With last year’s Razr+, Motorola redefined the foldable flip phone category with its Razr and Razr+ handsets, and for two different reasons. The Razr brought the form factor to a more affordable price point, while the Razr+ introduced a larger cover display, meaning it was no longer about having to open your phone to use it. You could use it from the cover screen completely, opening it up for a larger experience.
This year, the products are refined. The Razr+ now has a four-inch external screen, meaning it’s bigger than the display on an iPhone 5s. The regular Razr has a 3.6-inch screen now, so it’s similar to last year’s Razr+. They’re both great products, and if you’re interested in a foldable flip phone, Motorola is definitely the way to go.
The regular Razr is powered by a MediaTek chipset, which is unfortunate, especially paired with slower RAM and storage, but that’s why it costs $300 less. It does keep the ultra-wide camera though, something that was replaced by a 2x telephoto lens in the Razr+.
Motorola provided the 2024 models of its Razr and Razr+ for review. It did not have any input on the contents of this article.
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Motorola Razr (2024)
Pros
- The most competitively priced flip phone
- It has a real screen on the outside this time
- It keeps the ultra-wide camera
Cons
- Sluggish performance
- ISP leads to camera drawbacks
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Motorola Razr+ (2024)
Pros
- Fast performance
- Fun AI features
- The cover screen is bigger than an iPhone 5s
Cons
- The ultra-wide camera is gone
- Camera is inconsistent in low-light
Motorola Razr (2024) and Razr+ (2024) pricing and availability
Pre-orders for the 2024 version of the Motorola Razr and Razr+ kick off on July 10, starting at $699 and $999, respectively. They’ll be available on July 24.
They come in pretty colors this year, including Koala Grey, Beach Sand, Spritz Orange for the Razr, and Midnight Blue, Spring Green, Peach Fuzz, Hot Pink for the Razr+. The colors I reviewed are Beach Sand and Peach Fuzz.
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Motorola Razr (2024) Motorola Razr+ (2024) SoC MediaTek Dimensity 7300X Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 Mobile Platform Display 6.9″ FHD+ pOLED display 2640 x1080 (main) | 413ppi | LTPO | Foldable AMOLED | HDR10+ | 10-bit | 120% DCI-P3 colorgamut; Size: 3.6″ pOLED display 1056 x 1066 (second) | 413ppi | LTPS | Flexible AMOLED| 10-bit | HDR10+ | 100% DCI-P3 color gamut, Refresh rate: Up to 90Hz, Touch rate: 120Hz, Peak Brightness: 1700 nits 6.9″ FHD+ pOLED display (2640 x 1080) | 413ppi | LTPO | Foldable AMOLED | HDR10+ | 10-bit | 120% DCI-P3 colorgamut, 4.0″ pOLED display 1272 x 1080 | 417ppi | LTPO | Flexible AMOLED | HDR10+ | 10-bit | 100% DCI-P3 colorgamut RAM 8GB LPDDR4X 12GB LPDDR5X Storage Up to 512GB built-in storage | UFS 2.2 256GB built-in storage UFS4.0 Rear camera Main: 50MP (f/1.7, 0.8μm or 12.6MP, 1.6μm QuadPixel) | OIS | Instantall Pixel Focus; Second camera:13MP (f/2.2, 1.12μm) |Ultra wide / macro |FOV 120° Main camera 50MP (f/1.7, 0.8μm) or 12.6MP (1.6μm QuadPixel) | OIS | Instant-all PixelFocusTelephoto 50MP telephoto lens (f/2.0, 0.64um) or 12.6MP (1.28μm Quad Pixel) | 2x optical zoom Front camera 32MP (f/2.4, 0.7 μm) or 8MP (f/2.4, 1.4um) QuadPixel 32MP (f/2.4, 0.7 μm) or 8MP (f/2.4, 1.4um) QuadPixel Battery 4200mAh non-removable 4000mAh non-removable Charge speed 30W TurboPower charging 45W TurboPower charging support Ports USB-C USB 2.0 Connectivity Wi-Fi 5G, Wi-Fi 6/6E, Bluetooth 5.4 Wi-Fi 5G, Wi-Fi 6/6E, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4 Dimensions Open: 73.99 x 171.30 x 7.25mmClosed: 73.99 x 88.08 x 15.85mm Open: 73.99 x 171.42 x 7.09mmClosed: 73.99 x 88.09x 15.32mm Weight 6.6 oz 6.66 oz Colors Koala Grey, Beach Sand, Spritz Orange Midnight Blue, Spring Green, Peach Fuzz, Hot Pink Operating System Android 14 Android 14 Price $699 $999
Design and display
It’s all about a larger cover screen
Motorola didn’t make any big design changes this year, other than changing the colors and enlarging the external displays. Both devices come with either a “vegan leather” or “vegan suede” back, depending on the color you choose.
