The Motorola Razr Plus 2026 is an eye-catching flip phone with a limited shelf life

Motorola Razr Plus 2026: Two-minute review

The Motorola Razr Plus 2026 (or Razr 70 Plus, as it’s called in some regions) is as confusing as it is pleasant to use. On the plus side, it has a sturdier hinge, all-day battery life thanks to its 4,500 mAh cell, dual screens that are easily visible in direct sunlight, and a main camera that takes stunning portraits that are sure to impress your friends and family.

But Motorola made some strange decisions with the Razr Plus that I’m still scratching my head over. In the United States, it costs $100 more than its predecessor, which, given the current rising costs of almost everything, might make sense in itself. However, Motorola has used the same processor in this new model that was used in the previous two generations of the Razr Plus family. And while it’s still snappy and can handle everyday tasks and some games with ease, paying more for the same old tech doesn’t cut it.

Additionally, Motorola is promising Razr Plus 2026 owners three years of operating system upgrades and five years of security updates, both behind Samsung and Google’s seven-year warranty.

The camera setup is a mixed bag. Motorola removed the telephoto lens and replaced it with an ultra-wide shooter. If you take a lot of wide-angle photos, you’ll love it. However, if you ever want to zoom in on something – your child’s results at school or a sign across the room – you’ll likely be disappointed.

Ultimately, the Razr Plus 2026 is a great flip phone that’s incredibly fun to use, but its recycled hardware puts it in an awkward position. If you want a phone that will confidently turn heads, give you an intuitive cover screen experience, and last all day, it delivers on what it promises – just don’t expect it to keep up with the rapidly evolving world of on-device AI in a few years.

Motorola Razr Plus 2026 review: Price and availability

• 12GB + 256GB for $1,099 in the US
• 12GB + 512GB for £1,000 in the UK
• Not available in Australia

The Motorola Razr Plus launched on May 21, 2026 and is available for purchase directly from Motorola. In the US, it’s also available from third-party retailers like Amazon, but only in a single 12GB RAM and 256GB storage configuration, for $1,099. That’s a $100 price increase over last year’s model.

In the United Kingdom, Motorola sells a slightly different configuration from the Razr Plus, known as the Razr 70 Plus. It also comes with 12GB of RAM, but doubles the storage to 512GB for £1,000.

At the time of writing, the Razr Plus 2026 is not available in Australia.

For reference, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 and Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE cost $1,099 / £1,049 / AU$1,799 and $899 / £849 / AU$1,499 respectively, while the cheaper Razr 2026 and Razr Ultra 2026 cost $799.99 / £799.99 and $1,499.99 / £1,199.99, respectively.

In other words, the Razr Plus 2026 is mid-range in terms of price. It’s not the most expensive flip phone you can buy, but it’s far from cheap.

• Value rating: 3/5

Motorola Razr Plus 2026 review: Specifications

Here’s a look at the main specs of the Motorola Razr Plus 2026:

Motorola Razr Plus 2026 review: Design

• New titanium hinge is more durable
• Mesh pattern on the back adds some grip

The 2026 version of the Motorola Razr Plus is available in only one color: Pantone Mountain View. It’s a fancy name for what I think of as forest green. However, due to the flip design, the color of the phone doesn’t dominate the overall aesthetic, with the back panel (when closed) and the frame of the phone being the only areas that feature any sort of color. The rest of the phone is black – that is, until you wake it up and realize it’s all screen.

The back panel features a textured pattern that Motorola calls a “jacquard-inspired woven finish.” The woven pattern adds some much-needed grip to the back of an otherwise sleek phone. You won’t find any MagSafe-like support on the Razr Plus, and it doesn’t support Qi2 wireless charging either. Instead, you’ll get 15W wireless charging and 5W reverse wireless charging to complement your smartwatch or wireless earbuds.

It’s been a few years since I’ve used a foldable phone that flips over instead of opening like a book, and I’ve definitely missed using a flip phone. When closed, its compact size doesn’t feel too bulky in my pocket like my iPhone 15 Pro Max or Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7.

When closed, the Razr Plus fits almost perfectly in the palm of my hand, allowing for one-handed use of the front screen. The volume buttons, as well as the lock/wake button that doubles as a fingerprint sensor, are easily accessible, making it easy to unlock the phone or adjust the volume while listening to music or streaming a YouTube video.

I wish the front screen wasn’t broken up by the two camera lenses in the lower right corner, but that’s a byproduct of this form factor.

When opened, the phone is narrower and taller than my iPhone 15 Pro Max and Pixel 10 Pro XL, which means there’s a bit of a learning curve at first. I had trouble reaching the top third of the screen when using the phone with one hand. The higher aspect ratio also places the volume controls and fingerprint sensor higher on the right side of the case. This positioning is by no means a deal breaker, but it does take some getting used to.

There’s a new titanium-reinforced hinge in this year’s model, and while I can’t say how much more durable it is than previous hinges in the Razr line, I can say that it’s smooth and sturdy.

