Motorola Razr+ (2024) Review: A Clamshell Bombshell
With its new telephoto camera and a terrific external display, the Motorola Razr+ (2024) sets a high bar for Samsung to follow
Pros
- Cheaper than last year
- Effective telephoto camera
- Massively improved water resistance
Cons
- Performance still doesn’t match Samsung
- Neither does the software support
- Some display backsteps
*This phone was first reviewed in 2024
The summer of foldable phones is here and we’re kicking off with the Motorola Razr+ (2024). This is the high-end clamshell from one of the most iconic names in the foldable game, replacing last year’s Motorola Razr+ (2023), which I awarded a full five stars, calling it the closest challenger yet to Samsung’s foldable supremacy.
As a successor to the Razr+ (2023), this is an easy recommendation: the Razr+ (2024) cuts the price while making several big changes, including being the first flip phone available to offer a telephoto camera. Simply put, this is easily Motorola’s most accomplished flip phone to date.
Motorola Razr+ (2024) review: What you need to know
Most notable of the improvements is that the Razr+ (2023)’s secondary ultrawide camera has been replaced by a 50-megapixel (f/2.0) 2x telephoto camera. It joins the new 50-megapixel (f/1.7) main camera on the outer display, while opening the phone reveals the same 32-megapixel (f/2.4) selfie camera as last year.
That internal display is once again a 6.9in LTPO AMOLED panel with a resolution of 2,640 x 1,080 and a swift 165Hz refresh rate. That’s the same as the 2023 Ultra’s, but there are some fairly big changes on the outer display. Now a 4in LTPO AMOLED – the largest on any flip phone – this external panel has an increased resolution of 1,272 x 1,080 and the same blisteringly fast 165Hz refresh rate as the main screen.
Keeping the whole thing running is the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chipset, backed up by a hefty 12GB of RAM and 256GB of non-expandable storage space. Rounding out the specs is a 4,000mAh battery (slightly up from the 2023 Ultra’s 3,800mAh) that supports 45W wired charging via the bundled plug or 15W wireless charging.
Also included in the box is the “premium protective case”, which comes with a detachable leather cord, allowing you to carry the phone like a bag. This is a fun enough gimmick but walking around like that doesn’t feel all that secure and you have to glue the case onto the phone via the sticky strips, making it a chore to take off again.
Motorola Razr+ (2024) review: Price and competition
Pleasingly, Motorola is offering all this for a slightly lower price. The 256GB model retails for $1,000 – the same as the Razr+ (2023). Compared to Samsung, which is expected either to maintain or increase the price of its foldables for this year, that’s an impressive feat.
The slightly cheaper Oppo Find N3 Flip is something else to consider, however foldables is mainly a two-horse race between Motorola and Samsung, with the upcoming Z Flip 6 being the most direct competitor. Rumors point to it using a faster chipset than the Razr+ (2024) but lacking a telephoto camera and retailing for a higher price.
If you’re happy to look at last year’s selection, that also puts the Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Razr+ (2023) in the frame. Both earned five-star reviews from us and are now healthily discounted from their original prices: the 256GB Z Flip 5 can be picked up for $1,000 but you can get a 512GB model for less at $985, while the 256GB Razr+ (2023) can be found for as low as $386.
Motorola Razr+ (2024) review: Design and key features
The design was a high point of the Razr+ (2023), and I’m happy to see the best bits carried over here. The build is once again slim and fairly lightweight, weighing 6.67oz and measuring 2.9 x 0.28 x 6.7in (WDH) unfolded or 2.9 x 0.59 x 3.5in folded. Gorilla Glass Victus covers the exterior display, and water resistance is upgraded from IP52 to the same IPX8 as the Galaxy Z Flip 5 – that means it can survive a ten-second dunk in 5ft of water but is no longer officially dustproof.
There’s a fresh selection of eye-catching colors, with the Spring Green option reviewed here joined by Midnight Blue, Peach Fuzz, Hot Pink, and Mocha Mousse. The polished aluminum edges and sturdy stainless steel hinge feel nicely premium and the vegan leather coating on the rear gives a decent grip. Moreover, the rounded edges make it easier to tuck a thumb between the two halves and flip the phone open one-handed.
On the connectivity front, there’s 5G, Wi-Fi 7, and Bluetooth 5.4 compatibility. Biometrics are covered by a fingerprint sensor in the power button on the right edge and facial recognition in both the selfie and rear cameras, enabling you to use it with the phone open or closed.
Optimization of apps for the folding format is still frustratingly undercooked but otherwise, the software is decent enough. The Razr+ (2024) ships with Android 14 and Motorola promises three years of OS updates and four years of security patches. That’s slightly fewer than the Samsung Z Flip 5 – due four and five, respectively – and that’s before we even get into the possibility of the Z Flip 6 getting seven years apiece, like the Galaxy S24 series. That could spell trouble for Motorola.