They’re colorful phones too, which is a delight to see. Razr is meant to be a lifestyle device, so it’s designed to show off your personality. The Razr+ doesn’t even come in black this year.
The Razr is a lifestyle device, which is where Motorola excels.
Indeed, Motorola has long focused on lifestyle devices, adding software features that are just fun. For example, my favorite feature of this year’s Razr lineup is Style Sync. All you have to do is take a selfie, and you’ll get a trio of AI-generated wallpapers to choose from, based on your clothing. It’s a fun way to personalize your device every day. There’s also a text-based wallpaper generator if you want to get creative.
AI is the big buzzword in the industry, and wallpaper generation is really all that Motorola is doing right now, along with offering a Gemini Advanced trial. It has other features coming later this year, like the ability to easily summarize your notifications. We’ll talk about those when they’re available.
Back to the device itself, the Razr+ is all-screen on the outside. Measured at four inches diagonally, it’s bigger than an iPhone 5s, thanks to how aspect ratios work (the closer it is to square, the larger the screen). It does wrap around the cameras though, so you lose a bit of surface area there.
You could use this phone without ever opening the display. Any app will work, and I haven’t come across a problematic app that didn’t scale well enough. There are a bunch of games designed for the cover screen, which come pre-loaded. Some of us reviewers share high scores behind the scenes, of course. Last year, it was all about Stack Bouncebut this year, it’s Freekick Football. Sadly, I did not have the high score by the time the embargo lifted, so I’ll hang my head in shame until next year.
The cover screen on the regular Razr is 3.6 inches, and the whole device is just like a Razr+ (2023), except for the internals. If you look from the outside, you’ll see that bottom bezel since the cover display doesn’t take up all the space, although I actually think it adds a bit of style. These devices come in such pretty colors, so seeing some of that on the front is a good look.
Related
Motorola Razr+ (2023) review: The best clamshell foldable right now
Samsung, take note. The Razr+ is a major improvement for clamshell foldables simply by using a larger outside screen.
Both cover displays look lovely, and you wouldn’t be able to tell that they use different screen technologies (AMOLED and pOLED) by looking at them. I’d have guessed they were the same, aside from the obvious difference in resolution. They both do great in direct sunlight too. These are bright displays.
The Razr is the best foldable flip phone on the market.
The internal displays actually are the same, coming in at a very tall 6.9 inches, using pOLED. They’re fine, and frankly, there just isn’t a lot to say about them. They fold, that’s it.
Camera
You’ll miss the ultra-wide lens on the Razr+
Both the Razr and Razr+ have three cameras, one internal and two external, and the internal camera and the main sensor are the same on both devices. The big difference is the secondary external camera. On the Razr, it’s a 13MP ultra-wide camera, similar to what last year’s Razr+ had. On the Razr+, there’s now a 2x zoom lens.
You will miss having an ultra-wide camera. Remember, the external cameras on a Razr aren’t just for world-facing photos. They’re for selfies too, and that ultra-wide camera can come in handy for group photos. In many cases, I actually found myself preferring the Razr over the Razr+ for this very reason. The main sensor is 50MP, so a digital crop to 2x is just fine.
There’s something else to talk about with these cameras, which is that they were weirdly different. Considering that for most photos they’re using the exact same sensor, the MediaTek and Qualcomm ISPs are processing these images very differently.
