Foldable season is back and Motorola is leading the way with updated versions of its Razr Plus and Razr folding phones. They’ll arrive next month in some pool-worthy colours, with upgraded screens – a big upgrade in the case of the 2024 Razr – and IPX8 ratings for complete resistance to immersion in water. And you know what else is pretty hot? Prices have not increased.
The Motorola Razr Plus 2024 still starts at $999 and comes with a Snapdragon 8S Gen 3 chipset and 12GB of RAM. The wrap-around screen now measures four inches, a significant upgrade over the previous generation’s 3.6-inch panel. It is an LTPO screen with a refresh rate of up to 165 Hz; the inner screen is still a 6.9-inch 1080p OLED. The main rear camera features an updated 50-megapixel sensor and the ultra-wide lens of the previous model has been replaced by a 2x telephoto.
But honestly, the standard 2024 Razr might be the more attractive device this time around. It still costs $699 with a 6.9-inch inner screen, but the new 3.6-inch wrap-around screen now matches the size of last year’s Razr Plus. The previous generation Razr offered a small 1.5-inch screen that severely limited its functionality. It was the cheapest foldable model sold in the US, but that didn’t mean much when the cover screen was so limited. This time with a larger cover screen – and better water resistance – it’s starting to look like a seriously good deal. And that spritz orange color option? So sweet.
The Razr makes a few concessions: there’s a MediaTek Dimensity 7300X chipset and 8GB of RAM. Wired charging comes in at a (still quite fast) 30W compared to the Razr Plus’s 45W, although both models get a welcome upgrade to 15W wireless charging, compared to 5W on last year’s models. The Razr also gets the new 50-megapixel main camera, but carries over the ultra-wide 13-megapixel that wasn’t very good in last year’s model.
Both models use a new hinge that claims to offer better dust resistance. Motorola has also made some adjustments to the cover screen software. There’s a new widget panel, which seems like a handy addition, and now you can zoom out to see all your panels at once. There’s a clever new desk display mode, so you can put your phone in flex mode and play a slideshow of photos on the cover screen, which sounds StandBy-esque.
There is now support for an always-on display, which rules. And another great news for me personally: you can now download Google’s Gemini Assistant and run it on the cover screen, which could be useful if you want to turn the Razr into a Humane-style wearable AI (don’t do this ). like you Doing transform this foldable into a wearable one, the bright pink and spring green color options are sure to make a statement.
Staying on trend for 2024, Motorola is also announcing a range of new AI tools that sound useful but aren’t on the market yet. It’s a thing. You can say “Catch me up” to get an AI-generated summary of high-priority notifications – sounds familiar. Or you can say “Remember this” and the phone will capture something on the screen that you want to refer to later.
There’s also a ‘Pay Attention’ command so it automatically records, transcribes and summarizes a conversation. The company also plans to make this all context-aware, so it will tailor responses to where you are and what you’re doing. Sounds nice, but I won’t believe it until I see it.
The 2024 Motorola Razr and Razr Plus will be available for pre-order on July 10 and go on sale on July 24.