It’s uncommon to really feel delighted by a cellphone in 2024, however that’s the Motorola Razr Plus, child.
Certain, telephones are superb little computer systems. For $999, which is what the Razr Plus prices, they need to be. However they’re mature merchandise — instruments slightly than objects of pleasure — and for probably the most half, they’ve blended into the background noise of our lives. However the Razr Plus is totally different, and never simply because it folds in half.
I’ll offer you an instance: one of many background choices for the media controls on the duvet display is a turntable. When music is enjoying, the file spins with one of many digicam cutouts on the heart. Press pause and the needle will elevate off the file and cease. Are you kidding me? That’s cute.
There’s a lot I like concerning the Razr Plus that the disappointments sting somewhat greater than if this was simply any outdated slab-style cellphone. The quilt display is extremely useful — much more so this 12 months with some useful UI enhancements. It comes with an IPX8 ranking, considerably upgrading its water resistance. And enhancements to the hinge this time round make the crease all however disappear while you’re utilizing the inside display. Vital stuff! However significant enhancements and moments of pleasure don’t fairly outweigh the Razr Plus’ shortcomings in the long term.
In the event you’re new to trendy flip telephones, let me provide the elevator pitch: massive cellphone inside, small cellphone exterior. With the cellphone flipped open, you will have a traditional smartphone with a giant display that does all the standard stuff. However while you shut it, the duvet display nearly acts like a second cellphone so you may get basic items accomplished like test notifications and reply to texts with out opening up your cellphone and coming head to head with every part on the massive display. Personally, I like ‘em.
Motorola sells two variations of its trendy tackle the traditional flip cellphone: the Razr Plus and a extra primary Razr. This 12 months, each Razr fashions include larger cowl screens. The Razr Plus’ is a beneficiant 4 inches on the diagonal versus final 12 months’s 3.6-inch display. It’d even be about the identical dimension because the display in your first iPhone, although it feels compact in comparison with a contemporary cellphone show. The bezel on high of the display (are we calling {that a} brow?) is far smaller than on the earlier era. It nearly makes final 12 months’s mannequin appear like a prototype.
There are additionally much more methods to customise the duvet display this time round. You’ll be able to choose a handful of app shortcuts to place proper on the duvet display’s fundamental web page — beforehand, you needed to swipe to a separate panel earlier than you could possibly entry any apps. The calendar panel is far improved, surfacing extra data with just a few extra viewing configurations.
Even the circulation for permitting apps to open on the duvet display is healthier. On final 12 months’s mannequin, you needed to open the cellphone to approve an app for the duvet display — simply as soon as per app, however for each single app. Now, you may approve and open the app proper from the duvet display notification. You’ve got three choices truly: enable, not enable, or — my favourite — “not proper now,” which permits me to simply slowly again away with out making a dedication once I mindlessly faucet on a Threads notification. Not proper now, Devil.
General, the duvet display expertise is miles higher than the earlier era; extra mature and fewer such as you’re testing beta software program. I’d take this each time over the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5, and sure I learn about Good Lock. Motorola put numerous thought into each facet of the show, and it exhibits. Oh, and earlier than we get to the entire different cellphone hooked up to this cellphone, shout out to 2 different cowl display additions: Google Assistant (together with Gemini!) and an always-on show. All of my goals are coming true.
The quilt display is a delight, however the inside display is rather more pedestrian. It’s a 6.9-inch 1080p OLED, and whereas the decision didn’t trouble me a lot in my testing, this display is sufficiently big to learn from a better pixel depend. It doesn’t get fairly as vivid as I’d like exterior, both. It’s fantastic, however you may undoubtedly get a greater show on a slab-style cellphone for a similar sum of money — or perhaps a bit much less.
The excellent news is that Motorola adopted a brand new hinge design this 12 months that minimizes the looks of the crease when the cellphone is totally unfolded. There’s additionally the upgraded IPX8 ranking; there’s no official mud resistance. The Razr Plus is licensed to resist full immersion in contemporary water, a giant enchancment over the earlier gen’s “splashproof” ranking. Importantly, an IPX8 ranking additionally places the Razr Plus on degree floor with the Galaxy Z Flip 5 (and, very seemingly, the Z Flip 6, which is due out quickly).