The USB-C charging port, capable of charging up to 45W, is located on the bottom of the phone, as is the case with all modern smartphones.

The Razr Plus has an IP48 rating, which means it will survive an accidental swim in a pool or bathtub. It will also hold up to everyday lint and debris, but don’t drop it at the beach – the sand could wreak havoc.

The Razr Plus doesn’t break the design mold of a clamshell-style flip phone, and adjusting to the larger design takes some time, but it’s a phone that’s sure to attract attention every time you take it out and open it.

• Design rating: 4/5

Motorola Razr Plus 2026 review: screens

• Lots of light, inside and out
• Two screens are better than one

The Motorola Razr Plus has two different screens. When closed, the front of the phone features a 4-inch AMOLED display with a resolution of 1,272 x 1,080, a refresh rate of 165 Hz, and a peak brightness of 2,400 nits. It all adds up to a compact screen that looks clear, crisp, and easy to see in bright sunlight.

As I said earlier, my biggest gripe is that even though the cover screen is listed at 4 inches, you can’t take full advantage of that space because the dual-camera lens setup in the bottom right corner gets in the way.

Still, I rather enjoyed quickly checking my emails or scrolling through my Reddit feed while waiting in line at a food truck. I didn’t like typing long messages on a cramped keyboard, but it was nice to send a quick yes/no or short message without opening the phone.

Inside is a 6.9-inch AMOLED display, with a resolution of 1,084 x 2,640, a refresh rate of 165 Hz, and a peak brightness of 3,000 nits. This peak brightness is comparable to the Pixel 10 Pro XL and iPhone 17 Pro Max, and surpasses the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7’s peak brightness of 2,600 nits. At these levels, you should have no problem seeing the screen in bright sunlight.

The inner display uses LTPO technology to adjust the refresh rate up to 1Hz when viewing a web page or reading an email, and up to 165Hz when gaming or quickly scrolling through a social feed.

There is a visible crease on the screen which is easily seen and felt when you press and slide your finger across the screen. But it doesn’t completely hinder or distract from the overall experience – in fact, after a few days, I I rarely thought about his presence.

Specs aside, the interior display is sharp, with deep blacks and bright, vibrant colors. The surrounding bezel is thin and sits slightly higher than the display panel itself. This means there is a slight lip around the edge, similar to the raised edge of a phone case.

• Display rating: 4/5

Motorola Razr Plus 2026 review: Software

• Comes with Android 16
• Will only get 3 years of OS updates
• 5 years of security updates

The Motorola Razr Plus runs Android 16 with Motorola’s custom Hello UI skin layered on top, adding customizations and features. I’m a big fan of Google’s Pixel line and the stripped-down Android experience it offers, but I also appreciate when phone makers like Motorola tweak Android and add it to the overall experience.

Google Gemini is of course integrated into the Razr Plus. You can easily access the AI ​​service using your voice or through the Gemini app. So it seems confusing to me that Motorola has its own Moto AI app on the Razr Plus that duplicates much (if not all?) of what Gemini brings to the table.

In the Moto AI app, you can use Image Studio to create images from scratch and create stickers to use in your messages. There’s also a feature that catches you up on your missed notifications, a playlist creation feature, and even a note-taking transcription service.

I totally want to add AI to everything right now, but as someone who regularly uses Gemini on all my devices, I don’t want to start investing my time (and data) in another AI tool.

Moto AI aside, my long-time favorite changes Motorola is making to Android are here: gestures. I love being able to twist my wrist a few times and launch the camera app, for example. I wish more phones had a similar capability.

With the Cover Screen, Motorola effectively manages two different home screens. There is of course the internal screen, but instead of just duplicating it and shrinking it to fit the size of the cover screen, it’s a completely different experience. You can add apps to a dedicated app drawer, manage the calendar or weather panels (essentially widgets) that you swipe between, and even take photos of videos right from the front of the phone. Everything is very easy to understand and intuitive to navigate.

Motorola is promising three years of major OS updates and five years of security updates for the Razr Plus, a far cry from Google and Samsung, who both promise seven years of OS updates and security patches for their respective foldables. Motorola’s equivalent commitment is disappointing, even more so when you consider the Razr Plus 2026’s nearly $1,100 price tag.

• Software rating: 3/5

Motorola Razr Plus 2026 review: cameras

• 50MP main camera
• 50MP ultra-wide camera
• No telephoto lens this year

The two front screen-breaking camera lenses that I’ve already complained about multiple times are a 50 MP wide camera and a 50 MP ultra-wide camera. Inside is a 32MP punch-hole selfie camera.

For the 2026 version of the Razr Plus, Motorola removed the telephoto lens and replaced it with an ultra-wide camera. When I first heard about the lack of a telephoto lens, I didn’t think much about it, until I started taking photos and realized how much I was going to miss it.

When I took the Razr Plus to an Alex Warren concert at an outdoor amphitheater, I was really disappointed because I tried to zoom in on the stage and only saw blurry spots.

