Motorola Razr Fold Review: One Hell of a First Impression

After I’m reviewing a telephone, I are usually most crucial of its digicam and battery life. These are the options most shoppers care about — they usually matter most to me, too, as somebody who snaps tons of photographs and spends loads of time glued to my screen.

I used to be skeptical about each as I started testing the Motorola Razr Fold, the corporate’s first book-style foldable. How good may the digicam and battery life be on a first-gen gadget this thin, the place some {hardware} compromises are virtually inevitable?

Seems, fairly rattling good.

The Razr Fold, which begins at a whopping $1,900 for 512GB of storage, makes a placing debut. The slick, curved cowl glass provides it an immediately premium feel, and its slim profile pays homage to the design legacy of the original Razr flip phone. The textured, woven backing on my Pantone blackened blue mannequin is much less dazzling, however extra on that later.

The Fold’s digicam serves up vibrant, punchy photographs — although typically slightly too punchy — and the 6,000-mAh battery effortlessly powers by means of heavy use on most days. The telephone sits comfortably in my palms and is satisfyingly easy to open and shut because of the stainless-steel teardrop hinge. 

Motorola could also be comparatively late to the book-style foldable sport, but it surely’s clearly been working onerous to nail that vital first impression.  

It is a good time to hop on the book-style bandwagon. In 2025, foldable telephone shipments in North America grew 28% year over year, based on Counterpoint Analysis. That determine is predicted to climb by greater than 20% yearly in 2026. Motorola reported the very best foldables development amongst main telephone producers, because of its common clamshell-style Razr smartphones. 

The Razr Fold extends the corporate’s attain to individuals who need a bigger, tablet-like choice. Its launch comes at a strategic second, as experiences counsel Apple may launch a foldable iPhone within the coming months — a transfer that would doubtlessly elevate the general foldables area of interest whereas additionally overshadowing rivals. 

The Motorola Razr Fold is now available for pre-order within the US at Greatest Purchase and on Motorola’s website, with availability beginning Could 21. It’s going to even be offered by means of Verizon, T-Cell and Xfinity Cell within the coming months.

Motorola Razr Fold feel and appear

In some ways, the Razr Fold borrows from the ultra-slim foldables that got here earlier than it. Whereas testing this telephone, I had flashbacks to utilizing the Oppo Find N5 and Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7, which sport equally modern designs. However Motorola’s first book-style telephone has managed to carve out a definite id of its personal.

The Razr Fold measures 4.6mm thick when open and 9.9mm thick when closed, putting it firmly between the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Google’s Pixel 10 Pro Fold by way of thinness. When shut, it hardly feels any thicker than a slab telephone. As considered one of my buddies succinctly put it, “This appears like my iPhone.” (The iPhone 17 Pro is barely slimmer at 8.75mm.) The Razr Fold weighs 243 grams, and paired with its slim design, it feels snug to carry for lengthy stretches whether or not it is open or closed.

The Razr Fold’s most distinctive design selection is its vegan leather-based backing. As an alternative of a conventional glass rear panel, my Pantone blackened blue mannequin has a woven, textured end that some individuals could discover interesting, although to me it felt a bit like a rugged OtterBox case. I personally favor the silky matte end on the Pantone lily white model of the Razr Fold, however that finally comes all the way down to style.

The curved edges of the Razr Fold’s Corning Gorilla Glass Ceramic 3 show give it a sophisticated, premium really feel whereas including welcome sturdiness — conserving my gadget wanting pristine even with no display protector or case.

One function that offers the Razr Fold an edge over competing foldables is its assist for the Moto Pen stylus — although it’s going to value you an additional $100. Samsung nixed S Pen assist on the Galaxy Z Fold 7 in change for a sleeker design, so it is commendable that Motorola is providing each a skinny design and stylus assist.

Nonetheless, regardless of the premium really feel of the Moto Pen Extremely and its woven carrying case, I by no means discovered myself reaching for it. The actual fact you may’t retailer the stylus within the telephone, like you may with the Galaxy S26 Ultra, makes it much less handy to make use of — and simpler to misplace. I am additionally not a lot of a stylus individual normally; typing or tapping the display simply feels extra intuitive to me. Nonetheless, I feel it is nice that the choice is there for many who need it, even when it does value additional.

The Razr Fold carries IP48 and IP49 rankings, that means it could actually survive being submerged in water for as much as half-hour and face up to high-pressure water jets, although it nonetheless is not absolutely protected in opposition to mud and tiny particles. And regardless of its slim construct, the telephone feels strong when strain is utilized, whether or not it is open or closed. It additionally held up properly after being tossed round in my bag, avoiding any main scuffs or scratches.

