Motorola Razr 50 Review: A Stylish Upgrade with Functionality

The Motorola Razr sequence has been one of the crucial recognisable telephones in human historical past. It additionally bought nicely and made a lot cash for the now Lenovo-owned Motorola. The flip telephones took the foldable flip route in late 2020 and are presently of their fifth era. We received two telephones this 12 months, the Razr 50 Extremely and Razr 50. Whereas the latter appears to be like just like final 12 months’s mannequin, the brand new Razr 50 is a giant improve by way of design when in comparison with the Razr 40.

Motorola’s Razr 50 is just like the Razr 40 Extremely in some ways, however cheaper. The cellphone is priced at Rs. 64,999 in India and is simply accessible with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage. Is that this a cellphone you need to think about as an alternative of the dearer Extremely or one thing from Samsung? Do you have to improve from the Razr 40? I reply all that and extra within the overview.

Motorola Razr 50 Design: Actually good and purposeful

• Dimensions (Closed) – 73.99 x 88.08 x 15.85mm
• Dimensions (Open) – 73.99 x 171.30 x 7.25mm
• Weight – 189g
• Colors – Seashore Sand, Koala Gray, Spritz Orange

The brand new Motorola Razr 50 appears to be like very completely different in comparison with the Razr 40 from the entrance. You continue to get the rounded corners, curved sides, the flat hinge design on the again, and the vegan leather-based end on the decrease a part of the cellphone. There is a vegan leather-based end on the decrease half of the again panel and a skinny strip of vegan leather-based on the highest half. The vegan leather-based end affords a great grip. We acquired the Spritz Orange unit for overview, and it’s a distinctive color possibility that can seize consideration.

The underside half of the cellphone appears to be like just like final 12 months’s Razr 40

Button placements are just like final 12 months’s mannequin. The proper fringe of the highest half homes the amount and the ability keys. The facility button additionally doubles as a fingerprint scanner and works nicely. You may discover the SIM tray device on the left facet of the highest half. The highest edge homes a microphone. Lastly, the USB Sort-C port, speaker, and microphone are positioned on the underside fringe of the decrease half.

One of the necessary points of the Razr 50 design is clearly the hinge and its mechanism. Motorola claims that it has redesigned the hinge to be extra sturdy, all whereas decreasing its quantity by about 30 % in comparison with the earlier mannequin. The hinge can also be mentioned to supply higher mud safety with an IPX8 score, and I discovered it very efficient. Nonetheless, you additionally must be cautious to not go away any mud on the internal panel when closing it shut, as it might injury the show. The hinge cowl is comprised of chrome steel, whereas the cellphone’s body is made utilizing 6000 sequence aluminium. All surfaces get a easy satin end that makes the cellphone really feel premium.

The vegan leather-based end and the curved body make the cellphone straightforward to carry

The hinge additionally has a brief vary, which implies that you may hold the show open solely at sure angles. Cross this angle, and the cellphone will routinely shut or open, which is great because the hinge makes it simpler to open the cellphone with one hand. Nonetheless, opening the cellphone in a single hand remains to be a job. The hinge permits for sure use circumstances, equivalent to a tent, camcorder, and desk stand modes.

A brand new floating plate within the hinge is claimed to be much less tense on the folding panel and helps cut back the crease. Though Motorola advertises the Razr 50 as practically creaseless, it isn’t the case. There is a seen crease, however you do not actually discover it when viewing movies of scrolling by means of Instagram. You may solely really feel its presence when sliding your finger over the internal show or when wanting on the display screen at sure angles.

Motorola Razr 50 Show: Large improve

• Outer display screen – 3.63-inch OLED, 1056 x 1066 pixels, 90Hz
• Inner flex display screen – 6.9-inch pOLED LTPO, full-HD+, 120Hz, HDR10+
• Safety – Gorilla Glass Victus (Outer)

The Motorola Razr 50 will get an enormous improve within the show division, however solely on the surface. As a substitute of the smaller, not very helpful show that was current within the Razr 40, you now get a 3.63-inch 10-bit OLED panel that provides a 90 Hz refresh price, as much as 1,700 nits of peak brightness, and HDR 10 help. The panel options cutouts for the cameras and the LED flash. You’ll be able to watch movies on this display screen, however I would not suggest it. It is appropriate for taking part in a number of the pre-installed cowl display screen video games, although. The display screen additionally will get loads of brilliant outdoor and is straightforward to learn.

