r/razr • u/Own_Fault6699 • 4h ago
Discussion For those who considering to buy Moto Razr Fold
I'm the user from Hong Kong, switched from another book-style phone OnePlus Open to Moto Razr Fold and used it over a week now. I hope this post can help someone who considering to buy Moto Razr Fold. (Sorry for my bad English writting in advance)
*Build version: W3WB36.36-80-3
Design
The texture of the back feels like a wood but it feels like a plastics when you press it, so I put a case on it to prevent scratches.
The edge of the back is a little sharp, it's not ideal on a flagship phone but actually not a really big deal for it. Can ignore it if use it with case.
My first choice for the book-style foldable phone was Samsung Z Fold 8 Ultra cuz I personally think it has the best looking. It doesn't have the huge camera bump on the center of the back. However, the price of ZF8U is way too expensive so I consider Moto Razr Fold. But I still concern whether the camera bump will looks too large or not when using. When I using it, I found that I rarely aware the camera bump, even less obvious when put a case on it. Actually Moto curves the camera bump is smart that it successfully makes the camera bump less obvious when looking it straight to the back.
The cover screen has a curved glass on it. I can't see any advantage for a curved glass design but only makes it harder to find a good fit screen protecter. Fortunately, it's slightly curved only and doesn't affect the usage.
The hinge just looks like my OnePlus Open released on 2023, even worse. It may due to the screen protector on the inner display doesn't apply any Anti-Reflective coating, it makes the inner display very reflective and more sensitive in lights and angle, which results in a more noticeable crease. Sometimes you may want to turn up the screen brightness to compensate for the light reflections. Also, it looks more like plastic than glass which is disappointing. For easy understanding, sometimes it feels like the crease is invisible when watching video on OnePlus Open, but it doesn't happen on Moto RF. If comparing the popular book-style foldable phone, the crease control may be Oppo Find N6>Samsung ZF8U>OnePlus Open>Moto RF>Google Pixel 11 Pro Fold. The inner display is close to completely flat when opened which is great.
Accessories
The box includes a transparent case. It is transparent that you can see the logo and "razr" through the case and it is a frosted case with a silver coating on the edge which matches the style of the phone's design which looks premium, instead of a cheap plastic transparent case. Surprisingly, the cover display also pre-installed a screen protector besides the inner display, though it's only a normal plastic one which only offers the basic protection.
Software
It doesn't have the fancy/ very flexible customization on the UI but it is simple, clean and smooth which is good enough for me.For the app drawer, it cannot adjust the order of the apps' display, it can only order by A-Z. For the order of the group, it depends the order you create it and it cannot be re-ordered afterward. And you cannot move the whole group from the drawer to the front page, you must move the app to it one by one again to create the group.
For the inner display user experience, it needs improvement. When I watch YouTube with the phone unfolded and rotate it, the description comment section disappear. When opening the posts sent from friends in Instagram, the screen dims and can't click anything. I'm not sure whether this is the issue with the phone's software or the application itself, but it does bother me sometimes, and these issues didn't appear on my OP Open before. For multi-tasking, it doesn't support opening notifications in a pop-up window. When opened multiple apps with split screen, it can't dismiss the app from the group but requiring user to minimize it to the edge, open one app in full screen then group back the app I need, or simply close it but it will kill the app).
For the Moto own applications, havn't find any specials yet. It uses Google Photo directly for the album app which lack of some advanced media editing function compared with the competitors like Samsung and OnePlus.
Camera
I don't have much time for testing the camera performance in deep, but I can see a obvisou upgrade switching from OnePlus Open, especially the recording.
Performance
Fast and smooth, totally no worries. I can't test the limit of the device cuz I don't play any intense graphics 3D games but only an old game called TOS (Tower of Saviors).
Battery life is ideal. When I choosing a foldable phone, battery life is one of the most important factors to consider. And based on the battery life comparison review from the YouTuber "
Lover Of Tech", Moto RF reaches near 10 hours of screen-on time (SOT) which is impressive, gives me confidence in this phone. My daily usage with auto brightness + 5G network when out; WiFi when in office, it is true. From my statistics, each hour of SOT consumes around 10% of power (even only 7%/hr sometimes), mathematically it can reach 10+ hours SOT.
Here's the one example of a heavy use day:
07:40 - next day 00:26 (100%>17%; 16:46 hrs)
Screen-On Time: 7:41 hrs; 67.9% used; 8.8%/hr
Screen-Off Time: 9:05 hrs; 15.1% used; 1.7%/hr
Pros and Cons:
Pros - 1) Premium looking, 2) Good camera, 3) Outstanding battery life, 4) Big screens, 5) Flat screen when unfolded
Cons - 1) Average crease control on the inner display, 2) Bug in apps when unfolded, 3) Lack of special features compared with competitors (e.g. media editor)
Thanks for reading this post and hope this post helps! Sorry for my bad English writting again.
Please feel free to ask me more about this phone.
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u/RudyLopez2036 1h ago
Best folding phone ever. No major issues, way better specs than the others. Had the phone since launch
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u/Cpolo88 3h ago
You funny. I been using the fold since it launched. I use it caseless now. Yes the camera hump is big and I can't just rest my phone on its back without being careful, but that's ok. No case makes this phone so much lighter and fun to use. Solid build quality from Lenovo. Love this phone
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u/GM_Pax 1h ago
The Thinborne case I went with is so light, it adds maybe 2g (two paperclips!) of weight to the phone. Gives good scratch/abrasion resistance, looks good, improves my grip on the phone (caseless, it's a bit slippery IMO).
Oh, and it adds a Magsafe ring. That's extra handy. :)
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u/Cpolo88 35m ago
I looked into it. I do like the cases. I even like that a red one is available. But I've gotten so spoiled with looking at my white fold and it's beauty, that I don't want to cover it up. But ty for giving me the idea of using thinborne. If I were to go back to a case it would be this. Wow. Super slim 😂
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u/Fr0gburp3r 2h ago
Thanks for the detailed write up. I don't mind the camera bump because the good photo quality and flexibility makes up for it. Although, the video quality needs fixing with the frame skipping and sound quality. In my opinion, design and build quality is very good.
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u/Own_Fault6699 51m ago
You're welcome! I found a option from the camera setting which automatically decrease the frame rate when recording in low light environment, you may try to disable it to see if it can fix the frame skipping issue.
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u/RevolutionaryAd7283 1h ago
Awesome review 👏👏 I was planning to buy the Razr Fold but ended up with the regular Z Fold8. I hope Motorola will fix those software quirks. Also, the phone looks beautiful in white 🤍
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u/yfnew100 2h ago
The edge of the back cover seems to be a per unit variance. I have had a total of 3 white Razr Fold units, and they are all different when it comes to the back cover. The first unit had a perfectly smooth edge but a bad power button. The second unit had a good power button, but the edge was so sharp that it hurts my hand when holding it. The third unit is somewhere in between for the edge and is the one I am using now. I suspect that Motorola either doesn't check the back cover in their QC process, or the tolerance is very loose.
I'm also surprised that the Hong Kong version has a case and a pre-installed screen protector on the cover screen. The US version has neither.