Motorola Razr (2024)

The Motorola Razr ($699.99), revised for 2024, is a more affordable take on the folding phone. It offers plenty of upgrades compared with last year's model, including a refined design, a much larger external screen, and a waterproof build, while carrying over essentials such as excellent battery life and a folding form factor that comes in three colors. The Razr costs $300 less than the flagship Razr+, and it's clear where Motorola found those cost savings: speed could be faster, and the cameras can certainly use a boost. If you can afford it, the Razr+ has significantly better performance, more AI tools, and a larger outer screen. Still, the Razr is an appealing entry point into the world of folding phones.

Design: On Trend

The Razr and Razr+ are more alike than ever. Motorola has tweaked each phone and made them nearly identical in the process. The Razr has a gently rounded 6000 series aluminum frame, Corning Gorilla Glass Victus on the front, and vegan leather on the rear. Motorola claims the leather material is tough and won't be easily marred during use. I like that it gives the phone some grip. The Razr comes in three colors: Beach Sand, Koala Gray, or Spritz Orange (the model I received for review). I like the matte finish to the aluminum frame, which contrasts with the polished frame of the Razr+.

(Credit: Eric Zeman)

The Razr measures 3.48 by 2.91 by 0.59 inches (HWD) closed and 6.50 by 2.91 by 0.28 inches open. It weighs 6.7 ounces and shares both its dimensions and weight with the pricer Razr+. Last year's Razr measured in at 3.47 by 2.91 by 0.62 inches closed, 6.73 by 2.91 by 0.29 inches open, and 6.65 ounces. Carrying the phone is about as easy as it gets. Few other modern phones fit in your pocket so well, and the mix of materials gives it a pleasing feel to use daily.

(Credit: Eric Zeman)

Motorola has rebuilt the center hinge entirely with the goal of improving its strength and durability. The company says the hinge is also much better at rejecting dust. The result is a solid and smooth hinge that opens and closes with much less effort than previous models. You can totally use the phone as a fidget toy. In addition to the new hinge, the Razr matches the IPX8 rating of the Razr+. This means it can handle a quick dunk in shallow water and live to tell the tale.

(Credit: Eric Zeman)

The individual volume buttons and power button are on the right side of the phone. The buttons are a little thin for my taste but have decent action when pressed. The power button doubles as a fingerprint reader. It's a breeze to train and works reliably to unlock the phone. Similar to the Razr+, though, the buttons flip-flop their position depending on whether the phone is opened or closed. This leads to occasional misfires. The phone accepts one physical SIM card and eSIM; the SIM card tray is located along the left side. The bottom hosts a USB-C port (USB 2.0), mics, and a speaker.

(Credit: Eric Zeman)

No matter which color Razr you choose, the outer glass panel is black. It holds the two camera lenses, which are wedged into the top-left corner, along with a tiny flash. This surface tends to collect fingerprints rather quickly and requires constant wiping down.

Displays: A Whole New Experience

One of the biggest improvements to the Razr is the outer display. Where last year's model had but a small, 1.5-inch strip to show notifications, the 2024 Razr has a fully functional screen that does everything the Razr+ does—just with a little less real estate.

(Credit: Eric Zeman)

The pOLED panel has grown to 3.6 inches from top to bottom. It has a resolution of 1,056 by 1,066 pixels at a density of 413 pixels per inch (ppi). It supports a dynamic refresh rate of up to 90Hz and a static touch response rate of 120Hz. Brightness reaches a peak of 1,700 nits. The Razr+ has a 4-inch screen with 1,272 by 1,080 pixels, a variable 165Hz refresh rate, and a brightness of 2,400 nits.

For the inner screen, the Razr and Razr+ share the same display. It is 6.9 inches and has a resolution of 2,640 by 1,080 pixels with a density of 413ppi. It supports a dynamic refresh rate of up to 165Hz and a touch sampling rate that ranges from 220Hz to 300Hz, depending on the activity. Peak brightness extends to 3,000 nits.