Motorola Razr Fold shows: Double obligation

Let’s get this out of the way in which: Sure, the Razr Fold’s inside show has a visual crease. However like most foldables, it virtually fades into the background while you’re utilizing the display, so it is not distracting.

I persist with the Razr Fold’s 6.6-inch cowl display about 80% of the time as a result of it appears like utilizing a normal slab telephone, and previous habits die onerous. It is a extra snug setup for texting, scrolling by means of social media apps and firing off emails as a result of there’s much less display space to stretch my fingers throughout. It is also a testomony to how regular this foldable feels — in a great way — that I usually overlook there is a bigger show tucked inside every time I want it.

I go for the Razr Fold’s extra sprawling 8.1-inch predominant show when engaged on the prepare or watching motion pictures in mattress. It hits the candy spot of being extra expansive with out veering into the colossal proportions of the Galaxy Z TriFold. I additionally like swiping by means of my photograph gallery on the Razr’s bigger display, because it makes it simpler to identify extra particulars. However some apps aren’t well-suited for this format. Instagram, as an illustration, awkwardly crops posts and movies on my feed — a standard downside on book-style foldables that I want would hurry up and get resolved. 

Break up-screen is nice for multitasking and helps as much as three apps concurrently. The most important disadvantage is the dearth of versatile app resizing; not like on the Galaxy Z Fold 7, I am unable to management how a lot area every app takes up on the display. Hopefully, that is one thing Motorola addresses in future updates.

One other approach to multitask is thru a mode referred to as Freeform, which locations an app in a small floating window that you may drag across the display — just like picture-in-picture mode. This may be useful if you wish to play a YouTube video within the nook or maintain a observe open whereas utilizing the complete predominant display for looking or scrolling. I by no means actually discovered a necessity for this function myself, however I respect the choice. 

App continuity on the Razr Fold is remarkably easy. I can change between the quilt display and the principle show — and again once more — with none hiccups. After I open or shut the telephone, playback is seamless; the audio would not reduce out and the video transitions between shows with none noticeable lag. I do not even need to unlock the quilt display to maintain watching. It is simply one of many Razr Fold’s most spectacular options.

A management nestled within the upper-left nook of each the quilt and predominant shows expands into fast controls for sure apps, letting you pause playback or skip forward with out opening the app itself. I take advantage of this extensively once I’m listening to audiobooks and my consideration invariably drifts. There is a comparable management on the lock display (which resembles Live Activities on the iPhone) that additionally helps you to shortly management music and audio playback. 

Motorola Razr Fold cameras

For Motorola’s first foray into book-style telephones, the Razr Fold’s cameras serve up spectacular outcomes. 

The telephone packs a triple 50-megapixel rear digicam system with a wide-angle, ultrawide and telephoto lens. There’s additionally a 20-megapixel selfie digicam on the entrance and a 32-megapixel selfie digicam on the within, that are notable specs, notably for a foldable telephone.

Footage are persistently vibrant and detailed. I photographed lush greenery, colourful blooms, glowing string lights and charming road corners. These photographs are all vivid and crowd pleasing, although the shades aren’t at all times true to life. The digicam positively leans towards a daring, saturated type somewhat than extra pure tones, which might typically look over-the-top. But it surely does add richness, particularly to photographs that would use slightly additional punch, like nighttime photographs.

As one pal remarked once I confirmed her the digicam’s saturated colours, “My mother would love that!” All of it comes all the way down to desire.

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There are some Razr Fold digicam options that benefit from the telephone’s expansive display area. On the principle show, you should utilize Fast Evaluation to see a reside feed of the photographs you are snapping on one facet of the display. 

You too can open the telephone and use the rear digicam for higher-quality selfies, whereas previewing the shot on the quilt display. Telephones such because the Pixel 10 Professional Fold have comparable options that benefit from the dual-screen design.

Motorola Razr Fold battery life and efficiency

The Razr Fold packs a 6,000-mAh silicon-carbon battery, a next-generation lithium-ion expertise designed to last more and cost quicker. However there is a catch.

The telephone would not include the proprietary charging brick wanted to unlock full-speed 80-watt wired charging, which Motorola calls TurboPower charging. You will need to shell out round $100 for the right brick, and Motorola wasn’t capable of ship one my method throughout my testing. 

I ended up utilizing my 140-watt MacBook charging brick to faucet into as a lot energy as doable, and the outcomes had been underwhelming. The Razr Fold’s battery went from 0% to simply 37% in half an hour, and it took round 90 minutes to succeed in a full cost. I received comparable outcomes once I used a extra modest 67-watt energy brick from Google. For comparability, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 reached 42% in half-hour, and in addition took about an hour and half to succeed in full battery in my testing — and that was with 25-watt wired charging. Each telephones recharge slower than premium Android flat telephones such because the Galaxy S26 lineup and the Pixel 10 collection.

