos with good exposure and a pleasant white balance. A wide depth of field ensures that all subjects in group shots are made acceptably sharp. On the downside, image noise is often noticeable in both photos and videos, and video clips can suffer from exposure instability.

Motorola Edge 30 Pro camera scores compared to Premium

This chart compares the SBMARK photo, zoom and video scores between the tested device and the references. The average and maximum scores of the price segment are also indicated. The average and maximum scores for each price segment are calculated based on the SBMARK database of tested devices.

Test summary

About SBMARK Camera Tests: SBMARK camera assessments take place in labs and real-world situations using a wide variety of subjects. Scores are based on objective tests for which results are calculated directly by the measurement software on the settings of our laboratory and on perceptual tests in which a sophisticated set of metrics allows a group of image experts to compare aspects of quality image that require human judgment. Testing a smartphone involves a team of engineers and technicians for about a week. The quality of photo, zoom and video is evaluated separately and then combined into an overall score for comparing cameras from different devices. For more information on the SBMARK Camera protocol, click here. More details on the smartphone camera scores can be found here. The following section collects the key elements of SBMARK’s comprehensive testing and analysis. Comprehensive performance evaluations are available upon request. Contact us to find out how to receive a full report.

Photo

120

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About SBMARK Camera Photo Tests

For scoring and analysis, SBMARK engineers capture and evaluate more than 2,600 test images in both controlled laboratory environments and natural outdoor, indoor and low-light scenes, using the camera’s default settings. The photographic protocol is designed to take into account the main use cases and is based on typical shooting scenarios, such as portraits, family photographs and landscapes. Assessment is done by visually inspecting images Cons a natural scene reference and making objective measurements on graphical images captured in the lab under various lighting conditions from 1 to 1,000+ lux and color temperatures from 2,300K to 6,500K.

In photo mode, the Motorola Edge 30 Pro can produce decent images with precise target exposure. However, the dynamic range is limited, and sometimes the camera underexposes slightly to avoid clipping highlights. The white balance is quite stable and accurate, with a touch of freshness for outdoor images. The overall color rendition looks a bit desaturated and skin tones may be slightly washed out.

Autofocus is sometimes unstable in consecutive shots, but a wide depth of field helps maintain good sharpness on all subjects in group shots. The images have a slightly low level of texture and detail and noise is noticeable in all lighting conditions. Our testers also observed some image artifacts, including ghosting in high contrast conditions and color quantization.

Motorola Edge 30 Pro Photo vs Premium scores

Photo tests analyze image quality attributes such as exposure, color, texture, and noise under various lighting conditions. Autofocus performance and the presence of artifacts on all images acquired under controlled laboratory conditions and in real-life images are also evaluated. All of these attributes have a significant impact on the final quality of the images captured with the tested device and can help understand the main strengths and weaknesses of the camera.

Exposure

95

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Honor Magic4 Ultimate

Color

99

Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max

Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max

Exposure and color are the key attributes for technically good images. For exposure, the main attribute evaluated is the brightness of the main subject in various use cases such as landscape, portrait or still life. Other factors evaluated are contrast and dynamic range, eg. the ability to make details visible in both light and dark areas of the image. Repeatability is also important, as it demonstrates the camera’s ability to deliver the same rendering when shooting multiple images of the same scene.
For color, the image quality attributes analyzed are skin tone rendering, white balance, color shading, and repeatability. For the rendering of color and skin tone, we penalize unnatural colors but respect the manufacturer’s choice of the chromatic signature.

Motorola Edge 30 Pro: good target exposure, dynamic range and color rendering, lack of fine details

Motorola Edge 20 Pro – good target exposure and dynamic range, warmer color rendition, slight desaturation, good level of detail

Samsung Galaxy S22 (Exynos): Good target exposure and dynamic range, warm color rendition, lack of fine detail

Autofocus

ninety two

Asus smartphone for Snapdragon insiders

Asus smartphone for Snapdragon insiders

Autofocus tests focus on focus accuracy, focus repeatability, shutter lag and depth of field. The shutter lag is the difference between the time the user presses the capture button and the time the image is actually taken. It includes focus speed and the ability of the device to capture images at the right moment, what is called “zero shutter lag” capability. While shallow depth of field can be nice for a single-subject portrait or close-up, it can also be a problem in some specific conditions such as group portraits; Both situations are tested. Focus accuracy is also evaluated in all real-life images taken, from infinity to close-up objects and in low light to outdoor conditions.

Autofocus irregularity and speed: 1000Lux Δ0EV Daylight Handheld

This graph illustrates focus accuracy and speed as well as zero shutter lag capability, showing edge sharpness versus shutter speed measured on the AFHDR setting over a series of images. All photos were taken at 1000 Lux with the Daylight Highlighter, 500ms after blurring. Edge sharpness is measured on the four edges of the Dead Leaves graph and shutter speed is measured on the Universal Timer LED.

