Motorola may have spent some time in the smartphone wilderness, but the company has experienced a resurgence over the last few years. We’ve seen some exciting, competitivemid-range devicesreleased, and the Razr line-up saw a real glow-up. In two years, the Moto Razr and Razr+ developed far enough to beat the more established Galaxy Z Flip series in multiple categories.
Motorola’s software also experienced a makeover with the introduction of Hello UI with Android 14. It was a much-needed update that brought features like a proper always-on display to the Razr phones. Even with the new look UI, your favorite Moto gestures are still there, meaning you can chop to turn on the flashlight and do a figure-8 to pull up the camera. Let’s look at the best Motorola offers and see whether you’re best suited to buy a device from a company other than Google or Samsung.
Motorola Razr (2024)
Motorola Razr+ (2024)
Moto G Stylus 5G (2024)
Motorola Edge+ (2023)
Motorola Edge (2024)
Motorola Razr (2023)
Moto G 5G (2024)
Moto G Play (2024)
The best and most affordable flip phone
The Motorola Razr (2024) brings many quality-of-life improvements over its predecessor, such as the new IPX8 water resistance protection, software customization options, and an overall decent hardware that’s more affordable than ever. The Razr is a great choice for those looking for a flip phone that does well in many areas.
The Motorola Razr (2024) is an excellent foldable, and perhaps, one of the most affordable flip phones you can get your hands on today. It comes with a 3.6-inch cover, and 6.9-inch pOLED main display, both featuring 90Hz refresh rates. The cover screen lets you use any app, while the main display takes the spotlight when it comes to consuming content, and navigating around.
The Razr is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 7300X chip, coupled with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of built-in storage, making it great for running multiple apps, and some light gaming on the side. Do keep in mind that you most likely won’t be playing games at max settings, as the chipset isn’t as powerful as the one in the Razr+. That said, it’s perfectly capable of handling most everyday tasks with ease.
The Motorola Razr (2024) is a killer foldable that deserves better software support
Moto’s software game can’t match its hardware
As for the cameras, it has a 50MP primary, and a 13MP ultrawide, and it can take okay overall images. It’s not the best camera out there, but something has to give when you sell a foldable at such a low price. What isn’t sacrificed is the large 4,200 mAh battery, but the Razr only supports 30W wired, and 15W wireless charging. The battery is large enough to power for a full day, but we wish we had a faster wired charging option.
The best flip phone from Moto
The Motorola Razr+ (2024) is a compact foldable. It’s a great upgrade over its predecessor, bringing a large cover display, a powerful chip that keeps up, and a new telephoto camera with 2x zoom. It’s excellent for general photography and performs like you would expect, enabling you to get work done quicker and more efficiently.
The Motorola Razr+ (2024) is a relatively small iterative upgrade over the Razr+ (2023), but it brings many enhancements that finally make it a worthy successor to take on other competitors. The Razr+ comes with a 4-inch edge-to-edge cover, and 6.9-inch pOLED display. Both screen have 165Hz refresh rate, making them ideal for browsing, messaging, multitasking, and even gaming.
The cover screen allows you to check on notifications, emails, and using a wide variety of widgets. It even enables you to use any apps on the cover screen, adding a more versatile and immersive experience to the large cover display.
The new Raz+ comes with a 50MP primary, and 50MP telephoto with 2x optical zoom. While it lacks an ultrawide camera, it brings major improvements to the telephoto sensor that makes it far more usable and useful for capturing photos from a distance.
Motorola’s new Razr+ is everything I want from a flip phone
Proper software updates would be nice, though
And finally, when it comes to the rest of the hardware, the Razr+ comes with the latest Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chipset, coupled with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, plenty to play any demanding games, and for storing your photos and apps. It has a 4,000 mAh battery that can comfortably last a full day on a single charge, and the 45W wired charging method tops up the device fairly quickly.
A versatile Motorola
The Moto G Stylus 5G was built for anyone who would love a stylus-enabled phone but doesn’t want to shell out $1400 for a Samsung Galaxy Ultra. The Moto G Stylus offers a lot for the money, but Motorola’s software decisions hold it back a bit.
Fans of stylus-equipped phones can safely add the Moto G Stylus to your very short list of potential options. Outside of the much more expensiveSamsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, there isn’t another device that offers stylus support out of the box. With a launch price of $400, the Moto G Stylus is far more affordable than Samsung’s offering, but like many phones in this price category, there are a few trade-offs.
The Moto G Stylus does enough right to give you a well-rounded and good overall experience. It comes with a large and sharp 6.7-inch, 2400 x 1080 OLED display. Colors look good, and everything looks nice and smooth thanks to its 120Hz refresh rate. With a Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 processor and 8GB of RAM, performance is adequate. You’ll notice the occasional stutter, but it’s not frequent enough to be of any concern.
