Most years, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip series doesn’t have much competition, but in 2022, that all changes as the Motorola Razr 2022 becomes a serious competitor to the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4.
This isn’t Motorola’s first clamshell foldable phone, but it’s the company’s first truly great foldable, and it gives us high hopes for the Motorola Razr 2023.
We’ve also heard a little bit about this upcoming phone, so below you’ll find all the leaks and rumors we’ve heard so far, and as soon as we hear more we’ll add to this post .
Below that, you’ll also find a list of features we expect the Motorola Razr 2023 to have to make it a better foldable phone than the Razr 2022.
cut to the chase
- what is it? Motorola’s next foldable phone
- When will it be out? Around August 2023
- What’s the fare? Probably around £949.99 / AU$1,599 (~US$1,155)
Motorola Razr 2023: Release date and price
We may be waiting for the Motorola Razr 2023 for a while, as the Razr 2022 will only land in August 2022, so August 2023 is the most likely month for the next model to be released.
Motorola doesn’t stick to August every year, but the phones always launch at least towards the end of the year, so August might be the earliest we’ll see it, if anything.
There’s also the question of which countries it will actually be available in as well, as while the 2022 model is available in the UK and Australia, you can’t currently buy it in the US – although the previous model did launch there.
There aren’t any price rumors yet, but the Motorola Razr 2022 will start at £949.99 / AU$1,599 (about $1,155), so it’s entirely possible that the next model will be priced similarly.
The Razr 2022 marks the best value-for-money balance Motorola’s foldable lineup has achieved to date, and finally makes them cost-competitive with its Samsung counterpart, the Galaxy Flip. Of course, it’s good that prices continue to drop, but it feels like taking it too far.
Motorola Razr 2023: News and leaks
There haven’t been many Motorola Razr 2023 leaks so far, but we’ve heard a few, including from Evan Blass (opens in a new tab) – a well-known leaker – tweeted that there will be two new Razr models in 2023. These are apparently codenamed Juno and Venus, but no further details were given.
Of these, the Juno is likely to be the successor to the Razr 2022, as earlier leaks suggest 91 mobile phone (opens in a new tab) The successor to the Motorola Razr 2022 is codenamed Juno and will once again have a 144Hz screen.
What about Venus? No news on this. The source above actually mentions another phone, code-named Felix, which is apparently the company’s first rollable phone, but that could be more distant.
Venus might be more of a model phone for Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 4, but that’s just speculation for now.
Evan recently showed off an apparent render of the upcoming phone again, showing the Razr with a larger display in its case. In the new design, the screen cover wraps around the camera lens and takes up quite a bit of the front face when closed. We like to see more useful external screens, so here’s hoping this rumor turns out to be true.
what we want to see
There are a lot of things we want to see Motorola do with the next Razr model, and the following five top our list.
1. Better cameras
The Motorola Razr 2022’s camera is significantly better than the previous model, but the Razr 2023 still has room for improvement.
We’d like to see post-processing improvements, a better ultra-wide camera – as the Razr 2022 disappoints – and ideally even an added telephoto lens; though that last point might be overkill.
2. Long-term update support
Motorola only promises two years of Android version updates and three years of Razr 2022 security patches, which isn’t enough, especially for such an expensive phone, let alone Samsung and OnePlus offering four years of Android updates and five years of security patches for some phones .
So we’d like to see Motorola commit to longer software support for the Razr 2023, otherwise it’s hard to recommend.
3. Water resistance
It might seem difficult to make a foldable phone waterproof, but Samsung has somehow managed to do it with recent phones, so we’d love to see Motorola do the same with the next Razr phone.
Technically, you do get some on the Razr 2022, but its IP52 rating is far lower than what Samsung offers.
Good water resistance is a standard feature on high-end phones, and for good reason — because the last thing you want is a light rain turning your phone purchase into an expensive paperweight.
4. Wireless charging
While the Motorola Razr 2022 has reasonable battery life and charges reasonably fast, it only supports wired charging, which is a shame for such an expensive phone, especially when compared to its main competitor, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 — when wireless charging is indeed offered. So we hope the Motorola Razr 2023 will offer it too.
5. Smoother performance
The Motorola Razr 2022 isn’t short on power, but in our review we found that actual performance wasn’t always great, with noticeable jumps and stutters at times.
That’s not really acceptable given the hardware and price, so we’d like to see the Razr 2023 optimized for smooth performance, as that will help it rank among the best foldable phones around.
