Motorola Razr 2024 Review: A Flipping Good Time

When a company releases two versions of the same phone, it’s easy to praise the more premium of the two. Yet when it comes to 2024’s Razr phones, the base model is actually the sleeper hit. This may not be the better phone, but for the price, it’s close enough to warrant being the model most people should buy.

Motorola Razr (2024)

$499 $700 Save $201

The Motorola Razr 2024 is a substantial update for this flip-style foldable, with an outer screen as large as that of the 2023 Razr+. Updates to the camera and hinge make this an even more competitive option for customers looking to buy their first foldable. The Razr isn’t a perfect phone, but it’s an enjoyable one bound to please people looking for a small phone or just something different.

Pros

• Large, highly functional cover display compared to the Samsung Galaxy Z Filp 6
• Competitive pricing
• Improvements to the cameras and durability
• Stylistic flair, wth touches like vegan leather
• Wireless Motorola Smart Connect

Cons

• MediaTek processor experiences some stutters
• No wired Motorola Smart Connect
• Camera may have improved, but it’s still underwhelming
• Motorola’s questionable history of software support

Price and Availability

The Motorola Razr (2024) costs $700, $300 less than the higher-spec Razr+ (2024). The Razr comes in three colors: Koala Grey, Beach Sand, and Spritz Orange. My review unit pictured is Beach Sand, which I’d describe as tan with gold trim.

You can find the Motorola Razr on Motorola’s website, Amazon, Best Buy, and most other major online retailers.

A Fun Design, With a Touch of Flair

Last year’s Razr had an outer display reminiscent of a traditional flip phone. It could show the time, a notification, or music controls, but not much else. The Razr+ wowed many of us with a large outer screen that covered most of the phone’s top.

Last year’s Razr+ is essentially this year’s Razr, making this year’s base model much more compelling of a phone.

For those getting to know the Razr for the first time, picture a traditional slab phone that folds in half like a clamshell dumbphone. When closed, the bottom of the device bears the Motorola logo with Razr branding. Here, you’ll feel vegan leather, which distinguishes the phone from most glass and plastic handsets out there, though I wonder how well this will hold up over time. The phone’s frame is aluminum along the sides.

The top of the device is a 3.6-inch outer screen with two camera cutouts. To my eye, this design looks cleaner than that of the Samsung Flip 6, the flip that has dominated the market in the US. The screen is protected by Gorilla Glass Victus, which is less protection than the Gorilla Glass Victus 2 that you get on Samsung’s Z Flip 6.

Using the Phone Unfolded

The interior display resembles a traditional smartphone, albeit with a very shallow crease across the middle that you won’t see unless you look for it. I was surprised to find that I didn’t feel it that often, either.

In daily use, my thumb usually swipes the bottom half of the screen below the crease. When I rotate the phone horizontally, my thumbs rest to its left and right. I didn’t have much reason to touch the screen exactly in the middle, though I can see this being more noticeable when playing certain games. That said, as someone whose daily phone is a Galaxy Z Fold 5, a noticeable crease isn’t something that bothers me all that much.

At 6.9 inches with a resolution of 2,640 x 1,080, the interior screen has both a narrower aspect ratio than most phones and it’s actually physically taller. While this is common across all flip phones, I found this to be my personal gripe with the device. I have to reach up higher than I like to not access notifications and quick toggles. The power and volume buttons are also higher than usual, to avoid the hinge. If you daily drive a large phone, you may already be accustomed to doing this dance with your hands, but I’m not.

The Outer Display Is Why You Buy This Phone

The interior screen is what you’ll likely use most often, but there isn’t much to say about that. Aspect ratio and height aside, it feels like using any other phone. It’s the outer display that sets the Razr apart, even from the Galaxy Z Flip.

The Razr’s outer display may be square-shaped, but it’s nearly as functional as the inner screen. You can view notifications, access quick toggles, and open virtually any app. Some apps may not like the unconventional size and shape, but Motorola won’t stop you from trying to open them. Motorola also includes over a dozen games you can play on the outer screen, which I’ll admit feels pretty novel.

For people who miss truly small phones, a closed Razr may be as good as it gets. You can think of it as a tiny phone with a larger screen inside when needed. Compared to the Z Flip series, the Razr is more like a book-style foldable in the sense that whether the device is open or closed, you have a fully-featured phone, just with a different amount of screen.

If you do wish the outer display were ever-so-slightly bigger, consider the Razr+, which offers a 4-inch screen instead by extending across the entire top of the device. That’s enough to make a usability difference without fundamentally changing the reality that, when folded, the Razr is your opportunity to again experience a screen that doesn’t involve flexing your hand to use.