The Razr 50’s outer show is tremendous helpful

Opening the cellphone reveals a taller-than-usual versatile plastic 10-bit OLED show that provides a 120Hz refresh price, as much as 3,000 nits of peak brightness, and HDR 10+ help. You get three color modes on the panel – Pure, Radiant, and Vivid. Sticking to the Pure possibility is finest, as the opposite modes have a tendency to spice up the colors a bit an excessive amount of. The internal show affords a 22:9 facet ratio, which is great for watching motion pictures however is not one of the best when watching 16:9 content material on YouTube. The panel is straightforward to learn beneath direct daylight however is a little more.

Each shows supply Widevine L1 help, so you’ll be able to get pleasure from viewing content material in full HD throughout Netflix and different streaming apps.

Motorola Razr 50 Software program: There’s loads to maintain you flipping

• OS – Android 14
• UI – Hiya UI
• Newest safety patch – August 1st

Software program is one other essential a part of foldable telephones, and Motorola has completed a fantastic job with its Hiya UI. Whereas it nonetheless appears to be like near inventory Android, some design components and added Moto options set it aside. You get a few preinstalled apps, however these will not be actually bloatware and could be uninstalled. There are additionally a number of Moto apps and options, equivalent to Moto Safe, Household Area, Moto Unplugged, Good Join, and some others.

There is no bloatware on the cellphone

Motorola has additionally included a few AI instruments that will help you create wallpapers. There’s Type Sync and Magic Canvas, however the latter requires you to have a Moto account. Type sync helps you to create wallpapers from captured images, whereas Magic Canvas helps you to create photos utilizing textual content prompts.

You’ll be able to run just about any app on the outer display screen. There are a number of pre-installed video games that run nice on the duvet show and could be enjoyable to make use of. Other than utilizing apps and enjoying video games, Motorola additionally helps the usage of Google Gemini on the duvet show, and also you get three months of free Gemini Superior while you buy the Razr 50 telephones. The interface has been optimised for the outer display screen, and it is easy to have conversations with Gemini.

The duvet show affords varied modes and helps most apps

As for software program help, Motorola has promised 3 years of Android OS and 4 years of safety updates for the Razr 50.

Motorola Razr 50 Efficiency: Might’ve been higher

• Processor – MediaTek Dimensity 7300X
• RAM – 8GB LPDDR4X
• Storage – 256GB UFS 2.2

I really feel like the one draw back of the Motorola Razr 50 is the chipset and, consequently, the efficiency it affords. It’s extremely unusual that the corporate determined to go together with a MediaTek chipset for the Razr 50, whereas the Extremely possibility will get a Snapdragon SoC. The Dimensity 7300X on the cellphone is coupled with 8GB LPDDR4X RAM. I ran a few artificial benchmarks on the cellphone, and it delivered okayish outcomes. Older telephones, such because the Tecno Phantom V Flip, scored higher within the checks.

The efficiency supplied by the Dimensity 7300X, an octa-core 4nm processor, is sufficient for every day duties like messaging, calls, utilizing the browser, watching movies, and so forth, however you’ll discover some leg when launching apps or multitasking on each the outer in addition to the internal display screen. App transitions from cowl to major to principal and vice versa had been additionally primarily easy. You’ll be able to play video games on the cellphone. I attempted titles equivalent to BGMI and Asphalt 9, and each labored nicely. There are many video games accessible for the entrance show as nicely, and so they work fairly nicely with none lag. The cellphone did not run extremely popular whereas gaming, both.

The show is readable beneath direct daylight

The cellphone did lag at occasions when utilizing the Digicam app to take images and even switching between the cameras. In some circumstances, the digicam viewfinder would go clean for a number of seconds.

Motorola has supplied a hybrid twin speaker setup with Dolby Atmos on the Razr 50, and so they work nicely. There’s some bass right here, and the audio system can get loud. They’re good for indoor use, however it’s finest to hold a pair of earphones for outside use. Name high quality and connectivity on the cellphone are fairly good and I did not encounter any dropped calls. I did, nevertheless, discover some WiFi connectivity points whereas enjoying video games, however it solely occurred as soon as to name it an issue.

