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Motorola Razr 5G: The price of the fold

By Mariyan Slavov

Published: Sep 09, 2020, 2:11 PM

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The second generation of foldable phones is upon us. With the arrival of the Galaxy Z Fold 2, it became clear that the keyword is refinement. After resurrecting the iconic Razr design in a flexible screen flavor last year, Motorola is now ready to show to the tech world its successor - the Razr 5G.

You can check how it compares to the original Razr, and how it fares against its archenemy - the Galaxy Z Flip 5G, but there’s another, more pressing, matter to be discussed. There are other phones with the same internals and capabilities, except for the folding screen, and they cost significantly less than the Razr 5G. Let’s find out what’s the price of that fold and is it worth paying.

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Motorola Razr 5G vs OnePlus Nord

The OnePlus Nord was a huge success when it came out a couple of months ago. And to nobody’s surprise. It redefined the term midrange phone raising the bar immediately and immensely for everyone else. It sports a beautiful 6.4-inch AMOLED screen with a 90Hz refresh rate for a super smooth experience, 5G support, super-fast charging, and a camera that is almost as good as what you get on a flagship.

Compared to the new Motorola Razr 5G, the Nord is just a better phone overall, specs-wise. Both phones are designed around the Snapdragon 765G chipset, offering ample performance and 5G connectivity, but the Nord has a slightly higher clock rate (2,300 vs 2,400Mhz). The amount of RAM is the same in both phones - 8GB. The Nord has a bigger battery capacity (4,115 vs 2,800mAh), a larger screen (better screen-to-body ratio, as well as PPI), more cameras, faster charging, Gorilla Glass protection on the screen.

There are very few things in the Razr 5G’s sleeve. There’s the flip design, of course, the additional screen on the outside, and more internal storage. But the huge and striking difference between those two is the price, obviously. The OnePlus Nord costs just $399, while the Motorola Razr 5G will set you back $1,399. That’s more than three times dearer! So there you have it. That folding form factor is worth three OnePlus Nord phones, more or less.

ALSO read:

OnePlus Nord Review: 2020 "Nexus"
Motorola Razr 5G vs OnePlus Nord specs comparison

Motorola Razr 5G vs Samsung Galaxy A71 5G

Here’s another good Snapdragon 765G option for you. The Samsung Galaxy A71 is not as affordable as the Nord but also packs a punch. It has a bigger 6.7-inch AMOLED screen, a larger 4,500mAh battery, and a microSD card slot. The main camera system is the other big difference, as the Galaxy A71 5G features four cameras, the main one at 64 megapixels. The rest are a 5-megapixel depth camera, an ultra-wide 12-megapixel shooter with a 123-degree angle of view, and a 5-megapixel macro camera for taking extreme close-ups.

All of this will cost you $499 and is still almost three times cheaper than the Motorola Razr 5G. You won’t be able to bend the Galaxy A71 5G and flip it close (at least not more than once), but you can get three of them and duct tape them together for a unique foldable. Joking aside, looking at the specs, it turns out that flexible OLED screens are still very expensive to produce. Motorola Razr 5G folding experience costs in this case three Samsung A71 5G phones.

Motorola Razr 5G vs Motorola Edge

Finally, there’s an option inside Motorola’s own ecosystem of phones. It’s the company’s take on affordable 5G phones, and while the Motorola Edge costs a hefty $700, the phone delivers on many fronts. For starters, it has one of the most extreme screen-to-body ratios out there (95.91 %.) The 6.7-inch OLED display slopes sharply on both sides, enhancing the aesthetics of the phone.

The hardware inside the phone is comparable to all the aforementioned 765G phones, Motorola Razr 5G included. The amount of RAM is slightly smaller at 6GB, still more than enough for pretty much anything. There’s a big 4,500mAh battery, an ample camera system with a telephoto shooter, and a 3.5mm audio jack for all of you audiophiles out there.

Conclusion

To be honest, the above comparisons aren’t exactly fair. Motorola Razr 5G delivers something unique - the foldable experience. What if the hardware is mid-range or the price is too high? People will buy the Razr 5G for its flexible nature and that glimpse into the future it offers. The thing that’s a bit disappointing, though, is that second-generation foldable phones are still too conservative in any meaningful way. The flexible screen technology is still rather new and fairly expensive, so manufacturers kinda play it safe. There are just a handful of foldable models out there, and nothing really crazy yet. We want two-folds, rollables, crazy-looking origami phones that don’t cost a small fortune. I guess we’ll have to wait a bit longer.

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Mariyan, a tech enthusiast with a background in Nuclear Physics and Journalism, brings a unique perspective to PhoneArena. His childhood curiosity for gadgets evolved into a professional passion for technology, leading him to the role of Editor-in-Chief at PCWorld Bulgaria before joining PhoneArena. Mariyan's interests range from mainstream Android and iPhone debates to fringe technologies like graphene batteries and nanotechnology. Off-duty, he enjoys playing his electric guitar, practicing Japanese, and revisiting his love for video games and Haruki Murakami's works.