Motorola Razr 2023 Review: The Best Foldable You Could Get for $700

The $1,499 Motorola Razr made its debut in 2019 as the primary clamshell foldable cellphone, although months later, the $1,380 Samsung Z Flip got here out. Since then, the manufacturers have iterated on their designs and lowered their costs to reach at this 12 months’s Razr Plus 2023 and Z Flip 5, each of which price $1,000; each nonetheless past the finances of most individuals. However now Motorola has launched the $700 Razr 2023, the world’s most reasonably priced foldable cellphone, which I have been testing for the previous 12 days.

Phonemakers like TCL have been working towards cheaper foldables for years, however Motorola is the primary to extensively launch a foldable that has a premium feel and look at a considerably lower cost than its clamshell foldable rivals.

Motorola made some compromises to get a lower cost, together with a smaller entrance show and fewer superior specs than its pricier counterparts. These are comprehensible tradeoffs, however more durable to swallow is the only configuration of 128GB of storage that is not expandable — in order for you extra space, you may both must depend on a cloud resolution or pay up for the $1,000 Razr Plus 2023, which has 256GB of included storage (and is not expandable both).

However in order for you a neat and compact cellphone, you may have to make some sacrifices for the Razr 2023 which Motorola has discounted to $600 at launch. 

Design

At first look, the Motorola Razr 2023 is likely to be mistaken for a Galaxy Z Flip 5 as each have adopted a parallel design evolution. The Razr deserted its eccentric flip cellphone design roots to seemingly observe Samsung’s lead with a extra modern vibe. The Razr 2023 appears like an everyday cellphone that folds within the center. When unfolded flat, there is a nominal crease within the show on the midpoint that I did not discover when taking a look at it or by working my finger over the display screen. 

All in all, the Razr 2023 feels good to carry. Its strong construct high quality feels reassuringly dense — I folded it up and did a number of take a look at drops on my carpeted flooring with out worrying that the halves would come aside. The cellphone closes with a satisfying snap, and when unfolded, the 2 halves come collectively within the again to satisfy seamlessly over the hinge cowl. Whereas the machine is slightly robust to open one-handed given extra resistance within the hinge, that additionally means the Razr stays partially unfolded at any angle — nice for video calls or selfies utilizing the internal display screen’s digicam.

Folding apart, the design appears premium, with a elegant aluminum body and hinge cowl, whereas the vegan leather-based again cowl provides some wanted texture — I am used to a full-size cellphone, so a folded-up clamshell has half the footprint and took time to get used to holding. The glass strip on the highest half of the again of the cellphone covers each the exterior twin cameras and the small outer show, which appears svelte. 

Unfolding the cellphone reveals the tall and slim 6.9-inch OLED show (2,640×1,080 pixels) with a variable refresh price as much as 144Hz, which reveals sharp and vivid particulars corresponding to different 1080p Full HD decision telephones. The Razr’s as much as 144Hz variable refresh price makes looking the web or navigating the house display screen buttery clean. In having a completely practical internal show, the Razr 2023 is on par with different clamshell foldables, however the outer display screen is one other story.

As a substitute of the bigger outer show of its Razr Plus 2023 sibling, the Razr 2023 has a 1.5-inch OLED exterior display screen that is too small to indicate way more than the time, app notifications, and a handful of shortcuts to climate, calendar occasions, contacts, voice recording and extra. It is about as helpful as checking my smartwatch for snapshots of notifications and texts to triage whether or not I have to open my cellphone, and it is useful to take selfies with the rear cameras (far sharper than the one above the internal show), but it surely typically leaves me wanting extra.

The smaller outer show is the Razr 2023’s most evident compromise to get to the lower cost — the pricier Razr 2023 Plus’ foldable’s 3.6-inch outer show is giant sufficient to suit a keyboard to kind on, although most customers will most likely solely use it primarily as a notification and app preview display screen, in addition to to preview selfies. 

Notice that there is not a digicam shortcut on the outer show — as an alternative, you may want to make use of Motorola’s signature gesture shortcut to open the digicam (twist your wrist twice whereas holding the machine), which is fortunately dependable. And sure, the model’s gesture shortcut to activate the flashlight (making a chop movement twice) additionally works whereas the Razr is folded or unfolded.