Structure

85

Xiaomi Mi 11

Xiaomi Mi 11

Texture tests analyze the level of detail and texture of subjects in images taken in the laboratory as well as in real-life scenarios. For natural shots, special attention is paid to the level of detail in the light and dark areas of the image. Objective measurements are performed on map images taken under various lighting conditions from 1 to 1000 lux and different types of dynamic range conditions. The charts used are the proprietary SBMARK (DMC) chart and the Dead Leaves chart.

SBMARK CHART (DMC) detail retention score versus lux levels for tripod and handheld conditions

This graph shows the evolution of the DMC detail retention score with the lux level, for two retention conditions. The DMC detail retention score is derived from an AI-based metric trained to evaluate texture and detail rendering on a selection of crops from our SBMARK chart.

Noise

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Noise tests analyze various attributes of noise such as intensity, chromaticity, grain, texture on real-life images and graphical images taken in the laboratory. For natural images, special attention is paid to noise on faces, landscapes, but also on dark areas and high dynamic range conditions. Noise on moving objects is also evaluated on natural images. Objective measurements are performed on graphical images taken under various conditions from 1 to 1000 lux and different types of dynamic range conditions. The graph used is the Dead Leaves graph and standardized measurement such as visual noise derived from ISO 15739.

Evolution of visual noise with lighting levels in handheld condition

This graph shows the evolution of the visual noise metric with the lux level under portable conditions. The visual noise metric is the average of the visual noise measurement across all patches of the Dead Leaves chart in the AFHDR setting. SBMARK visual noise measurement is derived from the ISO15739 standard.

Manufactured goods

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Google Pixel 6

Google Pixel 6

Artifact evaluation examines lens shading, chromatic aberrations, geometric distortion, edge ring, halos, ghosting, quantization, unexpected color tone variations, among other types of possible unnatural effects on photos. The more severe and frequent the artifact, the greater the point deduction from the score. The main artifacts observed and the corresponding point loss are listed below.

Main penalties for photographic artifacts

Preview

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Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max

Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max

The preview tests analyze the image quality of the camera app image preview, with particular attention to the difference between capture and preview, especially with regards to dynamic range and application of the bokeh effect. The smoothness of exposure, color and focus adaptation are also evaluated when zooming from the minimum to the maximum available zoom factor. The preview frame rate is measured using the Universal Timer LED.

Motorola Edge 30 Pro, capture

Motorola Edge 30 Pro, preview: the same target exposure as the final capture but highlights the crop

Enlarge

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Learn about SBMARK camera zoom tests

SBMARK engineers capture and evaluate over 400 test images in controlled laboratory environments and in outdoor, indoor and natural scenes in low light conditions, using default camera settings and zooming in at various zoom factors, from ultra wide angle at ultra-long range zoom. Assessment is done by visually inspecting images Cons a natural scene reference and making objective measurements of graphs captured in the lab under different conditions from 20 to 1000 lux and color temperatures from 2300K to 6500K.

Zoom is not a strong point of the Motorola Edge 30 Pro. Since there is no dedicated camera, all tele zoom is done digitally, resulting in a large loss of detail. Target exposure tends to be better than on the Edge 20 Pro, but dynamic range is more limited, which leads to both highlight and shadow clipping.

Wide

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These tests analyze the performance of the ultra-wide-angle camera at different focal lengths from 12mm to 20mm. All image quality attributes are evaluated, with particular attention to artifacts such as chromatic aberrations, lens softness and distortion. The images below are an excerpt of tested scenes.

Motorola Edge 30 Pro – acceptable level of detail in the center but loss of sharpness towards the edges

Motorola Edge 20 Pro – acceptable level of detail in the center but severe loss of sharpness towards the edges

Samsung Galaxy S22 (Exynos): Acceptable level of detail across the frame

Tele

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All image quality attributes are evaluated at focal lengths from about 40mm to 300mm, with a focus on texture and detail. The score is derived from a series of objective measurements in the laboratory and from the perceptual analysis of real-life images.

SBMARK CHART (DMC) zoom score for detail retention versus lux levels for tripod and handheld conditions

This graph shows the evolution of the DMC detail retention zoom score with the lux level, for two retention conditions. The DMC detail retention score is derived from an AI-based metric trained to evaluate texture and detail rendering on a selection of crops from our SBMARK chart.

SBMARK CHART (DMC) zoom score for detail retention versus lux lux levels for tripod and handheld conditions

This graph shows the evolution of the DMC detail retention zoom score with the lux level, for two retention conditions. The DMC detail retention score is derived from an AI-based metric trained to evaluate texture and detail rendering on a selection of crops from our SBMARK chart.

