It’s rare that you get excited about a phone in 2024, but this is the Motorola Razr Plus, baby.
Sure, phones are amazing little computers. At $999, which is the price of the Razr Plus, they should be. But they are mature products—tools rather than objects of pleasure—and have largely blended into the background noise of our lives. But the Razr Plus is different, and not just because it folds in half.
Let me give you an example: one of the background options for media controls on the cover screen is a record player. When playing music, the record spins with one of the camera cut-outs in the middle. Press pause and the needle will rise off the record and stop. Are you kidding me? That’s adorable.
There’s so much I love about the Razr Plus that the disappointments sting a little more than if it was just any old slate-style phone. The cover screen is incredibly handy – even more so this year with some useful UI tweaks. It comes with an IPX8 rating, which greatly increases its water resistance. And the hinge improvements this time make the creases almost disappear when you’re using the inner screen. Important things! But the meaningful improvements and moments of pleasure don’t quite outweigh the Razr Plus’ shortcomings in the long run.
If you’re new to modern flip phones, let me introduce you to the elevator: big phone inside, small phone outside. With the phone flipped out, you have a normal smartphone with a big screen that does all the typical things. But when you close it, the cover screen acts almost like a second phone, so you can do basic things like check notifications and respond to messages without having to open the phone and come face-to-face with everything on the big screen. I personally love them.
Motorola sells two versions of its modern take on the classic flip phone: the Razr Plus and the more basic Razr. This year, both Razr models come with larger cover screens. The Razr Plus’ has a generous four inches on the diagonal compared to last year’s 3.6-inch screen. It can even be about the same size as the screen of your first iPhone, although it feels compact compared to a modern phone’s display. The bezel at the top of the screen (should we call it a bezel?) is much smaller than the previous generation. This almost makes last year’s model look like a prototype.
There are also many more ways to customize the cover screen this time around. You can choose multiple app shortcuts to place right on the main page of the Start screen – previously you had to go to a separate panel before you could access apps. The calendar panel is much improved and offers more information with several additional display configurations.
Even the flow for opening apps on the cover screen is better. With last year’s model, you had to open the phone to approve an app for the cover screen – just once for each app, but for each individual app. Now you can approve and open the app directly from the notification on the home screen. You actually have three options: allow, don’t allow, or — my favorite — “not now,” which allows me to just back off slowly without committing when I mindlessly tap a thread notification. Not now, Satan.
Overall, the splash screen experience is miles better than the previous generation; more mature and less like when you’re testing beta software. I’d take it over the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 every time, and yes, I know about Good Lock. Motorola put a lot of thought into every aspect of the display and it shows. Oh, and before we get to the whole other thing attached to this phone, shout out to the two other additions on the cover screen: Google Assistant (including Gemini!) and the always-on display. All my dreams are coming true.
The cover screen is a delight, but the inner screen is much more pedestrian. It’s a 6.9-inch 1080p OLED, and while I didn’t mind the resolution too much in testing, this screen is big enough to benefit from a higher pixel count. It’s not as bright outside as I would like either. His finebut you can definitely get a better display on a slab-style phone for the same amount of money – or even a bit less.
The good news is that Motorola has adopted a new hinge design this year that minimizes the appearance of creases when the phone is fully unfolded. There is also an improved IPX8 rating; there is no official dust resistance. The Razr Plus is certified to withstand full immersion in fresh water, a big improvement over the previous generation’s “splash-resistant” rating. Importantly, the IPX8 rating also puts the Razr Plus on par with the Galaxy Z Flip 5 (and very likely the soon-to-be-released Z Flip 6).
The soft touch on the back panel is nice as always, but the pink model I tested comes with a new “vegan suede” material and I don’t think it’s a change for the better. It feels paperier to me and I don’t think it will wear well over time; my review unit has a few faint scratches that won’t budge when i try to buff them out with my finger. Since this is not some bougie case – it is real phone – that looks pretty bad. Other colors – peach fuzz, midnight blue and spring green – come with a vegan leather finish last year old pink model and for what it’s worth it seems to have held up well.
The Razr Plus uses a Snapdragon 8S Gen 3 chipset, which occupies a sort of upper-midrange, low-end flagship space in Qualcomm’s increasingly cluttered lineup. In the US, the Razr Plus comes with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage – healthy numbers. This combination is sufficient and extended for my daily life Pocket City 2 it didn’t tax the session much. And I have no complaints about the battery life, which is a real compliment for a flip phone since they usually come with smaller batteries. The Razr Plus’ 4,000mAh cell provided enough power to get through a day of heavy use and then some.
But again I request Motorola to work on their software support. The Razr Plus comes with three years of OS upgrades and four years of security updates. It’s alright; four years is probably as long as most people will want to hang onto this phone. But Samsung and Google now promise seven years for their flagship phones — even the $499 Pixel 8A comes with seven years of support. I can’t help but want more from a $999 phone. Motorola’s record on timeliness isn’t great either; 2023 Razr Plus owners have only just started getting the Android 14 update – not a good look when Android 15 is only a few months away.
Camera performance has been another area of weakness for Motorola over the past few years, and I’m sorry to say that hasn’t changed with the Razr Plus.
Motorola appears to be trying to solve the problem with a new feature called the Photo Enhancement Engine, which it says uses AI to improve low-light noise reduction, improve bokeh in portrait mode photos, and increase dynamic range. That sounds like a list of everything phone makers have used AI for in the last ten years. Regardless, the new photo processing did not solve some major problems: subjects in portrait mode are poorly isolated, background blur is not convincing, and color reproduction is uneven.
The system knows what to do with bright and abundant light – I got great photos from the top of the hike. However, mid-light continues to be a challenge, with flat overexposed images and red saturated to the point of clipping.
The Razr Plus swaps out last year’s ultra-wide lens for a 2x telephoto lens that provides some nice zoom capabilities for portraits. There’s also a 4x digital zoom for greater reach, and the quality is decent when there’s enough light. Without the ultra-wide panel on the back, you don’t have the same opportunity for group selfies, but the main camera is wide enough to fit several people into the frame.
So here’s the dilemma: I love using the Razr Plus, but it’s very hard to recommend. The cover screen is the main part of the flip phone and everything about it is better this time. It’s easier to use, does more useful things, and is much more customizable. If you’re a flip phone enthusiast like me, it has all the right moves.
But I wouldn’t recommend it to someone who is more casually interested in a flip phone or is attracted by the nostalgia factor. You can get a much better camera in a slate-style phone that costs a lot less, and a good camera matters when it’s one you carry around every day. Motorola’s track record of timely software updates also remains spotty. And the internal screen just isn’t up to modern flagship phone standards.
It’s worth looking at the standard Razr 2024 if $999 seems steep for the Plus. Unlike last year, it comes with a large cover display like its sibling and also has IPX8 protection. I haven’t tested it yet, but $699 is awfully compelling for this feature set. Meanwhile, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 is just around the corner. Motorola could learn from Samsung’s software approach with quick updates and long support timeframes. Samsung could also take a few cues from the Razr Plus – it’s a gorgeous phone.
Photo by Allison Johnson/The Verge