Motorola’s 2024 Razr Plus is a enjoyable and flawed flip telephone

It’s uncommon to really feel delighted by a telephone in 2024, however that’s the Motorola Razr Plus, child.

Positive, telephones are wonderful little computer systems. For $999, which is what the Razr Plus prices, they need to be. However they’re mature merchandise — instruments somewhat 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 completely different, and never simply because it folds in half.

I’ll provide you with an instance: one of many background choices for the media controls on the duvet display screen is a turntable. When music is enjoying, the document spins with one of many digicam cutouts on the middle. Press pause and the needle will elevate off the document and cease. Are you kidding me? That’s lovable. 

There’s a lot I like in regards to the Razr Plus that the disappointments sting a little bit greater than if this was simply any outdated slab-style telephone. The quilt display screen is extremely helpful — much more so this 12 months with some useful UI enhancements. It comes with an IPX8 score, considerably upgrading its water resistance. And enhancements to the hinge this time round make the crease all however disappear once you’re utilizing the interior display screen. Vital stuff! However significant enhancements and moments of pleasure don’t fairly outweigh the Razr Plus’ shortcomings in the long term.

In case you’re new to trendy flip telephones, let me provide the elevator pitch: huge telephone inside, small telephone outdoors. With the telephone flipped open, you’ve gotten a traditional smartphone with a giant display screen that does all the standard stuff. However once you shut it, the duvet display screen nearly acts like a second telephone so you may get basic items carried out like verify notifications and reply to texts with out opening up your telephone and coming nose to nose with every little thing on the large display screen. Personally, I like ‘em.

Motorola sells two variations of its trendy tackle the basic flip telephone: the Razr Plus and a extra fundamental 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 screen. It would even be about the identical dimension because the display screen in your first iPhone, regardless that it feels compact in comparison with a contemporary telephone show. The bezel on prime of the display screen (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 screen this time round. You possibly can decide a handful of app shortcuts to place proper on the duvet display screen’s major 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 a couple of extra viewing configurations. 

Even the circulate for permitting apps to open on the duvet display screen is healthier. On final 12 months’s mannequin, you needed to open the telephone to approve an app for the duvet display screen — simply as soon as per app, however for each single app. Now, you’ll be able to approve and open the app proper from the duvet display screen notification. You will have 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.

Total, the duvet display screen 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 side of the show, and it exhibits. Oh, and earlier than we get to the entire different telephone hooked up to this telephone, shout out to 2 different cowl display screen additions: Google Assistant (together with Gemini!) and an always-on show. All of my desires are coming true.

The quilt display screen is a delight, however the interior display screen is way 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 screen is sufficiently big to learn from a better pixel depend. It doesn’t get fairly as vibrant as I’d like outdoors, both. It’s wonderful, however you’ll be able to positively get a greater show on a slab-style telephone for a similar amount of cash — 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 telephone is totally unfolded. There’s additionally the upgraded IPX8 score; there’s no official mud resistance. The Razr Plus is licensed to resist full immersion in recent water, a giant enchancment over the earlier gen’s “splashproof” score. Importantly, an IPX8 score additionally places the Razr Plus on stage floor with the Galaxy Z Flip 5 (and, very seemingly, the Z Flip 6, which is due out quickly). 

The delicate contact on the again panel is a pleasant contact as at all times, 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 overview 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 telephone — 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 wonderful.

The Razr Plus makes use of a Snapdragon 8S Gen 3 chipset, which occupies a sort 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 a lot 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 telephone since they have an inclination to come back with smaller batteries. The Razr Plus’ 4,000mAh cell supplied sufficient energy to get by means of a day of heavy use after which some.

However I’m as soon as once more asking Motorola to work on its software program assist. The Razr Plus comes with three years of OS upgrades and 4 years of safety updates. That’s wonderful; 4 years might be so long as most individuals will wish to cling onto this telephone. 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 assist. I can’t assist however need extra from a $999 telephone. Motorola’s observe document for timeliness isn’t nice, both; 2023 Razr Plus homeowners solely simply began getting their Android 14 replace — not a superb look when Android 15 is just some months away.

Digicam efficiency has been one other weak space for Motorola in the previous few years, and I’m sorry to say that hasn’t modified within the Razr Plus.

Motorola looks like it’s making an attempt to handle the difficulty with a brand new function known as picture enhancement engine, which it says makes use of AI to enhance noise discount in low gentle, enhance bokeh on portrait mode pictures, and increase dynamic vary. That simply feels like an inventory of every little thing telephone 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 coloration copy is uneven.

The system is aware of what to do with vibrant, ample gentle — I obtained some nice pictures from the summit of a hike. However medium gentle 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 gentle. 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 primary digicam is extensive 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 arduous to advocate. The quilt display screen is a significant a part of the flip telephone expertise, and every little thing about it’s higher this time round. It’s simpler to make use of, does extra useful issues, and is way more customizable. In case you’re a flip telephone fanatic like me, it has all the appropriate strikes.

However I wouldn’t advocate it to somebody who’s extra casually occupied with a flip telephone or finds the nostalgic issue interesting. You will get a significantly better digicam in a slab-style telephone that prices so much much less, and a superb digicam issues when it’s the one you carry day by day. Motorola’s observe document for well timed software program updates stays spotty, too. And the interior display screen simply isn’t as much as the requirements of a contemporary flagship telephone. 

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 screen like its sibling, and it’s additionally IPX8-rated. I haven’t examined it but, however $699 is very compelling for that set of options. Within the meantime, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 is simply across the nook. Motorola may study a factor or two from Samsung’s software program method, with fast updates and lengthy assist timeframes. Then once more, Samsung may take a couple of cues from the Razr Plus, too — it’s a pleasant telephone.

Pictures by Allison Johnson / The Verge