Motorola Razr (2024) vs. Motorola Razr (2023): All the major differences

A preliminary Motorola Razr (2024) vs. Motorola Razr (2023) comparison reveals that Motorola has addressed some of the biggest criticisms facing last year's budget foldable while keeping the low price tag that made this entry-level Razr so appealing.

Make no mistake — we were big fans of the Motorola Razr (2023) when we reviewed the phone last year, though a lot of the appeal centered around the phone's $699 cost, which is $300 less than what the more fully featured Motorola Razr Plus (2023) went for. (It's also $300 cheaper than the Galaxy Z Flip 5.) But to save that extra money, you had to make some sacrifices — namely, giving up the larger preview screen of the Razr Plus and relying on an older chipset for performance.

Mind you, it wasn't too big of a trade-off, as our Motorola Razr (2023) vs. Galaxy Z Flip 5 face-off revealed. Still, there was room for Motorola to improve, provided it could hold the line on that $699 price.

Enter the Motorola Razr (2024). The new entry-level flip phone debuts alongside the Motorola Razr Plus (2024), though you may have a hard time spotting the differences between the two latest Razrs. Like the more expensive Plus, the Razr now features a large external display instead of a thin little strip for notifications. (For the actual differences between the two new phones, check out our Motorola Razr Plus (2024) vs. Motorola Razr (2024) comparison.) But as before, there's a $300 price difference between the Motorola offerings.

In what other ways does the Motorola Razr (2024) differ from its predecessor? We'll need to review the new phone for a full-on comparison, but based on the features announced by Motorola, here's how a Motorola Razr (2024) vs. Motorola Razr (2023) contest stacks up.

Motorola Razr (2024) vs. Motorola Razr (2023) specs

Motorola Razr (2024) vs. Motorola Razr (2023) price

The Motorola Razr (2023) debuted at $699, and so will the 2024 version when it goes on sale. You'll be able to preorder the $699 Motorola Razr (2024) from T-Mobile on July 10, with sales beginning July 24 from Motorola, Amazon and Best Buy.

In addition to T-Mobile, expect the Motorola to also be available through Consumer Cellular and Xfinity Mobile on July 24, with the phone coming to Cricket, Spectrum Mobile, Straight Talk, Total by Verizon, Visible, Google Fi Wireless, Optimum Mobile, and UScellular the next day. Boost Mobile joins the mix later in the summer.

Your $699 buys you a phone with 128GB of storage — the same capacity that the Motorola Razr (2023) came in.

Note to our U.K. friends — in your neck of the woods, the Motorola Razr (2024) will go by the name Motorola Razr 50 and cost £799.

Motorola Razr (2024) vs. Motorola Razr (2023) design

Stacked up against each other, you won't spot much of a difference between the two Razrs, at least when it comes to size. The Motorola Razr features the same dimensions as its predecessor, regardless of whether the foldable is open or shut. The two phones weigh the same, too, give or take a fraction of an ounce.

The similarities in appearance extend to the vegan leather finish on the Motorola Razr (2024), which matches last year's model, not to mention recent Moto G budget phones. Don't let that fool you into thinking the vegan leather feels cheap, though — I've felt it adds a nice design flourish to the Motorola phones I've used, and I suspect it will be the same on the 2024 edition of the Razr.

The Motorola Razr (2023) had an IP52 rating, meaning you couldn't drop the foldable into water and expect it to emerge unscathed. Butterfingered foldable fans will enjoy the upgraded IPX8 protection on the Motorola Razr (2024), though, as that phone can handle a 1.5-meter dunk for up to 30 minutes. Corning Gorilla Glass Victus returns on the 2024 model as well.

You've got new colors to choose from with the Motorola Razr (2024): Koala Grey, Beach Sand and Spritz Orange. The older Razr came in Sage Green, Vanilla Cream, Summer Lilac and Cherry Blossom.

Motorola Razr (2024) vs. Motorola Razr (2023) display

There's one big Motorola Razr (2024) vs. Motorola Razr (2023) design change, but it relates to the phones' respective cover displays. The 1.5-inch strip on the 2023 model gives way to a 3.6-inch cover screen on the Motorola Razr (2024).

The importance of this switch can't be overstated. While I liked using the Motorola Razr (2023) when I reviewed the phone last year, there's no denying that a notification strip isn't nearly as useful as a full-fledged cover display. You could use the strip as a viewfinder for selfies, look at notifications without opening the phone and toggle between widgets, but that was about it. You could certainly forget about running apps on the exterior screen as you could on the Motorola Razr Plus (2023).

