Motorola’s back after a stellar 2023, where the longtime phone maker surprised everyone (including me) with its foldable Razr phones. Now that I’ve spent a good deal of time with its latest phones, the Razr 2024 and Razr Plus 2024, it’s time to find out how their cameras stack up against one another.
In usual fashion, I took both phones on a photo shootout where I captured over 200 photos between the two — which I then looked over on my computer to assess their qualities. This is important because of the price difference between them, which at $300, is a lot of money if you opt to go for the more premium $999 priced Razr Plus 2024.
There’s also the controversial decision that Motorola made for the Razr Plus 2024, which sees the removal of the ultrawide camera in favor of a dedicated 50MP telephoto camera with 2x optical zoom paired with its 50MP main camera. In my Razr Plus 2024 review, I mentioned how the change makes the new Razr Plus less of a vlogger video camera and takes away the extra utility I got with last year’s ultrawide camera.
Luckily, the standard Razr 2024 keeps the setup that I’m more accustomed to using with a 50MP main camera and 13MP ultrawide one. Despite lacking a telephoto camera, I said in my Razr 2024 review that this model still offers an effective zoom with its main camera.
Now that you know what’s at stake, I’ll show you how these new cameras compare against one another by grading these Motorola flip phones in the following categories below.
Razr Plus 2024 vs Razr 2024: main camera
Starting with the 50MP main cameras of the Razr Plus and Razr, the shot above I want to compare here might look suspiciously similar at first glance. But pixel peeping reveals better qualities from the Razr Plus.
First and foremost, the warmer color temperature of the Razr Plus’ shot makes the entire scene pop a bit more — while doing a better job at exposing the shadowed areas around the tree’s branches. Meanwhile, the standard Razr still composes a pleasant shot, but the over-sharpening effect is a bit too aggressive for my liking.
Winner: Razr Plus 2024
Razr Plus 2024 vs Razr 2024: dynamic range
The Razr Plus’ main camera performance is also telling when I look at dynamic range. In pretty much every photo I captured with the two, the Razr Plus consistently delivers a brighter image — especially in the shadows — as you can see in the first set of photos in the above gallery featuring the Cadillac Lyriq parked in a driveway with the sunset happening behind it.
Don’t get me wrong, the Razr screams golden hour with its warmer color tones. But the Razr Plus brightens up the tree in the background and the bush of the left side a lot better than the standard Razr. As a result, the photo looks much brighter by comparison.
Winner: Razr Plus 2024
Razr Plus 2024 vs Razr 2024: color reproduction
Quickly grazing over the first set of shots of the pink flowers in a planter, my eyes automatically gravitate to the Razr Plus’ image — mainly for how its colors have that pop to them. Yes, there’s a bit of saturation going on to enhance the shot, but the colors from the standard Razr’s shot are a little too thin and muted for my liking. Furthermore, the stronger dynamic range performance boosts the Razr Plus’ image by delivering a more pleasant contrast.
Winner: Razr Plus 2024
Razr Plus 2024 vs Razr 2024: macro
With a dedicated macro mode that leans into its ultrawide camera, you’d think that the standard Razr should perform better for macro photography. Just look at the first set of shots of the wooden post with moss covering most of the surface. I’m able to get substantially closer with the Razr, but I will admit that the Razr Plus still pulls off a detailed shot, even though it’s technically farther away.
In fact, when I crop more into the shot and frame it so that it matches the standard Razr, the Plus actually pulls in nearly the same amount of fine detail — while softening the background to make the focus squarely on the subject. For this reason, I’m actually going to give this category to the Plus.
Winner: Razr Plus 2024
Razr Plus 2024 vs Razr 2024: selfie
When I first previewed the samples I got from both phones, I thought I messed up somehow with the Razr Plus 2024’s selfies because the sky in a couple of them was overexposed — so much so that I couldn’t make out one cloud in the shot. However, I suspect this is just a matter of where the exposure was initially set because the standard Razr suffers from this as well.
In comparison shots of me sitting at a front porch, the two foldable phones do a decent job at capturing all of my facial features — including my hairline and wrinkles. Both also produce the same natural looking skin tones that are realistic to what I see in the mirror, so this one’s a tossup
Winner: tie
Razr Plus 2024 vs Razr 2024: portrait
This one’s an easy decision because in nearly all the portrait shots I captured, the Razr Plus came out with the better results. Case in point: the portrait photos of me cheesing for the camera with a trees to my left and right side. The low contrast look shot by the Razr makes me look dull, whereas the Razr Plus does an excellent job at boosting the overall contrast and colors in the photo.
Winner: Razr Plus 2024
Razr Plus 2024 vs Razr 2024: zoom
Another area where the Razr Plus clearly has an advantage is in the zoom department, thanks partly to its dedicated 2x optical zoom camera. I captured all the photos in the gallery above at 2x and 4x zoom, and in each and every one of them, the Razr Plus pulls out a smidge more detail.
On the surface, I will say that despite relying on the main camera for all of its zooming, the standard Razr pulls in decent details with the wine rack shots above. However, closing into the wine labels reveals how they’re more legible with the help of the Razr Plus’ 2x optical zoom. For this simple reason, the Razr Plus wins in the zooming department.
Winner: Razr Plus 2024
Razr Plus 2024 vs Razr 2024: panorama
There’s very little separating the two Razrs' performances with panoramic photos, seeing that they both manage to have an even exposure throughout the scene. Although two things jump out at me: the Razr Plus’ punchier color tones and its sharper details. You’ll have to really zoom into the tree in the middle of the photos to see how there’s more definition all around the tree.
Winner: Razr Plus 2024
Razr Plus 2024 vs Razr 2024: low light
This one’s an easy win for the Razr Plus, so if don’t want dark photos when there’s little light in your shots, stick with the more premium model. In each and every photo, the Razr Plus produces the brighter shot when there’s barely any ambient light around.
Not only are the leaves in the tree are more defined in the first set of images, but the trees in the farth background and night sky are better illuminated by the Razr Plus — whereas those details are indistinguishable with the standard Razr.
Winner: Razr Plus 2024
Razr Plus 2024 vs Razr 2024: Verdict
You pay more, you get more. This rings true in this Motorola Razr Plus 2024 vs. Razr 2024 photo shootout because the more premium model easily cruises to the finish line. While I still have reservations about the decision to drop the ultrawide camera for a telephoto one, it’s hard to deny that the Razr Plus 2024 is the more capable camera phone.
The only areas where there’s a substantial difference in quality are how they handle low light and zooming. Besides that, I think the Razr 2024’s main camera is superb enough to appease the appetite of most people looking for a decent camera in a more affordable foldable phone.
More from Tom's Guide
