There are plenty of smartphones with high-quality casing materials, but you usually have to pay a lot for them. Motorola proves it doesn't have to be that way with the Edge 70 Max: You can already find it online at a fairly low price, yet it comes with a premium chassis that even resists water and dust.
In the past, you had to buy bulky outdoor phones with rubberized surfaces to hear statements like: "Survives 30 minutes underwater" or "Has no problem with extreme temperatures". Today, such claims are also made for very stylish and relatively slim phones such as the Motorola Edge 70 Max.
Affordable phone with IP certification
The phone costs around US$ 850 directly from the manufacturer, including a gift, but it is already available for about US$ 650 from third-party retailers.
The Edge 70 Max has all sorts of certifications, including IP68/IP69, which allows it to be used underwater at depths of up to 1 meter and even subjected to a high-pressure water jet or steam cleaner without sustaining damage.
However, buyers should bear the following in mind: Motorola's website explicitly excludes liquid damage from the warranty. So if a fault occurs despite the certification, it may not be covered by the warranty, and you may have to pay for the repair yourself.
Is the Edge 70 Max's case too bulky?
At 8.3 millimeters, the chassis is slightly thicker than those of many comparable phones, and the Motorola Edge 70 Max is also slightly heavier at 221 grams.
However, this is barely noticeable in everyday use and is mainly due to the high battery capacity, which in turn enables very long runtimes in daily use: We measured 28 hours in our real-world Wi-Fi test.
Stylish and sturdily built phone
According to Motorola, it uses "aircraft-grade aluminum". This is not a protected term, but presumably refers to an aluminum alloy that is also used in aircraft construction. This is combined with Gorilla Glass 7i to make the chassis as sturdy as possible.
The phone also looks very stylish, thanks to the very slim display bezels on the front and three Pantone color options: Aqua Gray, a medium gray, Ice Melt, a very light blue, and Dark Shadow, a very dark gray.
Overall, the Edge 70 Max makes a good impression and is very sturdily built. You can find out what else the phone has to offer in our in-depth review.