(Credit: Eric Zeman)

I was able to use the Razr indoors and out with no visibility issues. The outer screen is less vibrant than the Razr+, but it still delivers a dramatically better experience than the 2023 model. The main screen is quite bright and pops with color. If you were wondering about the crease, yes, it's still obvious when the display is off. It tends to disappear once you turn the screen on.

Performance: No Real Improvement

Motorola has updated the Razr's processor, but I was hoping it would go a little further. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 chip powered last year's phone and this year's device adopts the MediaTek Dimensity 7300x processor. The Razr+, meanwhile, has a Snapdragon 8s Gen 3. Motorola pairs the 7300X with 8GB of LPDDR4x RAM and 256GB of UFS 2.2 storage, which are both slower than the LPDDR5x RAM and UFS 4.0 storage of the Razr+. The difference in performance becomes obvious when you look at benchmarks.

(Credit: Geekbench/GFXBench/PCMark)

Starting with Geekbench 6, which measures general CPU performance, the Razr scored 1,054 on the single-core test and 3,010 on the multi-core test. These results are nearly identical to the scores of 1,053 and 2,997 of the 2023 Razr, and well behind the 1,892 and 4,648 of the Razr+.

PCMark Work 3.0 is a test that scores phones on how well they handle everyday activities. Here, the Razr reached a score of 14,142. We don't have a score for last year's Razr, but the Razr+ did much better with 17,122.

We use the GFXBench test to evaluate GPU performance. The Razr ran the test at 20 frames per second, which is slower than last year's Razr (21fps) and the new Razr+ (65fps). This means the Razr isn't the best phone for high-end gaming. It can still play high-intensity games like Genshin Impact, but at lower settings and frame rates. Standard fare like Alto's Odyssey plays without an issue.

More importantly, everyday performance is just OK. The phone sometimes pauses when opening apps, particularly resource-intensive ones like the camera. The Razr was able to multitask but stuttered occasionally when switching between apps. The pricier Razr+ runs much smoother.

Battery: A High Point

Motorola keeps the Razr's internal battery's capacity the same at 4,200mAh. The phone ran for an impressive 16 hours and 5 minutes in our stress test, which requires it to stream an HD video over Wi-Fi with the screen set at its full brightness. This is better than most phones on the market, including the Razr+ (14 hours, 37 minutes) and Samsung Galazy Z Flip 5 (10 hours, 5 minutes).

The phone supports rapid wired charging at 30W and wireless charging at 15W. The Razr+ charges a bit faster at 45W. Either way, you don't get a charger in the box. I charged the phone with a 65W charger I have on hand, and it took 1 hour and 15 minutes, which is average for this category. Switching to wireless charging increased the time to 2 hours and 20 minutes.

The phone doesn't support reverse wireless charging, though the Razr+ does.

Connectivity: Pretty Good

The Razr has most of the same radios as the Razr+. It includes Bluetooth 5.4, GPS, NFC, and Wi-Fi 6E, while the Razr+ has Wi-Fi 7. Sub-6GHz 5G is on board, but mmWave is not. The unlocked Razr can connect to the C-band networks of AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon, as well as their MVNOs, but not their fastest high-band service.

(Credit: Eric Zeman)

I tested the phone on Google Fi (T-Mobile). It hit 521Mbps down and 62.2Mbps up while a Google Pixel Fold tested in the same spot reached 545Mbps down and 71.4Mbps up. 

I tested the Wi-Fi by holding the phone close to my Wi-Fi 6E hotspot, where it recorded speeds of 611Mbps down and 280Mbps up. I repeated this test at the network's edge and the phone scored 42.5Mbps down and 12.6Mbps up. When tested similarly, the Pixel Fold hit 597Mbps down and 178Mbps up, and 81.4Mbps down and 19.7Mbps, respectively. 