The included 5000mAh battery is also quite good, easily giving you a day and a half of usage. Its dual-camera setup produces good overall images with ample light and can even get satisfying results in dim conditions if there isn’t any movement from the subject.
Where the Moto G Stylus falters is in the all-important software category. Motorola is only promising one Android upgrade, which is no longer acceptable when other manufacturers are offering four to seven OS upgrades. Motorola has also tweaked the software a bit, but not necessarily for the better.
Moto G Stylus 5G (2024) review: Great hardware ruined by bad software
Moto’s hardware keeps getting better, so why can’t its Android experience keep up?
All in all, the Moto G Stylus does quite a bit right. It’s a shame that Motorola is clinging to such abad software support policy, as the company feels primed to be the go-to budget phone manufacturer. Still, if you love the idea of using a stylus but don’t want to shell out a ton of money to get one, the Moto G Stylus is a worthy choice.
The premier flagship
The Edge+ is Motorola’s (non-folding) 2023 flagship model, and it absolutely crushes it. Combining high-end specs like a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor and a bright, sharp display in a thin-and-light chassis is a real winner, and even the cameras are up to par with some of Motorola’s various Android rivals. Just make sure to buy a case, as the sleek build can be a little slippery.
The latest Motorola Edge+ is a great selection if you’re looking for a highly capable phone that’s reliable, regardless of what you might throw at it. It fixes nearly every weak point seen in previous generations. Although it debuted at $800, it can be found on sale for $450 at this point in its lifecycle.
The spec sheet is still impressive, especially when purchased for less. At the heart of the Edge+ is theSnapdragon 8 Gen 2, a top flagship processor for last year. Paired with 8GB of RAM, 512GB of ultra-fast UFS 4.0 storage, and a massive 5,100mAh battery, this is a hugely capable device underpinned by plenty of power across the board. With that said, it’s not a perfect smartphone. While some might take umbrage with the 1080p 6.7-inch display, we think it looks pretty good in action — especially since most modern Android flagships arrive running in FHD mode anyway.
Moto Edge+ (2023) review: It’s time to take Motorola seriously again
The company’s latest smartphone is a surprisingly competent alternative to Samsung or Google
Even the camera is a step above what you’re likely to expect in a Motorola device. Even so, it doesn’t compete against similar models from Samsung or Google. Still, if you’re looking for a competent alternative to the big names in the Android game, the Edge+ is certainly the phone to consider.
An excellent midranger for less
The Moto Edge (2024) is an excellent midranger, providing a large and beautiful display, fast wired and wireless charging, and a decent dual-camera setup. It’s powered by the Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 chip, able to run most games and apps with ease. The battery also holds up for a day, and it’s a great alternative for less.
The new Motorola Edge (2024) is equipped with the midranger Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 chipset, coupled with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of built-in storage. It has plenty of power to use multiple apps simultaneously, and even game on the side. And while it might not be as powerful as other devices on this list, it’ll provide more than enough to keep you entertained for a few hours.
The phone features a 6.6-inch pOLED display with 144Hz refresh rate, making scrolling and browsing a breeze. Movies and TV shows will look beautiful on this panel, and it’s perfectly capable of consuming content, and playing some of your favorite games.
Motorola made the Edge a phone without a home
Good phone, awful pricing
It has a dual camera setup, featuring a 50MP primary, and a 13MP ultrawide camera. It’ll provide okay-overall results, but you shouldn’t expect too much, and the beefy 5,000 mAh battery will keep the lights on for a full day, depending on your usage. And even when you want to top up, the 68W wired and 15W wireless charging options will provide enough power to keep you going.
A fantastic foldable for the price
The Motorola Razr (2023) lacks the external display that the Razr+ offers, and its use of the older Snapdragon 7 processor makes it slower. Nevertheless, this phone is still a great choice for those nostalgic for the flip phone era, but who want modern smartphone features. It has a larger battery and a compact size, and its budget-friendly price is attractive to many users.
While there’s no doubt that the Razr+ is the better foldable, Motorola made a foldable worth having without a substantial cost commitment. The Razr’s build quality is impressive. The phone doesn’t have any creaks or hollow parts, which makes it feel sturdy and well-made. While the $700 (MSRP) may seem expensive, it’s actually quite reasonable for a folding phone. In fact, when compared to traditional slab phones, it’s not a bad price either. Additionally, Motorola has managed to include IP52 water and dust resistance.
