Execs
- Cowl display screen seems good
- Silicon battery will increase capability
- Good cameras
Cons
- Greatest if upgrading from a 2023 telephone
- Just one shade
I’ve a tough time feeling the “Plus” in Motorola’s 2026 Razr Plus — particularly given its $1,100 price ticket, up from final yr’s foldable phone, doubtless resulting from current market conditions. After testing it out following final yr’s 2025 base Razr, which I fairly favored, the Razr Plus would not appear to supply way more performance to justify the improve. (My colleague David Lumb reviews the new Razr 2026 here.)
That is to not say the Razr Plus is a nasty system. It is simply making an attempt to occupy a center floor between the $800 Razr and the $1,500 Razr Extremely — whereas sharing many of the identical specs because the 2024 and 2025 Razr Plus fashions. That is why most Razr-curious individuals who do not care about having the newest specs will most likely be higher off with the cheaper mannequin, regardless of its decrease processor efficiency and picture high quality.
The Motorola Razr Plus has a 6.9-inch display screen that you need to use unfolded or half-folded, like this.
The 2026 Razr Plus has three noticeable enhancements over this yr’s base Razr: a barely bigger 4-inch cowl display screen, a quicker 45-watt charging pace and the 3-year-old Snapdragon 8S Gen 3 processor that is nonetheless quicker than Razr’s MediaTek Dimensity 7450X. However all of these options have been on the 2024 and 2025 Razr Plus fashions. Whereas this 2026 version does get a barely larger 4,500-mAh silicon-carbon battery, the cheaper Razr packs an excellent larger 4,800-mAh one.
I nonetheless take pleasure in utilizing the Razr Plus in all the identical methods as I did the bottom Razr. The duvet display screen’s nice for fast texts and looking out up the climate. I like propping it up in a chair-like place to observe movies or for video chats, and unfolding the telephone to make use of its 6.9-inch show for widescreen video and studying web sites may be very handy.
However it’s nonetheless $300 greater than the lower-cost Razr, which provides many of the identical options and is available in extra colours.
Menus on the duvet display screen can use all the show on the Razr Plus. However different apps are constrained to the area above the digital camera.
Motorola Razr Plus (2026) design, battery life, options
Just like the Razr Plus fashions from the previous two years, the 2026 model encompasses a 4-inch OLED cowl display screen that spans almost all the entrance of the telephone, giving the impression that it is simpler to view than the three.6-inch cowl display screen on the lower-cost Razr. However after utilizing each, I discovered the distinction to be imperceptible.
In sure apps, it is simpler to have the keyboard enter a fullscreen mode for typing out messages.
That is as a result of whereas the duvet display screen provides numerous area, particularly with the navigation buttons tucked within the bottom-left nook, most apps are cropped to suit above the cameras. This noticeably reduces the realm of the show that is really usable, and I want there was some form of setting that may let me select to develop this. Typically, chat apps like WhatsApp and Fb Messenger scale down properly to this cowl display screen, whereas others really feel crammed. (I had to make use of surgical precision to tug up my Amtrak ticket’s QR code on the duvet display screen.) These extra crammed moments, particularly, made me surprise what the 4-inch display screen was really including.
Whereas the YouTube app is usable on the duvet display screen, it nonetheless feels crammed.
One “plus” I do see is the textured again of the darkish inexperienced model of my overview unit (Pantone’s “Mountain View”). Whereas the lower-cost fashions additionally are available textured finishes — with Alcantara material and wooden reserved for the higher-end Razr Extremely mannequin — all of them supply a extra distinctive look than the silver and black designs that are inclined to dominate dearer telephones.
The telephone feels extra conventional when unfolded to make use of its 6.9-inch show. I sometimes use a telephone with a 6.7-inch display screen, so the Razr Plus feels noticeably bigger, whether or not I am holding it vertically or horizontally. Most apps scale properly to the additional area, however some movies formatted for widescreen TVs moderately than wider theatrical side ratios have to be zoomed in to fill the show.