Still, I prefer the software here to Samsung’s heavily customized UI. This is as close to stock Android as you can get outside of Google phones, with barely any bloatware, and support for Google’s Gemini AI out of the box. We’re also expecting several “Moto AI” features in the coming months: asking the phone to “pay attention”, for instance, will make it start recording conversations, offering up a transcription and summary when you’re finished.
Motorola Razr+ (2024) review: Displays
The main display is mostly the same as the previous generation – including a wonderfully discreet hinge crease – but, bizarrely, peak brightness is notably lower, measuring just 366cd/m², compared to the Razr+ (2023)’s 482cd/m². That’s a weird backstep but not a complete dealbreaker; adaptive brightness will see you through glaring sunlight well enough, hitting a peak of 1,128cd/m² with a flashlight on the light sensor, and HDR content goes even higher, with an outstanding maximum brightness of 1,420cd/m².
More of a concern is the color accuracy. There’s a selection of color profiles available, with Vivid and Radiant both boosting the colour saturation and Natural ostensibly offering more realistic shades. The sRGB gamut coverage of 92.8% and volume of 94.7% aren’t terrible, but the average Delta E colour variance score of 2.05 is a fairly big downgrade from the Razr+ (2023)’s 1.3 result (closer to 1 is the target). Colors still looked normal in use but anyone concerned about strict accuracy will want to take note.
Thankfully, it’s all positive news from the 4in external display. The 165Hz refresh rate is overkill here – 120Hz would have performed the same – but otherwise it’s a crisp and bright panel with plenty of functionality. That includes a selection of format-friendly mobile games, the ability to choose which apps you want to use on the external screen, and the new always-on display mode, which is great for propping the phone up and using it as a bedside clock.
Motorola Razr+ (2024) review: Performance and battery life
The octa-core 3.0GHz Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 is a solid platform, but with the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 tipped to use the full-fat Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 it’s unlikely that the Razr+ (2024) will be able to keep up. While we wait for the Z Flip 6, I’ll be comparing the Razr with the Z Flip 5 and the Honor Magic 6 Pro (available in the UK), which is roughly the same price and uses the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3.
Unsurprisingly, the Razr+ (2024) doesn’t surpass the Magic 6 Pro, or even the Z Flip 5, but it does at least show some improvement over its predecessor, with a 7% bump in the single-core benchmarks and 6% in the multicore tests.
We saw an even bigger jump in the GFXBench test, with the Razr+ (2024) drawing level with the Z Flip 5 – although the regular Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 runs away with the off-screen results, pushing well over 100fps. Even so, I found gaming on the Razr+ (2024) to be smooth enough, running Genshin: Impact on medium graphics settings with no dramatic dips in frame rates.
Battery life is decent, too, with the result of just over 23 hours beating both the Razr+ (2023) and Galaxy Z Flip 5. Once depleted, the 45W charger brought the battery back up to 50% in 25 minutes during testing, and to full in under an hour.
Motorola Razr+ (2024) review: Cameras
The loss of the ultrawide may be a sore spot for some but I’ve never encountered one that I like more than a dedicated telephoto, so I’m still chalking this up as a positive. It helps that the 50-megapixel (f/2.4) 2x telephoto camera produces terrific shots, whether that be capturing crisp detail in a church spire…
…or taking portrait shots. Here, the foldable form comes into its own, allowing you to take higher-quality selfie portraits with the rear lenses, while still seeing your shot clearly in the external display. Portraits produced are quite good, too, with realistic skin tones and a selection of apertures to cycle between, adjusting the background blur and focus.
This lens also offers a solid 4x hybrid zoom, which essentially crops into the 50-megapixel 2x optical zoom shot, retaining a good deal of vibrancy and contrast.
The new main camera has a higher pixel count than its predecessor (50-megapixels vs 12-megapixels) but a narrower aperture (f/1.7 vs f/1.5). This doesn’t prove to be an issue in good lighting, with the camera still capturing plenty of detail and reproducing a broad dynamic range.
Even after dark, things still look pretty good – in fact, this may actually be better than last year’s night mode. The sky is a little smudgy but the definition in the boat masts is nice and crisp and the coloring is well maintained throughout.
Motorola Razr+ (2024) review: Verdict
With the starting prices of the Razr+ (2024) and the Galaxy Z Flip 6 drifting further apart, I’m less concerned about their performance differences. The Razr is still a nippy handset and I think that dipping back under four figures is more valuable than the extra horsepower. Add in the effective telephoto camera, improved water resistance, and upgraded external display, and we’ve got a strong contender for the best clamshell of 2024.
Software support could prove to be an issue, especially if Samsung prolongs the Z Flip 6 for seven years, and I still feel that both of the Razr+ (2024)’s displays could have just been 120Hz, with that effort instead going into maintaining strong brightness and color accuracy. Regardless, this is a fantastic foldable phone with very few drawbacks. I can’t declare a winner just yet, but I don’t envy Samsung having to follow the Motorola Razr+ (2024).