Call quality is quite good. I was generally pleased with the voice clarity in the earpiece (79.4dB) and the volume from the speakerphone (81.3dB). The phone has stereo speakers. Test tracks like The Knife's "Silent Shout" came across as a bit thin, but at least the phone pushed out plenty of volume.

Cameras: Average at Best

The Razr mostly carries over the camera configuration from its predecessor, meaning it has a standard camera, an ultra-wide camera, and a selfie camera. The main sensor swaps out the old 64MP main camera from the 2023 Razr for the same 50MP f/1.7 camera as this year's Razr+. It maintains a 13MP ultra-wide camera at f/2.2 with a 120-degree field of view and has the same 32MP f/2.4 selfie camera as the Razr+.

(Credit: Eric Zeman)

If anything, the image signal processor of the MediaTek chip does a slightly better job here than the Snapdragon does on the Razr+. Photos from the main camera look quite good, with accurate color, exposure, and clarity. It also handled contrast better and delivered a more pleasing result overall. You can use digital zoom to snag 2x and 4x shots, but they introduce a lot more noise and lose clarity.

(Credit: Eric Zeman)

(Credit: Eric Zeman)

The ultra-wide camera is decent. The photos have a balanced look that may not stand out from the pack but don't necessarily leave you wanting more. This camera doubles as a macro shooter; in that respect, it's just so-so. I had a hard time getting macro shots in focus.

(Credit: Eric Zeman)

(Credit: Eric Zeman)

Motorola could have done better with the selfie camera. Similar to the Razr+, selfies and portraits look overly contrasty with dark colors and soft focus.

(Credit: Eric Zeman)

(Credit: Eric Zeman)

You can record video at resolutions up to 4K and frame rates up to 60fps. Plenty of other combinations are available. The footage I shot was mostly clean, colorful, and sharp. Again, the color and clarity were a little better here than what I saw on the Razr+.

(Credit: Eric Zeman)

One of the benefits of the Razr is that its folding form factor allows you to be a bit more creative when shooting photos and videos. For example, you can fold it halfway and use it as a tripod to take selfies and more. A built-in camcorder mode lets you tote it around like a '90s-era video camera. Some of these capture modes clearly target the creator crowd.

Software: Playing Catch-Up

The Razr comes with Android 14 installed and you can count on Motorola to provide three years of OS upgrades and four years of security updates. It's nice to see Motorola finally upping its game here to a degree. It's not as good as the seven-year commitment that Google and Samsung offer their phones, but we'll take what we can get.

(Credit: Motorola/PCMag)

Motorola has a whole host of its apps and services preinstalled, as well as several games that I could do without. You have to be mindful during the setup process; otherwise, the phone will install many of them automatically.

The external display is what defines the Motorola Razr experience. It contains up to nine panels, each of which can hold apps, shortcuts, or widgets. Motorola has done a good job customizing some apps to run on the small screen. For simple notifications, it's great, but you can go much further. For instance, you can perform Google searches, read your email, check the weather, respond to messages, and more. Swiping between the panels one-handed is a breeze and relying on the outer screen can keep you from diving into time-sapping apps.

(Credit: Motorola/PCMag)

There's a little bit of AI on the Razr at launch, and it will gain access to more over the next few months. Gemini Nano is among those apps preloaded by Motorola. I sampled the generative wallpaper creation tool. It's much slower than the Razr+ and delivers similarly disappointing results. As with the Razr+, you can opt to install Google's Magic Editor tool. It functions well once you get it loaded.

Verdict: A Good Starting Point

The 2024 Motorola Razr is a fine folding phone that sacrifices performance to reach a lower price. In its favor, it has outstanding battery life, a playful and flexible design, excellent inner and outer screens, and capable software from Motorola. We wish the performance were quicker and the cameras were sharper, but for $700, the Razr is a good entry point to folding phones. Upgrading to the Razr+ for $300 more gets you much faster performance, a larger external screen, and a more useful zoom camera. At that price, it's also worth considering the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5, especially if you use other Samsung devices.