Motorola’s 2024 Razr Plus is a damn fun flip phone with the same old flaws

It’s uncommon to consciousness delighted by a telephone successful 2024, but that’s the Motorola Razr Plus, baby.

Sure, phones are astonishing small computers. For $999, which is what the Razr Plus costs, they should be. But they’re mature products — tools alternatively than objects of delight — and for the astir part, they’ve blended into the inheritance sound of our lives. But the Razr Plus is different, and not conscionable due to the fact that it folds successful half.

I’ll springiness you an example: 1 of the inheritance options for the media controls connected the screen surface is simply a turntable. When euphony is playing, the grounds spins with 1 of the camera cutouts astatine the center. Press intermission and the needle volition assistance disconnected the grounds and stop. Are you kidding me? That’s adorable. 

There’s truthful overmuch I similar astir the Razr Plus that the disappointments sting a small much than if this was conscionable immoderate aged slab-style phone. The screen surface is incredibly useful — adjacent much truthful this twelvemonth with immoderate adjuvant UI improvements. It comes with an IPX8 rating, importantly upgrading its h2o resistance. And improvements to the hinge this clip astir marque the crease each but vanish erstwhile you’re utilizing the interior screen. Important stuff! But meaningful improvements and moments of delight don’t rather outweigh the Razr Plus’ shortcomings successful the agelong run.

If you’re caller to modern flip phones, fto maine springiness you the elevator pitch: large telephone inside, tiny telephone outside. With the telephone flipped open, you person a mean smartphone with a large surface that does each the emblematic stuff. But erstwhile you adjacent it, the screen surface astir acts similar a 2nd telephone truthful you tin get basal things done similar cheque notifications and respond to texts without opening up your telephone and coming look to look with everything connected the large screen. Personally, I emotion ‘em.

Motorola sells 2 versions of its modern instrumentality connected the classical flip phone: the Razr Plus and a much basal Razr. This year, some Razr models travel with bigger screen screens. The Razr Plus’ is simply a generous 4 inches connected the diagonal versus past year’s 3.6-inch screen. It mightiness adjacent beryllium astir the aforesaid size arsenic the surface connected your archetypal iPhone, adjacent though it feels compact compared to a modern telephone display. The bezel connected apical of the surface (are we calling that a forehead?) is overmuch smaller than connected the erstwhile generation. It astir makes past year’s exemplary look similar a prototype.

There are besides a batch much ways to customize the screen surface this clip around. You tin prime a fistful of app shortcuts to enactment close connected the screen screen’s main leafage — previously, you had to swipe to a abstracted sheet earlier you could entree immoderate apps. The calendar sheet is overmuch improved, surfacing much accusation with a fewer much viewing configurations. 

Even the travel for allowing apps to unfastened connected the screen surface is better. On past year’s model, you had to unfastened the telephone to o.k. an app for the screen surface — conscionable erstwhile per app, but for each azygous app. Now, you tin o.k. and unfastened the app close from the screen surface notification. You person 3 options actually: allow, not allow, oregon — my favourite — “not close now,” which allows maine to conscionable dilatory backmost distant without making a committedness erstwhile I mindlessly pat connected a Threads notification. Not close now, Satan.

Overall, the screen surface acquisition is miles amended than the erstwhile generation; much mature and little similar you’re investigating beta software. I’d instrumentality this each clip implicit the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5, and yes I cognize astir Good Lock. Motorola enactment a batch of thought into each facet of the display, and it shows. Oh, and earlier we get to the full different telephone attached to this phone, outcry retired to 2 different screen surface additions: Google Assistant (including Gemini!) and an always-on display. All of my dreams are coming true.

The screen surface is simply a delight, but the interior surface is overmuch much pedestrian. It’s a 6.9-inch 1080p OLED, and portion the solution didn’t fuss maine overmuch successful my testing, this surface is large capable to payment from a higher pixel count. It doesn’t get rather arsenic agleam arsenic I’d similar outside, either. It’s fine, but you tin decidedly get a amended show connected a slab-style telephone for the aforesaid magnitude of wealth — oregon even a spot less.

The bully quality is that Motorola adopted a caller hinge plan this twelvemonth that minimizes the quality of the crease erstwhile the telephone is afloat unfolded. There’s besides the upgraded IPX8 rating; there’s nary authoritative particulate resistance. The Razr Plus is certified to withstand afloat immersion successful caller water, a large betterment implicit the erstwhile gen’s “splashproof” rating. Importantly, an IPX8 standing besides puts the Razr Plus connected level crushed with the Galaxy Z Flip 5 (and, precise likely, the Z Flip 6, which is owed retired soon). 

