We are accustomed to tech brands partnering with side by side brand , whether it’sOnePlus with Hasselblador Honor and Huawei withPorsche Design , and often — such as withXiaomi and Leica — singing the praise of the result collaborations . But not enough has been say about Motorola ’s now establish partnership with color expert Pantone .
It was when the recently released Motorola Edge 50 Neo arrived for me to sample out that I finally sympathise how impactful the collaboration has become . Why ? It manages to make even ordinary coloration look terrific .
Boring gray?
The Edge 50 Neo in my hands is gray . While I like a minimalist flavour , gray is not an exciting color , and as someone who also likes a splash of bright colour on a smartphone , it ’s not one I ’d expect to really care . But the Edge 50 Neo is n’t white-haired , it ’s Grisaille . on the face of it , Grisaille is the name given to a special art manner where only different nicety of gray are used , and the word is obviously adapted from the Frenchgris , meaning gray .
I did n’t need to look up the name of the color on Motorola ’s internet site either , as the intimate Pantone swatch batting order stamped on the back of the phone proudly informed me . Is Grisaille gray ? No , this is far from the color used to paint battleships , in the same wayPorsche ’s terrific Crayon colorisn’t just grey-headed either . Grisaille is a medium blue , but refined enough that all but a tip of the blue rest as the darker gray tone emerge .
Motorola does n’t just slap a scrap of Grisaille on the back of the Edge 50 Neo and call it a Clarence Shepard Day Jr. . The rearward panel is made from vegan leather , but it has n’t been made to experience like a hardwearing leather . alternatively , the fabric is so gentle to partake , and the grain under your fingerbreadth is n’t too serve to cook the feeling of expensive leather . Instead it ’s its own affair — silky , posh , ardent , and grippy . It ’s with child to find it on the back of a lower - cost earphone . It ’s a more effective base than charge card or glassful to make the color stand out too .
Viva MagentaJoe Maring / Digital Trends
Beyond gray
The fact I can look at a gray smartphone and pen about it in this way tell you all you need to have sex about Pantone ’s study with Motorola on color . While I like Grisaille belike more than I should , the genuine magic of the partnership is ascertain when the phone comes in one of Pantone ’s yearly “ color of the yr ” tonicity .
A few week after I received the Grisaille Edge 50 Neo , Motorola announce a reading in Pantone ’s color of the year 2025called Mocha Mousse . trust me , Itriedto get a sampling of the Edge 50 Neo in Mocha Mousse , but they ’re in inadequate supply , and I was very deplorable . Like Grisaille is n’t gray , Mocha Mousse is n’t browned . No - one would require a brownish smartphone , which is color best reserved for coffee beans and bears , anyway . It look antic in the promotional images . crude and warm , and understated without being boring .
It ’s very different from Pantone ’s color of the year 2024 , Peach Fuzz , and 2022 ’s Very Peri , both of which have been used on Motorola phones . However , many people will best rememberViva Magenta , Pantone ’s 2023 color of the year . A brilliant vivid mix of maroon and pink with breath of blue sky , it popped in a direction few smartphone colors do today . disregardless of which Motorola phone it appeared on , it was the colour to opt if you wanted to make a statement . We reviewed theMotorola Razr Plusin the colouration and called it “ unacceptable to ignore . ”
Mocha MousseMotorola
All in on color
Motorola has beenworking with Pantone since 2022 . While it could have only pocket the coloring of the year and made a few special editions featuring it , the caller has taken full advantage of Pantone ’s expertness to use unique colors across its integral range and even in the computer hardware itself . The Edge 50 Neo add up in Pantone - produce Latte , Poinciana , and Nautical Blue in gain to the two hues mentioned above . question what color Poinciana is ? It ’s what would materialise if a Viva Magenta earphone and a Peach Fuzz earpiece got together and made their own Moto phone . Motorola has also infused Pantone ’s people of color cognition intothe television camera and the concealment .
There ’s another interesting aspect to the Motorola and Pantone partnership . Colors come after trends , which we see in everything from cars to clothes , but most likely , we prize them subconsciously unless we ’re in full plugged into the earthly concern of art , way , and conception . By showcasing Pantone ’s colors on smartphones , Motorola is exposing us to this otherwise middling hide world in a very open way . I doubt I ’d love what Pantone ’s 2025 color of the year was without Motorola present me , but now I ’ll likely be more aware of it outside of technical school , and I bonk that it has done this .
Most smartphone company stick with an established , relatively safe roll of colors and give them name inspired by whatever the merchandising team think fits the theme . Starlight this and Space that . Motorola has handed all that over to people who know about color , avoid yet more dull variations of the same thing , and in doing so , has made the theme of color fascinating and its phones eye - catch and exciting — no matter whether you choose the ordinary or the vivacious model .
Spritz OrangeChristine Romero-Chan / Digital Trends
Luxe LavenderAndy Boxall / Digital Trends
