Motorola’s four Razrs, and why a $299 phone is better sealed than a $1,499 one

Motorola sells four folding phones in the US now, and the cheapest phone in their range is better protected than the most expensive one. That's worth explaining.

The four Razrs

Three flip-style, on sale since 21 May:

• Razr (2026) — $799, 6.9-inch inside, 3.6-inch outside
• Razr+ (2026) — $1,099, 6.9-inch inside, 4.0-inch outside, 4,500 mAh
• Razr Ultra (2026) — $1,499, 7.0-inch inside, 5,000 mAh, unlocked only

And one book-style foldable, the Razr Fold at $1,899 — 8.1-inch inner screen, 6.6-inch outer, and a 6,000 mAh battery with 80W charging, which is comfortably the biggest battery and fastest charging of any foldable sold in the US.

Every flip Razr went up $100 over last year for what reviewers fairly described as spot-the-difference updates: same designs, bigger batteries, higher prices. The industry-wide memory shortage is part of that story too.

One detail that gets missed on the Razr Ultra: its USB-C port runs at USB 2.0 speed. On a $1,499 phone, transferring a big video off it takes a while.

The spec nobody reads

The Razrs are rated IP48. The 8 covers water and is genuinely good. The 4 covers dust, and it only means the phone blocks objects 1mm and larger.

Sand is finer than that. So is pocket lint, drywall dust and the grit on a gym floor. And the hinge is where it goes.

Meanwhile the Moto G Power, at around $299, is IP68 and IP69 — sealed against fine dust and high-pressure water. Motorola's own budget phone is better protected than its $1,499 flagship.

That isn't Motorola cutting corners. A hinge has to move, and a moving joint is hard to seal. It's the physical cost of a folding phone, and it applies to Samsung's foldables too. Google's Pixel 11 Pro Fold is currently the only folding phone that manages IP68.

What that means in practice

We're not going to tell you not to buy a Razr. They're likeable phones and the Razr Fold's battery is genuinely class-leading. But if you carry your phone in a pocket with keys and change, work somewhere dusty, or spend time at the beach, know that the hinge is the part that pays for it.

Things that actually help:

• Use the case it came with. On a flip phone the case protects the hinge, not just the corners.
• Don't blow compressed air into the hinge to clean it. That pushes grit further in.
• If it starts feeling gritty or sounding crunchy when it opens, bring it in early. That noise is the warning, and it's cheaper to look at before something binds.
• Don't leave anything in the fold — a crumb or a grain of sand closed inside is how inner screens get pressure marks.

If you want a Motorola and not the folding part

The Edge (2026) is $599 and has been out since 11 June, and the Moto G line remains one of the better values in phones. They're ordinary sealed slabs — IP68 on the G Power — which makes them far more forgiving of real life than any foldable.

For a lot of our customers that's the honest recommendation: spend a third of the money on a well-sealed phone, put the difference toward the repair fund, and skip the part most likely to fail.

What we fix

Motorola is one of the few manufacturers that sells parts directly to independent shops, so on Motorola repairs we're often working with manufacturer parts rather than third-party ones. Screens, batteries, charging ports and back glass are all normal jobs for us.

Folding inner screens are the exception, same as every other brand: ordered in, longer, and priced properly before we start.