Best Motorola phones 2024

Motorola phones aim to give you the best bang for your buck with solid hardware on the low end, and some of the best values in foldable phones. These Moto phones are more than bargain bin budget devices with large batteries, nice displays, and 5G support on some model.  Although Moto hasn't exactly shocked us with innovation (the Razr Plus would like a word, however), the iconic phone brand has proven that it has the potential to lead the pack when it comes to solid performance at a lower cost. 

If you're interested in the best Motorola phones out there, you've come to the right place. We've gathered all of our favorite devices and dropped them below with a brief description of each pick. Some of these phones may rival the best Android phones on the market, while others offer decent specs at a shockingly low price. No matter what type of phone you're looking for, it's quite likely that Motorola will have you covered.

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At a glance

Best overall

The Motorola Edge+ is an impressive phone with a very nice look and feel, plenty of power under the hood, and plenty of battery life. Front and center, you can't miss the gorgeous 6.7-inch OLED display with a blazing-fast 165Hz refresh rate. It's powered by a last gen Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 paired with 8GB RAM that still offers impressive performance. It's powered by a large 5,100mAh battery with support for 68W charging with a charger included in the box.

Our Motorola Edge+ review found the camera system to be impressive with nice images coming from the main 50MP camera, 50MP ultra-wide camera, and a 12MP 2x telephoto camera. Water and dust resistance with an IP68 rating is also nice to have and the modern chipset enables strong Wi-Fi 7 and 5G support. Launching with Android 3 with three OS updates promised, this is a nice high-end return to form for Motorola.

Best stylus phone

The Moto G Stylus 5G is a nice step up from the Moto G Play with a larger and sharper 6.6-inch 2400x1080 LCD running at 120Hz. This phone has a Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 SoC which with 6GB of RAM to keep apps running smoothly. That SoC also means you get 5G support on most Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile-based carriers. It comes with a solid 256GB of storage with microSD expansion to go even bigger if you need it.

Naturally, the biggest feature of this phone is the included stylus. While it’s a fairly basic stylus, it can still help you make fine inputs, or even take quick notes on this large display. If you’re trying to click on links on a web page that isn’t optimized for mobile, for example, a stylus can make hitting the right link much easier. The main 50MP camera, like most budget phones, isn’t all that impressive but offers solid clarity and color in the right lighting. If you’re looking for a cheap 5G phone with a stylus for less than a flagship, the Moto G Stylus 5G is worth a look.

Best value

If you’re looking for a simple phone that gets the job done, the Moto G Play is worth a look with a large 6.5-inch display that’s large enough to easily see. The display sits beneath a sheet of Gorilla Glass 3 giving it protection from minor drops. It even has a fingerprint reader on the side making it quick to unlock your phone without sacrificing security. It’s powered by a Snapdragon 680 SoC with 4GB of RAM, which isn’t great for 3D gaming, but is reasonably fast for basic messaging apps, social media, video calling, and taking photos.

Charging is relatively slow at just 15W, but with a large 5,000mAh battery, if you top it up overnight, it should easily last all day and then some. The rear camera has a 50MP sensor that can take decent enough photos in enough light, but won’t blow you away. At this price, however, you’re still getting solid results that are more than sufficient for sharing with your friends. Keep in mind that this phone doesn’t support 5G, so you’ll be stuck with the LTE coverage on your carrier, but generally, LTE offers plenty of speed for most people.

Best foldable

There’s a lot to love about the Moto Razr Plus from its thin gap-free profile when folded, to the large 3.6-inch outer display. As we saw in our Moto Razr Plus review, this large outer display makes the phone much more useful than the previous generation when closed and looks great with unnecessary, but attractive, hold-punch camera lenses protruding from the corner. The phone is powerful with a Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 giving it plenty of power for any app you can think to throw at it, including games.

The battery isn’t huge at just 3,800mAh, but that’s not bad for a compact clamshell folding phone like this. When you unfold the phone, you’re presented with a vibrant 6.9-inch AMOLED display with 1400 nits of peak brightness. It also runs at up to 165Hz so using it to navigate Android 13 feels nice and smooth. Speaking of Android, Motorola has promised three OS upgrades with four years of security updates. If Motorola sticks to the update plan, you should have a few years to use the phone before the software starts to feel too dated. With 5G support on most U.S. carriers, you should also get strong network speeds for years to come.

Best for productivity

The ThinkPhone from Motorola borrows its branding from Lenovo and has worked with the PC maker to make the phone integrate with PCs. This is a phone targeted at business users, and its PC integration allows you to use it as a webcam, instantly enable hotspot data, and even stream apps to your PC. Even if you’re not interested in those computer tie-ins, you still get a sleek phone with plenty of grip on the housing. Battery life is strong from the 5,000mAh battery and 68W charging with an included charge.

The phone is powered by the still fast Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 SoC with either 8GB or 12GB of storage. The display is a 6.6-inch OLED panel with a 144Hz refresh rate under a sheet of Gorilla Glass Victus. Naturally, 5G is supported with fast 6GHz Wi-Fi 6E also included. Our ThinkPhone review also notes that this phone will receive Android updates through Android 16 with security updates through 2027. If you’re looking for a phone to help streamline your workflow with years of support, the ThinkPhone could be what you’ve been waiting for.

