Motorola Razr Fold evaluation: relying the place you reside, this may very well be the book-style foldable to beat

Introduction

Motorola isn’t any stranger to foldables. The Razr is arguably the very best of the clamshell class, education even Samsung on find out how to greatest use a flip telephone’s outer show – but the agency has by no means felt the necessity to flip its hand to a book-style system. Till now, that’s.

The $1900/£1800 Motorola Razr Fold may be very a lot a primary try: it’s not attempting to be the thinnest, strongest, or greatest geared up on the digital camera entrance. However as all-rounders go, there’s an terrible lot to love. That’s doubly true for US telephone followers, who till now have solely had the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7 and Google Pixel 10 Professional Fold to decide on between.

Europe has extra selection – the Honor Magic V6 is due imminently on the time of writing – and Asia already has the incredible Oppo Discover N6. By casting its web vast, has Motorola performed sufficient to tackle companies which have a number of years of foldable expertise on the very first time of asking?

What stands out in regards to the Morotola Razr Fold’s design?

When lined up subsequent to Moto’s non-folding flagship efforts, not a complete lot. The Razr Fold sticks to the identical styling beats because the Motorola Signature, from the offset sq. digital camera island that softly bulges out from the physique of the telephone to the delicate curved-edge outer show.

The fake woven texture on my Pantone-approved Blackened Blue evaluation unit felt a bit plasticky however supplies loads of grip – one thing you need as a lot of as attainable in a telephone that prices as a lot as this does. I additionally discovered the metallic body’s barely rounded edges made the telephone simpler to open than the squared-off Galaxy Z Fold7.

The hinge is sturdy however opens easily and stays in place at most angles to make use of the telephone in its tent or laptop-style modes. It’s seemingly the rationale this telephone is IP49 rated, placing it behind class leaders just like the Honor Magic V6. Nonetheless, it’ll survive a sudden rain bathe – simply maintain it shut whereas on the seaside.

At 9.9mm whereas folded and 4.6mm open it doesn’t set any data for slimness, but it surely’s skinny sufficient to really feel like a daily handset whereas in your pocket. It’s a little bit of a heavyweight at 243g, however the 21:9 facet ratio makes it a bit simpler to carry one-handed than the broader Pixel 10 Professional Fold.

I had no complaints in regards to the pace or accuracy of the fingerprint-sensing energy button that’s seemingly now the norm for nearly each book-style foldable. It’s additionally value searching within the settings menus for the helpful choice that reveals the notification tray by sliding a finger down the sensor floor. Add it to the record of Motorola gesture controls I want different companies would copy, just like the double judo chop to activate the torch.

Whether or not the devoted shortcut key on the opposite half of the telephone can be as helpful is dependent upon how huge a fan you’re of Moto AI. Its double-tap and press-to-hold gestures can’t be rebound to do something unrelated to Motorola’s synthetic intelligence toolkit (extra on that later). I triggered it by chance a number of occasions whereas reaching for the amount buttons.

Is the Moto Pen Extremely a Razr Fold must-have?

If Samsung abandoning S Pen help was sufficient to place you off the Galaxy Z Fold7, then completely. Motorola’s equal works throughout each the outer and inside screens, has 1000’s of ranges of strain sensitivity, and recognises tilt angle, so feels rather a lot like a daily pencil when writing or drawing in appropriate apps.

Urgent the Moto Pen Extremely’s one button wakes a customisable shortcut bar for fast entry to notes, screenshot annotations, display recording and a magnifying device. Open the digital camera app and it additionally doubles as a distant shutter button. As soon as paired it connects to the telephone immediately when unsheathed from its fabric-wrapped USB-C charging case. In my testing I’ve solely wanted to cost it as soon as.

The case is yet another factor to hold round, although, as there’s nowhere contained in the telephone to retailer the Pen. Motorola doesn’t promote any official case equipment with someplace to stow it both.

Should you make lots of notes or prefer to doodle, it’s well worth the $100 price of admission in North America, however should you’ve lived and not using a stylus to this point you’re not massively lacking out. UK customers have a greater deal, with Motorola bundling the Moto Pen Extremely in with the telephone.

Are the Razr Fold’s screens as brilliant as Moto claims?

That relies upon. Whereas I don’t doubt a tiny portion of every show is ready to hit the ludicrously brilliant 6000+ nits Motorola lists whereas taking part in HDR content material, real-world outcomes are nowhere close to as luminous. That stated, they each do a incredible job outside, with nice visibility even in sturdy direct daylight.

