Motorola Razr review: front quick view display is useful but bumps can be felt while using the foldable screen, battery life is poor, and camera is lackluster
Too many compromises, for too much money. — Motorola RAZR: The review — Stunning design — Folding display — Average Battery
Android CentralNirave Gondhia
Context & Ripple Effects
This is the founding data point of Motorola's foldable arc: Android Central's verdict on the first-generation Razr is that the retro clamshell design stuns but the engineering doesn't hold up — bumps felt under the folding display, poor battery life, and a lackluster camera, all at flagship money. The compromises were real enough that Motorola shipped a second-gen Razr with 5G and a better camera just months later.
What makes this review worth revisiting is how completely the critique aged into a roadmap: the Razr Plus fixed battery life with its large cover screen, the Ultra refined the outer-screen formula, and the 2026 Razr Fold finally earns praise for great battery life and sharp cameras — the exact two weaknesses called out here.
First-order effects
Early adopters paying flagship prices for the 2020 Razr get a fashion object with daily-use penalties: a main screen you can feel bumps through, battery that doesn't last the day, and a camera below what non-folding rivals offer at the same price.
Second-order effects
Motorola's fast follow-up — a second generation within months of this review — signals the first model was effectively a beta product, forcing buyers to weigh waiting against paying early-adopter prices for an unfinished device.
Third-order effects
If the iteration pattern holds, first-generation foldable compromises become temporary: six years of Razr reviews trace a line from 'too many compromises' to reviewers rating the book-style Fold highly on battery and cameras, with Motorola now holding roughly 13% of Europe's foldable market per IDC.
The trend: Foldable smartphones have moved from compromised first attempts toward genuine flagship parity, with each hardware generation closing the specific gaps reviewers flagged in the one before.
Foldables that unfold out to become a normal sized phone are kinda pointless imo (same for Z Flip). If we gonna deal with all the compromises of a foldable (higher price, higher chance of malfunction) at least give me a larger tablet-sized screen when unfolded. https://twitter.co…
Surprise: it's not great. Typical first-gen problems aside, though, I'm glad the clamshell form factor is being explored for smartphones. If nothing else, this phone has me amped for the Galaxy Z Flip next week. https://twitter.com/...
The #MotorolaRAZR is finally here, but after a week with it, @nirave is returning it. Find out why in our full review! https://www.androidcentral.com/ ...
This is the hardest review I've had to write. I really wanted to like the #MotorolaRAZR but sadly, it's going back to @MotorolaUS. Here's why. https://twitter.com/...
I'm genuinely still excited to use the RAZR because I'm typically very forgiving of Motorola's foibles. But this sets a very bad precedent 😢 https://www.androidcentral.com/ ...
Again (again) foldables will be part of the future, but unless you have cash to burn for the lulz, they're not ready for the present. Caveat emptor. (And great job @nirave — can't believe they shipped your retail unit so early!) https://twitter.com/...
Whether this test is “real life” accurate kind of misses the point. It demonstrated the phone was far less durable than the Galaxy Fold under similar stress testing, which is not good. Cnet has to have Moto in full PR crisis mode on this. https://www.theverge.com/...