Motorola Razr And Razr Plus Review: Chic Foldables For The Masses

As flip phones enjoy a resurgence, Motorola continues to strengthen its foldable Razr line to consistently challenge Samsung’s hold on the foldable market. I spent weeks evaluating the Motorola Razr 2024 and Motorola Razr Plus 2024, and found lots to appreciate in these models–and learned what makes the Razr Plus stand apart from its sibling.

While neither device will challenge front-runner flagship phones from competitors, that’s okay. I didn’t go into using these phones expecting that. These phones still have limitations. Both continue to have an inner display screen crease that is especially noticeable (and disruptive) while taking pictures.

Nonetheless, these phones can provide a satisfying smartphone experience with the convenience of a flip phone, and they do so at a more reasonable price than competing foldables. That was what I expected from these phones, and that’s exactly what the Motorola Razr 2024 phones deliver. Read on to learn why I preferred the Razr 2024 Plus over its less expensive sibling, and why it’s worth the extra $300 investment.

Best for:

• The convenience of a premium flip phone with the power of a full-size yet foldable display
• Creative camera angles, making calls, general smartphone productivity
• Getting a foldable phone with a premium feel and design on a budget

Skip if:

• You prefer how a candybar phone handles
• An optical zoom lens matters to you
• Image quality and processing speed are critical to how you use your phone

Best for:

• Capturing zoomed images from unusual angles
• Enjoying a large cover display when folded
• Making a design statement while balancing price and performance

Skip if:

• A folding flip phone isn’t your jam
• You want even more capability from your camera phone

Motorola Razr 2024: Design

Stronger Hinge, Larger Cover Display

At first glance, the two models are very similar—more so than last year’s two Razr models. In fact, when comparing with last year’s models, at first glance they looked practically identical (beyond the obvious increase in the outer display size). Both generations have a similar, solid feel and premium design, with an aluminum chassis, vegan leather on the rear and a Corning Gorilla Glass Victus cover layer. I liked the feel of the textured material; it made it easy to get a good grip on the phone, and I was impressed how quickly it dried after getting wet.

Previously, the vegan leather wasn’t on all colorways and iterations of the Razr, but all 2024 Razrs feature this design element. And the new models have a redesigned hinge that opens and closes more smoothly one-handed, and Motorola says helps mitigate creases, gaps and protect against dust. That may be, but ironically, the 2024 Razrs carry no dust resistance rating. Also, I found the crease visible, especially in lighting with any glare.

Beneath the surface, both models feature plenty of upgrades, with a 6.9-inch pOLED (2,640 x 1,080) internal display. As compared with last year’s models, each device features a brighter, larger cover display, too. Beyond the size of the cover screen, the location and placement of the microphones and the hinge design, the 2024 models get their big boosts under the hood. Updated processors, better cameras and AI support are key updates that make a big difference (and more on that in a minute).

Water and dust resistance level has changed as compared with the IP52 of the 2023 models. Motorola ditches dust resistance entirely in these 2024 models, but it ups the water resistance dramatically, to an IPX8 rating. This brings the Razr in line with its biggest competition, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6.

Both models benefit from the folding design, too. Prop the phone up on its edge, or its base to capture creative angles. I could also see myself on the outer display, if I chose to use the rear cameras for a selfie—incredibly useful for vlogging or taking selfies.

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Motorola Razr And Razr Plus 2024: Performance

A Clear Step Up—If You Go Plus

Given how similar these two models appear, it makes sense that the $300 price gap becomes obvious somewhere else. In this case, the difference lies in the components that power the phone. And it’s not about the storage: Both models have 256GB inside.

The Motorola Razr 2024 has a MediaTek Dimensity 7300X processor with 8GB of memory; in contrast, the Motorola Razr Plus 2024 has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 with 12GB of memory. For basic browsing and use, the MediaTek Dimensity does well enough, but that model at times felt less responsive. This was especially evident when moving among app features and when using the camera (more on that in a moment, too). The Motorola Razr Plus 2024 simply felt more responsive and snappier to use across all applications.

Display quality is another place where the processors appear to play a distinct role. Both models have identical main display features–6.9-inch FHD+ pOLED, with HDR10+, 120% DCI-P3 color gamut and 3,000 nits peak brightness. The only difference lies with the display’s refresh rate, up to 120Hz on the Razr versus 165Hz on the Razr Plus. When I asked, Motorola’s spokesperson confirmed there were no differences in internal screen brightness and color saturation.

But specs don’t tell the full story here. When viewed side-by-side, the two displays look visibly different. The regular Razr appears to have brighter whites, and punchier colors than the Razr Plus. This was very apparent when taking pictures, but also visible simply looking at the icons in the app menu.

When asked, a Motorola spokesperson attributed the appearance to the differences in processors as well as the Razr Plus’ Photo Enhancement Engine, which Motorola says improves the dynamic range and boosts the ratio between the brightest and darkest areas of an image. While this affects the camera more, it still affects all apps on the display. Granted, if you didn’t have the two side-by-side, you’d never look at either and say, “Oh, I don’t like this display.” But once you see it, you can’t unsee the difference, either.

Enhanced Software Makes The Biggest Upgrade

Motorola’s biggest upgrade, in some ways, lies with its redesigned software experience. The cover panel makes better use of its expanded canvas, and it is highly customizable with colors, themes, widgets and even a personal screensaver with photos and text. You can now easily view and dismiss notifications, swipe down to access quick settings and choose how the display appears (i.e., as a lock screen or a home screen with apps). It even has an updated Spotify access panel and dedicated panels for Bose and moto buds.

