Motorola has finally matched its peers with an IPX8 rating on the new Razrs. This means these phones will be fine if you accidentally submerge them in water or use them in the rain, though the “X” indicates it’s still not rated for dust protection. To that end, Motorola’s hinge mechanism is 30 percent smaller in these models and supposedly offers better dust protection.
It also makes the phones easier to fold open and close, and while it’s an upgrade over the 2023 version, it still requires a bit more of a forceful hand flick than you’d expect. My main gripe? I wish there was a tiny recess on one side of the phone that made it easier to slide my thumb in to flip it open. This might just be a me problem, as I have big hands and thereby thick fingers; wedging my thumb in between the folded screens is a bit painful.
Oh, and I know there are a lot of folks who do not like the crease on the display where the device folds. Yes, it’s there. I mostly only notice it in super bright conditions when there’s a glare, or if I’m using dark mode in my apps. It doesn’t give me any issues, but it might be a deal-breaker for you.
Motorola Razr (left) and Motorola Razr+ (right)
Photograph: Julian ChokkattuFold ’Em Up
The biggest benefit of a folding flip smartphone is you get a compact phone that’ll fit any pocket, but you can open it up to get a traditional big-screen experience at a moment’s whim. Motorola has been polishing the experience and offering more ways to take advantage of the design.
For example, you can keep the phone slightly open like a tent and have the external cover screen’s always-on display show you pertinent information. Snapping a pic? The cover screen shows the person a preview so they know exactly what they look like before you tap the shutter button. You can also do a lot of things with the devices folded up, like take calls in speaker mode, talk to Google’s Gemini chatbot, and control music playback.
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