Motorola Razr 50 Cameras: Adequate

• Essential – 50-megapixel, f/1.7, OIS
• Secondary Ultrawide – 13-megapixel, f/2.2, 120 diploma FoV
• Interior selfie – 32-megapixel, f/2.4

The primary digicam is shared with the Extremely, together with the internal 32-megapixel unit. Nonetheless, not like the Extremely’s telephoto, the usual Razr 50 will get a 13-megapixel ultrawide with autofocus. The duvet display screen helps you to use the first and ultrawide to take selfies, and there is additionally a break up display screen interface that allows you to shoot with ease. As if the nostalgia of the flip type issue wasn’t sufficient, Motorola has gone forward and included a camcorder mode that is extra type than perform.

Images from the primary digicam are fairly good

Images popping out of the primary digicam in daylight circumstances have good element and dynamic vary with little or no to no noise, however there’s loads of sharpening and over-saturation. The greens look greener, and the sky appears to be like bluer.

Samples from the first 50-megapixel digicam [Tap to expand]

Switching to the ultrawide digicam, the outcomes look very completely different, with much less element, darker shadows, and color inconsistency. The ultrawide additionally would not do dynamic vary and white steadiness nicely. Images are usable, however nothing nice.

Samples from the Ultrawide digicam [Tap to Expand]

There’s additionally a 2x digital zoom possibility and a Macro mode accessible. The 2x zoom produces good images in daylight, however you’ll find loads of noise should you zoom in. In the meantime, the macro photograph can produce good outcomes.

Macro images come out good when there’s loads of mild [Tap to Expand]

In low mild circumstances, the primary digicam nonetheless does a great job of preserving particulars and shadows, however the white steadiness could be off. Saturation and exposures are dealt with nicely, although. The ultrawide would not actually do nicely in low mild circumstances until you give it a whole lot of mild. A Evening mode is accessible, however that works higher with the primary digicam.

Lowlight samples: Prime – Essential digicam; Backside – Ultrawide [Tap to Expand]

The selfie digicam on the internal show produces good ends in daylight circumstances with fairly life like pores and skin tones, good colors, and a large dynamic vary. There is a good quantity of element as nicely. Nonetheless, it is simply higher to make use of the primary exterior digicam for selfies, which produces higher particulars.

Coming to video efficiency, the Razr 50 can shoot 4k 30fps on all cameras with stabilisation. The first digicam takes good daylight movies with a number of element and barely saturated colors. Stabilisation is first rate, however you may discover the shakes should you’re strolling or operating. Motorola claims it makes use of AI to scale back the shakiness, however it would not actually work that nicely more often than not. The ultrawide digicam would not do this nicely in movies.

Motorola Razr 50 Battery: You’ll be able to flip all of it day

• Capability – 4,200mAh
• Charging – 30W
• Charger – 33W included in-box

The Motorola Razr 50 affords spectacular battery life for a flip cellphone regardless that it receives the identical battery capability as final 12 months. I always received over 7 hours of display screen time on the cellphone, and that is most likely as a result of I did many of the messaging on the outer show. Because of this, the cellphone simply lasted over a day of utilization. I would flip open the display screen just for utilizing the digicam, some gaming, checking emails, watching movies, and scrolling Instagram. Gaming constantly drains the battery loads, although.

The battery life on the cellphone is spectacular

In our battery take a look at, the cellphone lasted over 25 hours on a single cost. Speaking about charging, the Razr 50 helps 30W quick charging and takes about 1 hour and 10 minutes to go from 10 % to full. There’s additionally help for wi-fi charging at 15W.

Motorola Razr 50 Verdict

At Rs. 64,999, there will not be a whole lot of different choices out there. You’ll be able to take a look at the Oppo Find N3 Flip (Review), which affords significantly better efficiency and a greater pair of cameras. Sadly, it does have a much less usable outer display screen. You even have the Tecno Phantom V Flip (Review) from final 12 months, however that is not likely higher in any method. It is also a wonderful various to the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 if efficiency is not your principal concern.

The Motorola Razr 50 is a great-looking cellphone with a whole lot of nostalgia and options which are considerably let down by its processor. The outer show is nice, you get a pleasant digicam setup, glorious battery life for a cellphone with two screens, quick charging, an IPX8 score, an excellent compact type issue, AI options, good software program, and 9,999 fashion factors. For those who do not need to spend a lot cash however desire a flip-style foldable, the Motorola Razr 50 is generally glorious. It is also a worthy improve from the Razr 40.