As expected, theres thenew Razrand its more premium counterpart, the Moto Razr+.
The Razr+ initially launched for a grand but is currently on sale for $900.
Holding the leather-coated Razr and the suede Razr+ side by side, I much prefer the former.
© Artem Golub / Gizmodo
My work desk dirtied the Razr+ much faster than the Razr.
Motorola slapped the Pantone color of the year, Peach Fuzz, on the Razr+.
Personally, I dont like the shade but thats as subjective an opinion can get.
The iPhone 3GS next to the Moto Razr+ Photo: Artem Golub / Gizmodo
Theres also a good old Midnight Blue and an absolutely stunning Spring Green.
One of the most important areas to ace in a flip phone is the hinge and the crease.
An area Motorola greatly improved at is the hinge.
Peach fuzz vegan suede Photo: Artem Golub / Gizmodo
The hinge on this Razr+ has been redesigned and requires far less effort.
A design change I would have loved to see is an improved dust resistance score.
Its a gorgeous 4-inch pOLED screen sporting a 1272 x 1080 resolution and 2400 nits of brightness.
Photo: Artem Golub / Gizmodo
The 6.9-inch main screen raises the resolution to 2640 x 1080 and the brightness to 3000 nits.
Both screens offer HDR10+ and a 165Hz refresh rate.
Things were different on the Razr.
Always-on display on tent mode Photo: Artem Golub / Gizmodo
And it makes Motorolas UI for its foldable look so much better in comparison.
Unlike on theSamsung Galaxy Z Flip 5, adding apps to the external screen is a breeze.
That is no longer a concern on this years offering.
Left: Moto Razr+ 2023 Right: Moto Razr+ 2024 Photo: Artem Golub / Gizmodo
Doing this reverts it back to a small square in the middle of your screen.
I used the external screen on the Razr+ as a regular screen to handle quite a few tasks.
I downloaded my most commonly used apps (Slack, Instagram, and Gmail) on it.
Left: Action mode off Right: Action mode on Photo: Artem Golub / Gizmodo
I like the flexibility that this phone offers in terms of navigation.
I liked that I could simply ignore its suggestion, and it let me continue in peace.
Long-pressing the power button still triggersGemini AI, but theres nothing new there, either.
Moto Razr+ 2023 vs. Moto Razr+ 2024 Photo: Artem Golub / Gizmodo
The external display added a couple of new tricks.
It now offers an always-on display when you put the phone in tent, or stand mode.
The RAM also saw an upgrade from 8GB to 12 GB.
The storage tops out at the same 256GB though.
One complaint about last years model was an outdated Android version.
Motorola is notorious for being behind on software updates.
I couldnt update it beyond Android 13 even when we were a few months into getting Android 14.
I checked and my Moto Razr+ from 2023 received Android 14 just 24 days ago.
The Razr+ from this year comes up to date with the latest software installed.
It scored a 1961 on single core and 5080 on the multi-core test.
Last years results are washed out, skew grey, and feature much less detail than this years Razr.
Thankfully, the saturation hasnt been overdone to the point where it looks unpleasant.
Motorola specifically promises outstanding low-light performance on this Razr+, and I fully agree with their claim.
Theres also a new action mode on this camera which promises to take motion shots without the blur.
I was amazed at what a brilliant job the mode did.
The 4,000 mAh battery on the Razr+ is also an upgrade from last years 3,800 battery.
It also sports 45W turbocharging compared to 30W on last years model.
It fully charges in less than an hour and lasts all day.
Im pretty concerned about the lack of dust resistance though.
News from the future, delivered to your present.
The Pixel 9a is all the essentials (and AI) packed into a friendlier price point.
