Moto Edge 50 Fusion vs Nothing Phone 2a: Which Should You Buy

India’s affordable mid-range smartphone market just got the Moto Edge 50 Fusion. This device, starting at Rs 22,999, is Rs 3,000 cheaper than the Nothing Phone 2a, which launched two months ago. So, if you have a budget of around Rs 25,000, which device should you go for? That’s what we’re here to find out, as I pit the two devices against each other in this detailed comparison. So, let’s get right to it now, and compare Moto Edge 50 Fusion vs Nothing Phone 2a.

Moto Edge 50 Fusion vs Phone 2a: Specs

Box Contents

If you have read my Nothing Phone 2a review, you probably know that its box contents are miserly at best. You get nothing inside the box, apart from the handset itself and a Type-C cable. Meanwhile, the Edge 50 Fusion’s box comes with the 68W fast charger, cable as well as a good quality transparent case. In this department, the Edge 50 Fusion easily takes a leap ahead.

Moto Edge 50 Fusion vs Phone 2a: Design

As for the phones, I have with me Phone 2a’s White variant and Edge 50 Fusion’s Marshmallow Blue variant at the Beebom office.

Getting into the specifics, the devices have distinct designs. While the Phone 2a features a Nothing-trademark transparent design and Glyph Interface on a plastic back, the Edge 50 Fusion’s Marshmallow Blue variant comes with a vegan leather back which Motorola has been sticking to lately. However, the Edge 50 Fusion’s Forest Blue variant comes with a plastic back.

While you will get scratches on the Phone 2a’s back panel easily, the Edge 50 Fusion’s leather does get smudged. It’s just more easily visible on the Marshmallow Blue variant I’m using.

When I picked up the devices, I realized how immensely boxier the Phone 2a’s body felt in hand as compared to the Edge 50 Fusion. The Edge 50 Fusion is a lot sleeker and handier. Most importantly, the Edge 50 Fusion comes with an IP68 dust and water resistance rating, which is rare in the segment. Meanwhile, the Phone 2a sports an IP54 rating.

However, both phones come with a plastic frame. The Phone 2a’s volume rockers and power button are aluminum though, feeling more tactile and less wobbly than the Edge 50 Fusion’s plastic ones. The button placement is also better on the Phone 2a, with them divided on either side of the frame.

The Phone 2a’s all-around plastic body does feel cheaper in hand though, while the Edge 50 Fusion’s leather back feels premium. When it comes to weight management though, the Phone 2a takes the crown. The well-thought-out camera module placement at the back brings a lot more utility to the table and keeps wobbling at bay when placing it on a desk.

Another thing that you need to note is that the Phone 2a is a bit curvier at the edges, which lets it sit on your palm without digging into your skin. While the Edge 50 Fusion doesn’t do that either, it does have slightly sharper edges.

Moto Edge 50 Fusion vs Phone 2a: Display

Moving on to the display of the two phones, the Phone 2a’s 6.7-inch and Edge 50 Fusion’s 6.7-inch panels are about the same in size. These two phones also sport Gorilla Glass 5 protection on top. The Edge 50 Fusion has a curved display though, which arrives with not even a sheet on top.

So, do consider that, as UV protectors are apparently not good for your display. On the other hand, the Phone 2a comes with a protective sheet on top. Besides, being a flat display, tempered glasses are readily available.

Besides, I have always talked about how bright the Phone 2a’s display is. The recorded 1750 nits of brightness using the Lux Meter we have at the Beebom office offered stellar visibility both indoors and outdoors. It outshines any phone in the segment that I’ve compared it against so far, be it with the POCO X6 Pro, POCO X6, or Moto Edge 40 Neo.

Although the Edge 50 Fusion’s 1600 nits of peak brightness is commendable, it does feel slightly dimmer than the 2a’s panel. When watching The Batman on the two phones and the Costa Rica 4K video on YouTube, I noticed that the whites appeared brighter and the blacks looked darker on the Phone 2a’s display.

The richness of color was also about the same on the two phones, thanks to DCI-P3 coverage. The faster 144Hz refresh rate is also noticeably more fluid on the Edge 50 Fusion in comparison to the Phone 2a’s 120Hz cap.

Another thing to note is that the Edge 50 Fusion can’t play 4K YouTube or Netflix videos in HDR though for some reason. I’m guessing Moto will fix that with a software update. The Phone 2a, on the other hand, does. To accompany the display, both phones feature a solid stereo speaker setup as well.