The Razr’s external cover display is a 1.5-inch AMOLED panel, which is smaller than the 3.6-inch option available on the Razr+. This is one of the compromises Motorola made to ensure the phone was more affordable. Despite its small size, the outer panel of the Razr is still vivid and bright, with a peak brightness rating of 1,000 nits. There are several software options available to customize the screen with different tiles, such as weather, media, timer, calendar, clock faces, and more.
Motorola Razr (2023) review: Better than it should be
It’s not the flashiest or most powerful, but this clamshell foldable is great for the space
Even with the older Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 processor and a maximum of 8GB of RAM, the Razr still handles quite a while and doesn’t have any trouble completing tasks. This means you don’t have to worry about the slightly older internals messing up your flow.
Quality device for a great price
The Moto G 5G is perfect for anyone on a tight budget who wants a basic, but capable device. It’s not going to deliver all the bells and whistles of devices that cost far more, but if you temper your expectations, the Moto 5G offers quite the bang for the buck.
The Moto G 5G offers quite the bang for the buck, especially if you are on a tight budget, are looking for an inexpensive device to serve as a backup, or need a cheap device for a child. With a retail price of $200, the Moto G 5G isn’t going to have the performance or have all the bells and whistles of devices that cost two to three times more, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t up to the task of being a daily driver.
If you temper your performance expectations, the Moto G can deliver a solid overall experience thanks to its Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 processor and 4GB of RAM. Daily tasks such as browsing the web or social media, checking mail, and even the occasional game are all capable on this device. Opening apps isn’t going to feel blistering fast and you may feel the occasional slowdown.
With a resolution of 1612 x 720, you may notice that the 6.6-inch IPS LCD display isn’t very sharp. It also isn’t very bright, which is fine indoors, but it may get washed out in direct sunlight. It has a 120Hz refresh rate, which makes things like scrolling the web feel nice and smooth.
The Moto G 5G excels when it comes to battery life. With a 5000mAh battery, you may expect up to two days of usage. It also comes with a 50MP f/1.8 primary camera and a 2MP f/2.4 macro camera. The primary camera can get some decent photos in bright conditions, but can really struggle in dimly lit conditions.
Moto G 5G (2024) review: Great price with a few caveats
Budget isn’t a bad word
For $200 or less, the Moto G 5G has its shortcomings, but it’s tough to argue against it for the price. It’ll do the basics well, just don’t expect it to do much more than that.
A simple, affordable phone for basic needs
The decidedly entry-level Moto G Play (2024) won’t dethrone any current industry leaders, but costs less than just about anything else on the market. Its competent hardware, passable software, and good build quality make it an excellent deal if you’re not too picky about performance.
Nobody will mistake the 2024 Moto G Play for a flagship device, but at $150, that’s perfectly understandable. We went into our hands-on review fully aware of its entry-level aspirations, and came out pleasantly surprised. Its chief upgrade compared to the 2023 model, a Snapdragon 680 backed by 4GB of RAM, delivers a fine Android experience for casual phone users. It won’t win any benchmark showdowns, but works just fine for navigation, messaging, browsing, and basic apps.
Like the one before it, the 2023 G Play sports a 90Hz display, although the brightness leaves a lot to be desired. And although its mere HD+ resolution isn’t the most crisp, fewer pixels and middling brightness combine with a 5,000mAh battery for great battery life. We were also unexpectedly pleased with the camera performance; while nowhere close to thetop phones for photography, the main lens takes good photos for something in this price range.
Motorola Moto G Play (2024) review: Getting back into the budget groove
Motorola regains its footing after last year’s budget blunder
Of course, demanding users will need to look elsewhere, as specs like 64GB of internal UFS 2.2 storage and just 15W charging (wired only) make it clear that this isn’t a performance-oriented device. We’re also not particularly enthused withMotorola’s Android update timeliness, as we don’t yet know when the 2024 Moto G Play will receive its singular update to Android 14. But if you need a bargain-basement smartphone that can fulfill basic, everyday needs, you can’t get one much cheaper than this.
Motorola caters to every smartphone user
Seeing Motorola’s resurgence is fantastic, giving us more choices in multiple price ranges. The US smartphone market started stalling before Moto released attractive new phones, and its current lineup has several choices worth considering.
The Moto Razr (2024) is fantastic for the price. It’s a sleek flip phone with many design cues from last year’s more expensive Moto Razr+ (2023). It features snappy performance and a durable hinge, and it’s one of thebest folding phonesyou can get at an attractive price. Similarly, the Moto Razr+ (2024) is a great choice again this year, with a larger outer display and improved hinge. It also features a sportier design than the relatively stodgy Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6. If you want to spend less, the Moto G Stylus 5G (2024) includes a gorgeous display, solid performance, and phenomenal battery life. You also get the benefits of a stylus without spending over $1,000.
