5 Reasons to Buy a Foldable Motorola Razr (and 4 reasons to skip)

5 Reasons to Buy a Foldable Motorola Razr (and 4 reasons to skip)

If you're feeling nostalgic looking at the image above, you're in the right place. The Motorola Razr is back, and it's more than a way to cash in on the 2004 icon.

It's a foldable phone that starts as a mini clamshell and unfolds into a 6.2-inch phablet. It is very different from the Galaxy Fold, which unfolds like a book in an attempt to double as a tablet. But is the new Razr worth $1,500, which will go on pre-sale on January 26 and arrive in stores on February 6? Here are its pros and cons.

I like the iPhone 11 Pro Max, but it is tall and large, so it stands out when placed in the front pocket of my pants. To make matters worse, it sometimes digs into my legs when walking up stairs.

When closed, the 2020 Motorola Razr measures just 3.7 x 2.8 x 0.55 inches. When opened, the new Razr grows to 6.7 x 2.8 x 0.27 inches and is still quite thin.

Samsung enhanced the foldable phone in several ways before launch, but there is still a gap between the two halves when the Galaxy Fold is closed. Not so with the Motorola Razr.

Thanks to two stainless steel hinges connected to a sliding support plate, the top and bottom of this clamshell sit flush when closed. Furthermore, Motorola does not take care to lightly tap the plastic screen as Samsung does.

The Motorola Razr's front 2.7-inch glass screen does more than just display who's calling and notifications. It can reply to text with canned messages and dictate messages with voice. Even better, you don't have to open the display to get a Google Assistant response. The ability to control music playback using Quick View Control is another plus.

Similar to the Galaxy Fold, you can flip open from the Quick View display to the larger Flex View screen to resume where you left off in an app. For example, if one receives an email and then wants to compose a larger message using the larger 6.2" display, one can continue the task in the larger panel.

According to Motorola, this feature will initially work with a limited number of apps, but they plan to work with developers to support more apps.

You don't want to be reminded that you are using a folding phone when the screen is fully extended, but the Motorola Razr accommodates this without a visible crease. This is because the hinge design prevents the phone from folding completely flat when closed. This means less distraction when viewing content.

While most Android flagship phones are powered by Qualcomm's powerful Snapdragon 855 processor, Motorola has put a mid-range Snapdragon 710 chip in the new Razr. As such, it will definitely not be as fast as the Google Pixel 4 or Galaxy Note 10 when it is released.

It has a decent 6GB of RAM, while the Note 10's RAM starts at 8GB, though the Pixel 4 also has 6GB.

At least the storage is pretty solid, as the Motorola Razr has 128GB; the Pixel 4 starts at 64GB. But the Note 10 starts even higher, 256GB, and the more expensive Galaxy Fold is 512GB.

My biggest concern about the Motorola Razr is battery life; while the Snapdragon 710 chip is designed to be power efficient, this foldable phone has a battery capacity of only 2,510 mAh. This is the smallest battery ever found in a flagship phone.

By comparison, the Note 10 has a 3,500 mAh battery and the Pixel 4 has a 2,800 mAh battery; while the Razr's front screen may be used for extended periods of time and could improve overall durability, it still makes this device our Best Smartphone Battery Life list.

If you're looking for an optical zoom or ultra-wide angle lens on the Motorola Razr, you won't find it. You will get a single 16 megapixel rear shooter. The camera has some solid features, including a night mode for shooting in low light. However, it does not offer the versatility of the Pixel 4, Galaxy Note 10, Galaxy Fold, or iPhone 11 Pro.

The difficulty with buying a new tech product is that something newer, with better specs and features, is always lurking around the corner. But in the case of the Motorola Razr, that something is turning the corner pretty quickly.

The Razr hits store shelves on February 6. But a few days later, on February 11, Samsung will hold an Unpacked product launch, called the Galaxy Z Flip, which features the same flip-phone-like design that has caught people's attention with the Motorola Razr.

Whether the Galaxy Z Flip can rival the Razr is not certain. However, given the amount of money spent on folding phones these days, it may be worth holding off on a $1,500 purchase for a few days until we see how Samsung responds to the Razr with its next foldable.

The new Motorola Razr is certainly an upscale fashion statement, and its ultra-luxury price is proof of that. But it is also a novel take on the foldable phone, which other companies are sure to emulate, especially if the leaks about Samsung's upcoming Galaxy Z Flip prove to be accurate.

Motorola deserves credit for focusing on durability and ease of use, but time will tell if consumers will be willing to shell out $1,500 to join the next big trend in foldable phones.

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