There’s a particular kind of frustration that comes with a phone that’s almost, but not quite, justified. The 2026 Motorola Razr Plus costs $1,100, which puts it firmly between the $800 base Razr and the $1,500 Razr Ultra. On paper, that middle position makes sense. In practice, it’s a harder sell.
According to CNET’s testing, the Razr Plus doesn’t offer much more functionality than its cheaper sibling to warrant the $300 jump. The specs tell the story: the bigger 4-inch cover screen is nice, sure, but it feels less transformative once you’re actually using it. Most apps still crop down to fit above the cameras anyway, making that extra real estate feel more aspirational than practical.
The Cover Screen Isn’t the Game-Changer You’d Expect
This is where things get tricky. Motorola has kept the 4-inch OLED cover display on the Razr Plus for three years running, and this year’s version barely changes the equation. It spans nearly the entire front of the phone, which sounds impressive until you realize that chat apps like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger scale down just fine on the cheaper 3.6-inch screen, and less-optimized apps feel cramped either way.
The textured back in dark green (Pantone’s “Mountain View”) does look more distinctive than the silver and black designs dominating pricier phones, which is nice. But a design flourish doesn’t bridge a three-hundred-dollar gap.
The real wins here are minor: a 45-watt charging speed that gets the battery from zero to 58% in 30 minutes, and the Snapdragon 8S Gen 3 processor, which still outpaces the base Razr’s MediaTek Dimensity 7450X. Neither is revolutionary, especially when the cheaper model actually packs a bigger 4,800-mAh battery compared to the Plus’ 4,500-mAh.
Where It Actually Holds Up
The cameras are solid. The 50-megapixel wide lens captures detail well in most daylight conditions, and the 32-megapixel internal selfie camera performs admirably. Using the external camera for selfies does produce noticeably better results than the internal one, with warmer skin tones and more visible depth. But for the price bracket, competitors with newer processors handle low-light scenarios more gracefully, picking up detail where the Razr Plus introduces blur.
The folding mechanism itself remains satisfying. Propping the phone in a half-folded position for video or video calls works well. The camcorder-like mode activates when you fold it halfway with the camera app open, turning the top half into a viewfinder and the bottom into a control panel. It’s a clever use of the form factor, even if it feels more gimmicky than essential.
Battery life gets you through a day with moderate use. During testing, the phone typically hit 30% by day’s end with around three hours of screen time. That’s comparable to the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7, but it’s a noticeable compromise compared to non-folding phones in the same price range, which often stretch to 8-10 hours of screen time.
Who This Phone Is Actually For
CNET’s testing suggests the Razr Plus makes sense in two scenarios: if you owned last year’s Plus or base Razr and genuinely want that bigger cover display without spending $1,500, or if you’ve decided you need more power and memory than the base model but can’t justify the Ultra’s price tag. For everyone else considering their first folding phone, the argument gets thin fast.
The base Razr includes 256GB of storage (in Motorola’s direct sales), the same dual 50-megapixel rear cameras, and all the same technology features you’d use daily. Yes, its processor will struggle a bit more in low-light photography. Yes, the cover screen is smaller. But you’re also pocketing $300 that could go toward a case, screen protector, or simply staying in your wallet.
Both phones get three years of software updates and five years of security patches, so longevity isn’t a differentiator. The Razr Plus exists in that uncomfortable middle ground where it’s better than the base model in ways that feel incremental, not transformative. It’s the phone equivalent of ordering the medium when you’re already questioning the price of the large.
Motorola’s challenge isn’t that the Razr Plus is a bad device. The problem is that it’s a good device asking premium money for marginal improvements, which makes you wonder whether the “Plus” is marketing or whether the Plus is actually adding anything worth having at all.