I just like the textured really feel of the again of the Razr Plus, in addition to the darkish inexperienced shade dubbed Pantone Mountain View.
The 4,500-mAh battery gives sufficient energy for a day, but it surely’s nothing fancy. Throughout my testing, I might sometimes finish the day at round 30% with about three hours of display screen time — which is habitable and corresponding to different flip-style telephones. In our three-hour YouTube streaming take a look at, the Razr Plus depleted from 100% to 82%, which matches final yr’s Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7. It is an space the place I really feel like this telephone makes a noticeable compromise, particularly in comparison with different $1,100 non-folding telephones, such because the iPhone 17 Pro, which have considerably longer battery life regardless of having smaller batteries.
That stated, the 45-watt wired charging places in a good effort, recharging the battery from 0% to 58% in our 30-minute take a look at. The telephone additionally helps 15-watt wi-fi charging and 5-watt reverse wi-fi charging for powering different gadgets.
Fortnite performs properly on the Razr Plus utilizing the medium graphics settings.
Despite the fact that that is the third yr Motorola is utilizing a Snapdragon 8S Gen 3 processor in its Razr Plus, it is nonetheless an excellent decide for many duties, particularly paired up with 12GB of RAM. These specs put it noticeably behind most equally priced telephones, together with the Galaxy Z Flip 7, in benchmark exams equivalent to Geekbench and 3DMark Wild Life Excessive. However its {hardware} remains to be highly effective sufficient for easy multitasking and to run Fall Guys at its highest graphical settings. Fortnite additionally carried out properly at medium settings, although it struggled extra with the upper graphical presets than $1,100 nonfolding telephones powered by Qualcomm’s latest chip do.
The Plus additionally contains the Moto AI feature suite launched final yr, which in its present type feels each light-touch and a bit heavy-handed. I discover the options straightforward to disregard once I do not want them, however I do recognize the notification summaries offered by Catch Me Up. The broader assistant for trying up data, nevertheless, feels considerably redundant alongside Google Gemini, even when it provides faster entry to a non-Google various.
Since many of those options — together with Moto AI — can be found on the 2024 and 2025 Razr Plus telephones, you are almost certainly to note these upgrades in case you’re coming from the 2023 Razr Plus or any of the bottom Razr telephones. So when you have the 2024 Plus, simply maintain onto it.
On the exterior show, the Razr Plus has a 50-megapixel huge digital camera and a 50-megapixel ultrawide digital camera.
Motorola Razr Plus cameras
In most settings, the cameras on the Razr Plus do fairly properly, and I am notably proud of the 32-megapixel selfie digital camera on the inner display screen. Whereas one benefit of most folding telephones is the flexibility to make use of their higher-resolution rear cameras for selfies, pictures I took with the Razr Plus’ inside digital camera nonetheless captured loads of element in my face and hair.
Taken on the 32-megapixel selfie digital camera.
That stated, having the ability to shut the telephone and use the primary 50-megapixel huge digital camera does make selfies look a bit higher. On this picture, taken in our studio beneath medium lighting, my pores and skin tones seem much less washed out regardless of the extra shadows within the room, and the digital camera does a greater job of capturing the depth of the background.
Taken with the 50-megapixel huge digital camera.
These strengths additionally carry over to pictures taken with the 50-megapixel huge digital camera, equivalent to this shot of a trifle dessert at a buddy’s child bathe in Washington, DC. The darker reds of the strawberries and fantastic particulars, equivalent to the feel of the brownie, are clearly seen, with little or no picture noise.
Taken on the 50-megapixel huge digital camera.
And on this picture taken from the patio of the Fresca restaurant in Washington, DC, the digital camera captures the feel from the wooden patterns on the blue gate within the foreground to the brick outlines within the constructing within the background, with few particulars mixing in collectively as can typically occur once I take pictures on cameras working on an older processor.