The brushed interaction connected the backmost sheet is simply a bully interaction arsenic always, but the blistery pinkish exemplary I tested comes with a caller “vegan suede” material, and I don’t deliberation it’s a alteration for the better. It feels much papery, and I don’t deliberation it’s going to deterioration good implicit time; my reappraisal portion has a mates of faint scratches that don’t budge erstwhile I effort to buff them retired with my finger. Considering this isn’t some bougie case — it’s the actual telephone — that seems beauteous bad. The different colors — peach fuzz, midnight blue, and outpouring greenish — travel with a vegan leather decorativeness similar last year’s pinkish model, and for what it’s worth, that seems to person held up fine.

The Razr Plus uses a Snapdragon 8S Gen 3 chipset, which occupies a benignant of upper-mid-tier, low-flagship abstraction successful Qualcomm’s progressively confusing lineup. In the US, the Razr Plus comes with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of retention — steadfast numbers. The operation is plentifulness for my day-to-day, and an extended Pocket City 2 session didn’t taxation it much. And I person zero complaints astir artillery life, which is simply a existent compliment for a flip telephone since they thin to travel with smaller batteries. The Razr Plus’ 4,000mAh compartment provided capable powerfulness to get done a time of dense usage and past some.

But I americium erstwhile again asking Motorola to enactment connected its bundle support. The Razr Plus comes with 3 years of OS upgrades and 4 years of information updates. That’s fine; 4 years is astir apt arsenic agelong arsenic astir radical volition privation to bent onto this phone. But Samsung and Google present committedness 7 years for their high-end phones — adjacent the $499 Pixel 8A comes with 7 years of support. I can’t assistance but privation much from a $999 phone. Motorola’s way grounds for timeliness isn’t great, either; 2023 Razr Plus owners only conscionable started getting their Android 14 update — not a bully look erstwhile Android 15 is conscionable a fewer months away.

Camera show has been different anemic country for Motorola successful the past fewer years, and I’m atrocious to accidental that hasn’t changed successful the Razr Plus.

Motorola seems similar it’s trying to code the contented with a caller diagnostic called photograph enhancement engine, which it says uses AI to amended sound simplification successful debased light, amended bokeh connected representation mode photos, and boost dynamic range. That conscionable sounds similar a database of everything telephone makers person been utilizing AI for implicit the past decade. Regardless, the caller photograph processing pipeline hasn’t addressed immoderate halfway problems: representation mode subjects are poorly isolated, inheritance blur isn’t convincing, and colour reproduction is uneven.

The strategy knows what to bash with bright, abundant airy — I got immoderate large photos from the acme of a hike. But mean airy continues to beryllium a challenge, with level over-brightened images and reds saturated to the constituent of clipping. 

The Razr Plus trades past year’s ultrawide for a 2x telephoto lens, providing immoderate bully zoom options for portraits. There’s besides a 4x integer zoom for much reach, and prime is decent arsenic agelong arsenic there’s plentifulness of light. Without the ultrawide connected the rear panel, you don’t person the aforesaid accidental for get-everyone-in-the-photo radical selfies, but the main camera is wide capable to get a mates of radical successful the shot.

So, here’s the dilemma: I emotion utilizing the Razr Plus, but I find it precise hard to recommend. The screen surface is simply a large portion of the flip telephone experience, and everything astir it is amended this clip around. It’s easier to use, does much adjuvant things, and is overmuch much customizable. If you’re a flip telephone enthusiast similar me, it has each the close moves.

But I wouldn’t urge it to idiosyncratic who’s much casually funny successful a flip telephone oregon finds the nostalgic origin appealing. You tin get a overmuch amended camera successful a slab-style telephone that costs a batch less, and a bully camera matters erstwhile it’s the 1 you transportation each day. Motorola’s way grounds for timely bundle updates remains spotty, too. And the interior surface conscionable isn’t up to the standards of a modern flagship phone. 

It’s worthy looking astatine the modular 2024 Razr if $999 seems steep for the Plus. Unlike past year, it comes with a large screen surface similar its sibling, and it’s besides IPX8-rated. I haven’t tested it yet, but $699 is awfully compelling for that acceptable of features. In the meantime, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 is conscionable astir the corner. Motorola could larn a happening oregon 2 from Samsung’s bundle approach, with speedy updates and agelong enactment timeframes. Then again, Samsung could instrumentality a fewer cues from the Razr Plus, excessively — it’s a delightful phone.

Photography by Allison Johnson / The Verge