Moto Edge 50 Fusion vs Phone 2a: Software Experience

Coming to the more interesting bit and what you’re probably here for, let’s talk about the software side of things on the two phones. Firstly, right out of the box, both phones run on Android 14 right out of the box. They are also backed by a promise of 3 years of major OS updates and 4 years of security patches.

As for the skin, the Phone 2a uses Nothing OS 2.5, while Motorola shifted from its MyUX skin to Hello UI recently. We saw it for the first time on the Edge 50 Pro. Now, seeing it on the Edge 50 Fusion, it did throw me off a bit.

The main problem is that there’s a bit of bloatware here. You get LinkedIn and Facebook preinstalled on the phone, the weather app has ads, and there’s a home screen widget that displays ads too. While you can get rid of these, it still counts as bloatware in my books.

On the other hand, the Phone 2a has a much cleaner software experience. Apart from essential Google apps, it doesn’t force you into using any other app. However, the software appeal is very subjective here.

If you don’t require as many features, a true bloatware-free experience, and a more optimized UI, the Nothing OS is the way to go. You can make use of some pretty cool widgets on the Nothing OS now. Then, there’s the ChatGPT integration everyone’s been talking about.

Then, there’s obviously the Glyph Interface’s Essential Notifications and Progress Bar that you can take advantage of. Besides, if you have a Nothing Phone, you can make use of the ChatGPT integration that all of the brand’s earbuds come with.

Meanwhile, if you’re looking for a more feature-rich experience, the Hello UI should do the trick. It arrives with a bunch of proprietary features like Moto Connect, Family Space, Moto Unplugged, and Moto Secure.

In addition, there’s also Moto Ready For which works like a charm and is better than the Windows Phone Link app. Using this feature, you can mirror your phone onto your PC, drag and drop files, stream apps, stream apps, share clipboard and more. I’m glad that Moto didn’t gatekeep these features just because it’s a budget phone. Take notes, Xiaomi.

While it has all the good things going for it, the Edge 50 Fusion suffers from UI optimization issues, as the Phone 2a did in the beginning. While Nothing has fixed most of those issues with multiple software updates, I’m not sure about Moto, going by their track record.

A couple of issues I faced on the Edge 50 Fusion were:

• Stutter when opening or closing the camera app
• Display refresh rate feeling slightly sluggish when set at Auto
• Minor stutters when browsing the UI
• Terribly harsh and unnecessary haptic feedback like when browsing through recent apps

If you look past these issues, the Hello UI is not too bad at all. However, it’s got a bit of disposing of and filtering to do before it reaches up to the Nothing Phone’s cleaner UI.

Moto Edge 50 Fusion vs Phone 2a: Performance

Both phones are pretty sorted in the performance department. The Phone 2a is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 7200 Pro 4nm chipset. Meanwhile, the Edge 50 Fusion is powered by the Snapdragon 7s Gen 2. The processors on both phones are backed by up to 12GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 256GB of UFS 2.2 internal storage. I took a deeper dive into comparing the two devices. Here are my findings:

Benchmarks

With that out of the way, the Phone 2a’s Dimensity 7200 Pro is more powerful than the Edge 50 Fusion’s 7s Gen 2, scoring more in every single benchmark I carried out. Even on AnTuTu, there’s almost a 200k difference in the scores.

Additionally, I noticed that the 7200 Pro was a bit more stable on the Phone 2a, throttling at 91% as compared to the 7s Gen 2’s 86%. Here’s a quick rundown of all the tests I ran:

Day-to-day Performance

Like I said, the Hello UI had some UI optimization issues, which were noticeable when using the device actively. It didn’t get too bad, but the Phone 2a brought superior seamlessness. On a normal day, I have around 10 to 15 apps open in the background. While both phones handled it well, the Phone 2a did it better.

From opening and closing apps to multitasking, the Phone 2a was more fluid. When it comes to thermal management, both phones are solid. I’m talking about peak summers in a state as hot as Noida. However, I did notice that in direct sunlight, the Phone 2a dims its display faster to prevent overheating.

Gaming

It’s time to get some gaming in on the two phones, and here as well, I wasn’t disappointed. These are not gaming phones from any angle, but they are decent performers and can easily let you do some gaming. I played some Genshin Impact, CoD Mobile, and BGMI on the phones. Here’s what you get out of them:

Another thing to note is that both the devices didn’t throttle when gaming. The temps were also pretty normal and hit a maximum of 38 degrees.

Moto Edge 50 Fusion vs Phone 2a: Cameras

Talking about optics, the Moto Edge 50 Fusion comes with a 50MP Sony LYT 700C primary sensor. This sensor is coupled with a 13MP ultra-wide-angle sensor, while there’s a 32MP selfie shooter at the front.

