Motorola Razr 2025 vs. Razr 2023: The affordable flip phone is back and better than ever

If you’re looking for an affordable foldable Android phone, you might have your eye on a Motorola model in the popular Razr line. There are a few generations to choose from, and two models you might be considering are the new Motorola Razr 2025 and the Motorola Razr 2023.

On the one hand, the Motorola Razr 2025 is the newer, better, latest device. On the other hand, you might find the older Motorola Razr 2023 for a steal. Perhaps you already own the latter and you’re wondering if it’s worth the upgrade. Read on to find out in this Razr 2025 vs. Razr 2023 comparison.

Motorola Razr 2025 vs. Motorola Razr 2023: The design and basic features

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The Motorola Razr 2025 is the entry-level model in the latest line from the company, which also includes the higher-end Motorola Razr Ultra and Razr Plus. You’ll get a 6.9-inch AMOLED FHD+ 2,640 x 1,080 HDR10+ inner screen that boasts an ultra-bright 3,000 nits of peak brightness for comfortable viewing in any condition.

The external screen, meanwhile, is a 3.6-inch 1,056 x 1,066 pOLED screen with up to 90Hz refresh rate, HDR10, and a decent 1,700 nits peak brightness. Compared to the Motorola Razr 2023, the big difference here is in the size of the external screen. You can customize the external screen with various panels for the information that is most useful to you.

You can also adjust the phone in various positions, including Flex View, even holding it like a camcorder while recording videos. There’s also dual preview and the photo booth feature which make use of both the cameras and the foldable design.

The Motorola Razr 2025 comes in new Pantone finishes, including Gibraltar Sea, Spring Bud, Lightest Sky, and Parfait Pink with leather-inspired, nylon-inspired, and, for the first time with a Motorola device in North America, lightweight Acetate finish. It’s equipped with a titanium-reinforced hinge that Motorola says is four times stronger than surgical-grade stainless steel. It also boasts ultra-thin glass, made of Corning Gorilla Glass Victus.

The phone has an IP48 rating for dust and water resistance, stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos, and three microphones. It can be purchased with up to 256GB of storage. The phone will likely run all day, leveraging the 4,500mAh battery that supports 30W TurboPower charging to get an extra day after just a 15-minute charge. It also supports 15W wireless charging.

Comparatively, the Motorola Razr 2023 comes with a vegan leather finish on the back complemented by a brushed metal finish that Android Central's Derrek Lee says in his review feels and looks “classy.” Available in Sage Green, Vanilla Cream, Summer Lilac, or Cherry Blossom finishes, the inner screen is the same 6.9-inch size, a pOLED with the same 2,640 x 1,080 resolution, up to 144Hz refresh rate, and HDR10+, but it’s less bright at just 1,400 nits, though Lee still calls it “punchy and bright.”

The biggest difference when it comes to appearance lies with the external display, which, in this phone, is just 1.5 inches in size. The tiny, rectangular OLED with 194 x 368 resolution, 60Hz refresh rate, and up to 1,000 nits brightness more resembles the screen of a smartwatch or a fitness tracker built into the outside of the phone. It’s effectively a small black bar that shows limited details. It’s a simple design meant mostly for glanceable information, but it might be appreciated by some to limit distractions.

Lee notes that customization is limited to panels for things like weather, calendar, contracts, media, a timer, and an audio recorder. Swipe among them using a carousel, swipe down to access Quick Settings, or swipe up to see notifications.

While you can do simple things like delete an email from the external screen, for most interactions, you will need to open the phone. You can, it should be noted, take photos and preview the shot from the external screen as well. However, it’s challenging to take and orient them using the external screen, and you’re limited in the modes you use.

The phone has a sturdy hinge that Lee says leaves a minimal crease and feels even sturdier than the one on the Motorola Razr Plus 2023 model. The screen is covered in Gorilla Glass Victus for additional durability. It meets a higher IP52 rating for dust, but that’s less for water. So, this phone is more durable against larger objects but less able to withstand water sprays.

Oddly, it only comes with 128GB non-expandable storage, so you’ll need a cloud service if you plan to take tons of photos and videos, download apps, and more. You’ll likely run out of room fairly quickly if you’re a digital packrat.

Battery-wise, you get a decent 4,200mAh battery with the Motorola Razr 2023, which Lee says doesn’t quite last a full day, but will get you through most of one before you need to recharge. It also supports 30W wired charging, but you’ll only be able to charge at a 5W snail’s pace with wireless chargers. It’s almost not even worth it unless you keep the phone atop a wireless charger on your desk all day.

This phone also has stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos and Spatial Sound along with three microphones. With both, you get the usuals like a fingerprint sensor, face unlock, Bluetooth 5.3, 5G connectivity, NFC, and more.

One important detail worth noting is that with both phones, Motorola promises three years of Android updates and four years of security updates. Since the Motorola Razr 2023 was introduced in North America back in October 2023, you already need to shave more than a year off that count.

Motorola Razr 2025 vs. Motorola Razr 2023: The specs

Let’s look at the specs of these two phones, two generations apart, in a side-by-side comparison.

