I examined Motorola’s $1,900 Razr Fold, and it offers Samsung and Google critical competitors

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I’ve by no means been the largest fan of foldable telephones. They’re high-quality, however I by no means totally understood the attraction. Are they actually higher than a standard slab cellphone? My opinion on foldables is beginning to change. I’ve spent the final couple of weeks testing Motorola’s new 2026 Razr Fold, its newest flagship. I’ve come away genuinely impressed, and a bit of tempted to purchase one myself.

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This can be a significantly good cell machine. I say it is higher than Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 7 on a number of fronts. Its battery is bigger, main to raised longevity, the internal display screen has a better decision, and the digicam system is arguably superior.

Exhausting to disregard

The Motorola Razr Fold sits barely bigger than the Galaxy Z Fold 7, sporting a 6.6-inch outer show and an 8.1-inch internal show. By comparability, Samsung’s mannequin has a 6.5-inch outer display screen and an 8-inch internal display screen. The additional dimension does imply the Razr Fold is heavier at 243g, however it has little impact on the consumer expertise. It’s nonetheless an ultra-sleek cellphone, particularly in comparison with foldables from earlier years.

Visually, the twin shows are top-notch. Motorola packed these AMOLED screens with a slew of visual-enhancing options. Simply to spotlight a couple of, each screens assist the complete DCI-P3 gamut for vibrant colours, are Pantone Validated for wonderful shade accuracy, boast excessive resolutions, and have excessive refresh charges, making certain easy animations. 

Brightness ranges are noteworthy, too. Motorola charges the internal show at 6,200 nits, which cuts by out of doors glare. I by no means struggled to see the display screen, even below direct daylight.

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I spent a number of time watching YouTube movies and streaming exhibits on the internal show. Colours popped off the display screen, shadows regarded pitch-black due to Dolby Imaginative and prescient’s excessive distinction, and the massive dimension made the content material really feel fairly immersive. 

A sublime end

My evaluate unit arrived in Blackened Blue. I point out the colour as a result of Motorola ties every cellphone shade to a definite end. My evaluate unit had a woven, diamond-like sample throughout its again that the corporate calls a “piqué-inspired end”. I do not suppose this texture has a useful goal, however it does appear and feel good. 

It offers the cellphone a stage of magnificence that helps it stand out from the ocean of historically glass-backed cell gadgets. The Razr Fold in Lily White has a extra silky end.

The Razr Fold can also be fairly sturdy. Its outer display screen is protected by a panel made out of Corning Gorilla Glass Ceramic 3, providing sturdy resistance in opposition to scratches and drops. As a result of the internal show must bend, it lacks Gorilla Glass, however it’s coated with a display screen protector. Connecting the 2 halves is a stainless-steel teardrop hinge. Its rigidity permits customers to position the cellphone in numerous positions to swimsuit their wants. 

You might prop the cellphone midway as much as watch a film, or place the Razr Fold into tent mode and show the present date and time like a bedside clock. 

Vibrant cameras

My favourite facet of the Razr Fold is its digicam system. Motorola nailed it. On the again, the cellphone homes a triple-camera array consisting of a 50MP predominant lens with a Sony LYTIA sensor, a 50MP ultrawide digicam, and a 50MP periscope telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom and as much as 100x Tremendous Zoom. Picture high quality is superb throughout all three lenses. Photographs come out sharp, vibrant, and full of element. Publicity and lighting are dealt with remarkably properly.

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Relatively than simply describing the outcomes, I believe I ought to present examples. The primary picture I captured inside a grocery retailer, displaying rows of drinks with colourful labels. The Razr Fold does a terrific job at reproducing the vivid colours and vivid tones.

This second picture is of a lifeguard tower I took with the telephoto lens at 6x zoom. The outcomes are surprisingly sharp. I used to be distant, and you’ll clearly learn the banners. It is even potential to make out the graffiti. Due to the readability, the telephoto digicam grew to become my favourite of the trio. The selfie cameras aren’t nearly as good for my part. 

After taking a photograph with the inner-screen digicam, I observed the colour stability was off. Every little thing had a barely yellow tinge.

Efficiency and battery

Motorola’s Razr Fold operates on a Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 chipset paired with 16GB of RAM — a strong configuration. It did properly in all efficiency exams. For starters, I ran Geekbench CPU for Android to get a superb sense of the {hardware}. It scored round 2,740 within the single-core take a look at and over 9,100 within the multi-core take a look at. 

This tells me the Razr Fold feels quick in day-to-day use and handles sustained heavy workloads, resembling cell gaming, adequately. Geekbench GPU outcomes had been equally sturdy, hitting an OpenCL Rating of 17,713, signifying excessive visible constancy.

I skilled this firsthand whereas taking part in Arknights: Endfield, a sport that ran terribly on the Galaxy A37. On the Razr Fold, it ran superbly — although, take into accout this cellphone additionally prices roughly 4 instances the value. Gameplay felt responsive, and fight regarded hanging with the massive OLED panel giving assaults a number of visible punch. Even throughout intense sequences, Endfield ran high-quality.

It’s possible you’ll expertise the cellphone heating up in sure conditions. I found this once I ran the 3DMark Wildlife Stress Take a look at, a benchmark that replicates a heavy load. Throughout the take a look at, the Razr Fold grew to become fairly toasty; its efficiency throttled down. It is unlikely you will expertise this. Only a few persons are stress-testing their smartphones. However it’s one thing that you could be expertise below sure conditions.

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Longevity is rock strong. I ran a few battery-drain exams to see how lengthy the machine lasted below steady use. Operating a nonstop YouTube livestream on the outer show, the Razr Fold lasted roughly 31 hours. I then repeated the identical take a look at utilizing the internal show. Battery life dropped, as anticipated, arising simply shy of 24 hours. 

Charging speeds are quick, though you will want an 80W charger to see them. I used mine and managed to recharge the battery from 0% to 55% in simply half-hour.

ZDNET’s shopping for recommendation

Pre-orders for the 2026 Motorola Razr Fold are stay now. It’s priced at $1,900 on the corporate’s official web site and Finest Purchase. Patrons can select between two colours: Pantone Blackened Blue and Lily White. The foldable formally launches on Could 21.

Merely put, this is a superb smartphone, from its high-quality screens to its superior cameras. That stated, $1,900 remains to be a steep asking value. If that’s an excessive amount of, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7, which launched rather less than a 12 months in the past now, is at the moment on sale at Amazon.