Motorola’s new Razrs make all the right changes, but I still have questions

Just one year ago, Motorola took a big swing in the ever-evolving foldable market with its 2023 Razr lineup. The Razr+ delivered an expansive cover screen capable of practically any standard smartphone task, while the midrange Razr arrived in the fall to bring foldables to a more affordable price point. This year, Motorola is falling in line with the rest of the industry, iterating on the same core ideas while delivering some crucial improvements.

In my brief hands-on time with both phones, I have to say I’m pretty impressed with what’s on display here — but it might not be enough to address my concerns surrounding Moto’s long-term support.

Moto’s new Razr+ is iteration done right

Just enough changes to feel like an all-new experience

In many ways, the new Moto Razr+ is exactly what I wanted, improving or iterating on practically every complaint I had on last year’s model. The overall design is unchanged, opting for plenty of curves over the flat, boxy edges of its Galaxy-branded rival. At first glance, you might not even notice all that much has changed. Once that front cover screen lights up, though, it becomes obvious — this is the clamshell design we’ve all been waiting for.

Motorola has extended its front display across the entire device, delivering a 4-inch screen that feels more capable than ever. It features some redesigned widgets that feel more in line with the experience Samsung shipped last year, along with support for running any installed app. Even in my limited testing, it’s an obvious upgrade, giving users more space to type (or, you know, to see what they’re typing), or extending the Spotify widget to include suggested playlists.

The other big design change this year is the Razr’s back finish. Last year’s model primarily used frosted glass, but Motorola is leaning big into the vegan leather first seen on 2023’s magenta variant. In addition to vegan leather options in blue, green, and orange, this year’s Razr+ also comes in Hot Pink, complete with an ultra-soft vegan suede back. It’s nice to see a company lean into a variety of colors and unique finishes for its flagship products when nearly all of its rivals refuse to venture outside a handful of desaturated shades.

The 2024 Razr+ (left) next to last year’s model (right).

Motorola is also talking up its camera game, delivering an AI-optimized 50MP main sensor paired with a 2x telephoto lens primarily designed for portrait photos. The company clearly sees some potential in willing influencers with this sort of lineup, though at the cost of the ultra-wide sensor, I really wish the telephoto lens was longer. Still, factor in real water resistance, 45W fast-charging with 15W wireless charging, and — maybe most importantly — a much more rigid hinge that delivers a satisfying snap every time you flip open the screen, and we’re looking at a device that makes good on the potential of last year’s model.

For all the excitement this new hardware might bring, the most exciting new feature this year — to me, at least — has absolutely nothing to do with its foldable form factor. Folks, Motorola finally has an always-on display, a real always-on display, capable of showcasing the time, date, weather, incoming notifications, and more. While I’m well aware plenty of our readers keep AODs disabled, I’ve been dying to see this feature come to Moto phones, and I’m happy to see it here.

Unsurprisingly, AI was a huge talking point around Moto’s new Razrs, as the company prepares to deliver its Moto AI suite of intelligent applications throughout the coming months. Some of these tools sound promising, summarizing notifications or quickly starting an instant recording through a single voice command. None of those features are available at launch, though; instead, you’ll have to make due with this year’s Razr being the first clamshell foldable to sport Gemini support right out of the box. You can even activate it right from the cover screen — yet another reason to keep this device folded shut.

Promising first impressions, but not without some potential pitfalls

Motorola has to make good on its flaws

Even if my immediate impressions are pretty positive, I have plenty of questions about the Razr’s long-term success. Some of them are impossible to know from a quick hands-on session, like how Motorola’s new selection of materials lining the backs of these devices will age. Say what you will about the fragility of glass — it’s at least predictable. I’m also curious if these cameras will hold up to the level of performance the company is promising, as, so far, I can’t think of a single clamshell foldable with good photo performance.

Other questions, though, have plagued practically all of Moto’s recent smartphones, including the elephant in the room: software support. Last year’s Moto Razr+ has yet to receive its first of three planned OS upgrades to Android 14, more than eight months after Google rolled out a stable build. The company tells me that this update is planned for sometime this summer, but I’m really struggling to see why it’s taking so long to arrive, and it has me particularly worried about software support on this phone.

Motorola can promise three OS upgrades, but it’s fallen behind just about every single major Android OEM I can think of in this regard. Samsung brought Android 14 to the Galaxy Z Flip 5 in November, just over a month after it arrived on Pixel phones. Even OnePlus, which features a much heavier skin than any of Motorola’s phones, delivered an Android 14 upgrade to the Open a few months ago. As great as this hardware might feel — and as impressive as some of the new software enhancements are — it’s clear this phone is something you should buy for the experience offered today. I’m not sure that’s good enough in 2024.

I’m also curious to see how performance holds up in daily use. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 might sound like a midcycle souped-up variant of last year’s flagship chip, but it’s actually a bit of a downgrade, pairing the AI-focused potential of that chip with a CPU and GPU more in line with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. For $1,000, that could be a tough pill to swallow, especially considering Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 6 — a device almost certain to sport the standard Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 — is likely arriving in just a couple of weeks.

The new midrange Razr is a lot like last year’s Razr+

And for $700, I’m not sure you could ask for more

If the new Razr+ is what I’ve hoped clamshell foldables would evolve to, the latest midrange Razr is another stab at the ideas behind last year’s model. It sports the same 3.6-inch display — no edge-to-edge cover screen here, but certainly a big improvement compared to the tiny ticker display from last year. Likewise, some of its specs match last year’s flagship, like 30W fast-charging over the 45W speeds seen on this year’s Razr+.

But if you’re wondering whether it’s worth picking up the 2023 Razr+ at a discount over this phone, I’d say hold off — at least until we’ve had a chance to review it. There’s a lot about this year’s $700 Razr that comes from its more premium sibling, including the same improved hinge, water resistance, and 50MP main sensor (though without the AI-powered image enhancements the company spent plenty of time talking up). Those are big changes, and for $700, it sounds pretty promising on paper.

The big question mark here comes from its chipset. This device is running on MediaTek’s recently-announced Dimensity 7300X, a midrange SoC that should deliver enough performance to manage everyday tasks without breaking a sweat. But compared to the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 used in last year’s Razr+, it’s an unknown variable, and a quick hands-on session isn’t long enough to know just how well it’ll hold up in everyday use. Stay tuned for our review on this one — if Motorola can stick the landing, this midrange Razr might be the perfect gateway foldable.

You don’t have to wait long for these new Razrs

Preorders are just a couple of weeks away

As I mentioned, I have plenty of questions about Moto’s pair of new Razrs. I loved last year’s model, but disappointing software support has left me feeling pretty cold about the company’s hardware throughout 2024. I’m hoping these two phones will be good enough to kick off another season of new foldables, though, and thankfully, we won’t have to wait too long to find out. Both devices are up for preorder starting on July 10th, with availability on July 24th. Whether it’ll be enough to take attention away from this summer’s forthcoming Galaxy launch, though, remains to be seen.

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  Motorola Razr (2024)

  The Razr (2024) is Motorola’s affordable flip phone, packing almost all the features you can ask for. It packs a big, usable 3.6-inch cover display, a 6.9-inch pOLED folding screen with a 120Hz refresh rate, and a powerful MediaTek DImensity chip.

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  Motorola Razr+ (2024)

  The Motorola Razr+ (2024) is an impressive flip foldable, featuring high-end internals. With the 2024 variant, Motorola has made one of our favorite flip phones from last year even better, bumping the cover screen size even further, fitting a beefier battery, and improving the cameras.