On the other hand, the Nothing Phone 2a comes with a 50 MP Samsung ISOCELL GN9 primary sensor. In addition, a 50MP Samsung ISOCELL JN1 accompanies the primary sensor. At the front, you get a 32MP Sony IMX 615 sensor.

How do these camera setups compare in real life? Take a look:

Primary Sensor

The Sony LYT 700C primary sensor on the Edge 50 Fusion is an absolute beast. So far, I have always appreciated the camera quality on the Phone 2a, but this mops the floor with it as well. While the Phone 2a captures better skin tones and more natural-looking colors, there’s some inconsistency here.

When I tried capturing a human subject through the primary sensor on a very sunny day, it completely blew out the background. The Moto Edge 50 Fusion, on the other hand, handled it all too well. While it does boost the colors, it is noticeably better. The Phone 2a also darkens the shots a bit at times.

The details are also slightly better retained in the shots as compared to the Phone 2a. When you zoom in on the hair and skin of human subjects, you will notice this easily. However, there’s a bit of sharpening going on in the Edge 50 Fusion’s shots, which I’m not a big fan of.

However, I will say that the dynamic range is better on the Phone 2a, for it handles those shadows and highlights too well. The Edge 50 Fusion is not bad in that regard, but it’s just not as good. At night as well, the findings remain the same. The Phone 2a has a tendency to capture slightly brighter photos, while the Edge 50 Fusion handles those colors and brightness levels well.

Ultra-Wide-Angle Sensor

When it comes to the ultra-wide-angle sensor though, the Phone 2a comes ahead. The 50MP sensor captures details too well. Whereas, there’s only so much that the Edge 50 Fusion’s 13MP sensor can capture.

However, there’s still some color disparity on the Phone 2a’s sensors, which you can see as you switch between the primary and ultra-wide-angle sensors. Meanwhile, that’s not an issue on the Edge 50 Fusion.

Also, again, even with ultra-wide shots, the Edge 50 Fusion boosts those colors. However, the Phone 2a maintains those natural colors very well. At night, things get worse for the Edge 50 Fusion and those details get completely smudged. On top of that, there’s a lot of noise in the shots. On the contrary, the Phone 2a’s wide-angle sensor captures shots with details maintained throughout.

Selfies

When it comes to selfies, the Phone 2a is better in terms of details. However, the Edge 50 Fusion captures more natural-looking skin tones, whereas the Phone 2a boosts them. The edge detection and depth mapping, however, are good on both phones. There’s a bit of skin softening on the Edge 50 Fusion which looks a bit odd at times.

Videos

Talking about videos, both phones can record at up to 4K 30FPS as well as in 1080p 60FPS through the primary sensor. However, at the front, the Phone 2a is limited to 1080p 60FPS, while the Edge 50 Fusion captures up to 4K 30FPS.

Moto Edge 50 Fusion vs Phone 2a: Battery Life

Coming to the battery department, both handsets pack a big 5000mAh battery. However, the Edge 50 Fusion brings a faster 68W fast charging support to the table. Meanwhile, the Phone 2a’s charging capabilities are capped at 45W.

As for the screen-on-times, the Edge 50 Fusion delivers more juice. After an hour of using the camera, around 3 hours of watching YouTube videos and Netflix content, and an hour of playing Genshin Impact, I was still left with 30% battery. With medium usage, you can easily get around 8.5 hours of SoT. The Phone 2a’s battery will give you around 7 hours of SoT, in comparison.

Since the Edge 50 Fusion does not have that capable a processor, it doesn’t require that much power to back it up in the first place.

However, when it comes to charging, the Edge 50 Fusion takes a bit of a lead, charging in around an hour fully from 0%. The Phone 2a takes around 1 hour and 10 minutes to do the same.

Moto Edge 50 Fusion vs Phone 2a: Who Wins?

The verdict of this comparison is pretty simple. If you want a better display, cleaner software experience, unique design, and more performance, go for the Nothing Phone 2a. However, if you’re looking for a solid in-hand feel on a phone that’s capable of delivering more screen-on-time and also sports a commendable primary camera sensor, the Edge 50 Fusion is your ideal choice.

Then there’s also the curved display vs flat display debate. However, since the Edge 50 Fusion has a plastic OLED, it isn’t as prone to breaking. On top of that, the Gorilla Glass 5 protection brings some relief.

The deal breaker, however, is the box content of the phones. You get everything you need with the Edge 50 Fusion, from a good-quality case to a fast charger. All that for Rs 3,000 less makes it an easy recommendation over the Phone 2a.