The comfortable contact on the again panel is a pleasant contact as all the time, however the scorching pink mannequin I examined comes with a brand new “vegan suede” materials, and I don’t assume it’s a change for the higher. It feels extra papery, and I don’t assume it’s going to put on properly over time; my assessment unit has a few faint scratches that don’t budge when I attempt to buff them out with my finger. Contemplating this isn’t some bougie case — it’s the precise cellphone — that appears fairly unhealthy. The opposite colours — peach fuzz, midnight blue, and spring inexperienced — include a vegan leather-based end like final 12 months’s pink mannequin, and for what it’s value, that appears to have held up fantastic.
The Razr Plus makes use of a Snapdragon 8S Gen 3 chipset, which occupies a form of upper-mid-tier, low-flagship house in Qualcomm’s more and more complicated lineup. Within the US, the Razr Plus comes with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage — wholesome numbers. The mix is lots for my day-to-day, and an prolonged Pocket Metropolis 2 session didn’t tax it a lot. And I’ve zero complaints about battery life, which is an actual praise for a flip cellphone since they have a tendency to return with smaller batteries. The Razr Plus’ 4,000mAh cell supplied sufficient energy to get by a day of heavy use after which some.
However I’m as soon as once more asking Motorola to work on its software program help. The Razr Plus comes with three years of OS upgrades and 4 years of safety updates. That’s fantastic; 4 years might be so long as most individuals will need to hold onto this cellphone. However Samsung and Google now promise seven years for his or her high-end telephones — even the $499 Pixel 8A comes with seven years of help. I can’t assist however need extra from a $999 cellphone. Motorola’s monitor file for timeliness isn’t nice, both; 2023 Razr Plus homeowners solely simply began getting their Android 14 replace — not a very good look when Android 15 is only a few months away.
Digital camera efficiency has been one other weak space for Motorola in the previous couple of years, and I’m sorry to say that hasn’t modified within the Razr Plus.
Motorola looks like it’s attempting to handle the problem with a brand new function known as picture enhancement engine, which it says makes use of AI to enhance noise discount in low mild, enhance bokeh on portrait mode pictures, and increase dynamic vary. That simply feels like an inventory of every part cellphone makers have been utilizing AI for over the previous decade. Regardless, the brand new picture processing pipeline hasn’t addressed some core issues: portrait mode topics are poorly remoted, background blur isn’t convincing, and colour copy is uneven.
The system is aware of what to do with vivid, considerable mild — I received some nice pictures from the summit of a hike. However medium mild continues to be a problem, with flat over-brightened pictures and reds saturated to the purpose of clipping.
The Razr Plus trades final 12 months’s ultrawide for a 2x telephoto lens, offering some good zoom choices for portraits. There’s additionally a 4x digital zoom for extra attain, and high quality is first rate so long as there’s loads of mild. With out the ultrawide on the rear panel, you don’t have the identical alternative for get-everyone-in-the-photo group selfies, however the principle digicam is vast sufficient to get a few folks within the shot.
So, right here’s the dilemma: I like utilizing the Razr Plus, however I discover it very exhausting to advocate. The quilt display is a significant a part of the flip cellphone expertise, and every part about it’s higher this time round. It’s simpler to make use of, does extra useful issues, and is rather more customizable. In the event you’re a flip cellphone fanatic like me, it has all the precise strikes.
However I wouldn’t advocate it to somebody who’s extra casually all for a flip cellphone or finds the nostalgic issue interesting. You may get a significantly better digicam in a slab-style cellphone that prices quite a bit much less, and a very good digicam issues when it’s the one you carry on daily basis. Motorola’s monitor file for well timed software program updates stays spotty, too. And the inside display simply isn’t as much as the requirements of a contemporary flagship cellphone.
It’s value the usual 2024 Razr if $999 appears steep for the Plus. Not like final 12 months, it comes with a giant cowl display like its sibling, and it’s additionally IPX8-rated. I haven’t examined it but, however $699 is terribly compelling for that set of options. Within the meantime, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 is simply across the nook. Motorola may be taught a factor or two from Samsung’s software program strategy, with fast updates and lengthy help timeframes. Then once more, Samsung may take just a few cues from the Razr Plus, too — it’s a pleasant cellphone.
Images by Allison Johnson / The Verge