I used the Motorola Razr Fold for a week, and I think it’s the best foldable*

Ben Schoon | May 14 2026 - 6:00 am PT

After a few years of flip phone-only foldables, Motorola is finally releasing a book-style device in the Razr Fold. I’ve been keen to use it after a couple of early looks at trade shows earlier this year and, now that I’ve been using it as my main phone for the past week, I’m sold – the Motorola Razr Fold isn’t just good, it might the best foldable*.

Almost everything about the Motorola Razr Fold is great

The Motorola Razr Fold is technically a first-generation product, but it sure doesn’t feel like one. This phone clearly draws on Motorola’s near-decade of foldable experience in the Razr clamshells to put together what it easily a top-tier piece of foldable hardware.

The hinge on Razr Fold is smooth, yet springy, without the crackles that were so common on older Razr generations. It opens smoothly but, when you go to close it, the hinge is ready to quickly snap closed. As far as the display crease is concerned, it’s perfectly manageable. Is it invisible? Not at all. Rather, I’d say this is about the average. After a week of use, it’s still less visible than my 9-month-old Galaxy Z Fold 7’s crease, and about on par with what Samsung’s device looked like at launch. That’s not exactly high praise, but I’d argue it’s more than acceptable!

Noteworthy here is the slight inward slope on the frame, which makes it much easier to open this device.

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Motorola managed to include support for something Samsung didn’t, too, with its “Pen Ultra” stylus. Frankly, I’ve barely used this. I’ve not found a stylus all that useful on a foldable for my own use cases, but the pen does feel good enough in use, and the included case, while bulky, is way better than anything Samsung put out for prior generation foldables.

Something I was wary of when Motorola initially revealed its intention to build a book-style foldable was the form factor. The Razr clamshells have such a small footprint that their bulky designs can be tolerated, but that doesn’t fly with a book-style device. Luckily, I think Motorola nailed it with the Razr Fold as far as the hardware goes. It’s only marginally thicker than the Galaxy Z Fold 7, most due to a giant camera bump on the back (which, on a table, is infuriating).

Motorola certainly made good use of that space, though.

Packed inside is a 6,000 mAh battery, way bigger than my Galaxy Z Fold 7, and battery life on the Razr Fold has been pretty fantastic. Whereas I’ve been finding myself reaching for a charger constantly on the Fold 7, the Razr Fold can easily get me through a full day of use without breaking a sweat. 4-6 hours of screen time usually leaves me with 45% or so left in the tank, to the point where I went a couple of nights without charging the phone because I knew I could just top it off the next morning – that mentality can also be attributed to the speedy wired charging, but also the inconsistent wireless charging due to the camera bump making alignment tricky on some pads.

On the software side, Motorola is making a strong pitch here.

The actual UI feels very much like a pre-Material 3 Expressive Android experience, with the usual delight that comes from Motorola’s long-standing gestures – twist-to-camera and chop-to-flashlight remain things I love about the Moto experience. As mentioned back in March, the foldable-specific features feel very much like a mix of Pixel and Samsung, and my verdict so far has basically remained the same – I don’t feel like I’m missing much from my Fold 7, but Motorola’s few little tweaks feel nice on top of the Pixel Fold series. One thing that particularly struck a chord was how Motorola took advantage of Android 16’s 90:10 app split. You can have three apps in Rolodex-style rotation for quick and easy access – brilliant!

Plus, Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 – not the Elite one – has proved a good pick, with excellent performance and better heat management compared to Samsung’s current flagship, and others I’ve tested with stronger chips.

The last thing I want to talk about from my first week with Motorola Razr Fold is the camera, which might have been the most surprising bit.

Razr Fold has a trio of 50MP rear cameras and they’re all quite good. Shots from the main sensor are crisp and colorful – Motorola’s color science on the Fold is gorgeous – while the telephoto lens really extends the reach quite nicely without killing the quality. After years of using tiny sensors stuffed into the Razr flip phones and the cheaper sensors found in mid-range Moto phones, I guess I didn’t realize that Motorola is actually capable of making a pretty darn good camera.

“The Catch”

I’m sure you’ve figured out what that asterisk in the headline is all about at this point.

The Motorola Razr Fold, based on my first week with it, might be the best foldable, but only if we’re looking at the US market. Outside of the States, I’m not sure I’d pick up the Razr over an Oppo Find N6 or Honor Magic V6 – those two devices have their own set of benefits that Motorola didn’t quite match. The Find N6 especially would be tough to beat with its better multitasking software and basically-creaseless inner display.

But, in the US, this is a pretty easy win. Motorola Razr Fold beats the Pixel 10 Pro Fold on battery life, horsepower, thin hardware, and cameras, while also giving the Galaxy Z Fold 7 a run for its money by far beating Samsung’s cameras and battery life. Performance and hardware are still places that I struggle to say Motorola wins, but it’s a close call.

It all comes down to the price. At $1,899, the Razr Fold is a toss-up with those other two, but if Motorola’s history of steep discounts continues here, this is a no-brainer. A $1,599 Razr Fold – even $1,699, I’d say – is undoubtedly the best foldable you can buy in the US market.

I think it says a lot that, after merely a week, I have this much to say about the Razr Fold. I actually struggled to think of anything I particularly dislike. Part of the reason many reviews online often sound negative is that, at least I’ve found, it’s easier to talk about things you don’t like than the things you do, especially when you’re trying to critique something or help someone make a purchasing decision. By that measure alone, the Motorola Razr Fold is a home run – and it’s available for pre-order now.

Stay tuned for our full review.