Motorola's new Razr telephones really feel like a push again into the large leagues

Abstract

Motorola’s new Razr fashions present it is critical about main foldables, significantly the Razr Extremely.
The Razr+ and Razr Extremely beat Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 6 in some areas — and should even maintain an edge in opposition to the Z Flip 7.
Motorola should want to repair its worth proposition if it desires to be a dominant drive within the foldable market.

This would possibly not imply a lot to you if the Lord of the Rings motion pictures got here out once you have been a toddler, however for a number of temporary years, the Motorola Razr V3 was the good cellphone you would get. It isn’t that it was significantly better than different telephones on a sensible stage — this was, in any case, an period when telephones have been nonetheless largely for calls and texts. No, it was all about fashion, because the V3 was a trendy, ultra-thin

flip phone
made from aluminum, at a time when many telephones have been nonetheless basically plastic bricks. The V3 was so well-liked that I keep in mind seeing big banners for it hanging in my native movie show.

Everyone knows that since then, Motorola has change into a secondary participant in client telephones, dwarfed by rivals that extra shortly embraced smartphone tech, above all Apple and

Samsung
. It has been staging a sluggish comeback with a sequence of Android-based Razr

foldables
, nevertheless, and its new

2025 models
appear meant to go toe-to-toe with the large guys. The corporate may very well be poised to regain a few of its former glory, though that can in all probability rely upon what ships in 2026.

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It’d ache some individuals at Apple, however there’s stable logic to the concept.

The Razr-tipped spearhead

What’s completely different this time round

Motorola

With out delving too far into specs, the brand new Razr and Razr+ fashions are fairly stable. They each have 6.9-inch, 165Hz inner shows, which makes them nice to take a look at, and these are paired with 3.6- and 4-inch exterior screens, respectively. The telephones additionally share 50-megapixel predominant cameras and 32-megapixel entrance sensors. The MediaTek Dimensity 7400X processor within the base Razr is a knock in opposition to it, however in case you care extra about energy effectivity than 3D framerates, you have to be happy. Springing for a Razr+ will get you a Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chip, 12GB of RAM, and a 50-megapixel telephoto digicam, amongst different upgrades.

I might give slightly extra consideration to the product that is not simply one other slab of steel and glass.

The place issues actually get fascinating is with the first-ever Razr Extremely. It is a cellphone that, on paper a minimum of, completely decimates Samsung’s well-liked Galaxy Z Flip 6. It has a state-of-the-art Snapdragon 8 Elite, as a substitute of the Flip’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 (“for Galaxy,” excuse me). It additionally sports activities 16GB of RAM, one thing you will sometimes solely discover on laptops and gaming telephones, whereas the Flip is capped at 12GB. In the case of charging, the Extremely helps 30W wi-fi energy and 68W over USB, making the Flip’s 15W and 25W figures appear pathetic. Neither cellphone has a telephoto lens — an enormous miss, in my books — however the Extremely has 50-megapixel entrance and ultra-wide cameras, and the entrance shooter on the Flip is capped at a measly 10 megapixels. There’s much less of a niche with show tech, however a 7-inch 165Hz panel nonetheless beats a 6.7-inch 120Hz one.

Motorola

As if that weren’t sufficient, ornamental choices for the Extremely embody wooden and Alacantara variations. Whereas Motorola and others have experimented with alternate supplies, it is uncommon for them to indicate up on a flagship product, they usually may very well be a deciding issue for individuals who prioritize fashion. I do know that if I have been out there for a brand new cellphone in the mean time, I might give slightly extra consideration to the product that is not simply one other slab of steel and glass.

Motorola additional appears to be all-in on my thought of blending and matching completely different AI platforms for various functions. Other than its personal Moto AI, there are hooks for Google Gemini, Perplexity, Meta Llama, and even Microsoft Copilot. There’s nothing disappointing about Samsung’s integration of Gemini with its personal AI options, and I will should see how nicely the whole lot gels on Motorola’s facet, however it’s good that an organization is breaking out of the notion that one or two AI fashions ought to deal with the whole lot.

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It is about points like personalization, resilience, and privateness.

Making an enormous play

However the actual work lies forward

Motorola

Whereas I am undecided that the vanilla Razr and the Razr+ will transfer the needle a lot, the Extremely is clearly a shot throughout the bow, meant to place Motorola on the forefront of clamshell-style foldables, a minimum of till the inevitable

Z Flip 7
. Even then, although, rumors recommend that Samsung’s product may nonetheless have weaker display screen, RAM, storage, and digicam specs. That is sort of surprising — Samsung may very well be poised to cede some floor, a minimum of within the US.

The revolution is not right here simply but, nevertheless — the primary situation is value. When it ships in Could, the Extremely will begin at $1,300 for a 512GB mannequin, about $80 greater than an equal Z Flip 6, and a full $200 greater than a 256GB Flip. The Extremely will appeal to individuals who need one of the best, however it’s in all probability not going to be a mass-market success by advantage of focusing on a richer demographic, in the course of a US-instigated commerce conflict no much less. To reclaim the throne, Motorola might must push down the Extremely’s value to make it an unbeatable deal.

The Extremely is clearly a shot throughout the bow, meant to place Motorola on the forefront of clamshell-style foldables.

Who is aware of, although — perhaps the cheaper Razr fashions will catch on. The $1,000 Razr Plus additionally beats the Z Flip 6 in some respects, value amongst them, which ought to make it extra palatable exterior the scope of foldable fanatics. And whereas the bottom Razr has some weak factors, $800 continues to be cheap in case you insist on having one of many newest foldable units — that is as a lot as a non-folding iPhone 16. Personally, I might reasonably spend my cash on an iPhone, or perhaps a Pixel, however not everybody cares about issues like processor specs or

IP ratings
.

Motorola’s prospects for hitting the large time once more might hinge (no pun meant) on the teachings it learns this 12 months, and whether or not it could leverage any modest success into one thing extra. It’s, in any case, going up in opposition to a behemoth within the type of Samsung, and in case you take into account tablet-style foldables, there’s an ocean of competitors on the market, significantly from Chinese language manufacturers like Oppo and Honor.

One factor Motorola might be contemplating itself fortunate for, a minimum of, is Apple’s hesitancy about becoming a member of the fray. Whereas the primary

folding iPhone
might ship in 2026, it is anticipated to be probably the most costly tablet-style foldables ever produced, presumably costing upwards of $2,000. There is no signal of a clamshell iPhone coming anytime quickly — so if Motorola performs its playing cards proper, it might set up itself as a drive to beat lengthy earlier than the 800-pound gorilla enters the room.