Motorola Razr 2025 vs. Motorola Razr 2023: What can these phones do?

The Motorola Razr 2025 focuses heavily on an AI experience, as most of the latest phones do today. It comes with Android 15 and, as mentioned, three years of software and four years of security updates. That’s behind others like Google and Samsung, which also make foldable phones. But it’s still pretty decent, getting you through to Android 18.

Running on an upgraded MediaTek Dimensity 7400x processor, which affords boosted AI performance, it’s the only phone in the new line that doesn’t run on a Snapdragon processor. However, Derrek Lee says in his initial hands-on of the Motorola Razr 2025 that he didn’t have any performance issues using previous generation Razr phones running on the older version of this processor, so he suspects the same will be the case with this phone.

You’ll get 8GB RAM and Google Gemini and Gemini Live alongside Moto AI.

With Moto AI, you can enjoy features like Catch Me Up, Pay Attention, and Remember Thus. There’s also Next Move on the external display, which will recognize what’s on the screen and offer suggestions for your, well, next move. This could be creating a music playlist for you while you cook dinner using a recipe you found online, or making a new wallpaper image inspired by an upcoming vacation.

Smart Connect with AI features allows you to give text or voice commands to share content from your phone to the TV, or even do things like pull up notes on a PC, great for multitasking.

How does the Motorola Razr 2023 compare? Since it was introduced a year and a half ago, it comes loaded with Android 13 and MyUX, which means you’ll only get up to Android 16 with this phone. That’s something to consider if you want a foldable you can hang onto for many years to come. The integration of MyUX adds some fun and useful customization features, though, like being able to twist the phone twice to activate the camera or chop twice to trigger the flashlight.

It runs on a Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 processor that Lee says gets the job done and comes with the same 8GB RAM. “The phone is able to handle much of my daily tasks without faltering,” says Derrek. He also found that it performed well for gaming, though it gets warm if you play intense games at the highest setting.

The big omission here is that you don’t get any AI experiences, beyond being able to access limited Google Gemini and Google Photos features. It’s overall a fairly basic phone that even has the Moto Unplugged feature to help you disconnect when you need a digital detox break, effectively Motorola’s version of Focus Mode.

Motorola Razr 2025 vs. Motorola Razr 2023: Capturing and editing photos and videos

Now, let’s take a look at the cameras. The Motorola Razr 2025 has a 50MP main rear camera, a 13MP ultrawide camera with macro vision, and a 32MP front camera. You should theoretically get better photos with the AI-powered photo enhancement engine. We can’t speak to that until we’ve had more time with the phone. Stay tuned.

By comparison, the Motorola Razr 2023 has a larger sensor, a 64MP rear main camera, a 13MP ultra-wide camera with macro vision, and a 32MP front “selfie” camera.

Derrek says the phone takes decent photos, but they often leave him wanting more. It lacks in areas like contrast, white balance, color balance, or simple punch, but does take fairly good night shots. The results with photos are also inconsistent. Basically, the camera experience is not a selling point for this phone.

Enjoy all the usual features you’ll find in Motorola phones for capturing the best shots, like burst shot, auto smile, portrait, night vision, quick capture, and more. There are also features like gesture capture with the front camera and face beauty. But you’ll have to choose and store your photos wisely since there’s only a 128GB option.

Motorola Razr 2025 vs. Motorola Razr 2023: Which should you choose?

It stands to reason that when considering the Motorola Razr 2025 vs. Motorola Razr 2023, the newer phone of the two is better. The Motorola Razr 2025 employs a better design, mostly better specs, and AI experiences that have become important nowadays for everything from convenience to assistance and even taking photos and videos.

With that said, it’s not a massive step-up from the Motorola Razr 2023, and still only an iterative update from the Motorola Razr 2024. So, if you invested a bunch in one of those older foldables already, it’s worth hanging onto for now, at least until the software support runs out. By then, Motorola will likely have an even better foldable to consider. If you really want to upgrade now, you’d be better off saving up to get the Motorola Razr Ultra 2025, which is a bigger jump in features and will better justify the switch.

If you’re buying new and you find the Motorola Razr 2023 for cheap, amortize that cost over the number of years of use it has left when it comes to software and security support. It might sound like a good deal now, but it might not be in the long run. If you just want something for now, however, and plan to upgrade in two years anyway, go for it. Or, as noted, consider the Motorola Razr 2024 instead, which ranks among the best foldable phones as the best budget option you can buy right now.

One important thing to note between the Motorola Razr 2025 and Razr 2023 is the difference in the external screen. The Motorola Razr 2023’s external screen is mostly for glancing at notifications, like a news strip across the bottom. “This cover screen,” Derrek explains, “is meant to give you the bare minimum while still serving its purpose of letting you decide whether or not it’s worth it to open your phone. It’s a shame Motorola couldn’t put a larger display on the outside.”

If you want something more robust with a much larger external screen, you’ll find value in the Motorola Razr 2025’s larger external screen. But you might also appreciate fewer distractions with the smaller screen of the Motorola Razr 2023. In this respect, it comes down to personal preference.