Early in 2021, Motorola released the Razr 5G on the back of their first attempt back in 2020. This phones selling point is the folding OLED display it gives that same excitement as something like the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip which comes in at a similar price tag as the Razr but you can now get the Razr for £659 compared to the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip at £799 (Prices via Amazon). 

So let’s take a closer look and see if you should spend this kind of money or if this phone is just to showboat with friends.

First Impressions

The Moto Razr 5G has upgraded on the previous model mainly due to the change in chipset it now comes with a Snapdragon 765G and this provides the phone with speed to do most activities and the phone also comes with 5G meaning its future proof for now. 

As mentioned the main reason someone might buy this phone is that folding OLED Display. The phone is built with premium intent but run your finger down the display and there are more lumps than a camel. This is to be expected as this technology is still in the early days and I expect further models will remove this lumpy feel to the display. 

Motorola Razr 5G review

When you have the phone open fully and that 6.2-inch display takes your mind of the issues with design, I also found when you fold the phone it fits nicely in your pocket without taking much room.

Motorola Razr 5G review

The other most noticeable factor about this phone is the cost and to a degree, this is new technology so you could understand the price tag but at £659 but some retailers are selling it for over £1000 I can see this price tag only attracting a certain customer base. At this price you might wonder what else you get well, the Razr 5G offers fast charging, 3.5mm adapter for when you want a wired headphone set up. 

Motorola Razr 5G review

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Design/Display

As you might expect the Razr 5G is centred around that screen its folding display paired with the iconic flip phone design of the Razr for the past. In terms of the build, it has tried to go premium whenever possible the frame is built using a high quality 700 series aluminium paired with a stainless steel hinge. The front and rear of the phone are covered by Gorilla Glass 5 for extra protection. The Razr 5G comes in 3 colour options however when doing some research as well as the device I have in my hand you are mostly only seeing the Black/Gray option. 

Moving to the front of the phone you will see a small display and the main camera as well as the power and volume buttons we come to expect. 

Motorola Razr 5G review

Move to the rear of the phone and that has the fingerprint sensor that is located near the hinge and you also have the sim card slot and USB-C power port. Towards the bottom of the base is the speaker. 

 

Motorola Razr 5G review

Motorola Razr 5G review

Once you open the phone forget everything I said about the front of the phone as that is now the rear of the phone. (Magic!). The front of the phone has a unique shape Motorola has tried to keep some history of the design with the large chin from the original design. The display has that curved top and bottom with a small cutout in the display for the notch which houses the earpiece and that selfie camera.

Motorola Razr 5G review

Now to the flipping and for these 2005 Razr fans this new Razr does not offer some flipping sound but you can still be a cool cat and flip open with the old wrist flick and it will open and close. 

The overall design is quite cool looking but there is a floor in the design the seam around the black panel and slim slot is slightly uneven and the fact this phone has no IP rating but with a phone at this price am unlikely to take it anywhere near water. The other negative about the design is the position of the volume and power buttons it makes it a little tricky to use.

In terms of display, the Razr measures 6.67 x 2.87 x 0.31 inches unfolded which makes it a large phone. Once folded it measures just 3.61 x2.86 x 0.63 inches. Some might say it’s a little on the thick side but that being picky in fact it’s close to the original Razer V3.

As mentioned the Razr 5G comes with 2 displays there is a folding display but the external display also comes with a 4.3 OLED panel with 800 x 600 resolution the external display is only 2.7 inches. It’s not massive but a decent size to display notifications and also show the camera viewfinder for selfies.

Motorola Razr 5G review

The Main display offers a 6.2 inch OLED display that also comes with an HD+ resolution and a 21:9 aspect ratio. Now considering the folding display it’s actually made of plastic, not glass this does raise questions in its durability but in testing it’s performed well and showed no issues but I have only had this phone a short few weeks. 

As mentioned the screen is made of plastic which is different to anything else I have reviewed on the mobile market. Yes, you do notice some bumps on the display which you will also feel when swiping along the display. These bumps are overlooked when watching HDR content that makes an OLED display look fantastic on a phone like this inside or outside.

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Under the Bonet

Open the Motorola Razr 5G and it comes with a Snapdragon 765G chipset paired with 8GB RAM, 256GB of storage and supports 5G. In terms of benchmarks the single-core of 606 and the multi-core of 1872.

 

In testing opening apps, moving between the app and rotating the display all worked without any issues. The only slight concern when working hard on the phone it did get hot.

 

In terms of the operating system, you are given Andriod 10 with a few added tweaks that have made the external display a useful tool that doesn’t just act as a home screen but allows you to switch from the external display to the main internal screen with ease. There are also handy shortcuts to the camera and flashlight.

 

Moving to the battery life and unfortunately, this is an area they have really underperformed with a 2,800mAh battery. Now you will get a full day of battery life and you do have a battery-saving hack as the external display allows you to check notifications, snapping a selfie it can be done without using much battery life. 

