I needs to be thrilled about Motorola’s 2025 Razr telephones, however I am not

Motorola has completed one thing enormous with its 2025 Razr household. As you’ve in all probability heard by now, there aren’t two new Razrs like we have been anticipating. As an alternative, there are three: the Razr, Razr Plus, and Razr Extremely. Meaning extra decisions, extra value factors, and (most significantly) extra colours. As a longtime Motorola and Razr fan, I needs to be thrilled.

In my eyes, final 12 months’s Razr household was just about good. The Razr (2024) was a dependable, no-frills flip cellphone at a really cheap $700 value. The Razr Plus (2024) provided vital {hardware} and spec upgrades for the next $1,000 price ticket. Every cellphone made sense in a bubble and as a part of the 2024 Razr lineup.

Increasing that lineup with a 3rd possibility is a good suggestion in concept, however the way in which Motorola has executed it has left me feeling pissed off and confused.

We’ll begin with the 2 new Razrs we anticipated: the Razr (2025) and Razr Plus (2025). Each are direct successors to final 12 months’s fashions, and fairly minor ones, too.

Whereas not a large improve, the enhancements to the baseline Razr are strong. The brand new Dimensity 7400X chip affords a CPU efficiency enhance for sooner AI processing and additional futureproofing for long-term use. The previous IPX8 score is upgraded to IP48; there’s a redesigned and extra sturdy hinge mechanism, the battery capability is elevated from 4,200mAh to 4,500mAh, and there’s an assortment of dazzling new colours to select from — all for a similar $699 price ticket.

Is that this essentially the most thrilling year-over-year improve ever? No. However for a mid-tier flip cellphone, I feel Motorola did a superb job with the Razr (2025). It’s a little bit sooner, has an even bigger battery, and is extra sturdy. Pair that with the 4 new colours/finishes (which actually are unbelievable), and I’m left with little to complain about.

Then, there’s the Razr Plus (2025). It has the identical new hinge and IP48 score you get with the Razr (2025), each of that are tremendously appreciated. And … properly, that’s it. Each different spec is an identical to the Razr Plus (2024) — together with the cameras, chipset, battery capability, cost speeds, and so forth. Even this 12 months’s colours are all ones that have been accessible on the 2024 mannequin.

The excellent news is that Motorola didn’t improve the $1,000 price ticket, however provided that the Razr Plus (2025) is just about a carbon copy of the Razr Plus (2024), I wrestle to see why you’d wish to purchase the brand new mannequin when the 2024 model is discounted to $800 — and has gone as little as $500.

It finally makes me query why the Razr Plus (2025) exists. By itself, it’s a improbable flip cellphone, nevertheless it is senseless in a world the place the Razr Plus (2024) continues to be round and available for lots much less cash. As an alternative of an improve to the 2024 mannequin, the Razr Plus (2025) looks like a re-release of it.

Why would Motorola do that? Effectively, as a result of the Razr Plus isn’t its true flagship for 2025. As an alternative, that title belongs to the brand new Razr Extremely. Considered as a successor to the Razr Plus (2024), it seems like an exceptional improve.

Along with the identical new hinge and IP48 score as the opposite two Razrs this 12 months, the Extremely additionally has a bigger 7-inch interior show with thinner bezels and considerably extra brightness. The duvet display screen has Corning’s new Gorilla Glass Ceramic materials (making it the primary cellphone to make use of it), and extra brightness, too.

The Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chip discovered within the 2024 and 2025 fashions of the Razr Plus is upgraded to a Snapdragon 8 Elite within the Razr Extremely. There’s extra RAM and storage, a a lot greater battery, sooner charging, and all-new digital camera sensors. The Razr Extremely can also be the one one of many trio with  Motorola’s new AI Key, which is a brand new {hardware} button that gives easy accessibility to Motorola’s AI options.

That is all undoubtedly spectacular, however the issue is the worth. Pretty much as good because the Razr Extremely seems, the $1,300 price ticket doesn’t. Sure, it is a premium flagship foldable with the newest Qualcomm chip, 512GB of storage, and 16GB of RAM because the default. However it additionally has simply two cameras, a 4,700mAh battery, and an IP score that — whereas spectacular for a foldable — is much much less dust-resistant than different flagship Android telephones. And for $1,300, getting simply three years of Android OS upgrades is inexcusable.

I may see Motorola utilizing all these upgrades to justify a $100 value hike over the Razr Plus (2024) and pricing the Razr Extremely at $1,100. That may be superb! However it could additionally make the Razr Plus (2025) appear to be a ripoff by comparability. And therein lies the issue with this 12 months’s lineup.

You can have a look at any one of many 2025 Razrs in a bubble and make an argument for why every is a strong cellphone. However as a collection of telephones which can be alleged to work properly collectively and succeed their predecessors, I simply don’t see it.

The Razr (2025) is an instance of a minor YoY improve completed properly, whereas the Razr Plus shouldn’t be. The Razr Extremely is exactly what the Razr Plus (2025) ought to have been, so why do each telephones exist?

There’s confusion across the cameras, too. The Razr and Razr Extremely have an ultrawide digital camera for his or her secondary digital camera lens, whereas the Razr Plus has a telephoto digital camera. Does that imply Motorola thinks individuals who spend $700 or $1,300 on a cellphone desire ultrawide cameras, however those that spend $1,000 need a telephoto lens? It doesn’t make any sense.

These three telephones really feel extremely disjointed as a part of a household, and in consequence, it makes it difficult to determine who every cellphone is for.

The Razr (2025) is the default alternative in order for you a foldable with out spending a load of cash, and the upgrades over the 2024 model are good, if nothing thrilling. But when saving cash is your principal concern, there’s an argument to purchase the Razr (2024) as a substitute. The Razr Plus (2025) is barely an improve over its predecessor and is a cellphone I’m unsure who I’d advocate to. And the Razr Extremely, whereas an thrilling cellphone by nearly each metric, doesn’t really feel prefer it does sufficient to justify what’s successfully a $300 value improve over the Razr Plus (2024).

Is there a world through which a trio of foldable telephones from Motorola may make sense? Certain, and I’m curious to see what Motorola does subsequent 12 months to extra clearly outline every cellphone on this newly established Razr trio. However, at the very least this 12 months, the transition from duo to trio has taken a easy, clearly outlined lineup and turned it into an completely complicated one.