It’s the 8.1in inside show that takes the lead right here, however solely simply. The plastic OLED panel additionally has a satisfyingly sharp 2484×2232 decision, easy LTPO 1-120Hz refresh fee and wonderful viewing angles. The 8:7.2 facet ratio is right for side-by-side multitasking, however much less so for multimedia, with thick letterboxing irrespective of which approach you rotate the telephone. I assumed the display crease was extra noticeable than on the very best book-style foldables, although not by an enormous margin.

The 6.6in outer panel’s waterfall glass additionally kicks up extra reflections than a flat panel would, however they by no means proved overly distracting. It appears simply as crisp at 2520×1080 and might hit an excellent speedier 165Hz, although primarily whereas in appropriate video games. I noticed 120Hz for probably the most half, with it reacting immediately to scrolling or onscreen movement.

Each screens have the kind of dynamic colors, distinctive distinction and deep, inky blacks you’d count on from a flagship OLED. If something Moto’s hues are a bit punchier than the competitors, that are a bit extra true to life, however you’ll be able to dial them again by way of the Settings menus.

The Razr Fold’s stereo audio system are constructed into the quilt display facet of the system. They get impressively loud, however can’t fairly ship the tonal steadiness of a Z Fold 7. Mids and highs take precedence over the low finish, leaving issues sounding a bit skinny.

How do the Razr Fold’s cameras compete with different foldables?

Should you like ultra-vivid colors and sharp particulars, you’ll be very proud of dramatic-looking snaps captured from the three 50MP rear snappers. These are the identical wealthy and extremely saturated hues I’ve seen on many a current Motorola telephone – and that’s whereas utilizing the Pure tone preset. Vivid dials issues up even additional.

I personally favor a extra pure presentation, and whereas the Signature fashion claims to make use of AI to repeat the brightness and saturation edits you make to pictures taken on the telephone, I’d slightly have the choice to dial issues in by hand. There are many filters to select from however they’re all a bit heavy-handed and Instagram-like for my style.

The lead lens offers an incredible impression of element, carefully adopted by the 3x telephoto. The picture processing does use lots of sharpening to realize it, although, with some photographs not holding up as properly when you begin peeping at pixels. Shadow particulars are prioritised on the expense of highlights, which might result in blowouts in some brightly lit scenes, however I can’t deny they make for extra distinctive snaps than the Pixel 10 Professional Fold’s flatter fashion.

The ultrawide the weakest of the three for sheer element captured, however color and publicity consistency is slightly good. It appears very delicate in low mild, and wishes a a lot steadier hand than the opposite two lenses.

3x optical zoom from the telephoto isn’t enormous, with some rivals providing a local 5x. Sensor cropping, digital zoom and AI processing allow you to go all the way in which to 100x, however Motorola actually ought to’ve put the brakes on round 30x. The whole lot appears very over-processed previous that time. Stick with 10x or under and the outcomes are impressively crisp.

Whereas it has a wider aperture than both Samsung or Google’s book-style handsets, I assumed low mild efficiency was merely OK. A extra mature pixel pipeline would have helped protect extra particulars within the darkest of night time photographs, which frequently come throughout as murky. Oppo stays my foldable images decide general and Samsung stays a detailed second, however Motorola has not at all let the facet down.

There’s additionally a pair of punch-hole webcams: a 32MP unit within the top-right nook of the inside display and a 20MP one within the top-middle of the quilt show. As with every foldable, although, you’re going to wish to use the primary cameras for selfies as the standard distinction is stark.

Does the Razr Fold’s software program make good use of the foldable kind issue?

Completely it does. Moto’s software program division appears to have borrowed some knowhow from the Razr clamshell line, with a number of methods to place the Fold’s two screens to make use of.

Tent show is one in every of my favourites. It turns the telephone into a sensible display when positioned partly open on a desk, exhibiting the time, a calendar and the present temperature; whereas music is taking part in you get the album artwork and playback controls. Laptop computer mode, which makes use of the underside half of the inside show like a touchpad, proved much less helpful; apps look slightly small, the cut up keyboard is a chore to faucet away at, and the rear digital camera island made it susceptible to toppling over.

Utilizing the expansive inside display totally open is a significantly better expertise. Moto’s tackle Android 16, Howdy UX, lets you might have as much as three apps open side-by-side, with the perimeters spilling out into digital house. You’ll be able to then increase the view so a single app fills many of the display, however the different two are nonetheless solely a faucet away. Gestures rapidly divide the display and you’ll have a floating window on high. It’s up there with OnePlus and Oppo for the very best multitasking implementation I’ve tried on a foldable. I significantly like what number of apps deal with the inside show like a pill, giving further columns and expanded views, however then return to the same old telephone format when switching to the outer display.

