The Motorola Razr 2023 sounds like a great idea, at least if you hear it in passing, like an elevator pitch: a foldable phone that compromises on some hardware components to reach an affordable price point that, in the North American market, is considered mid-range. And that's exactly what Motorola has achieved here: the Razr 2023 is going on sale today at $599, in what is supposed to be a "limited time $100 off offer."

Six hundred bucks for a new foldable phone does sound very impressive at first go. Yes, this Razr has clear compromises, like a much smaller outside cover screen and Snapdragon Gen 7 series chip, but it's got a foldable OLED panel that reaches 144Hz and an overall construction that looks and feels rugged and well-built.

But then you take a step back and examine the landscape, and the pricing doesn't make sense. Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip 5 may cost $999, but the company has so many generous trade-ins and deals that the phone always feels like it costs less.

But the biggest blow to the appeal of the Motorola Razr 2023 is its own bigger brother, the Motorola Razr Plus, which is selling on Amazon right now, brand new, at $799. So who is this standard Razr 2023 for? Someone who really wants a flip phone but can only afford $600 but not $800?

Motorola Razr (2023)

Flip phone on a budget with compromises

$600 $700 Save $100

5.5/10

Material: Corning Gorilla Glass Victus (external display cover), 7000 series aluminum (frame), Vegan leather (finishing)
SoC: Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 1

With the introduction of the Motorola Razr Plus this year, the standard Razr line has dropped down to mid-tier phone status, which brings both good and bad. This is by some distance the lowest priced foldable phone available in North America, yet the overall outer hardware still looks and feels great, with a fast 144Hz OLED display. But the UFS 2.2 storage means this is not the fastest phone around, and the outer cover display is small.

Pros & Cons

Lowest priced foldable in North America
Vegan leather finish with fun colors look and feel great
Flip phone form factor allows for some creative use cases

The camera misses more than it hits
UFS 2.2 storage is two generations behind
The pricing doesn't make much sense in late 2023

$600 at Motorola

About this review: Motorola sent us a Razr for review. It did not have input in this article.

Motorola Razr (2023): Pricing and Availability

The Motorola Razr 2023 is available starting today in the U.S. at T-Mobile, Metro by T-Mobile, AT&T, Xfinity Mobile, USCellular, Boost Infinite, Boost Mobile and Consumer Cellular, with subsequent availability at Cricket Wireless online. The device is also available unlocked at Best Buy, Amazon and Motorola's website on October 19 at a price of $599. This is supposedly a limited offer, as Motorola says the official retail price will be $699. In Canada, the Razr 2023 is priced at CAD999 at Motorola's Canadian site and select carriers. The phone is also selling in Asia, under a slightly different name of Razr 40, and prices vary.

Design and hardware

The outside looks and feels great; the inside is another story

Fundamentally, the Motorola Razr 2023 gets a lot right with hardware at its $600/$700 price point. The vegan leather coating that covers most of the backside of the phone gives it a grippy, matte texture, and makes it one of the few flip phones that doesn't randomly slide off tables (a problem I've had with Samsung's Z Flip series, Oppo's Find N Flip series, and Motorola's previous Razr phones too).

In folded form, the Razr 2023 measures 73.95x88.24x15.8mm, which is slightly thicker than slab phones (and recent flagship large foldables), but it still feels very compact due to the length being shaved in half. These dimensions are also comparable to the Galaxy Z Flip 5, so it's a compact device that can fit into men's dress shirt pockets or small clutch purses.

Motorola Razr 2023 with the smaller screen (right) next to the Motorola Razr Plus (left)

The Razr 2023's cover screen, a 1.5-inch 60Hz screen with a 2:1 (widescreen) aspect ratio, feels really cramped at this time of the year, after a slew of flip phones introduced much larger screens, including especially, the Razr+. Again, the smaller screen is supposed to be an acceptable compromise because the phone is cheaper, but the price gap between the Razr+ and Razr 2023 isn't that high. And the differences between the two phones go far beyond than just the outside screen, which I'll talk more about in a bit.

The small cover screen means it can only display basic widgets that show the time, weather, very simple static notifications, music controls, and camera viewfinder. It's similar to the first two generations Samsung's Z Flip phones could do. This feels extremely limited particularly for a Razr because Motorola is the one that began allowing the outside screen to run full apps before Samsung, Oppo, and others jumped on board.

The hinge is well-constructed, and can stay in place at any angle. It's even rated IP52 for splash resistance. Open the phone up, and you have 6.9-inch FHD+ 144Hz OLED panel. The screen looks good; the crease is less prominent than Samsung's flip phones, but at 1400 nits maximum brightness it falls short of recent foldable screens. The 144Hz refresh rate means the screen can show very fast animations, and most of the time the UI animations look fluid. But because the phone uses UFS 2.2 storage (two generations behind UFS 4.0 in many 2023 phones), overall performance sometimes can feel sluggish, resulting in stutters in animations when opening some apps. The problem is not too bad, but anyone jumping from a flagship Android or any iPhone will notice the occasional hiccups.

Motorola Razr 2023 display in half folded form

On the right side of the aluminum frame sits the power button that doubles as a fingerprint scanner, and volume rockers right above, all the buttons are in sensible locations and clicky. The fingerprint scanner is responsive.