SBMARK CHART (DMC) zoom score for detail retention versus lux levels for tripod and handheld conditions

This graph shows the evolution of the DMC detail retention zoom score with the lux level, for two retention conditions. The DMC detail retention score is derived from an AI-based metric trained to evaluate texture and detail rendering on a selection of crops from our SBMARK chart.

video

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Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max

Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max

About SBMARK Camera Video Tests

SBMARK engineers capture and evaluate over 2.5 hours of video in controlled laboratory environments and natural low-light scenes, indoor and outdoor, using the camera’s default settings. The assessment consists of visually inspecting natural videos taken under various conditions and carrying out objective measurements on graphical videos recorded in the laboratory under different conditions from 1 to 1000 lux and color temperatures from 2300 to 6500 K.

When recording video, the Motorola Edge 30 Pro manages to expose subjects well, even in low light conditions. However, we noticed a lot of instability in the display in our example clips. Noise is generally well controlled, except in low light conditions. White balance is stable in bright light and when shooting indoors, but instabilities become noticeable in low light. Video stabilization is quite effective, but differences in sharpness between frames are often visible when walking while recording.

Motorola Edge 30 Pro Video vs Premium scores

Video tests analyze the same image quality attributes as still images, such as exposure, color, texture, or noise, as well as temporal aspects such as speed, exposure uniformity and stability, white balance, and autofocus transitions.

Exposure

89

Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max

Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max

Color

ninety two

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Exposure tests evaluate the brightness of the main subject and the dynamic range, eg. the ability to make details visible in both light and dark areas of the image. The stability and temporal adaptation of exposure are also analyzed.
Image quality color analysis examines color rendition, skin tone rendition, white balance, color shading, white balance stability and adaptation when the light changes.

Motorola Edge 30 Pro: Accurate face exposure, color noise, strong pink white balance cast

Motorola Edge 20 Pro: Slight underexposure on the face, loud noise, fairly neutral white balance

Samsung Galaxy S22 (Exynos): slight underexposure on the face, low noise, fairly accurate white balance given the lighting

Structure

80

Oppo Reno6 Pro 5G (Snapdragon)

Oppo Reno6 Pro 5G (Snapdragon)

Consistency tests analyze the level of detail and texture of real-life videos, as well as graph videos recorded in the lab. Natural video recordings are evaluated visually, with particular attention to the level of detail in bright areas and dark areas. Objective measurements are performed on images of graphs taken under various conditions from 1 to 1000 lux. The charts used are the SBMARK (DMC) chart and the Dead Leaves chart.

SBMARK CHART (DMC) detail retention video score versus lux levels

This graph shows the evolution of the DMC detail retention video score with the lux level in the video. The DMC detail retention score is derived from an AI-based metric trained to evaluate texture and detail rendering on a selection of crops from our SBMARK chart.

Noise

78

Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max

Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max

Noise tests analyze various noise attributes such as intensity, chromaticity, grain, texture, temporal aspects on real-life video recordings and graphing videos taken in the laboratory. Natural videos are evaluated visually, with a focus on noise in dark areas and high dynamic range conditions. Objective measurements are performed on card videos recorded under various conditions from 1 to 1000 lux. The graph used is the SBMARK visual noise graph.

Spatial evolution of visual noise with the level of illuminance

This graph shows the evolution of spatial visual noise with the level of lux. Spatial visual noise is measured on the visual noise graph in the video noise setting. SBMARK visual noise measurement is derived from the ISO15739 standard.

Time evolution of visual noise with the level of illuminance

This graph shows the evolution of temporal visual noise with the level of lux. Visual temporal noise is measured on the visual noise graph in the video noise setting.

Stabilization

95

Viva X70 Pro +

Viva X70 Pro +

The stabilization assessment verifies the device’s ability to stabilize footage using software or hardware technologies such as OIS, EIS, or any other means. The assessment examines residual motion, smoothness, yellow artifacts, and residual motion blur in walking and running use cases under various lighting conditions. The video below is an excerpt from one of the tested scenes.

Motorola Edge 30 Pro: effective stabilization

Motorola Edge 20 Pro: Some camera shake

Samsung Galaxy S22 (Exynos) – effective stabilization

Manufactured goods

78

Oppo Find X2 Pro

Oppo Find X2 Pro

Artifacts are evaluated with MTF and ring measurements on the SFR graph in the laboratory, as well as frame rate measurements using the Universal Timer LED. Natural videos are visually evaluated with special attention paid to artifacts such as aliasing, quantization, locking, and toning, among others. The more severe and frequent the artifact, the greater the point deduction from the score. The main artifacts and the corresponding point loss are listed below.

Main penalties for video artifacts

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Philip Owell

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