The next generation Motorola Razr is coming, but this one doesn’t have the bland “Motorola Razr 3” moniker. Instead, it looks like we’re getting the Motorola Razr 40 Ultra (or the Razr Plus as it's rumored to be called in the U.S.), a phone that looks like the foldable Motorola Razrs of the past, but with a whole new naming system and bigger cover display.
Motorola used to be one of two companies that sold foldables in the United States, but that won’t be the case for long. The Google Pixel Fold is expected to arrive this summer, while OnePlus is launching its own foldable before the end of the year. Not to mention the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Z Flip 5.
Competition is going to be stiff, and that means an uphill battle for the Razr Plus — no matter what it has to offer. But what exactly does Motorola have in store for us? Here’s everything we know about the Motorola Razr Plus so far.
Motorola Razr Plus latest news (Updated May 31)
- The Motorola Razr Plus's specs appear to have leaked in full, and include a big display upgrade
- The Motorola Razr 40 Ultra may launch as the Razr Plus in U.S. markets based on leaked marketing materials.
- The Moto Razr 40 Ultra's cover display could let you use full apps, and come with its own on-screen keyboard.
- Pricing for the Razr 40 Ultra could start at $1,000, just like rival clamshell-style foldables.
Motorola Razr Plus release date speculation
We'd been expecting an early summer launch for the Motorola Razr Plus, and it looks like we were right on money. Motorola has teased an announcement for June 1, and judging from the caption "flip the script" it's likely this is where we'll see the Motorola Razr Plus unveiled. We don't know exactly when the phone go on sale, but it's likely to be sometime in June.
Motorola is also said to have two foldables in the works, with a report pointing towards there being "Lite” and “Plus” Razr models on the way. We can only assume that the Razr Plus is the “Plus” model, given the use of the world Ultra.
As per a leak obtained by SamInsider, the Motorola Razr Plus's price in Europe is said to be €1,200 for the 8GB+256GB variant, with another leak claiming it'll be $1,000 in U.S. money. For comparison, the Galaxy Z Flip 4 costs €1,159/$1,060 for the same configuration.
Motorola Razr Plus design and displays
Leaked renders show off the Motorola Razr Plus with a much bigger external display than before. You still get a flip design, with the phone unfolding into a traditionally-shaped smartphone rather than a larger tablet-style display.
According to a pretty-extensive Motorola Razr Plus specs leak, the device will come with a 2640 x 1080 AMOLED display with support for HDR and refresh rate of either 120Hz or a Motor Razr 2022-matching 144Hz. However a later leak from SnoopyTech claims that the inner display will be as high as 165Hz, with a 144Hz cover display.
It’s not clear how big the screen will be, but judging from XDA’s imagery, the general design of the phone will be similar to the Motorola Razr 2022. But while that had a 6.7-inch interior display, it's claimed that the screen will grow to 6.9-inches in size.
The cover display should see a much larger change, however. Rumors point toward the screen measuring 3.5-inches or possibly even 3.6-inches, with leaked imagery showing the cover display taking up almost half of the Razr Plus's exterior. It’s so much larger than last year, in fact, that the screen seems to be enveloping the two rear cameras. According to XDA, it’ll offer 1056 x 1066 resolution, but the site didn’t divulge any other details.
The size of this display could allow users to use full apps on the cover display, rather than cut down versions we've seen on previous models. With this in mind the Razr Plus should also offer access to a full keyboard on the front display as well.
Official-looking Motorola Razr Plus renders posted by Evan Blass show off that large cover display. More importantly, they also depict the Razr's potential colors with shots of the phone in black, blue and red versions.
Motorola Razr Plus cameras
According to both XDA’s and SnoopyTech's specs leak, the Razr Plus will have two rear cameras and a single selfie camera — which is no huge surprise. The main camera sensor is a 12MP Sony IMX563, while the secondary lens is said to be a 13MP wide-angle SK Hynix Hi 1336. Unfortunately, that appears to be a downgrade from the Motorola Razr 2022, which has a 50MP main camera and a 13 MP ultrawide angle lens.
The selfie camera is said to offer 32MP resolution, which is the same as last year. While we haven’t had confirmation, we assume that this will utilize the hole-punch design that’s ubiquitous to modern smartphones.
There’s no telling how good these cameras will be until we can actually test them for ourselves. However a resolution downgrade on the main camera lens isn’t likely to do the Razr Plus any favors. Here’s hoping that’s either a mistake, or Motorola has made serious headway with computational photography to try and make up for the lost resolution.
Motorola Razr Plus performance
Sadly the Motorola Razr Plus seems to be falling down in the performance department, certainly compared to current flagship Android phones. XDA’s specs leak claims that the phone will run on the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 chipset, which is not the latest and best model. It’s also the same chipset that came with the 2022 Razr.
It’s not that the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 is bad, far from it, just that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 has proven itself to be far superior in every way. That includes both raw performance and power efficiency, with the chip getting some of the credit for Samsung Galaxy S23’s astronomical leap in battery life compared to the Galaxy S22.
Since the Galaxy Z Flip 5 is likely to use the Gen 2, or potentially even the custom Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy, opting for a Gen 1 chipset is going to put the Razr Plus as a serious disadvantage.
The phone is also said to be coming with “up to” 12GB of RAM and up to 512GB of storage. No word on what lesser variants might offer, but if it’s anything like the 2022 Razr we could also be looking at models with 8GB of RAM and 128GB or 256GB of storage space.
Motorola Razr Plus battery and charging
A leak from MySmartPrice in March said that the Motorola Razr Plus (presumably the Motorola Razr Plus) will feature a 3,640 mAh battery. That would be a welcome upgrade over the Motorola Razr 2022's 3,500 mAh battery.
The site also says the new Razr will offer 33W fast charging, which would be a bump up from the previous 30W charging.
Motorola Razr Plus outlook
There’s still a lot we don’t know about the Motorola Razr Plus right now, but what we’ve heard doesn’t really paint a wholly positive picture. The larger cover display is certainly a boon, especially since Samsung appears to be doing something similar with the Galaxy Z Flip 5. But we're worried about the Razr Plus's older Snapdragon chipset.
We're also concerned about the lower-resolution 12MP rumored main camera for the Razr Plus, although as our testing has shown megapixels aren't everything. Motorola will likely have to compete with a lower price if it wants to take on Samsung.
