TechPhonesMotorola’s new Pantone phone colour is everything – except for one detailMoto Edge Neo begins a Motorola and Pantone exclusive alliance, starting with 2022’s ‘Color of the Year’When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
TechPhonesMotorola’s new Pantone phone colour is everything – except for one detailMoto Edge Neo begins a Motorola and Pantone exclusive alliance, starting with 2022’s ‘Color of the Year’When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
Moto Edge Neo begins a Motorola and Pantone exclusive alliance, starting with 2022’s ‘Color of the Year’
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
When it comes to buying a new phone it’s often a case of picking a black slab. Or maybe grey. It might be a very nice-looking black-or-grey slab, granted, but uninspiring nonetheless. Motorola clearly wants to change that, as the company has just announced an exclusive Pantone partnership to bring exciting new colours to its future devices.
I think that for a phone such as the Edge Neo, which is relatively low-end priced at £349.99 (check out T3’sbest budget phones guidehere), that the Pantone Very Peri finish is everything: it’s a point of difference, an attractive finish that you won’t find anywhere else (except, perhaps, for future Motorola phones) given the ongoing deal between the two companies.
Moto + Pantone: So what’s the hitch?
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(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
But much as I love the purple colour and the way it reflects in the light, I have one big problem with a specific detail – why is there a Pantone emblem on the rear of the phone? It looks like a sticker, but I can assure you it is not, it’s baked into the phone as part of its identity. Check out my gallery of images above.
When I queried Motorola officials on this very point, i.e. whether it was a Pantone stipulation to require its branding to appear in such a way, the answer was quite the opposite: Motorola has chosen to take on the Pantone branding, in this sticker-alike format, and include it as part of the design. At least that’s the case for the Edge Neo, it may change for future handsets.
Perhaps it’s just me, maybe others will love the Pantone emblem on the rear, but to me Pantone is a colour company, not a fashion label. The colour should therefore do the talking, not the company name. If I went shopping for a Farrow & Ball paint, looking for a high-end finish to stand out, I wouldn’t finish painting a wall in my house and then stick the paint can’s frontage pride of place afterwards.
It’s also not the first time the world has seen a Pantone collaboration with a mobile phone maker:Huaweifamously had a tie-in way back in 2017, when ‘Color of the Year’ was Greenery. And, yes, theHuawei P10in this finish did look like something you might cough up during a bout of unwanted illness.
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Fortunately, insofar, Motorola’s collaboration with Pantone and the use of Very Peri is far more favourable – although it’s exclusive to Currys and Carphone Warehouse in the UK. I think this colour is everything on the Edge Neo, save for that one outlined design detail. Here’s looking forward to more in the future though.
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