After a minor delay, the Motorola Razr 2022 has finally debuted in China. We do not have all the details yet, but it looks like a full-fledged flagship and compares favorably against the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4. It might even earn a spot on the best foldable phones list — if it ever gets a global launch.
Rumors suggested top-tier specs, and we did get some. The phone is available with up to 12GB of RAM and features an impressive camera and CPU. Plus, Motorola removed the signature chin from the phone, slimming it down. While it was not a massive step forward, Motorola corrected some of the underwhelming aspects of the first Razr and Razr 5G.
Here's what we know about the Motorola Razr 2022.
Motorola Razr 2022 key points (updated November 14)
- The Moto Razr 2022 launched in Europe on October 25.
- The Motorola Razr 2022 launched in China on August 11
- The phone is currently limited to China, but we are getting hints that a global release is coming
- This new generation features a sleeker design and a brand new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 chip, but otherwise is only a slight upgrade over the previous generation
Motorola Razr 2022: Price and availibility
Motorola had revealed what looked like the Motorola 2022's launch date, with an event scheduled in China for August 2. That would have been a full week ahead of the August 10 launch date for the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 and Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4, the two Samsung foldables expected to appear at the next Galaxy Unpacked event. From our perspective, it looked like Motorola was trying to get the jump on Samsung and steal some of the company's thunder.
As it turns out, though, Motorola had to postpone the August 2 debut of the Motorola Razr 2022, with the cancellation coming just hours before the event. It's widely suspected that tensions in Asia — Chinese officials are angry that U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is visiting Taiwan — may have pushed back the phone's launch.
The phone is available in China and Europe, with prices for the latter undercutting the Galaxy Z Flip 4, starting at £949 / €1199. There's still no word of a U.S. launch yet.
Motorola Razr 2022: Design
Motorola made a significant improvement with the Razer 2022 by removing the "chin" at the bottom of the phone. A leak from Evan Blass over at 91Mobiles had suggested that Motorola would do exactly that, so we were not taken aback when the Razr 2022 debuted with a sleeker look than its predecessors.
In fact, a subsequent video posted by Blass that appeared to show the Motorola Razr 2022 in action seems to have been spot on. The video showed the prominent chin of past models removed and replaced with a full-screen effect when the phone is opened. Motorola also got rid of the notch that housed the front camera and replaced it with a punch hole cutout.
On the outside of the phone, a 2.7-inch exterior display takes up most of the front cover space.
The Razr 2022 was rumored to be available in two color options: Tranquil Blue and Quartz Black. So far only the Satin Black is available.
Motorola Razr 2022: Displays
The previous Razr phones were clamshell foldables, and the Razr 2022 does not deviate from that design. The Razr 2022 features a 6.7-inch FHD+ internal display with a 144Hz refresh rate. The exterior display is 2.7-inches, which is significantly bigger that the outer display on the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4.
Motorola Razr 2022: Cameras
Another Motorola Razr 2022 leak from Evan Blass said to expect a 50MP f/1.8 main sensor, backed up by a 13MP ultra-wide camera and macro sensor. The specs that Motorola unveiled for its cameras match this for the most part. There is also a 32MP selfie camera in a hole-punch cutout. Like the Galaxy Z Flip 4, the rear cameras can take selfies when the phone is folded.
As for video, the Razr 2022 can record up to 4K at 60 fps on the rear and front cameras. The rear camera can also record slo-mo video at 1080p 120 fps.
Motorola Razr 2022: Specs
Initial reports suggested that the Razr 2022 would offer true flagship specs by running on a top-of-the-line chip, and that is exactly what happened. The Motorola Razr 2022 does feature a state-of-the-art Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1.
This is a significant step up over the Snapdragon 710 in the Razr (2019) and the Snapdragon 765G in the Razr 5G. It finally puts Motorola's foldable in contention with other flagship phones, at least in terms of processing power.
There are three RAM and storage configurations. The 128GB and 256GB models come with 8GB of RAM, and the 512GB model comes with 12GB of RAM. The latter is a China exclusive for now.
This is a lot more choice than the previous Razr, which only came in 8GB/256GB.
The Razr 2022 ships with Android 12. We aren't sure about the status of the Android 13 update.
Moto Razr 2022: Bottom line
The Moto Razr 2022 looks like a serious Galaxy Z Flip 4 competitor, though we'll need to confirm that for ourselves. The lack of a U.S. announcement has us a bit mystified, so hopefully we'll hear about one soon. But at least the phone is available in a fair portion of Europe now.
For the price, it seems like a good foldable. Maybe Motorola has finally corrected the wrongs of the previous two generations.
