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My first day at Motorola Razr: A vibrant, fun phone

Surprisingly, what good shades of green can do for your mood. After removing the 2025 Motorola Razr version, I was immediately shocked by the vivid green shades of the $700 Flip Phone – especially the Pantone’s Spring Buds. It’s somewhere between the lightness and medium shade of mint. Even if I usually put my phone in one case, the Razr’s “leather-style” textured back makes me want to not.

This “fun” feel is probably the most compelling thing to do with Motorola’s new RAZR range, and it’s become even more unique with the Alcantara Fabric and Wood selection on the $1,300 Razr Ultra. But thanks to the bold colors, a cover screen is enough to knock out essentials and comes in multiple half-fold modes, even the low-cost version of the phone is intoxicating. Compared to the standard rectangular phones that are typically in the $700 price range, the Motorola Razr is the breath of fresh air.

Motorola is well aware that the Razr’s amazing appearance is the selling point for new customers. The company cites 25% of its customers from iPhones during the Razr unveiling. Since this Razr is priced at $700, it’s slightly higher than the value flagship $650 Samsung Galaxy S24 FE – But below $800 iPhone 16. Even though this year’s basic Razr is an improvement in last year’s Razr design, it’s still breathtaking. I still have a lot of tests to do, but I want to share some of my early impressions of Motorola Razr in 2025 after a day of use.

Motorola Razr Half-fold

When the Razr collapses like a stand, some applications will display information like videos on the controls in the upper and lower half.

Mike Sorrentino/CNET

My day with Razr

Whether on or off, the Razr is easy to grab, and the rest of the phone matches the shade of green, which makes it fun from the start. The Razr also features a parfait pink with a similar leather finish, Gibraltar Sea (blue), what Motorola describes as a “nylon-style” finish, and the “lightest sky (silver)” is “acetic acid-inspired”.

The style and shape of the Razr make it a fun companion to have dinner with friends. I folded it on the train and used the cover to manage my subway direction to a restaurant in Queens. I opened it up and took some food and street photos. I use Moto AI on both screens to find facts because they appear at dinner. All in all, a friend of mine found the new Razr was so cute that she said she wanted to steal it – but because it was a bagable size, she wouldn’t have a chance.

I also like using RAZR in a way that I simply can’t use a phone with similar price from Samsung and Apple. I often connect the “kick” to my phone for video calls, but with the hinge I can fold the phone halfway like a station, and (in support apps like Meta’s Messenger and Google Meet) video calls in the upper half and call controls in the lower half. When partially folded in this stand mode or like a tent, the cover screen can be set to display environment information, such as time, and a wave of my hand in front of the phone can activate Moto AI for quick questions.

The back of Razr

The back of this Razr has a leather-like finish.

Mike Sorrentino/CNET

There are more razr

As I continued to test this Motorola Razr, I focused on the functionality of the smaller 3.6-inch cover screen. The monitor is like a “mini” phone, and is one of the biggest ways Razr can set itself apart from other phones under $800. You can set it to almost every Android app, just like Previous Razr phones.

RAZR is also an entry-level device for Moto AI, which highlights Motorola’s own efforts and the capabilities built with Perplexity, Meta’s Llama AI and Microsoft Copilot. Moto AI integrates these services deeply into the phone, so it can make suggestions based on what is on the screen. Plus, you can still call up Gemini on Google to access AI services built directly in Android 15.

Moto AI on the cover

You can activate Moto AI by waving your hand in front of the screen when the Razr collapses like a tent.

Mike Sorrentino/CNET

There are many different ideas in Moto AI for doing rapid research or organizing data. AI is now a particularly competitive space and I want to see if the features of Moto AI can help me make the most of my phone’s cover screen.

As a result, this year’s $700 Razr dances in two different stages of interest. Since its cover screen may be more functional than the $800 Lightweight Phone 3, this could be a nice minimalist phone. And it can also be a refreshing alternative to buying the $800 iPhone 16 while saving $1,100 on the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6.



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