Motorola’s Razr Series has made a special place for itself in the foldable market, and the primary reason behind it is offering a premium flip phone experience at affordable prices. After the Razr 40 Series last year, the brand launched the Moto Razr 50 Series in 2024. Earlier, Motorola launched the Razr 50 Ultra. Now, the brand has rolled out the Moto Razr 50, one of the cheapest flip phones in India.
Although Motorola has launched it for Rs. 64,999 in India, after applying bank offers, it will be discounted by up to Rs. 10,000, bringing down the effective price to around Rs. 55,000. This pricing is almost half of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6, so one can imagine how affordable this one is.
Motorola Razr 50 shares some specs with its Ultra version, but there are also some differences. So now, what remains to be seen is whether the Moto Razr 50, with its Flex View FHD+ P-OLED LTPO display, IPX8 certification, 3000 nits brightness, and more attractive features, can compete with other premium flip phones. Let us try to find out via the Moto Razr 50 review.
Moto Razr 50 Price & Availability
The Moto Razr 50 is available in a single 8GB RAM and 256GB storage version for Rs. 64,999. (Bank card discounts up to Rs. 10,000).
Pros
- Compact & stylish design
- Superb LTPO AMOLED display
- Strong hinge mechanism
- No crease visible on the main screen
- 3 years of OS & 4 years of security updates
Cons
- Performance could have been better
- Slow charging speed
- Underwhelming camera performance
Moto Razr 50 Review – Design & Build
The design of the Moto Razr 50 will look similar to its Ultra variant at first glance. When you look closely, you will notice the difference. Compared to the Ultra model, the cover screen of the Moto Razr 50 is 0.4-inch smaller. It comes with a 3.63-inch cover display. Also, compared to the Ultra version, this one has thicker bezels and a fatter form factor. Though it is only 7.25mm thick, it is slightly more than the Razr 50 Ultra.
The hinge has a metal finish, while the remaining area under the cover display has a vegan leather finish. I received the flip phone in orange, which looks good but is very unique and vibrant. It won’t be liked by people of all age groups, so they can opt for Sand Beach or Koala Grey hues.
The leather finish gives a premium experience. The top part of the cover screen has two cutouts for dual camera sensors. The same screen has a flashlight in the middle. The bottom part has the Motorola logo and Razr text written on it. The flip phone has a metal frame with the right edge housing a power button and volume rockers.
The power button doubles up as a fingerprint sensor, which works well. The left edge has a SIM tray slot. The bottom edge houses two microphones, a Type-C port, and a speaker, while the top edge has an IR blaster and microphone. The frame has antennas on both sides.
What is different in this one is the frame doesn’t connect to the display directly. The main display also has a black frame that looks like bezels. The speaker is at the top of this display, which helps listen to voices while calling.
Along with the device, Motorola also bundles an orange color cover inside the box that comes in two parts. The best part is that even after applying this cover, the phone looks equally premium and doesn’t get heavy or thick.
The Moto Razr 50 is IPX8 certified, which means it is protected against water to a certain extent. However, it isn’t protected against dust.
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Hinge Mechanism
The hinge is strong and works seamlessly. The flip phone can be opened and closed with one hand easily. The best part is that when opening the phone, the crease is hardly visible, and there are no gaps when unfolded. This compact device weighs 188 grams and can slip into pockets easily. With the curved screen and leather back, it fits in the hand perfectly.
There is no fingerprint sensor that is in-display, which is disappointing. However, the power button doubles up as a fingerprint sensor, which is not super fast but responsive and acceptable.
Moto Razr 50 Review – Display
Motorola Razr 50 sports a 6.9-inch main screen, which is an LTPO P-OLED display with FHD+ resolution, 120Hz refresh rate, and 3000 nits brightness levels. The cover display has a 3.6-inch screen, which is also P-OLED with a 1066×1056 pixel resolution and 90Hz refresh rate. There is Corning Gorilla Glass Victus protection as well.
The crease on the main display is almost invisible until you look at it from various angles. During content streaming, the crease was not felt at all. Compared to the Ultra model, the bezels are thicker, but that’s expected.
The main display shows vibrant colors with decent viewing angles. It has 3000 nits of brightness, but as mentioned before, peak brightness is felt only on a small part of the screen, whereas the entire screen’s brightness is lower. With lower brightness levels, too, this one feels adequate under sunlight in outdoor conditions.
The only niggle is that on unfolding, the main screen looks long. While video streaming, when you watch anything in full screen, to optimize the experience, the bottom and top borders are added to the screen, which doesn’t look good. You must swipe towards the outside with two fingers to stretch the video to full screen.
Moto Razr 50 has a 120Hz refresh rate and smooth animation for the main display. For the cover screen, the refresh rate is 90Hz, which is apt for apps running on this display. Important apps like WhatsApp, Maps, Widgets, and more run seamlessly on this one. Although the transition of these apps from the cover screen to the main screen was not smooth at times, it was still acceptable. You also get HDR10+ support for viewing HDR content on apps like Netflix, Prime Video, and more. All in all, the display quality of Moto Razr 50 is decent.
