I just went hands-on with the Motorola Razr 2024, and I can’t believe you get all this for under $700 (2024)

Early Verdict

The best foldable phones shouldn’t cost a fortune to buy anymore. Last year’s Razr (2023) proved that with its $699 starting cost, but now its successor in the Motorola Razr (2024) is driving that point deeper thanks to the bigger upgrades it’s getting.

Even though I spent a short time with it, the Motorola Razr (2024) could actually be the foldable phone for most people because of how it’s an incremental upgrade and establishes what all foldable phones should have for being under $700. In fact, it shares a lot of the same design cues as the Razr Plus (2024) — including a much larger outer screen than last year’s model.

In my Motorola Razr (2024) hands-on review, you’ll find out why I think it’s the more compelling foldable in the lineup.

Motorola Razr (2024): Specifications

Motorola Razr (2024): Price and availability

Thankfully Moto’s keeping its price firm at $699, which should give all other foldable phone makers something to strive for. Although it’s technically not pushing through a price barrier, it’s still a compelling device given how no one else has a flip style phone of this caliber.

Motorola Razr (2024) preorders in the U.S. start on July 10 through T-Mobile first, followed by a general release of the unlocked model on July 24 at Amazon, Best Buy, and motorola.com — while carrier versions will be at T-Mobile, Consumer Cellular, and Xfinity Mobile at first starting on July 24 as well. Later in the summer, it’ll be expanded to Cricket, Spectrum Mobile, Straight Talk, Total by Verizon, Visible, Google Fi, Wireless, Optimum Mobile, and US Cellular on July 25.

Only a single model will be available, which comes with 256GB of UFS 2.2 storage and 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM. The storage amount is absolutely generous in my opinion, given how there are still many phones stuck with 128GB base storage. I also love how it’s being offered in three fun colors consisting of Koala Grey, Beach Sand, and Spritz Orange.

Motorola Razr (2024): Design

One could argue that the Razr (2024) is simply last year’s Razr Plus (2024) flagship because it looks very similar with its larger 3.6-inch outer display — especially how the top bezel is much thicker than the rest. But this is a tremendous upgrade to the design because it’s just as stylish and solidly constructed. For the price, it attains the same level of attention as the more expensive Razr Plus (2024) because of its vegan leather casing and the charming colors that are available with it.

I don’t see many compromises with the design either, including the hinge mechanism that lets me open and shut it with ease using one hand. It also has the same Gorilla Glass Victus protecting the outer screen, as well as an improved IPX8 water resistant design.

Motorola Razr (2024): Display

The most compelling aspect of the Razr (2024) is how Motorola went bigger with the outer display, which now stretches out to a more useful 3.6-inches. It makes a difference, too, because it unlocked new utility that the previous model doesn’t offer — like the ability to better capture selfies with the rear cameras, running full apps on the phone, and a desk display mode that leverages its always-on display when it’s positioned in tent mode.

Equally as compelling is its 6.9-inch FHD+ pOLED inner display, which like the Razr Plus (2024), is rated to get up to 3,000 nits. Although I’d be impressed if it could actually get close to that in our testing, I’m at least happy with what I saw playing a couple of YouTube videos. With its redesigned hinge, the crease looks much more subdued while delivering a much more responsive action when closing and opening it up.

Motorola Razr (2024): Cameras

I’m still on the fence about how the Razr Plus (2024) ditches the ultrawide camera in favor of a telephoto one, but I’m happy that the standard Razr (2024) keeps the arrangement I’m used to with a 50MP main camera paired with 13MP ultrawide. Although, the Razr (2023) features a 64MP main camera. Despite that, this setup makes it more conducive for vlogging, self recordings, and group photos because the ultrawide will let me capture more of the scene. Similar to its sibling, the camcorder mode has been revamped to capture 4K 30fps and 60fps videos in either vertical or horizontal positions.

The Razr (2024) also benefits from the same camera AI features as the more premium Razr Plus, offering the same photo enhancement engine to improve photo quality and adaptive stabilization for smoother videos, and an upgraded photo booth mode that works with both the inner and outer displays.

Given the lower price point, I hope it can still pull in just as good footage as its bigger brother — particularly around low light where Motorola phones generally struggle in handling the scene. For content creators, though, the larger screen makes it a far more useful video camera that lets you see yourself better while recording footage. This is a huge step up versus the ting strip on last year’s phone.

Motorola Razr (2024): Performance

The biggest difference between the two new Razr phones is that the standard Razr (2024) gets a MediaTek Dimensity 7300X chip, as opposed to the Snapdragon 8S Gen 3 in the Razr Plus (2024). It’s hard to see if it’s a huge difference in how they perform, but at least basic actions like launching apps and navigating around the interface aren’t impacted. In fact, everything looks and feels snappy — including the outer screen when I tried switching in and out of the widgets.

We will report back with benchmark results for the new Razr to see how it stacks up.

Motorola Razr (2024): Software and AI

Sharing the same Moto Hello UX software running on top of Android 14, I don’t see much difference in the software between the Razr (2024) and Razr Plus (2024). That’s great because I love how there’s even more personalization available with the new outer display, while also being able to access the same gestures I’ve grown accustomed to using in many Motorola phones like the chopping gesture to instantly turn on the flashlight.

Not surprisingly, Motorola is jumping on the AI bandwagon as well because the Razr (2024) comes with Google Gemini and it can also be accessed directly from the external display. If you’ve used the AI assistant, then you know how it can be helpful at providing tips and recommendations based on your inquiries. You’ll also have access to 3 months of Gemini Advanced for free for even greater functionality, which also includes 2TB of cloud storage.

While Gemini is handy, the Razr (2024) doesn’t get the full set of Moto AI features found with the Razr Plus (2024) — so this is the biggest difference between them. It’s difficult to say how effective these new Moto AI features are until I get to try them out more, but I do like how it could better streamline simple tasks like all the notifications on my phone.

Unfortunately, software support is much shorter compared to what we get in other flagship models. Major Android updates top out at 3 years, while security updates get 4 years. This pales in comparison to the 7 years we get in other phones, like the cheaper Pixel 8a.

Motorola Razr (2024): Battery life

Even with its slim design, the same 4,200 mAh battery as before is still stuffed inside of the phone, which I suspect should deliver longer battery life than the Razr Plus — which was the case with last year’s model. Although, the improved battery optimizations with MediaTek 7300X could yield even longer results in our battery benchmark test. While it still gets 30W TurboPower charging through its USB-C port, Motorola ups its wireless charging speed to 15W.

Motorola Razr (2024): Outlook

Motorola is setting a new benchmark for all foldable phones this year with the Razr (2024). For a foldable phone priced at under $700, it receives a much more satisfying upgrade in my opinion complete with a new outer screen and stylish design. In terms of utility, it matches its sibling in nearly every aspect — with the exception of how it’s not getting the same set of Moto AI features. For the $300 in savings, I think that’s an understandable compromise.

Stay tuned for our full Motorola Razr 2024 review.

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