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Camera Review by our camera expert James Robertson Milligan Instagram – @Lifesizephotography

when I was handed this phone, I was expecting BIG things and a BIG attitude with this camera given the price tag this phone holds.
As an avid photographer cameras on phones are evolving and even the budget phones are camera’s that are aggressive in today’s market and make even the big boys look like little children. So… what are the crucks of the camera on this phone, this phone boasts a 48MP main and selfie camera, yes you read that right a 48MP selfie camera!
The camera itself is a single camera unlike what you see on today’s phones, nestled into the front of the phone so when you flip the phone open it will then be sitting on the back of the phone, however, I will add it here, if you’re after that once in a moment in time capture, forget it by the time you have flipped open the fiddley phone and selected camera and its loaded, that moment will of truly passed you by it took me just over 8 seconds to get the phone out my pocket, open it select the camera then lock on to the image! You may think 8 seconds is not that long but trust me, when you want to get that once in a moment snap you are looking 8 seconds plus, this will seem like a lifetime compared to my iPhone that takes 2 seconds!
So, what do you get with this camera, you get the following:
  • Portrait
  • Night Vision
  • Panorama
  • Group selfie
  • Live Filter
  • Pro
  • Spot colour
  • Video
Motorola has left out the wide-angle on this for some reason I am not sure why however another aspect of this phone I don’t like is that you have a generous screen however when you open your camera to take a shot you only get half a screen again unsure why when 99% of phones make use of the full screen when you open up the camera. So, we have seen a lot of negatives in the camera facility so far let’s see if we can rescue this review with some positives!
One good thing is the actual sharpness you get of the pictures in the end result, you do actually come away with a nice clean crisp image, you will get some good shots that you can upload to social media and with a little bit of editing with many of the free photo editing apps you can download (most favourable being Snapseed) you will impress your family and friends and those that may follow you on Instagram. So, this is really the only positive that I have found really! let’s get to the exciting part and see the sample pictures that I have taken on this phone and I will let you the reader decide for yourselves if this is the camera for you on your next phone!
Night mode–  Night mode was a let-down, although you get the colours to come out and the image comes out, it’s a little fuzzy and really not that sharp!
Selfie Camera – The all-important selfie so in this pic, yes, your favourite camera reviewer was poorly I had man flu all say ahhhhh!! for a 48MP selfie camera, this actually came out pretty clean! and well defined much to my dismay on this occasion!
Normal mode –  as you have guessed I always seem to have fresh flowers in my house so decided that a lily would be a good subject and what a surprise! the image is outstanding picking up all the colours and tones nicely with a good bit of depth added! I actually like the way this shot came out and with some fettling and editing, you would actually get a head-turner of an image!
Portrait mode–  You know what’s coming! my beloved best friend and adorable model! I was a little let down with the portrait on this as you should get subtle soft blurred background and a great definition of the subject, I just felt a little letdown and feels more like a point and click picture. I will let you make your mind up on this!
Expert mode (pro)-  I decided it was a nice day and as I was out walking the pooch I decided to put the Razr 5G through its paces on the forever changing autumn colours! once again, the camera adapted well to the scenery it was a very bright day and the sun was low so I was surprised when the glare was pretty much erased out in the pictures and it kept to the subject.
Zoom – This phone surprised me, on full zoom only 8x for this phone I was surprised at how little camera shake there was and how clean the image came out, granted on most phones you get a bit of blur and shake but on this I was surprised at how well it came out!
Panorama– with panorama you get a full 360 image around you this phone handled that quite well with a little issue just a shame with a screen quite big you really do have to squint at your end result!
My conclusion of the Motorola Razr 5G for the camera department! for the price tag of this phone, I think you can get much better from phones much further down the price bracket and even some low-end budget phones have packed more into their cameras so why did Motorola skimp on this, my answer I really don’t know if I am honest, I think they could have put more in! However, as I said earlier in my review with the aid of a good editing app you can really make your pictures sing and dance and, on this device, you will do just that!
I have mixed opinions on a phone that costs almost twice that of an iPhone12 Pro that is built for pictures and filming I just really don’t know where to conclude so on this one I will pass this over to you the consumer!

Verdict

The Moto Razr 5G is a completely different device that was designed to be different. Motorola has created this flexible display that actually feels just like the competition. The high price is most likely as it’s something unusual and will gain attention.

Now, this smartphone is not everyone and does lack the versatility of its competition and it’s expensive for a folding phone unfortunately for me the camera is an important factor when buying a phone and this camera setup does not cut it for me. However, if you can look past the camera and really want a folding phone and have a bag of money to spend it’s for sure an option to consider.

Product Rating:    

Design: 3.0 out of 5.0 stars

Features: 4.0 out of 5.0 stars 

Camera: 4.0 out of 5.0 stars    

Battery Life: 3.0 out of 5.0 stars  

Value for Money: 3.0 out of 5.0 stars  

 

Overall Rating: 3.4 out of 5.0 stars – 3.4 Stars      

 

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