The very recent Motorola Razr 50 foldable phone can be bought for under Rs 50,000 and this is a crazy deal, especially when foldable phones are going upwards of a lakh. The Razr 50 is also heavily inspired by its expensive sibling, the Razr 50 Ultra, and brings along a large cover display and a good spec sheet. Now the obvious question is, should you buy the Razr 50 instead of options like the Galaxy Z Flip 6 or even its elder sibling ? Let’s find out in this review.
Pricing and Availability in India
The Motorola Razr 50 can be bought via Motorola’s website and Flipkart. It is available in a single variant and here’s its pricing:
Variant | Price |
8GB+256GB | Rs 64,999 |
And this isn’t it; you can get an instant discount of Rs 10,000 on Axis and IDFC Bank credit cards and an additional discount of Rs 5,000 as a launch offer. This will bring the price down to 49,999, which is quite an attractive deal, to be honest.
Design and Build
The Razr 50 is a usual clamshell phone with a bigger cover display, compared to the Razr 40. I am more inclined towards a clamshell design for the ease of carrying it around and those who resonate with this will agree the Razr 50 has a nice-looking design.
Motorola is all for aesthetics, so you get the Koala Grey for the vegan suede finish and the Beach Sand and Orange Spritz colours for the vegan leather finish. The suede finish looks and feels like a million dollars, but also attracts a lot of dust.
Design | Specifications |
Weight | 188 grams |
Thickness | 7.25mm (opened), 15.85mm (closed) |
IP Rating | IPX8 |
Port and button placements | Bottom: USB Type-C port, two microphones, and speaker grille
Top: Secondary microphone Left side: SIM tray |
The Razr 50 is a well-built phone. It also gets the Gorilla Victus protection and an IPX8 rating. The hinge feels sturdy and flexible but also made me worry a little about its longevity. Not just that, it also lacks a bit of resistance when compared to the Galaxy Z Flip 6. That said, it can stay still in almost all angles, so the use case becomes more convenient. The Razr 50 is also lightweight, so, one-hand usage isn’t a problem.
Display and Audio
Let’s address the main highlight; the bigger cover display, which is easy access to productivity apps. It helped me access my go-to apps without the need for flipping the phone constantly and I liked the inclusion of so many games to help me pass time. It does have a lower 90Hz refresh rate, but that’s not a dealbreaker.
The larger internal display is sufficiently tall to view content, which appears vivid with accurate colours. However, it does take some time to adapt to the 22:9 aspect ratio, when you come from a conventional phone. YouTube isn’t that optimised too as there are black borders around the video but the pinch-to-zoom feature comes to the rescue. This doesn’t happen for Shorts, though.
Display | Specifications |
Size | 6.9-inch pOLED FHD+ 120hz (Internal)
3.63-inch OLED FHD+ 90Hz (external) |
Type | AMOLED |
Resolution | 2640 x 1080 pixels (internal)
1056 x 1066 pixels (external) |
Refresh rate | 120Hz (internal)
90Hz (external) |
Peak brightness | Claimed: 3000 nits (internal), 1700 nits (external), Tested: 1992 nits (internal), 1972 (external) |
Minimum brightness | 37 nits (internal), 32 nits (external) |
Overall, my first time with the foldable phone has been great, especially while watching Reels and Shorts. The content was bright and the colours were quite vivid. But, I couldn’t ignore the crease, which was visible and I could feel the indent while using the phone. Although, it is less obvious compared to the older Razr versions.
There are dual stereo speakers, which support Dolby Atmos and Spatial Audio. The audio has been clear and crisp and the speakers are quite loud, compared to the Razr 50 Ultra.
Performance and Software
The Razr 50 cuts some corners with the inclusion of a mid-range Dimensity chipset and that is reflected in some of our synthetic benchmark scores. In this price range, the OnePlus 12 and the iQOO 12 score way too much, but yeah, you don’t get the flaunt factor with these phones. With the current scores, the Razr 50 does fall in the same league as mid-range options like the OPPO Reno 12 Pro and the iQOO Z9s. Check out the comparison below.
Hardware | Specifications |
Processor | Mediatek Dimensity 7300X |
RAM | 8GB |
Storage | 256GB |
Geekbench 6 | Multi-core – 2990, Single core – 1016 |
Software version | Android 14
3 years of Android updates and 4 years of security patches |
Connectivity details | Dual SIM, Wi-Fi 6/6E, Bluetooth 5.4, GPS |
However, everyday usage has been fairly decent. The phone is mostly smooth and scrolling through apps is breezy but there can be subtle lags. For its price, a high-end chipset would have made more sense.
The software part is impressive, though. The neat and clean UI reminded me of days with the Pixel years ago and the traditional Moto gestures will make you nostalgic if you have used them before. I did like the inclusion of games on the external display and Google Gemini integration is noteworthy. I just wished for the video-streaming to be better optimised and this, I have heard is a recurring problem. I hope things change for the better in the future.
Cameras
The Razr 50 gets the same main camera as the expensive Razr 50 Ultra, however, in terms of colour reproduction, it is a tad bit better. The Razr 50 shows natural colours while the Ultra’s images have a reddish tone. The picture quality is also great and you will mostly find details well highlighted.
Cameras | Specifications |
Primary camera | 50-megapixel with f/1.7 and OIS |
Secondary camera | 13-megapixel (ultra-lens/macro), f/2.2, 120-degree field of view |
Selfie camera | 32-megapixel with f/2.4 |
Video recording capabilities | Up to 4K at 30fps |
This, however, changes with the ultra-wide camera, as there’s some colour shift. The images otherwise offered a wider perspective. It also doubles as a macro camera but it won’t give you those crazy close-up shots. As for the portrait shots, it was pretty good, with impressive edge detection. However, if you have frizzy hair, you will often find them chopped off from the shot.
Low-light shots did come with shortcomings and lost details. But, overall, the photos looked decent. The Camcorder mode will give you some nostalgia and does do a good job but lags when switched to the ultra-wide mode or zoomed in. Selfies turn out great too with a natural tone to the skin and the front camera did a fair job of widening the frame when there were more people in the frame.
Battery and Charging
The Razr 50 isn’t high on numbers when it comes to the battery and I didn’t have a lot of hopes but it was able to sail through the day with moderate usage with some intensive gaming involved too.
Battery | Specifications |
Battery | 4,200mAh |
Charging Adapter | 33W support, charger in the box |
Charging Time | 1 hour 15 mins |
The phone took more than an hour to fully charge. The Razr 50 could not finish our standard PCMark battery test, despite running it thrice. But, I can provide you with practical usage numbers, and the phone did not have any issues lasting through the day with moderate usage.
Verdict
The Motorola Razr 50 fits the bill for people who want the foldable experience without splurging exorbitantly. The build quality sees an improvement over the outgoing model and the larger outer display makes things much more accessible.
The cameras haven’t given a lot to complain about and the UI, as usual, has been smooth and easy to navigate. While it’s not a performance-centric smartphone, it can still get daily work done with ease.
While conventional phones like the OPPO Reno 12 Pro and the HONOR 200 Pro would be well appreciated for their photography prowess and the iQOO 12 for its exceptional performance looks way more appealing, the Razr 50 is your easy entry into the world of foldables.
So, if you have been fancying a foldable phone, the Razr 50 can be a great choice.