Motorola has unveiled its second-generation Razr foldable phone. The company is calling it the Razr 5G, but 5G is most certainly not the only new feature.
Perhaps the biggest upgrade to the Razr 5G when compared to the original Razr from 2019 is availability. Motorola won’t be selling the new Razr exclusively on Verizon. In fact, Verizon isn’t even a carrier partner in this case. Moto says the device will be available through AT&T, T-Mobile, its own website, B&H, Amazon, and Best Buy. That also means it’s available unlocked which also means a physical SIM slot is on this phone. Those are some pretty big upsides to the new Razr.
Of course, you’ll have to be willing to fork over $1,399.99 for this new gadget which will certainly make a lot of people hesitate. But now the question arises: what do you get for that $1,399.99?
For starters, the Razr 5G ships with a new design. Motorola stuck with the overall form factor of the original Razr with the same screen and outer aesthetic, but it did adopt Gorilla Glass 5 that covers the front and back portions of the closed Razr 5G. The screen is still covered in plastic, so be careful with your taps.
Motorola has improved the hinge design of the Razr so it’s quieter and more sturdy. However, it isn’t clear just how far they went in terms of improving the durability. The company says the hinge can survive up to 100 opens and closes a day for five years, but I’m not sure how helpful that metric is since people likely won’t be reviewing this phone in 2025.
Around the phone, you’ll find a USB-C port, a loudspeaker, and the physical SIM slot I mentioned. The fingerprint scanner has moved to the back of the phone off the chin which is… an interesting choice. The front of the Razr 5G still ships with a 2.7-inch Quick View screen, of which Motorola has improved. You can now use the screen as a portal into your phone if you can’t open the device completely. Before, you could only do things like manage notifications and open certain apps. Moto still only wants you to open hand-picked apps like the calendar, Google Home, and the camera, but it’ll let you now pick any app on your phone. You can even use a tiny keyboard to send messages.
Opening the Razr 5G reveals the same 6.2-inch Full HD OLED 60Hz display we’re used to seeing on the original Razr. Nothing has changed in this case. Under the hood, there’s a new Snapdragon 765G processor coupled with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. That should translate into some meaningful performance improvements over the 2019 Razr which came with a Snapdragon 710, 6GB of RAM, and 128GB of storage.
Unfortunately, while it did get bigger gen-over-gen, the battery is still small. The new Razr 5G ships with a 2,800mAh cell compared to the 2,510mAh cell in the previous version. I’m gonna go out on a limb and say battery life will suck on this phone, but I suppose we’ll have to wait for reviews to go out until we can be sure.
What shouldn’t suck as bad anymore are photos you take with the Razr. Motorola is introducing a new 48MP rear sensor with OIS and laser autofocus. Photographs and videos should be much sharper and clearer than before, although it isn’t clear if they’ll be up to snuff with other $1,000+ smartphones. Inside, there’s a 20MP selfie camera.
If you don’t want to use that camera, Motorola will let you use the main camera with the Quick View display serving as a viewfinder. The company also includes Camera Cartoon to keep your subjects focused on taking a great photo, Instant Review to instantly see photos taken on the Quick View screen, and External Preview to let your subject see the photo you’re taking before you push the shutter button.
Rounding things off, the new Razr 5G ships with Android 10 out of the box. I presume Android 11 for the phone is being worked on, but I don’t know for sure.
The Razr 5G will go on sale this fall in the U.S., China, and select European markets. It’ll cost $1,399.99 and be available in three colors: Polished Graphite, Liquid Mercury, and Blush Gold.
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