It’s this outer display, more than any other aspect of the phone, that makes me want to own this device. It’s the possibility of a phone that is functional enough to keep me connected, without exposing me to the same degree of distraction that comes from flipping open a large screen. I can commit to primarily using the outer screen, opening the phone only to view links that people send me or watch video. It’s a form factor that offers the potential to change the way I use my phone, and that’s no small thing.

A Camera That’s Mostly Okay

The best thing about the cameras on any flip is the versatile ways you can take photos that aren’t possible on a standard phone, at least not without additional accessories. A flip is its own phone stand. That makes it easier to take selfies and group shots without holding the phone yourself.

Some of the Razr’s perks aren’t possible on slab phones, even with accessories. The outer screen lets you see yourself during selfies, and it means you get to use the 50MB rear-camera rather than the 32MB interior camera (which, for what it’s worth, is more megapixels than you get on most Samsung selfie cameras). You can fold the phone at a 90-degree angle and hold it like a camcorder.

As for the actual photos, well, they’re hit and miss. When I walked around outside one evening, I found the colors didn’t match what I saw in person. The sweet gum leaf in the photo below looks overly blue and pink. The peppers in the next photo are much brighter, as though someone cranked the saturation up 50%. Like many smartphone cameras, there is a lot of processing going on, and the results feel tuned for catching attention on social media rather than displaying natural tones. I felt like this was further confirmed when I started playing with filters, tapped “vivid,” and saw that the image barely changed.

I was happier with the indoor shots I took, even those of objects on my dimly lit office desk at night. Here, the extra brightness works to the photos’ advantage, allowing them to be plenty visible despite the less-than-ideal lighting. I also found that, in this circumstance, the coloring felt more true-to-life.

Ultimately, the camera is good enough that if this were my only phone, I could still count on it to get decent enough photos to do my job, but I might have to resort to image manipulation a little more often than I’d like.

Dependable Performance, With Some Stutters

This is the area where you’ll notice the difference between the Razr and the Razr+ the most. The Razr packs a MediaTek Dimensity 7300X plus 8GB of RAM, and the experience isn’t bad. If you’re coming from a budget or mid-range phone with an older MediaTek chip, this is a class above that.

It’s folks who have grown accustomed to flagship performance who are more likely to notice what they’re missing out on. I can’t say I encountered slow load times during my time with the device. Apps opened up quickly and smoothly. It’s when scrolling, particularly when browsing the web, when I was most likely to notice a dropped frame or slight stutter. It was common enough that I, personally, would want the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 and extra 4GB of RAM you get with the Razr+.

The Razr sticks with 30W fast charging, compared to 45W you get on the Razr+. Both are in line with what you get from Apple or Samsung, but slower than you experience from Motorola’s flagship phone from 2023, the Edge+, which can juice up at 68W. My previous phone was the Edge+, and it’s the charging speeds that I miss most when using my Samsung phone or trying out this Moto Razr.

Yet, ultimately, it’s not that big a deal. Battery life is fine, and wireless charging is also included. You get 15-watt charging, which works fine for charging overnight or during a road trip. For reverse wireless charging, you need to opt for the Razr+, which is missing on the base model.

The regular Razr also, surprisingly, has a slightly larger 4200mAh battery compared to the 4000mAh you find in the plus. Combined with the Razr’s weaker processor, the base model is likely the one to get for better battery life. Unless you’re spending the day gaming heavily or recording video, I doubt you will have much of an issue with keeping the battery charged.

Should You Buy the Motorola Razr (2024)?

Flip phones have matured to a point where they aren’t limited to any one particular type of person. You no longer need to be an early adopter willing to accept a higher degree of risk. These phones may not be quite as durable as a slab phone, but they’re not fragile either.

The Motorola Razr (2024) is a great entry point for people who are new to flips and want to dive in without spending $1000. It’s great for anyone nostalgic about the days when we flipped open phones before using them. It’s an option for anyone who is tired of big phones and wants something smaller. It’s good for anyone looking for some novelty in a sea of devices that all feel sort of the same. The Razr, quite frankly, is a good fit for anyone who wants to buy a phone that will make them smile.

As someone more accustomed to book-style foldables, I appreciate the way the Razr is two-devices in one. If I were to spring for one, I’d probably go for the Razr+, but I already know what I’m getting into. If this is your first foldable, for the price, it’s hard to think of a better way to dip your toes in than the 2024 base Razr. It’s a reminder that using a phone can feel novel, and novelty is often good.

Motorola Razr (2024)

$499 $700 Save $201

The Motorola Razr 2024 is a substantial update for this flip-style foldable, with an outer screen as large as that of the 2023 Razr+. Updates to the camera and hinge make this an even more competitive option for customers looking to buy their first foldable. The Razr isn’t a perfect phone, but it’s an enjoyable one bound to please people looking for a small phone or just something different.