Taken on the 50-megapixel huge digital camera.
Taking a photograph of the identical scene with the 50-megapixel ultrawide digital camera saved a lot of the identical colours intact. (On some telephones, pictures taken with the ultrawide digital camera can look dramatically completely different from these taken by the huge digital camera.) However by capturing the broader view from my seat, you lose among the finer particulars, such because the petals of the flowers, which might be simpler to make out in pictures taken with the huge digital camera.
Taken on the 50-megapixel ultrawide digital camera.
Whereas I am fairly proud of the pictures taken by the Razr Plus, I would not name this a photographer’s foldable telephone by any stretch. In more difficult, low-light environments, the cameras do alright, however different telephones within the $1,100 worth vary sometimes have extra highly effective processors that may seize extra element from a darker shot. On this nighttime picture of a tree in my buddies’ yard, you can also make out loads of leaves in various shades of inexperienced, which is spectacular. However there’s additionally some noticeable blur across the edges of the picture, the place the digital camera might have struggled to keep up sharp focus.
Taken on the 50-megapixel huge digital camera.
The Razr Plus can take video at as much as 4K decision at 60 frames per second. Like the remainder of this yr’s Razr telephones, it helps the enjoyable skill to fold the telephone midway whereas the digital camera app is open, activating a camcorder-like mode. The highest half turns into a viewfinder, whereas a faucet on the underside half begins and stops recording. It is slightly sophisticated to explain, however straightforward to get the hold of — particularly in case you dealt with an precise camcorder again within the day — and zooming out and in by tilting the telephone left or proper is a novel contact.
Folding the Razr Plus like this allows you to use the telephone in a camcorder-like mode.
Motorola Razr Plus (2026) backside line
There are two teams of folks that I believe this Razr Plus is greatest for. The primary group is anybody who bought the 2023 Razr Plus or base Razr and is searching for an improve to the 4-inch cowl show with out spending $1,500 for the Razr Extremely. The second is anybody curious in regards to the Razr line who is aware of they want a bit extra energy and reminiscence than the bottom telephone provides, but is not prepared to spend $1,500 on an Extremely with extra highly effective specs.
Nevertheless, for most individuals considering getting their first folding telephone, I do not suppose there’s sufficient right here to justify the $300 premium over the bottom Razr. The larger cowl display screen is sweet, however not good sufficient to justify the value distinction. That $800 Razr contains the identical 256GB of storage, at the least within the model bought by Motorola; I might keep away from the 128GB mannequin wherever it is bought. It additionally has the same 50-megapixel huge and 50-megapixel ultrawide digital camera, though the much less highly effective processor might battle slightly extra in low-light environments. And all the Razr flip telephones embrace three years of software program updates and 5 years of safety updates — placing them on equal footing in relation to longevity.
I might say go forward and save the cash in case you’re contemplating the Razr Plus, as the bottom Razr will most likely meet 90% of your wants. Suffice it to say, I do not see a lot of a plus within the Plus.
How we take a look at telephones
Every phone tested by CNET’s reviews team was really utilized in the true world. We take a look at a telephone’s options, play video games and take pictures. 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 standardized benchmark instruments like GeekBench and 3DMark, together with our personal anecdotal observations navigating the interface, recording high-resolution movies and enjoying 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 towards equally priced competing telephones. We additionally take a look at the battery life through the use of it every day in addition to working a collection of battery drain exams.
We take into consideration extra options like help for 5G, satellite tv for pc connectivity, fingerprint and face sensors, stylus help, quick charging speeds and foldable shows, amongst others that may be helpful. We steadiness all of this towards the value to provide the verdict on whether or not that telephone, no matter worth it’s, really represents good worth. Whereas these exams might not all the time be mirrored in CNET’s preliminary overview, we conduct follow-up and long-term testing in most circumstances.
