Motorola’s Latest $200 Android Phone Could Be the Best Deal of the Year!

Yet another $200 smartphone has launched in China – after yesterday’s Honor Play 60 Plus, make way for the Moto S50 Neo. The new phone has a 6.7-inch pOLED display (it’s FHD+ and 120Hz) with a Snapdragon 6s Gen 3 chipset, and a 5,000mAh battery with 30W charging, according to GSMArena. It’s running Android 14. 

The Moto S50 Neo, released this year is an ultra-modern looking smartphone that ships in three different colours. These are gray, olivine and surf. The colour olivine and the colour surf both have a back of the smartphone made of textile-like nanotexture that Pantech Internet Inc defines as having a ‘texture reminiscent of skin-friendly products’, and as ‘wear-resistant’, adding ‘a touch of style’. The two colours were created by Pantone.

On the rear are a 50-megapixel primary camera (Sony IMX882 sensor, F/1.79 aperture), an 8MP ultrawide (118 front view), and a 32MP front camera – all to get those precious moments that leave me speechless. Not bad.

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 6s Gen 3 midrange mobile processor (2023), with 8 GB or 12 GB of RAM and 256 to 512 GB storage, expandable with the microSD card slot.

Though the phone is officially called the Moto S50 Neo, it’s only available in China. It is slated to go on sale in the rest of the world this year as the Moto G85. The U.S. appears not to be part of the latter plan. $220 is the price of the base model; the other comes in at $261.

For those of us unable to afford a Moto S50 Neo (most of us), there are a number of high-quality, low-cost smartphones from reputable makers worldwide including the OnePlus Nord N300 5G and the Samsung Galaxy A14 5G, as well as the newly released Moto G Stylus 5G (2024), a fine device for those who wish to continue with Motorola.