The first few selfies I took using the main camera and the front display as a viewfinder didn’t leave me too impressed either. Everyone was silent and downright blurry.

It wasn’t until a night out with my family, while we were waiting for our dinner to arrive, and I started taking portraits of everyone, that I realized just how much potential the Razr Plus 2026 had as a camera phone.

Each portrait was clear, sharp, and had sufficient color saturation. You could argue that the colors are a little too saturated and unnatural, but that’s nitpicking. Every person at the table kept saying how beautiful the photos were, and I was just as impressed.

Then I started taking photos of our pizzas as they arrived, and I saw that same fuzzy, blurry look starting to creep into some of the photos. Maybe it’s user error? Maybe the camera is just finicky.

The ultra-wide camera has a 122-degree field of view, which was more than enough to capture the entire amphitheater and audience. However, if you look at the edges of the image, you’ll see that it becomes blurry and out of focus, while the back of my son’s head is perfectly sharp.

Overall, the Razr Plus’s camera setup is a mixed bag. This is impressive when taking portrait photos, and sometimes when taking normal photos. But replacing the telephoto lens with an ultra-wide camera seems like a step back from last year’s model: the ability to zoom and take high-quality photos seems to be a must-have in 2026, and the Razr Plus 2026 can’t deliver.

• Camera rating: 3/5

Motorola Razr Plus 2026 review: performance

• It’s very fast…for now
• Same exact processor used in the previous two models

Probably the most controversial thing Motorola did with the Razr Plus 2026 is stick with the exact same processor used in the Razr Plus 2024 and 2025, while increasing the price of the new phone by $100. Motorola even kept the memory at 12 GB and the storage at 256 GB across all three generations.

In all honesty, the processor – the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 – is no slouch. Over the past month, I haven’t noticed any glaring performance issues. I was able to switch between apps and multitask, and the Razr Plus kept up with the pace I put it through. This often meant watching a YouTube video in picture-in-picture mode, while checking email, texting my wife, or browsing the web in Chrome. Take a few turns Asphalt: Legends also presented no problems (and was actually quite fun).

With AI as a whole currently at the forefront of almost every tech-related conversation, the Razr Plus would surely benefit from an improved processor, but I digress.

Just know that if you choose to get a Razr Plus, you shouldn’t expect any performance issues today – but with an already aging chipset, there’s no guarantee that it won’t start to show signs of its age as Android and Motorola’s Hello UI software continue to evolve.

For those interested, here is a summary of the Razr Plus benchmark scores:

• Performance rating: 3/5

Motorola Razr Plus 2026 review: Battery

• 4,500 mAh battery
• 45W wired charging
• One day battery life

Tucked inside the Razr Plus’s slim body is a 4,500mAh battery, which Motorola claims will provide over 31 hours of use.

Based on my testing, I’d say it’s barely more than you get on a daily basis. I was regularly able to spend an entire day doom scrolling, bouncing between virtually every social media app you can name, chatting with friends in Slack, managing my inbox, and texting my wife and kids without having to charge.

Like most people, I find it second nature to plug in my phone when I’m getting ready for bed and start the next day with a full charge. On several occasions, I forgot to plug in the Razr Plus, but instead of waking up to a dead phone, I found it had between 20 and 30 percent of its juice left.

However, when you’re low on juice, using a 45W wall adapter will get you a 20% charge in 15 minutes. Meanwhile, a full charge from a completely emptied tank took around 1 hour and 35 minutes in my testing.

As mentioned earlier, there is no wireless charging feature equivalent to MagSafe, nor does the Razr Plus support Qi2. However, you can charge wirelessly at 15W or charge another device using reverse wireless charging at 5W. You won’t want to use the latter feature to charge another phone; it’s incredibly slow and inefficient.

• Battery rating: 5/5

Should you buy the Motorola Razr Plus 2026?

Buy it if…

Don’t buy it if…

Motorola Razr Plus 2026 review: Also consider

How I tested the Motorola Razr Plus 2026

I lived with the Razr Plus 2026 for over a month. I used Android’s Restore tool to transfer accounts and apps from my Google Pixel 10 Pro XL, then logged in to the apps I use every day: Slack, Fastmail, Reddit, Mastodon, YouTube, Facebook, Immich, Instagram, and Gemini, to name a few.

I used the Razr Plus as my personal phone throughout the day and over the weeks, taking photos, watching YouTube, listening to music, and doing all the other mundane tasks one does on a phone, noting my overall impressions along the way.

Learn more about how we test

First revision in June 2026

Jason Cipriani is an independent technology journalist with more than 18 years of experience tracking the consumer technology landscape. Based in Colorado, Jason specializes in smart home ecosystems, mobile phones, tablets, PCs and wearables. He can usually be found tinkering with his homelab servers or preparing pizzas, either for his family or for his mobile wood-fired pizzeria. His work has appeared in a wide range of publications, including Tom’s Guide, CNET, ZDNet, IGN and CNN Underscored.

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