Motorola Razr (2024) owners will have the luxury of a larger exterior display with a 90Hz refresh rate. From there, you should be able do more than they could with the 2023 phone, including Google Photos. There's also a dedicated Spotify panel for controlling music playback as well as a Bose panel for earbud and headphone controls.

The size of the interior display is the same 6.9 inches as before, though the Motorola Razr (2024) has a lower refresh rate than its predecessor — 120Hz vs. 144Hz. If that's the money-saving trade-off that allows a sub-$700 foldable to sport an external panel, I'll take it.

One of my complaints about the Motorola Razr (2023) display was that it was rather dim. On paper at least, that seems to be addressed, as the interior display of the 2024 phone claims a peak brightness of 3,000 nits compared to 1,400 nits for last year's model. Lab testing will tell us whether that claim holds up in the real world.

Motorola Razr (2024) vs. Motorola Razr (2023) cameras

The Motorola Razr (2024) lacks the fancier features of the Motorola Razr Plus (2024) camera setup. The 50MP main camera on the 2024 model is also a lower-resolution sensor than the 64MP shooter found on the Motorola Razr (2023). The 13MP ultrawide and 32MP selfie cameras look to be unchanged year over year.

When I tested the Motorola Razr (2023) last fall, I found the cameras to be adequate, producing shots that could hold their own against Samsung's more expensive Galaxy Z Flip 5. I expect a similar experience with the Motorola Razr (2024), though testing will tell the tale. For the new phone, Motorola has included a Photo Booth feature for both the front and rear cameras that can stich together four images into a collage. 

Motorola Razr (2024) vs. Motorola Razr (2023) performance

You could really spot the difference between the Motorola Razr (2023) and other foldbles when measuring performance, as Motorola used a Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 to power last year's budget foldable. This time around, a MediaTek Dimensity 7300X does the honors or the the Motorola Razr (2024). It's not going to challenge the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 found in the Motorola Razr Plus (2024) — and presumably, the upcoming Galaxy Z Flip 6 — but the MediaTek silicon does support AI capabilities, as we'll find out about in the software section.

The bottom line? Once we benchmark the Motorola Razr (2024), we'd expect to see a performance improvement over the 2023 edition, though this phone will still likely trail behind more fully featured foldables.

Motorola Razr (2024) vs. Motorola Razr (2023) software and special features

Your search for AI-friendly features on last year's Motorola Razr (2023) would be a brief one, as Motorola's foldable came out back before artificial intelligence became the buzziest of buzzwords. That changes somewhat with the Motorola Razr (2024), which lacks the AI-influenced camera features of the Plus model, but still has room to host Google's Gemini Nano chatbot.

Specifically, you can access Gemini Nano directly from the expanded cover screen on the Motorola Razr (2024) by pressing and holding the power button. From there, you can use the chatbot to answer various queries, such as trip planning, recipe searching and more.

In addition, Moto AI features now include voice commands like "catch me up" for getting a summary of notifications or "pay attention" to launch recording features. "Remember this" can capture what's on the screen for reference later.

You get three years of Android updates and an extra year of security support with the Motorola Razr (2024). Thats unchanged from the Motorola Razr (2023).

Motorola Razr (2024) vs. Motorola Razr (2023) battery life and charging

There's not much to report on the battery front, as the Motorola Razr (2024) has the same 4,200 mAh power pack as the 2023 edition. That's not necessarily a complaint — the Motorola Razr (2023) lasted 10 hours and 48 minutes on our battery test, which is nearly an hour better than the average smartphone. We'll see if the brighter display on the Razr 2024 or the new MediaTek chip have any impact on power management for the new model.

As before, the Motorola Razr (2024) charges at 30W speeds through a wired connection. Wireless charging is now a more respectable 15W, up from 5W on the Motorola Razr (2023). There's no reverse charging support as there is on the Motorola Razr Plus.

Motorola Razr (2024) vs. Motorola Razr (2023) outlook

The switch to a real cover display is the big story when it comes to Motorola Razr (2024) vs. Motorola Razr (2023) differences, but testing could reveal further improvements in cameras, performance and battery life. Stay tuned to see how this new low-cost foldable measures up to its predecessor and whether the Razr can remain the go-to choice for foldable fans on a budget.

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