I found these customizations small but useful differentiations that made the phone feel tailored to me. I particularly liked how animations appeared on the cover display when taking images of friends, encouraging a smile or counting down until I took the shot.

Ultimately, not all apps are optimized for the cover display, but those that are optimized make for a compelling experience. YouTube Music had handy playback controls, but regular YouTube was mixed. Standard YouTube videos displayed fine, and vertical YouTube Shorts got truncated and were unviewable. And when I opened the phone to the full-screen internal display, YouTube didn’t pick up where I left off. By contrast, the Gmail app transitioned seamlessly from the cover display to the internal display.

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Motorola Razr and Razr Plus 2024: Cameras

Good—But There’s One Clear Winner

From a megapixel view, the two models’ camera specs seem glancingly similar. But the cameras are where the Razr Plus 2024 really pulls away from its less expensive sibling. And the cameras are why the Razr Plus gets my nod between the two models. Let me explain.

The Razr 2024 has a wide-angle lens and a macro mode, but it lacks an optical zoom (the 2x is a digital zoom off of the main camera). The Razr Plus 2024 trades the wide-angle lens for an optical 4x zoom, which Motorola says uses an AI algorithm to enhance the clarity of photos. That’s great, but I found myself more often wanting an optical zoom to get closer to the action versus wanting a wider view to get more action in frame. That’s one tick in favor of the Razr Plus.

The camera differences go way beyond the surface conversation of optical zoom versus wide-angle perspectives, though–and it boils down to the different processors. Yes, the Razr 2024 achieves its more tenable $700 price in part by using the MediaTek chipset. But in doing so, it sacrifices camera performance, both in speed and image quality.

There’s already a distinct lag navigating the Razr 2024’s interface, but it’s more pronounced when using the camera, affecting how quickly I snapped images compared to the Razr Plus 2024. This became a big issue when I tried to snap a flag or flower in between gusts of wind. Tick two for the Razr Plus 2024.

Examining photos at 30% and 100% crop on my laptop, there are big differences in the images’ color, sharpness and exposure. The Razr 2024 produced vibrant, over-saturated images with less crisp whites and over-exposed areas in some lighting, while the Razr Plus was brighter, with better detail, whites and exposure. The Razr Plus has moto ai’s Photo Enhancement Engine, which helped enhance details, improve noise reduction in low-light environments and more.

The differences were even more pronounced when I zoomed in at 100% crop. While many might consider this zoom excessive, if you ever want to crop into your digital photo, the Razr Plus 2024 can, hands down, deliver a better image.

Bottom line: If you pay attention to your digital images, then hands-down the nod here goes to Razr Plus 2024. The one downside is the lack of a macro mode (you can get up to 10cm close to a subject) but otherwise, the Razr Plus 2024 camera is far superior to the Razr.

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Motorola Razr 2024 And Razr Plus 2024: Battery Life

Sufficient For A Day Out

I didn’t specifically clock how long the battery lasted. In daily use, the two models performed similarly. The Razr 2024 actually has a slightly larger battery capacity, at 4,200mAh, as compared with the Razr Plus 2024’s 4,000mAh, but again, it was a similar, all-day performance. I got through the day with battery life to spare.

But there is a difference that’s worth noting here. The Razr has 30W TurboPower charging, versus the Razr Plus 2024’s 45W TurboPower charging (chargers not included). Both models support 15W wireless charging, but only the Razr Plus supports 5W reverse charging, so you can share your battery with other devices.

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Motorola Razr 2024 and Razr Plus 2024: Verdict

Enter The Foldables Age, On Any Budget

What impresses me most about the Razr and Razr Plus 2024 is that both feel like they’re more expensive than they are. You can probably find better performers and cameras on budget phones, but if you want the style and design of a foldable flip phone without spending a fortune, the baseline Motorola Razr 2024 makes a compelling choice.

That said, if it’s between the two models and your budget can stretch, the imaging and overall performance of the Razr Plus 2024 with its Qualcomm chip is the better option. If you use the camera frequently, you’ll appreciate the benefits of Razr Plus’ better camera system over its less expensive counterpart.

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How I Tested The Motorola Razr 2024 And Razr Plus 2024

I tested the Motorola Razr 2024 and Razr Plus 2024 in a variety of locations and situations for over a month. I reviewed video and images on my laptop, so I could eliminate the variable of the display. I looked at images at both 30% and 100% crop, so I could dig deeper into the quality and detail. I also cross-compared each mobile device with its sibling to see the nuances between the two models.

I played video games on the device, watched videos, surfed the web, shared messages and more. I used the two phones with the same screen brightness, so my gauge of battery life was based on comparable experiences.

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My Expertise

The former consumer tech and electronics editor at Forbes Vetted, I’ve reviewed mobile phones since before the release of the first iPhone and first Android phones. I’ve covered many different flagship mobile launches, from the inaugural Google Pixel Fold to the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra to the budget-friendly Google Pixel 7a.

In addition to my work at Forbes Vetted, I have bylines at ZDNET, Laptop Mag, Tom’s Guide and many more where I cover all things mobile as well as tablets, cameras and laptops. In addition to my experience with smartphones, I also have deep experiences I also have deep experience reviewing the best writing tablets, to must-have mobile accessories like the best portable chargers. When I’m not writing about the latest tech, I’m a professional photographer–one of many reasons I pay such close attention to cell phone camera image quality.