Elsewhere Howdy UX feels very acquainted, with a rising collection of pre-installed apps however the majority nonetheless being left to Google’s defaults. There’s lots of customisation on supply, each visually and thru Moto’s many gesture shortcuts.

Moto AI is the most important new addition, having solely been doing the rounds for a 12 months on Moto’s different telephones. It’s partly a set of home-grown instruments that may summarise notifications, report and transcribe voice notes, and keep in mind issues for later, together with a shortcut to third-party choices together with Copilot, Perplexity and Gemini. A picture studio can generate pics from a textual content immediate and it might probably generate music playlists, however just for Amazon Music subscribers. Typically I bought higher search outcomes and extra helpful responses to questions by utilizing Gemini. There’s little right here I’d actively purchase the telephone to make use of, however no less than it’s not as in-yer-face and Samsung’s Galaxy AI.

Motorola does get a giant thumbs up for its promise of seven years of latest Android generations, plus seven of safety updates. That is pretty much as good because it will get from Motorola and on par with the category greatest for long-term software program help.

Is the Motorola Razr Fold a category chief for efficiency and battery life?

Positively not on the efficiency entrance, as a result of Motorola has opted for Qualcomm’s step-down Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 chipset slightly than the stronger Elite variant seen in current rivals. Even paired with a wholesome 16GB of RAM, it delivers artificial benchmark scores notably decrease than the competitors; PCmark was the one standout, with all of my different assessments handing the win to the Discover N6 – which has one fewer CPU cores than the Honor Magic V6. There’s additionally no efficiency profile, so what you see may be very a lot what you get.

This doesn’t make a lot distinction to on a regular basis use, the place there’s nonetheless loads of grunt for demanding apps. Multitasking by no means felt like a slog, with apps responding immediately to faucets and swipes. There was by no means any level in my testing the place I felt it wanted extra energy, no less than for inventive and productivity-minded duties.

Gaming was hardly a slog both. The whole lot I attempted ran easily on each the inside and outer shows, at medium graphics settings or increased. Temperatures by no means felt excessive both.

Motorola Razr Fold benchmark scores
Geekbench 6 single-core	2582
Geekbench 6 multi-core	8697
Speedometer 3.1	14.8
Geekbench AI	3543
PCmark Android	20,735
3DMark Wild Life Excessive	5014

Battery life is a special matter. With a 6000mAh cell it has a better capability by far of any book-style foldable within the US, and isn’t too far in need of the Asian class leaders. Mixed with the much less energy hungry CPU, it is a telephone that goes and goes between journeys to the plug socket. On the whole use, I used to be making it right into a second day earlier than having to plug in. Solely in depth use of the bigger display in battery-draining apps or video games required a refuel within the first day.

The Discover N6 goes for even longer, however the hole isn’t as vast as you’d assume given Oppo’s telephone has an additional 600mah of capability. Motorola has Samsung and Google overwhelmed soundly right here.

Charging speeds are additionally pretty much as good because it will get for American customers, with 80W wired refuels in a position to get the telephone again as much as full in lower than an hour. 50W wi-fi topups comply with carefully behind, albeit solely with a appropriate pad. There’s no Qi2 magnets right here such as you’ll discover within the Pixel 10 Professional Fold.

Do you have to purchase the Motorola Razr Fold in 2026?

For a primary strive, the Razr Fold will get lots proper. Motorola’s e-book fashion foldable undoubtedly has the battery life to compete for sophistication honours, together with attractive screens and cameras which can be succesful sufficient. The stylus is helpful, the software program isn’t as overbearing as some, and efficiency is respectable too. Within the US it’s the most important contender for Samsung’s book-style foldable crown, besting the Google Pixel 10 Professional Fold in a number of key areas.

There’s a bit extra competitors in Europe, although – and much more in Asia. The Oppo Discover N6 stays my high decide for a photography-focused foldable should you reside in one of many few locations it’s offered formally, whereas the Honor Magic V6 will virtually definitely undercut Motorola’s excessive asking value. And in the end whereas the Galaxy Z Fold7 could also be virtually a 12 months previous it’s nonetheless arguably the very best all-rounder foldable on the market, particularly now it might probably typically be discovered at a tidy discount.

That makes the Razr Fold the extra left-field choice, then – however one which’s excellent for productiveness.

What are the Motorola Razr Fold’s technical specs?