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

Abstract

Motorola’s new Razr fashions present it is severe about main foldables, notably the Razr Extremely.
The Razr+ and Razr Extremely beat Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 6 in some areas — and will even maintain an edge towards 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 may not imply a lot to you if the Lord of the Rings films got here out whenever you had been a toddler, however for a number of temporary years, the Motorola Razr V3 was the good cellphone you could possibly get. It is not that it was significantly better than different telephones on a sensible degree — this was, in any case, an period when telephones had been nonetheless largely for calls and texts. No, it was all about type, for the reason that V3 was a classy, ultra-thin

flip phone
manufactured from aluminum, at a time when many telephones had been nonetheless basically plastic bricks. The V3 was so widespread that I bear in mind seeing large banners for it hanging in my native movie show.

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

Samsung
. It has been staging a gradual comeback with a collection of Android-based Razr

foldables
, nevertheless, and its new

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

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It would 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 have a look at, and these are paired with 3.6- and 4-inch exterior screens, respectively. The telephones additionally share 50-megapixel foremost cameras and 32-megapixel entrance sensors. The MediaTek Dimensity 7400X processor within the base Razr is a knock towards it, however in the event you care extra about energy effectivity than 3D framerates, you have to be glad. Springing for a Razr+ will get you a Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chip, 12GB of RAM, and a 50-megapixel telephoto digital camera, amongst different upgrades.

I would give somewhat extra consideration to the product that is not simply one other slab of metallic and glass.

The place issues actually get attention-grabbing is with the first-ever Razr Extremely. It is a cellphone that, on paper no less than, completely decimates Samsung’s widespread 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 may usually solely discover on laptops and gaming telephones, whereas the Flip is capped at 12GB. In relation to 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 type. I do know that if I had been out there for a brand new cellphone in the intervening time, I would give somewhat extra consideration to the product that is not simply one other slab of metallic and glass.

Motorola additional appears to be all-in on my concept 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 am going to should see how properly every thing gels on Motorola’s aspect, nevertheless it’s good that an organization is breaking out of the notion that one or two AI fashions ought to deal with every thing.

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

Making an enormous play

However the true 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, no less than till the inevitable

Z Flip 7
. Even then, although, rumors recommend that Samsung’s product may nonetheless have weaker display screen, RAM, storage, and digital camera specs. That is form of surprising — Samsung may very well be poised to cede some floor, no less than within the US.

The revolution is not right here simply but, nevertheless — the primary problem is worth. When it ships in Might, 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 entice individuals who need the perfect, nevertheless it’s most likely not going to be a mass-market success by advantage of concentrating on a richer demographic, in the midst of a US-instigated commerce battle no much less. To reclaim the throne, Motorola could have to push down the Extremely’s worth 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, worth 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 the event you insist on having one of many newest foldable units — that is as a lot as a non-folding iPhone 16. Personally, I would fairly 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 massive time once more could hinge (no pun meant) on the teachings it learns this yr, and whether or not it may leverage any modest success into one thing extra. It’s, in any case, going up towards a behemoth within the type of Samsung, and in the event you contemplate tablet-style foldables, there’s an ocean of competitors on the market, notably from Chinese language manufacturers like Oppo and Honor.

One factor Motorola might be contemplating itself fortunate for, no less than, is Apple’s hesitancy about becoming a member of the fray. Whereas the primary

folding iPhone
may ship in 2026, it is anticipated to be one of the costly tablet-style foldables ever produced, presumably costing upwards of $2,000. There isn’t any signal of a clamshell iPhone coming anytime quickly — so if Motorola performs its playing cards proper, it may set up itself as a drive to beat lengthy earlier than the 800-pound gorilla enters the room.