Motorola Razr 50 review: Initial Impressions

First Impressions

The Motorola Razr 50 looks to be a big upgrade over last year’s entry-level model, with a larger cover screen, improved durability and specs that match the 50 Ultra.

Introduction

Motorola’s Razr 50 is a more affordable entry point into the world of foldables, and it represents a big upgrade on its predecessor.

Not only does it boast a huge upgrade to its cover display, but users can enjoy improved camera tech, new AI smarts and improved performance while still maintaining its more affordable price point.

While I’m not yet ready to deliver my final thoughts, I did get the chance to go hands-on with the Razr 50 ahead of its reveal, and here are my initial impressions. 

Design and screens

• Much larger 3.6-inch cover screen
• IPX8 water resistance
• Fashion-focused colour options

Last year’s Motorola Razr 40 was a fine attempt at making a more affordable clamshell foldable, but as discussed in our review at the time, the small cover screen was just too limited compared to practically every other foldable on the market.

Well, that has changed with this year’s Razr 50, sporting the same 3.6-inch cover screen as last year’s top-end Razr 40 Ultra, complete with the same functionality. 

That means you can access a range of Motorola-designed widgets as well as being able to access any installed Android app right there from the cover screen. It also makes selfies way easier to take than the slimline preview that was provided last year.

It also means that it delivers a bigger, more capable cover screen than the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5, a phone that’s significantly more expensive than the Razr 50 – going by RRP, anyway. 

It’s not just about the cover screen though; the Razr 50 shares a range of the same design features as the top-end Razr 50 Ultra, including cover screen protection in the form of Corning’s premium Gorilla Glass Victus, and it’s also IPX8 water resistant, meaning it can be dunked in up to 1.5m of water for 30 minutes and come out unscathed. 

It also sports a similar 6.9-inch pOLED within, though it’s not quite as fast as the top-end model at 120Hz. Still, the large FHD+ panel delivers a great viewing experience with peak brightness at 3000nits, and with a redesigned hinge, the crease on the inner screen is much less noticeable than it was last year.

It’s also just as fashion-focused as ever, available in three attractive colours including Koala Grey, Beach Sand and the particularly vibrant Spritz Orange (photographed here) complete with textured vegan leather rears that feel great in the hand, especially when combined with the curved edges of the chassis. 

Cameras

• 50MP main camera
• 13MP ultrawide camera
• 32MP selfie snapper

Not content with just upgrading the cover screen, Motorola has also given the Razr 50 some TLC in the camera department. 

While you might look at the spec sheet and assume that it’s a downgrade given that the Razr 50 has a 50MP sensor in place of last year’s 64MP, it’s not the case. In fact, the pixel size has almost doubled to 1.6 micrometres with this year’s model, and when combined with f/1.7 aperture and PDAF AF and OIS, it seems to be pretty capable – from my limited hands-on testing, that is.

In fact, it’s the same main camera as you’ll find in the top-end Razr 50 Ultra. Where the two differ is with the secondary camera; while the Ultra model sports a high-res telephoto lens, the Razr 50 continues on with a 13MP 120-degree ultrawide that seems identical to that of last year’s Razr 40. 

While that might sound disappointing, it is nice to know that if you do like ultrawide photography, there’s at least a Razr-shaped option for you. 

Elsewhere, you’ll find an upgraded 32MP selfie camera on the foldable screen. While you likely won’t use that camera for selfies given you can easily use the cover screen and rear cameras for truly high-quality selfies, it does mean that the quality of your video calls will likely be better this time around. 

Performance and features

• MediaTek Dimensity 7300X
• Moto AI features coming later this year
• 4200mAh battery with 30W charging

While there are plenty of similarities between the Razr 50 and Razr 50 Ultra, performance likely won’t be one of them, sporting the MediaTek Dimensity 7300X in place of the top-end Snapdragon 8s Gen 3, complete with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage.

That’s not a bad chipset, mind, with similar variants of 7300 found in the likes of the Oppo Reno 12 Pro, and it does suit the regular Razr 50’s cheaper price point. It didn’t feel laggy during my limited use at my hands-on session, opening apps and taking photos quickly enough, but I suspect that it won’t be quite as performant in the graphics department. I’ll have to wait until I get a sample to benchmark at Trusted Reviews towers to say for sure, though. 

Motorola has also brought AI features to the affordable Razr, though it’s not quite as expansive as that of the top-end Razr 50 Ultra. Still, it offers the Image Enhancement Engine as well as the ability to improve low-light photography, and it’s one of the first phones to use Google Gemini instead of Google Assistant out of the box.

That’s only the first step in Motorola’s AI journey, however. Later this year, it’ll roll out Moto AI to both the Razr 50 and 50 Ultra, a more powerful AI experience that’ll perform actions like summarising incoming notifications, being able to listen to conversations, taking note of important events and reminders and providing those to you when needed, analyse photos to learn more about you and your preferences and much more.

It likely won’t get the full Moto AI experience when that launches later this year, as I expect at least some of it will depend on on-device LLM support and the like, but it’ll be interesting to see what features end up on the more affordable model.

When it comes to battery life, Motorola suggests that the 4200mAh battery – 200mAh bigger than the Razr 50 Ultra, by the way – should have no issues lasting all day. There’s also 30W fast charging, along with 15W wireless charging – a surprise given the cheaper focus of the foldable, but a welcome one nonetheless.

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A ‘hands on review’ is our first impression of a product only – it is not a full test and verdict. Our writer must have spent some time with the product to describe an early sense of what it’s like to use. We call these ‘hands on reviews’ to make them visible in search. However these are always unscored and don’t give recommendations. Read more about our reviews policy.