Left: Razr, Right: Razr+, taken with the internal camera
Left: Razr, Right: Razr+, taken with the external camera with the display closed
And then there are just general photos, where you can plainly see lighting handled differently between the two devices. The Razr+ doesn’t handle bright light in nighttime conditions too well, at least compared to the Razr. Overall though, the Snapdragon ISP wins.
Motorola Razr (2024) gallery:
Motorola Razr+ (2024) gallery:
In general, the cameras are fine, and it’s not like Samsung is doing anything better with its Z Flip series. Frankly, you can’t. These devices are thin because they fold in half, and there’s only so much space up there. If you’re wondering why Motorola swapped out the ultra-wide lens for a telephoto on the Razr+ instead of using all three, the obvious reason is because there isn’t space.
My biggest issue is that while the camera on the Razr+ is better, there are some cases where the Razr snaps a better image. For me, the most important quality of a smartphone camera is that I can rely on it to take a proper picture at the right time. That doesn’t seem to be the case here. I take issue with the fact that one phone might be better than the other depending on the circumstances.
While we tend to give flip phones a pass for sub-par images because of the form factor, we still have to remind ourselves that Pixel exists. Google did a lot with a little for a very long time, so it’s definitely possible to do better.
Performance
Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 wins while MediaTek underdelivers
You don’t see a lot of MediaTek Dimensity in the United States. Qualcomm owns that market, especially in the premium segment. It’s a known quantity and when people buy a high-end smartphone, they expect it. I don’t think the Dimensity 7300X in the Razr is going to win anyone over.
Let’s start with a simple Geekbench 6 benchmark.
The Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 in the Razr+ smokes the Dimensity 7300X in the Razr, beating single-core scores by 92% and beating multi-core scores by 62%. I don’t know if I’d necessarily call the Razr laggy, but you can definitely feel the lag coming off of the Razr+.
It’s not just the chipset either. The Razr uses older UFS 2.2 storage while the Razr+ uses UFS 4.0. It has faster LPDDR5x RAM too. All of these choices lead to the Razr costing $300 less than the Razr+.
I’m here for it though. This year, the Razr+ actually feels like a ‘Plus’ version of the regular model, and that’s how it should be. The regular model is standard, while the ‘Plus’ gives you something extra. Last year, it felt like the Razr+ was the standard, while the base model was more of a Razr-.
I had no issues with all-day battery life on either device, with some change at the end of the day. They support 30W and 45W charging in case you need a top-up, but that charger doesn’t come in the box anyway.
Note that I used them pretty heavily to get that all-day battery life, so it’s pretty impressive. After all, I was testing them throughout that time.
Should you buy the Motorola Razr (2024) or Razr+ (2024)?
You should buy the Motorola Razr (2024) or Razr+ (2024) if:
- You have small pockets
- The flip phone form factor appeals to you, and you want to rock that phone in style
- You take a lot of selfies
You should NOT buy the Motorola Razr (2024) or Razr+ (2024) if:
- You want the best camera
- You want easy access to a big screen
At this point, we can safely say that foldables aren’t for everyone. We’re beyond the point where you’d buy it just because a folding screen is cool, so you’ll want the unique value proposition that you’d get from said folding screen. In the case of a flip phone, that comes down to a smaller footprint.
Motorola has put a lot of work into getting the most out of that, and it’s a mature product now. We’re well past the days of a tiny screen on the outside that pretty much gives you the time and notifications, and we’re past the point of saying these devices are for people trying to cut back on screen time (the worst excuse for a phone that does less).
The Motorola Razr and Razr+ are the best flip phones on the market, and I say that not knowing what Samsung will announce in *checks watch* about 24 hours. The difference between the two is, well, $300. If you want premium, go premium. If the entry-level Razr sounds like it’s for you, it’s pretty great too.
Related
Motorola Razr+ (2024) vs. Razr (2024): Which is right for you?
New Razr phones are on the way, but should you save cash on the base model or opt for the more expensive Razr+? Here’s what you need to know.
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Motorola Razr (2024)
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Motorola Razr+ (2024)