Motorola Razr Plus (2024) - All of the biggest upgrades

Motorola Razr Plus (2024) - All of the biggest upgrades

Motorola has announced two new foldable phones: the entry-level Motorola Razr 2024 and the premium Motorola Razr Plus 2024 (Motorola Razr 50 Ultra outside the US). This is the successor to last year's Motorola Razr Plus 2023, which has all the bells and whistles one would expect in a $999/£999/A$1,699 foldable phone.

The 2023 Razr Plus is one of the best foldable phones you can buy, and the best you can buy in flip phone form. Naturally, the pressure is on for Motorola to make the Razr Plus 2024 a worthy successor. The good news is that a lot has changed this year, and generally for the better.

But what upgrades can we expect from the Motorola Razr 2024? Here's everything you need to know.

The large cover display was one of the standout features of the Motorola Razr Plus 2023, and the 2024 model makes it even better. The screen has grown 0-4 inches up to 4 inches, which should provide slightly more space for all the apps and software you run without opening the phone. [The refresh rate has increased from 144Hz to 165Hz, matching the interior, and the panel has been upgraded to LTPO. As a result, the Razr Plus display can dynamically shift between 1Hz and 165Hz depending on what is happening on the screen.

The in-car displays have not changed much from last year in terms of size or resolution, but brightness has improved considerably for both the internal and external displays. Internal displays have not changed much from last year, but brightness has increased significantly from 1,400 nits to 3,000 nits. The brightness of the cover display is not as high, but still jumped from 1,100 nits to 2,400 nits.

The internal screen is actually brighter than the Google Pixel 8 Pro's 2,400 nits brightness or the iPhone 15 Pro Max's 2,000 nits rating, but it cannot quite compete with the OnePlus 12, which is advertised to reach 4,500 nits peak brightness It is not. Needless to say, both screens have been upgraded quite significantly, so the Razr Plus 2024's screen should perform incredibly well in the glare of sunlight.

The Motorola Razr Plus 2023 disappointed some people by running the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 instead of the flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. It wasn't a bad chip by any means, but it felt odd to have a $999 phone without the best chip on the market.

Thankfully, Motorola did not repeat that mistake and the Razr Plus 2024 is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, the same silicon as all other flagship Android phones like the Galaxy S24 and OnePlus 12.

The main advantage of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is that it is the most powerful chip Qualcomm offers for non-Samsung phones. However, it is built with efficiency in mind, so it doesn't consume as much power to get anything done. That's even if Motorola hasn't added any particular bells and whistles to the Razr Plus 2024.

Overall, however, the chipset upgrade means a more powerful phone and smoother operation for everything you want to accomplish.

In the world of cameras, hardware is not everything, but having a better camera lens is never a bad thing. This year's Motorola Razr Plus 2024 adds a 50MP main camera, a big improvement from the 12MP shooter we saw last year, because considering the price you had to pay to buy the 2023 Razr Plus, it was definitely not enough , we are very excited about the megapixel boost.

Interestingly, Motorola ditched the 12MP ultra-wide angle lens in favor of a 50MP telephoto camera. Apparently, customers told Motorola that they preferred the telephoto lens, especially for portrait photography. Furthermore, not only is the resolution increased, but the zoomed-in photos look much better. Digital zoom is much improved, but still cannot match optical magnification.

AI is a hot topic right now, but Motorola is not ignoring it entirely. The main AI upgrade is the inclusion of the Google Gemini Nano, an AI chatbot on the device that can do everything a chatbot can do.

There is also an AI-powered camera upgrade that augments the upgraded hardware with software magic. These include "action shots" that adjust shutter speed based on the subject's pre-shot movements. There is also a super zoom feature, adaptive image stabilization, and advanced long time exposure that captures creative movement with a single tap.

This year, Motorola added 4GB of RAM to the Razr Plus. That means you'll be able to do more with your phone without everything slowing down or apps forcefully closing.

On top of that, storage is still stuck at 256GB and no other options are available, but Motorola has upgraded to UFS 4.0. This allows for much faster read/write speeds and at the same time consumes less power. This will allow users to work more quickly without consuming battery power.

This year, Motorola increased the battery in the Razr Plus 2024 to 4,000 mAh. There are larger batteries out there, but that is still quite good for a phone of this size. The question is how long the battery will last.

The Motorola Razr Plus 2023 lasted 10 hours and 9 minutes in our custom battery test. This is not terrible, but not enough to make it on our list of best cell phone battery life.

We won't know how much longer the Razr Plus 2024's battery life will last until we bring it to the lab. The question is whether the increased battery capacity coupled with increased power efficiency will make a significant difference, especially when the screen brightness is increased.

A 30W charge isn't so bad, but there's something even better: a 45W charge. This is the maximum speed that can be reached when charging the Motorola Razr Plus 2024 over the wire. Motorola does not specify when that is, and you need Motorola's TurboPower charger to reach this speed.

Wireless charging has also increased from 5W to 15W; not super-fast wireless charging like the OnePlus, but still a pretty solid wireless charging speed. Thankfully, no special charger is needed to reach 15W. Reverse wireless charging is also possible at 5W, perfect for smaller items like earbuds and wearables.

Other upgrades include vegan leather instead of metal or plastic. Wi-Fi 7 is supported in undesignated areas, and the IPX8 water resistance is a big leap from the Razr Plus 2023's IP52. This is a big leap from the IP52 of the Razr Plus 2023. While the loss of the dust rating is not great, I would argue that the waterproof rating is just as important.

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