Motorola’s new Razr telephones really feel like a push again into the large leagues

This may not imply a lot to you if the Lord of the Rings motion pictures got here out while you have been a toddler, however for a couple of transient years, the Motorola Razr V3 was the best cellphone you possibly can get. It is not that it was significantly better than different telephones on a sensible degree — this was, in spite of everything, an period when telephones have been nonetheless principally for calls and texts. No, it was all about fashion, for the reason that V3 was a classy, ultra-thin

flip phone
product of aluminum, at a time when many telephones have been nonetheless primarily plastic bricks. The V3 was so in style that I bear in mind seeing big banners for it hanging in my native movie show.

Everyone knows that since then, Motorola has develop into a secondary participant in shopper 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
, nonetheless, and its new

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

The Razr-tipped spearhead

What’s completely 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 inside shows, which makes them nice to take a look at, and these are paired with 3.6- and 4-inch exterior screens, respectively. The telephones additionally share 50-megapixel major cameras and 32-megapixel entrance sensors. The MediaTek Dimensity 7400X processor within the base Razr is a knock towards it, however when you care extra about energy effectivity than 3D framerates, you have to be glad. 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.

The place issues actually get fascinating is with the first-ever Razr Extremely. It is a telephone that, on paper not less than, completely decimates Samsung’s in style 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 will sometimes solely discover on laptops and gaming telephones, whereas the Flip is capped at 12GB. In terms of charging, the Extremely helps 30W wi-fi energy and 68W over USB, making the Flip’s 15W and 25W figures appear pathetic. Neither telephone 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 niche 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 point out up on a flagship product, they usually may very well be a deciding issue for individuals who prioritize fashion. I do know that if I have been available in the market for a brand new telephone in the intervening time, I would give a bit 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 thought of blending and matching completely different AI platforms for various functions. Apart from 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 am going to must see how nicely all the things gels on Motorola’s aspect, but it surely’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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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 may nonetheless have weaker display screen, RAM, storage, and digital camera specs. That is type of stunning — Samsung may very well be poised to cede some floor, not less than within the US.

The revolution is not right here simply but, nonetheless — the principle problem is value. When it ships in Might, 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, but it surely’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 conflict no much less. To reclaim the throne, Motorola could have to push down the Extremely’s value to make it an unbeatable deal.

Who is aware of, although — perhaps 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 fans. And whereas the bottom Razr has some weak factors, $800 continues to be affordable when you insist on having one of many newest foldable gadgets — that is as a lot as a non-folding iPhone 16. Personally, I would quite spend my cash on an iPhone, or perhaps 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 meant) on the teachings it learns this yr, and whether or not it may well leverage any modest success into one thing extra. It’s, in spite of everything, going up towards a behemoth within the type of Samsung, and when you take into account tablet-style foldables, there’s an ocean of competitors on the market, notably 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 some of the costly tablet-style foldables ever produced, probably costing upwards of $2,000. There is not any 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.

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