Powering things is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 1, a mid-range chip that's more than powerful enough for most people, but it's paired with LPDDR4X RAM and the aforementioned UFS 2.2 storage, so the phone sometimes feels a bit slow. There are hiccups whenever you switch from main lens to ultra-wide, for example. Opening a bunch of apps and then jumping into the app overview also takes a bit longer. Jumping into split-screen usually results in a slightly choppy animation.

Overall performance sometimes can feel sluggish

There's a 4,200 mAh battery that is decently sized for a clamshell, and it can be charged at 30W speed, but no charger is included in the box.

Cameras

Below par even at its price point

Motorola's phone cameras have been solid but unspectacular performers in the past half decade, and this is speaking of the flagship phones. On this clearly mid-range model using compromised hardware? Ouch. The Razr 2023's main camera system features a 64MP main camera and a 13MP ultra-wide camera. The main shooter has a fast f/1.7 aperture but a small 1/2-inch sensor, and Motorola's processing is good but not great (at least compared to Samsung, Oppo, etc) so images can look good during the day or in good lighting interior shots, but the HDR is wonky and sometimes overexposes basic scenes.

In low-light situations, the camera needs night mode, and shutter speed slows down to a crawl. If I actually hold still for 2-3 seconds and let the processing do its thing I can still get some solid night photos. But any casual photos of humans who aren't holding still, or if I'm not patient enough to stand still, the shots are blurry or soft.

The ultra-wide camera has a slower aperture (f/2.2) and smaller sensor (1/3-inch), so you really need to shoot out in the open sun, or hold very still, to get a usable shot like in the first and fourth sample below. The second and third images are bad shots, even by $600 phone standards.

For anyone else with an active social media presence and want to share photos regularly, the Razr 2023 camera system is not ideal, even at this price point

The 32MP front-facing camera is surprisingly solid, but of course you get better quality just shooting with the main camera and using the outside screen as a viewfinder. However, the outside screen is so small you will have to estimate general framing.

Overall, this camera system is fine only for absolutely unpicky camera people. The thing is, I do know lots of people in this camp. I have friends who only ever use the photos to snap very basic food photos or to document things they need. For them this system is fine. For anyone else with an active social media presence who wants to share photos regularly, the Razr 2023 camera system is not ideal, even at this price point.

Software and performance

Mostly gets the job done

the Motorola Razr 2023 outside cover screen.

The Razr runs Android 13 with Motorola's software skin on top. Named MyUX, I quite enjoy the skin, as it's highly customizable, while staying true to stock Android's aesthetic, and there are shortcut gestures galore. I actually find Motorola's gestures a bit goofy and awkward to pull off on slab phones, like make chopping motions with the phone twice to launch flashlight, or twist the phone twice to turn on camera, but on a smaller compact form factor, the chopping and twisting motions feel more natural.

There's really not much to report on the software and performance side when the phone is unfolded, as it behaves like a mid-range Android phone. There are stereo speakers, and the hinge can stay in place in a laptop shape, so during quickie solo meals it is useful being able to watch videos or take video calls with the phone sitting on a table in L-shaped laptop mode.

I definitely don't feel compelled to play with the Razr 2023 the way I did the Razr Plus

When folded, the software experience with the outside cover screen is limited, as I've mentioned. You have several widgets, and incoming notifications will only show you very basic information. If I have an incoming email, for example, I can see the email subject line and that's it. I can't click into it and read the email. But I suppose doing that on a screen this small would be absurd.

The Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 chip is fine, I used the phone for social media, YouTube, lots of texting, and light gaming and didn't see anything out of the ordinary.

Motorola Razr 2023 in half folded form with camera viewfinder on

Battery life is a bit better than other flip phones I've used, likely because the outside screen is so small and the cameras are so bad that I simply don't use the phone as much as I did a Flip 5 or the Razr Plus. Over the years I've heard a couple of media peers say they prefer flip phones with smaller screens because it forces them to check their phones less. Saying "the phone's hardware is so limited it helps me live a healthier lifestyle" is a backhanded compliment, but I suppose it is true: I definitely don't feel compelled to play with the Razr 2023 the way I did the Razr Plus.

Should you buy the Motorola Razr 2023?

You should buy the Motorola Razr 2023 if:

You want a clamshell foldable but can't afford to pay more than $600
You want a relatively cheap, compact secondary back-up phone that you can keep in a bag at all times

You should not buy the Motorola Razr 2023 if:

You can afford to pay a bit more
You want a good smartphone camera
You want a $600 phone, but it doesn't have to fold

Like I asked rhetorically at the beginning, who is the Motorola Razr 2023 for? It's a phone that sounds like a good value at first glance but once you consider the much better Razr Plus (with a larger screen, faster SoC, faster UFS storage, better cameras, more functional outside screen) is only $200 more, or that Samsung's excellent Flip 5 has excellent trade-in offers that get the price well below $999, it's very hard to justify $600 for the Razr 2023. And keep in mind, Motorola is claiming the $600 price is just a limited time offer, the phone is supposedly jumping to $700 later.

the Motorola Razr 2023 (left) and Razr Plus

If the Razr Plus didn't see a price drop, and if Samsung didn't have so many deals on the Flip 5, I can see the Razr 2023 having appeal being $400 cheaper. But if it's actually just $200 cheaper (or less), then I just don't see why anyone would pick this phone.