In any other case, the Razr Fold’s battery holds up properly throughout the day, which is particularly noteworthy given the telephone’s slim construct. (The Z Fold 7’s greatest disadvantage is its comparatively meager 4,400-mAh battery.) As a result of silicon-carbon batteries are extra energy-dense, they’ll retailer extra energy in much less area.

On considered one of my heaviest-use days, which included becoming a member of a video name over mobile knowledge and spending chunk of time sending emails and scrolling on Instagram, the Razr Fold went from 100% at 9 a.m. to useless by 2 p.m. the subsequent day. 

Different days mirrored extra typical use. On a workday spent totally on Wi-Fi and bouncing between my typical apps — Instagram, Gmail, WhatsApp, Audible, YouTube and the digicam — the telephone dropped from 100% at 6:53 p.m. Wednesday to 26% by 9:02 a.m. Friday. On a extra relaxed Sunday spent primarily watching YouTube and listening to an audiobook, it went from absolutely charged at 11 a.m. to 14% by 5:40 p.m. the subsequent day.

In CNET’s 45-minute endurance check, which entails streaming, scrolling by means of social media, becoming a member of a video name and enjoying video games on the within show, the Razr Fold’s battery went from full to 94%. That aligns with how opponents fared in the identical check: The Galaxy Z Fold 7 completed at 93%, and the Pixel 10 Professional Fold ended at 96%. 

In a 3-hour streaming check over Wi-Fi, which concerned enjoying a YouTube video in full-screen mode at full brightness on the within show, the battery dropped to 86%. For comparability, the Z Fold 7 reached 84% and the Pixel 10 Professional Fold hit 78%. So there are some noticeable — if comparatively minor — features from the silicon-carbon battery. 

The Razr Fold is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 chip, and arrives with Android 16 on board. Motorola guarantees “7 OS updates and as much as 7 years of safety updates ranging from the worldwide launch date,” placing it consistent with different high-end telephones from Samsung and Google.

Like every premium smartphone available on the market immediately, the Razr Fold comes full of AI features, together with a mixture of capabilities from Google Gemini, Moto AI and Perplexity. There’s even a devoted facet button that permits you to shortly set off instruments for summarizing notifications, producing photographs or creating playlists. 

I personally do not discover any of those options obligatory, useful or time-saving (I favor to learn my buddies’ texts and create my very own playlists, thanks very a lot), so I did not put them to a lot use. Probably the most sensible AI function is Google’s Circle to Search for shortly pulling up extra particulars about no matter’s on my display, which is on the market on most Android telephones. 

Benchmark checks for the CPU in Geekbench 6 place the Razr Fold slightly below the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Galaxy Z TriFold. The telephones additionally beat out the Razr Fold in a graphics check utilizing 3DMark’s Wild Life Excessive, however Motorola’s providing tops the Google Pixel 10 Professional XL. Try the graphs beneath for extra specifics.

Closing ideas: Is the Motorola Razr Fold match for you?

Should you’ve been enthusiastic about switching to a book-style foldable for the primary time, the Motorola Razr Fold makes a robust case for itself — even with its hefty $1,900 price ticket. The telephone’s modern really feel, spectacular cameras and strong battery life are the largest promoting factors, and the interface is mostly well-suited for its dual-screen design. Motorola’s assist for seven software program upgrades helps to solidify the Razr Fold’s premium flagship standing. 

The Razr Fold is skinny sufficient to really feel like a slab telephone when closed, and each the quilt and predominant shows are snug and pure to make use of. Moto Pen stylus compatibility is an added bonus should you favor jotting down notes the old style method — although you will need to shell out more cash and might’t retailer the pen contained in the telephone. 

Should you’re already utilizing a foldable telephone just like the Galaxy Z Fold 7 or the Pixel 10 Professional Fold, it is tougher to suggest making the leap to Motorola’s providing. The general expertise would not really feel totally different sufficient to justify switching. There are additionally execs and cons to every choice, so it depends upon what you select to prioritize. The Razr Fold has an even bigger battery, however I feel the Z Fold 7 has extra spectacular cameras. And the Pixel 10 Professional Fold has a sturdy IP68 score that makes it notable in its personal proper.

Motorola’s new foldable may not faucet into nostalgia the way in which its clamshell-style Razr telephones do, but it surely nonetheless feels poised to carve out an id of its personal.

How we check telephones

Every phone CNET’s reviews team tests is utilized in the true world. We check a telephone’s options, play video games and take photographs. 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 score 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 circumstances, from shiny daylight to darkish indoor scenes. We check out particular options like night time mode and portrait mode, and examine our findings in opposition to equally priced competing telephones. We additionally take a look at the battery life by utilizing it each day, in addition to operating a collection of battery drain checks.

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