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Moto Razr 50 Review - Software
Motorola Razr 50 runs Android 14-based Hello UI out of the box. Like other Motorola devices, it offers a stock Android experience. The interface is easy to use, and some AI features have been added. Like Google Pixel devices, you can create a summary of texts or emails, write emails, create images using descriptions, and even design wallpapers according to your clothes or style.
The downside is that this premium-priced flip phone comes with various apps pre-installed. These include Facebook, Linkedin, Spotify, and Motorola apps. The company also promises 3 years of OS updates and 4 security patches with Moto Razr 50.
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Moto Razr 50 Review – Performance
The Motorola Razr 50 foldable is powered by an octa-core MediaTek Dimensity 7300X chipset designed for dual screens. However, I felt the chipset’s performance was similar to regular, affordable smartphones.
It is clear that although the performance is smooth during everyday tasks, it can’t compete with the performance of the iQOO 12 and Galaxy S24. Also, keep in mind that this one is a flip phone.
In real-life usage, the device isn’t very smooth during multitasking. Opening and closing apps and using them don’t pose any problems. However, when you scroll or switch between apps, you will experience lags.
During our usage, it didn’t show any records in the call log sometimes, but as soon as we went to contacts and then came back to the recent calls screen, it became visible. As mentioned earlier app transition between both displays isn’t seamless, but this would be felt only if you notice very closely.
Gaming is decent as when you play any title with high graphics, it gives a smooth performance. Titles can be BGMI or COD. Benchmarking test results are shared below.
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Moto Razr 50 Review – Cameras
Motorola Razr 50 comes with a 50MP primary camera with OIS and a 13MP secondary camera, which is an ultrawide sensor capable of taking macro shots. The dual rear camera setup can also be used as a front camera via the cover display. Additionally, there is a 32MP dedicated selfie camera.
The Moto Razr 50’s primary camera takes photos with good colors, but something is missing in its photos. While in good natural light, it takes detailed and lifelike images that are impressive, but compared to competitors, the detailing in the images clicked by Moto Razr 50 is less. The camera does a good job of keeping the subject in focus by blurring out the background on its own.
The primary sensor can also click photos in 2x zoom mode, but its results aren’t that impressive. The color difference can be felt as soon as you zoom in, and detailing also becomes strictly average.
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The 13MP ultrawide camera is also a bit disappointing. When you zoom in, details are lost, and the dynamic range is poor. Although it can give photos that can be shared on social media, it is no match for perfect photography. The macro shots taken using this sensor were surprising as they exceeded my expectations.
The primary camera can also take photos in low-light conditions, but these do not have the same level of detailing as day shots or the same sharpness. There is noise in these clicks.
The 32MP selfie camera takes sharp and good selfies, but skin tones aren’t as accurate as one would want them to be. The selfies taken using the primary rear camera are better. Detailing is much better on these, and skin tones are also better.
The flip phone can record 4K videos using both the front and rear cameras. It also includes Gemini AI integration, which includes AI features like Style Sync and Magic Canvas.
Moto Razr 50 Review – Battery Life and Charging
Motorola Razr 50 packs a 4200mAh battery, which is small compared to other phones in this budget. While it is understandable that a flip phone will have a smaller battery, charging could have been improved. This one has 30W wired fast charging support and 15W wireless charging capability.
The silver lining is that you will get it with a charger like Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6. Motorola bundles a premium cover with an adapter and charging cable inside the box. This adapter takes slightly less time to recharge the device, whereas using any other charger would mean more time to charge.
We plugged it into charging with 20% battery remaining, and it charged to 100% in 1 hour and 10 minutes with another adapter. With the adapter inside the box, it took 50 minutes to charge from 0 to 80%.
When talking about battery backup, I think it is decent. This 4200mAh battery easily lasts till evening with moderate to heavy usage. Those with heavy usage will need to charge it just as the evening dawns. I performed tasks like mailing, WhatsApp, photography, light gaming, social media scrolling, and an infinite number of calls, still, it lasted till 5-6 PM in the evening.
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Review Verdict: Should You Buy the Moto Razr 50?
Smartprix Rating: 7.5/10
Design and Build: 9/10
Display and Speakers: 8/10
Performance: 7/10
Camera: 6.5/10
Battery Life and Charging: 7/10
Motorola Razr 50 has a premium design and is best for those who want to own a flip phone on this budget. The foldable has an impressive P-OLED display and a good user interface. For design and technology, you will have to lower your expectations in terms of performance and camera. The battery is small, too, and fast charging isn’t that fast. Other phones in this budget come with up to 100W wired fast charging and sometimes even more. However, keep in mind that those aren’t flip phones.
The bottom line is that the Moto Razr 50 is a good option for those who want a flip phone on a 50k budget to flaunt their style. If your budget is slightly less and you want something stylish and unique, then you can opt for the Moto Razr 50 for a premium flip phone experience. If you are someone whose priority is camera or performance, then choose devices like the OnePlus 12 or Samsung Galaxy S24 Series.
First reviewed in September 2024.
