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 needs 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 had been a toddler, however for a number of temporary years, the Motorola Razr V3 was the best cellphone you may get. It isn’t that it was a lot better than different telephones on a sensible stage — this was, in spite of everything, an period when telephones had been nonetheless principally for calls and texts. No, it was all about model, because the V3 was a classy, ultra-thin

flip phone
product of aluminum, at a time when many telephones had been nonetheless primarily plastic bricks. The V3 was so well-liked that I keep 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 client telephones, dwarfed by rivals that extra rapidly embraced smartphone tech, above all Apple and

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

foldables
, nonetheless, and its new

2025 models
appear supposed to go toe-to-toe with the massive guys. The corporate could possibly be poised to regain a few of its former glory, though that can in all probability rely upon what ships in 2026.

Associated

4 reasons Apple should make a new plastic iPhone like the iPhone 5c

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

The Razr-tipped spearhead

What’s totally 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 fundamental cameras and 32-megapixel entrance sensors. The MediaTek Dimensity 7400X processor within the base Razr is a knock towards it, however when you care extra about energy effectivity than 3D framerates, you need 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 might give slightly extra consideration to the product that is not simply one other slab of metallic and glass.

The place issues actually get fascinating is with the first-ever Razr Extremely. It is a cellphone that, on paper at the very least, 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. On the subject 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 spot 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 embrace wooden and Alacantara variations. Whereas Motorola and others have experimented with alternate supplies, it is uncommon for them to point out up on a flagship product, they usually could possibly be a deciding issue for individuals who prioritize model. I do know that if I had been out there for a brand new cellphone in the meanwhile, I might give slightly 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 totally different AI platforms for various functions. Apart from 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 must see how properly every thing gels on Motorola’s aspect, but it surely’s good that an organization is breaking out of the notion that one or two AI fashions ought to deal with every thing.

Associated

Apple Intelligence’s third-party hooks are the right direction for phone AI

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

Making an enormous play

However the actual work lies forward

Motorola

Whereas I am unsure 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, at the very least till the inevitable

Z Flip 7
. Even then, although, rumors recommend that Samsung’s product would possibly nonetheless have weaker display screen, RAM, storage, and digital camera specs. That is sort of surprising — Samsung could possibly be poised to cede some floor, at the very least within the US.

The revolution is not right here simply but, nonetheless — the principle subject 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 appeal to individuals who need the most effective, but it surely’s in all probability not going to be a mass-market success by advantage of concentrating on a richer demographic, in the midst of a US-instigated commerce struggle no much less. To reclaim the throne, Motorola might must 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 — possibly 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 lovers. And whereas the bottom Razr has some weak factors, $800 continues to be cheap when 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 possibly a Pixel, however not everybody cares about issues like processor specs or

IP ratings
.

Motorola’s prospects for hitting the massive time once more might hinge (no pun supposed) on the teachings it learns this yr, and whether or not it could leverage any modest success into one thing extra. It’s, in spite of everything, going up towards a behemoth within the type of Samsung, and when you think about 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, at the very least, 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 one of the crucial costly tablet-style foldables ever produced, probably costing upwards of $2,000. There is not any 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.