Best battery life

While the Moto G Power 5G 2024 is on the pricier end of the Moto G lineup at $300, you're still getting quite a lot of phone for your money. This phone is powered by the Mediatek Dimensity 7020 SoC with eight cores and 8GB of RAM. This allows it to offer good multitasking performance, but it will still struggle with demanding games. You're also on the latest version of Android with Android 14 installed out of the box.

The 5000mAh battery isn't that impressive on its own, but with 30W wired charging supported and even 15W wireless charging, this phone gives you a lot of flexibility on how and when you use that battery. Unfortunately, a 30W charger isn't included in the box, so if you want full charging speeds, you'll want to pick up one of the best USB-C chargers. Overall, this is a strong pick for a mid-range device with sub-6 5G support on most carriers.

Best value foldable

Folding phones have typically been prohibitively expensive with overkill hardware and over-the-top designs. The Motorola Razr (2023) takes a step back offering a sleek clamshell folding phone with a large 6.9-inch internal display. Compared to the above Razr Plus, this phone has a slower SoC with the Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 and a smaller outer display but still has plenty of performance for most people. The outer display is a 1.5-inch unit which is really only good for notification from a few apps.

Even with some hardware cutbacks, Motorola has made sure not to cut corners on the most important elements, like using tough Gorilla Glass Victus and packing in a large 4200mAh battery. While it’s far from the best camera we’ve used, the Razr’s 64MP main camera takes decent images, especially considering the price. There’s also a 13MP ultrawide camera to help capture more in a tight space. Like its other folding phone, Motorola has promised three OS updates and four years of security updates on this model.

Best budget battery life

The Moto G 5G (2024) doesn't do anything special, besides being a generally good smartphone for under $200. This phone has a reasonably large screen at 6.6 inches with a 120Hz refresh rate, though the resolution is a conservative 720x1612. Still, it more than gets the job done and is one of the reasons for this phones battery endurance. Another reason is the Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 under the hood with 4GB of RAM. While this SoC will lag, our review found it to be a better performer than Samsung's competing Galaxy A15.

The biggest reason for this phone's strong battery life is the large 5000mAh pack with 18W wired charging. Wireless charging is absent from this phone, which isn't surprising at this price. When it comes to software, this phone launched with Android 14 with Motorola promising an update to Android 15 at some point. With 5G support for the three major carrier, just about anyone can use it with their phone plan.

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How to choose

Why the Motorola Edge Plus (2023) is our top pick

Motorola is great at striking a balance between performance and price, and this shows with the Motorola Edge Plus (2023). The device is powered by the critically-acclaimed Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, the same processor found in some of the most powerful flagships on the market. 

Not only can you manage multiple days on a single charge, but the phone offers a slick 165Hz OLED display and a speedy fingerprint sensor. The best part is that Motorola is committing to three major OS upgrades and four years of updates, something the company doesn't always offer with its devices.

How to pick the right Moto

If you're looking at Motorola's phone lineup, especially the Moto G phones, it can be hard to tell them apart. Motorola's phones are split into three main categories with premium devices like the Moto Edge+ and Thinkphone, then the Razr folding phones, followed by the budget-oriented Moto G series. While the Moto Edge+ and Thinkphone are good phones, if you're shopping for something high-end, you might find some of the other best Android phones to be a better value, especially if you're getting it from a carrier.

The Razr series is known for its striking design and low prices. The Moto Razr, for example, is one of the cheapest folding phones you can get. Keep in mind, that while flip phones of the past were known for durability, the same can't be said for folding flip phones like the Razr. The internal screen is large and surprisingly high-quality but is soft and easily scratched, so it's more at home in an office than the job site. Folding phones can also be more difficult, and much more expensive, to repair if you do damage that screen.

The Moto G series is updated every year like clockwork with the date following the name. Make sure you're picking the latest model available because, while Motorola has promised updates for most of its phones, it's so far been slow to deliver, and doesn't match up to the multiple OS updates offered by Google and Samsung.

Make sure your Moto G phone has the hardware features you need, like NFC for payments, or fast charging as these specs can vary. If you need fast charging, the Moto G Power supports up to 30W, while others, especially 2023 models, can be significantly slower. While these phones can take some competent photos in decent lighting, if you're a prolific phone photographer, you'll be happy you spent a bit more on a higher-end Moto or even something like a Pixel A series phone.

The runner-up includes a stylus

Out of all the Motorola phones currently available, the Moto G Stylus 5G (2023) is still a great pick for those looking for precision input. It has solid specs, features, and price are darn-near perfect given how affordable the phone is, making it a clear winner in our eyes, particularly among other budget Android phones.

The sleek, elegant design paired with a built-in stylus and useful gestures proves you don't need to spend a lot to get the premium Motorola experience. You also get Android 13 straight out of the box, alongside a big 5,000mAh battery and the capable Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 chipset. Did we mention that it also has a headphone jack?

If you're looking for the best overall Motorola phone, the Moto Edge+ still stands out with its powerful Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC, fast 68W charging, and solid camera system. The phone is even set to get three OS updates with four years of security updates. If you were looking for a flagship phone from Motorola, the Edge+ is your best bet.

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