Efficiency and battery

The Razr 2023 additionally takes a dip in {hardware} for a lower cost, packing a Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 chipset that was launched in mid-2022. The Razr 2023’s efficiency benchmarks are noticeably decrease than telephones rocking the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 discovered within the Razr Plus 2023 alongside different main Android telephones from this 12 months. See the graph beneath:

That does not immediately translate to a poorer consumer expertise, and I used to be capable of flip by the cellphone, swap apps, play intensive video games and pop open the digicam with out a lot delay. But it surely does imply barely decrease graphical capabilities in video games like PUBG Cellular, which will not let me choose the very best graphics setting (my Galaxy S22 Extremely can). 

The 8GB of RAM appears ample, although the 128GB of onboard storage might not be sufficient for folk who take a lot of images or obtain multi-gigabyte video games. Regrettably, the Razr 2023’s storage is not expandable, which is similar for clamshell foldables, but it surely’s much less of a hindrance for the Razr Plus 2023 (256GB), Galaxy Z Flip 5 (256GB/512GB) or Oppo Discover N3 Flip (256GB/512GB). 

The Razr 2023 comes with Android 13 out of the field, and can get three years of Android working system upgrades (and 4 years of safety patches). Android 14 launched for Google Pixel units in early October, and can come for Motorola telephones someday later. Motorola’s software program improve dedication falls behind Samsung (4 years of OS and 5 years of safety) and Apple (round six years of iOS), however Google simply raised the bar by committing to seven years of OS and safety updates with its Pixel 8 sequence.

The battery life does appear higher than older clamshell foldables lasting a full day. Its 4,200mAh capability is larger than batteries on the pricier Razr Plus (3,800mAh), Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 (3,700mAh) and Oppo Discover N3 Flip (4,000mAh). Whereas some producers have argued that the outer screens present sufficient information for fast checks that would save battery drain of illuminating a complete primary show. It is a doubtful whole financial savings in battery, however I can not deny that the Razrs small outer show is ideal for checking the time and climate rapidly.

In our 45-minute utilization take a look at simulating heavy use, the Razr 2023 dropped from 100% right down to 91%, which is simply 2% decrease than the Razr Plus 2023 — maybe owing to the higher effectivity from the pricier cellphone’s higher-end chipset. But that is not the entire image, because the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 ran by the identical take a look at ending at 90%, a virtually an identical outcome. Normal (flat) telephones with larger-capacity batteries are inclined to do higher on the take a look at, possible owing to their higher capability, however the smaller batteries on clamshell foldables result in extra drain (by comparability, the just-launched Oppo Discover N3 Flip drained from 100% right down to 89% in the identical take a look at). 

However on the intense aspect, the 30-watt charger included within the field recharges the cellphone from 0% to 72% in half-hour. The 5-watt wi-fi charging was much less spectacular, juicing the cellphone up from 72% to 86% in half-hour. 

Whereas the {hardware} for the Razr 2023 achieves good efficiency throughout quite a lot of duties, its cameras are way more uneven. 

Of the rear cameras, we do have a favourite little one

Whereas most telephones on the mid-range and premium ranges have an array of cameras that seize images of comparable high quality, the Razr 2023’s two rear shooters are drastically completely different. I will title my less-favored little one up entrance: the 12-megapixel ultrawide digicam takes far blurrier images. 

The upside is that the 64-megapixel primary digicam is nice throughout. It takes sharp images in quite a lot of environments, from shiny daylight to darkish interiors. As long as you needn’t zoom in or out — because the outdated photographer’s adage goes, to “zoom along with your legs” — the primary digicam is ok.

It captures sharp particulars and good coloration, as could be seen on this pic of a suitably vibrant salad.

The ultrawide does present utility in shiny daylight, however struggles in any moodier atmosphere, as low-light pictures are noticeably — even painfully — blurry. This is an apt comparability of an inside lit with dim, heat lighting, beginning with the ultrawide digicam:

Now take a look at the identical room shot by the primary digicam:

The Razr does use the ultrawide for a macro mode to take up-close pictures, which prove effectively, capturing element and vivid colours (in my case, a close-up on the vegan salad with elements spanning the colour spectrum). 

The Razr 2023 does not have a telephoto lens, and does not give customers an possibility for digital zoom — taking a primary digicam picture and cropping in is the one possibility. Most clamshell foldables, together with the Razr Plus 2023 and Z Flip 5, lack zoom lenses and miss out on distance pictures — although the Oppo Discover N3 Flip managed to pack one in.

