The Moto Razr 50 has arrived, bringing all the nostalgic flip phone excitement at nearly half the price of the Razr 50 Ultra and Z Flip 6.
The Razr 50's much cheaper, but it’s hard not to draw parallels when it delivers so much value for so much less, at least on paper.
Of course, it doesn’t offer all the bells and whistles of the flagship flip phones, but this new foldable from Motorola still gets a lot right.
Motorola Razr 50 Displays
Let’s start with the cover display—this thing is a huge upgrade from last year’s tiny 1.5-inch screen on the Razr 40. It also does not have the weird ‘folder’ design of the Flip 6, which a lot of you will appreciate.
But it’s not just about the size. The real standout here is the experience of using the cover screen. You can access any app directly from it without any hassle, making it way more versatile than Samsung’s offering.
Honestly, I’d choose this setup over the Galaxy Z Flip 6 any day, even with Samsung’s Good Lock.
Plus, with Google Assistant and Gemini built in, the cover screen feels just as useful as the one inside.
You also get dedicated mini games to play on the cover display, which I’m quite a fan of.
Coming to the inner display, it’s a 6.9-inch 1080p pOLED screen with a 120Hz refresh rate. Now, it has a tall 22:9 aspect ratio—kind of like the Razr 50 Ultra—but you lose the Dolby Vision support here.
That said, you still get HDR10+ and, sure, the refresh rate tops out at 'only' 120Hz, unlike the 165Hz you get with the 50 Ultra, but honestly, 120Hz is more than enough for most use cases.
It’s plenty bright too, hitting 3000 nits max. Outdoor visibility is solid. The resolution is mostly fine, but on a display this big, it could use a few more pixels. Still, for everyday use, it’s more than capable.
Motorola Razr 50 Design
Now, let’s talk about design. The Moto Razr 50 feels premium, no doubt about that. The frame around the phone’s periphery is made of aluminium, while the outer hinge cover is stainless steel. The soft vegan suede material on the back panel feels really nice in the hand but I’m not sure how well it’ll hold up over time.
Motorola’s hinge design is also well-engineered, minimising the crease when fully unfolded, and it's also quite easy to unfold this phone with just one hand.
Additionally, the Razr 50 gets a nice upgrade with IPX8 water resistance—so you’re safe from accidental spills. There’s no dust resistance, though, so be mindful in rough environments.
Motorola Razr 50 Performance
Now, powering the Razr 50 is the MediaTek Dimensity 7300X chipset. This is far from a flagship chipset, but it holds up really well in most cases. You can game on this thing without issues—Call of Duty at max frame rates, no problem.
The only issue that annoyed me was the lag between clicking a photo and viewing it in the Photos app.
There's also 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage on tap here.
Moving on, I was impressed by the stereo speaker setup of the Razr 50. The output was loud and crisp, with decent bass as well.
The software experience on the Razr 50 with Motorola’s Hello UI and Android 14 is solid. While there are some pre-installed third-party apps that you can remove, Motorola has also added a few of its own that can't be uninstalled.
So, it’s not the near-stock feel of older Motorola phones, but it offers plenty of personalisation with themes, fonts, and generative AI wallpapers.
Motorola is promising 3 OS updates and 4 years of security updates on the Razr 50, which is pretty standard for the price.
Motorola Razr 50 Cameras
The main camera system on the Razr 50 includes a 50MP main and a 13MP ultrawide sensor.
On the inside, you get a 32MP selfie camera as well.
Please watch the video to see camera samples.
The main camera is a decent performer in most scenarios, offering good dynamic range and slightly boosted colours. However, the images do not have much detail.
The ultrawide does a pretty good job, plus it also doubles as a macro camera.
Both cameras can shoot 4K 30 fps videos as well, and the stability of videos is pretty good and dynamic range is decent too.
But, the internal selfie camera whitens skin tones like crazy, so I recommend you use the main camera for selfies.
Look, this is not a camera phone. Motorola’s own Edge 50 Ultra has a much superior camera system for around the same price, so keep that in mind.
Motorola Razr 50 Battery Life
Battery life is quite impressive for a flip phone. The Razr 50’s battery easily handled a full day of heavy use. I think the Dimensity 7300x is optimised well here, even with two screens draining power. There’s definitely some smart energy management going on.
When it comes to charging, the Razr 50 supports 30W wired charging, and it’s great to see a charger included in the box.
In my testing, the phone hit full charge in just over an hour, making it a bit faster than the Flip 6, though not quite as quick as the Razr 50 Ultra. You also get wireless charging up to 15W, a significant upgrade from the Razr 40’s 5W.
Motorola Razr 50 Review
The Moto Razr 50 is a good choice if you’re looking for a flip foldable phone that doesn’t skimp on key features.
Its chipset isn’t the most powerful, but then again, it’s more of a lifestyle choice that offers a unique form factor. The cover screen is the biggest highlight here, and there’s so much you can do with it that a lot of the time, I didn’t even need to use the main screen.
Overall, it’s a well-rounded device, and if you want to get into foldables without breaking the bank, this is a good pick.
That being said, I would suggest you also keep looking for hefty discounts on last year's flip flagships: Razr 40 Ultra and Galaxy Z Flip 5.
