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 towards the Z Flip 7.
Motorola should want to repair its worth proposition if it desires to be a dominant pressure within the foldable market.

This may not imply a lot to you if the Lord of the Rings motion pictures got here out while you had been a toddler, however for a number of temporary years, the Motorola Razr V3 was the good cellphone you possibly can 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 had been nonetheless principally for calls and texts. No, it was all about fashion, for the reason that V3 was a trendy, ultra-thin

flip phone
product of aluminum, at a time when many telephones had been nonetheless primarily plastic bricks. The V3 was so common 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 collection of Android-based Razr

foldables
, nevertheless, and its new

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

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It’d ache some folks at Apple, however there’s strong 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 strong. 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 primary cameras and 32-megapixel entrance sensors. The MediaTek Dimensity 7400X processor within the base Razr is a knock towards it, however should you care extra about energy effectivity than 3D framerates, you ought to be happy. 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 attention-grabbing is with the first-ever Razr Extremely. It is a cellphone that, on paper not less than, completely decimates Samsung’s common 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 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 indicate up on a flagship product, they usually might be a deciding issue for individuals who prioritize fashion. I do know that if I had 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 metallic and glass.

Motorola additional appears to be all-in on my concept of blending and matching totally different AI platforms for various functions. Except for 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 properly all the things 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 all the things.

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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 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, not less than till the inevitable

Z Flip 7
. Even then, although, rumors counsel that Samsung’s product would possibly nonetheless have weaker display, RAM, storage, and digital camera specs. That is type of surprising — Samsung might be poised to cede some floor, not less than within the US.

The revolution is not right here simply but, nevertheless — the primary difficulty 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, nevertheless 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 warfare no much less. To reclaim the throne, Motorola could have to 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 — possibly 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 outdoors the scope of foldable fanatics. And whereas the bottom Razr has some weak factors, $800 continues to be cheap should you insist on having one of many newest foldable gadgets — that is as a lot as a non-folding iPhone 16. Personally, I might fairly 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 large time once more could hinge (no pun supposed) on the teachings it learns this 12 months, and whether or not it may possibly leverage any modest success into one thing extra. It’s, in any case, going up towards a behemoth within the type of Samsung, and should 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, not less than, 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, 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 pressure to beat lengthy earlier than the 800-pound gorilla enters the room.