The final digicam on the Razr 2023 is a 32-megapixel shooter above the primary show, and solely used when the machine is unfolded. Whereas one might take selfies with it, given the outer display screen reveals previews for the 64-megapixel primary digicam when the cellphone is folded up, the internal show digicam will most likely solely be used when taking video calls. The outer show is just too small to preview every little thing the primary digicam can seize, however the sharper high quality is value it. 

Evaluate a shot by the internal 32-megapixel selfie digicam:

Now take a look at a shot with the outer 64-megapixel primary digicam:

There are quirks to taking selfies with the primary digicam through the outer show — as you’ll be able to see above, it appears you’ll be able to solely take them in 4:3 ratio (which is annoying for 16:9 diehards like myself). However you may additionally must be very intentional about how the cellphone is oriented when taking selfies: the thumbnail show is a horizontal rectangle, but taking images with the cellphone right-side up ends in images oriented vertically. If you would like a large selfie, you may have to counter-intuitively rotate the cellphone in order that the show rectangle is skinny and tall. 

Motorola telephones aren’t notably identified for his or her evening pictures, and the identical is true within the Razr 2023 — by which I imply, do not count on among the AI software program miracles that premium Apple, Samsung and Google telephones pull off to light up pitch-dark areas. That mentioned, the Razr 2023’s 64-megapixel primary digicam makes probably the most of any mild within the space and nonetheless produces sharp element in zones which are lit sufficient. 

Finally, the Razr 2023’s digicam suite makes it really feel extra midrange than premium — however as long as customers solely have to shoot distant or panorama pictures, the primary digicam serves simply superb. And given its front-facing and selfie choices, it is a cellphone fitted to the type of informal and social photographers which are possible drawn to a clamshell foldable anyway, particularly one at this value level. If of us need a extra camera-focused cellphone, they’ll go along with a Galaxy S23 Extremely, iPhone 15 Professional Max or Google Pixel 8 Professional — and pay quantity extra for it.

Razr 2023 closing ideas

There are actually of us who the Razr 2023 will probably be excellent for, however they might fall in two camps: those that do not fairly have the finances to pay $1,000 for a Razr Plus 2023 or Galaxy Z Flip 5, and people who need the enjoyable clamshell format and are superb passing on the higher images taken by and the AI-powered modifying instruments within the equally priced $700 Google Pixel 8.

The Razr 2023 challenges the concept that customers aren’t shopping for foldables as a result of they’re too expensive. Will they present up for probably the most accessible flexible-display cellphone but? Or will the market section that may pay $700 proceed shelling out round $1,000 for the latest-and-greatest in cellphone tech? The Razr 2023 makes a pair questionable decisions in its record of compromises, however is general shrewd in trimming options to get to a considerably lower cost level than its rivals. It is enjoyable to make use of, appears engaging and trickles down cool improvements to the higher cusp of the midrange market, but it surely stays to be seen if customers need fashion over cameras as a lot as a reviewer like me does.

How we take a look at telephones

Each cellphone examined by CNET’s critiques workforce was truly utilized in the actual world. We take a look at a cellphone’s options, play video games and take images. We study the show to see if it is shiny, sharp and vibrant. We analyze the design and construct to see how it’s to carry and whether or not it has an IP-rating for water-resistance. We push the processor’s efficiency to the extremes utilizing each standardized benchmark instruments like GeekBench and 3DMark, together with our personal anecdotal observations navigating the interface, recording high-resolution movies and taking part in graphically intense video games at excessive refresh charges.

All of the cameras are examined in quite a lot of situations from shiny daylight to darkish indoor scenes. We check out particular options like evening mode and portrait mode and evaluate our findings in opposition to equally priced competing telephones. We additionally try the battery life through the use of it every day in addition to working a sequence of battery drain assessments.

We keep in mind extra options like assist for 5G, satellite tv for pc connectivity, fingerprint and face sensors, stylus assist, quick charging speeds, foldable shows amongst others that may be helpful. And we after all stability all of this in opposition to the worth to provide the verdict on whether or not that cellphone, no matter value it’s, truly represents good worth. Whereas these assessments could not all the time be mirrored in CNET’s preliminary evaluation, we conduct follow-up and long-term testing in most circumstances.