One year later and the Motorola Razr Plus 2024 is still my wife's favorite phone ever

Few things compare to the feeling of getting a hot new piece of electronics. That's particularly true when talking about something as genuinely cool as a folding phone, and Motorola's Razr line is the crème de la crème. However, that excitement typically doesn't last, especially not a year later when the next iteration is just about to debut.

To further complicate things, this isn't even her first folding phone. She started with the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3, then transitioned to a Galaxy Z Flip 4 in hopes of getting more than a half-day's battery per charge. Unfortunately, issues with battery life and screen durability persisted, so she turned to Motorola and its better-looking cover screen and hinge design.

Turns out, that was the right choice, and even though a new wave of Razr phones is about to launch, she's sitting pretty with her little green Razr Plus 2024 and couldn't be happier about it.

Hard to find the negatives

Since she has been using the Razr Plus 2024 for a year, it made sense for her thoughts to primarily drive this article, so I sat down with her the other night and asked if she could make a checklist of pros and cons for the phone.

"Pros: Compact size for purse or pocket, yet full-size phone when unfolded. Quick use of the front screen without needing to be flipped open. Feels satisfying and fully disengaged when snapped closed. I love the color and texture."

"Cons: I can't think of any."

What's impressive here is that she had a pretty notable list of problems with her previous Samsung Galaxy Z Flip phones before, yet after a year of using the Motorola Razr Plus 2024, she couldn't think of anything negative worth mentioning.

I recalled a few times when she noted that she "couldn't zoom out" when taking a photo, referencing the lack of an ultrawide camera in the Razr Plus 2024. When I reminded her of this, she shrugged it off and didn't think it was actually that big of a deal in the end. A "minor inconvenience," as she put it.

In fact, the camera has been one of the highlights of the phone, in my recollection, despite her not mentioning it on the list of positives above. One distinct moment I can remember was back in October when we went to a water park with family in Florida. We had just finished the day and were on the way back to the car via the park's shuttle system, and my wife was taking photos of everyone's tired, wet faces.

As she was about to snap a photo of her sister, brother-in-law, and their kids, her sister gawked at the phone right as my wife took the photo. The result is the raw amazement of seeing yourself on the front of a foldable phone as the photo is being taken, one of the many helpful tools the Razr has for folks who love taking pictures.

My colleague, Derrek Lee, can also attest to this being the usual reaction he gets when taking photos of people with the Razr.

And while the ultrawide lens is certainly missed, I think adding a bit of zoom detail versus having the ultrawide lens was the right choice in the end. I know Derrek doesn't agree with me on this point, but it seems that Motorola's user surveys agree with me, as indicated by the Razr Plus 2025's cameras.

Size is key

Whenever my wife and I meet someone who has never seen the Razr, they always ask her if she likes it and what her favorite thing about it is. The answer to the second question is always the size. "I can fold it up and fit it in a pocket or even a small purse, something that I haven't been able to do with phones for a long time."

I feel like people always talk about how much they hate modern phone sizes and they wish things were smaller, but the only way to do that is to compromise on components, and no one wants that in the end.

Flip phones allow companies to cram in basically everything you want into a phone that's both large enough to accommodate components like great cameras and big batteries, enough screen space to be enjoyable to use, yet also be small enough to fit in a tight jean pocket.

There's also no denying the usefulness of the cover screen. Unlike Samsung, Motorola's cover screen is largely unrestricted, allowing you to run full apps without needing to adjust settings or download a separate app. I see her on her cover screen all the time, and the fact that she told me without prompting only further emphasizes how useful it is.

Motorola also really nailed the hinge and the display in a way Samsung has struggled to over the years. I don't have a Galaxy Z Flip 6 to directly compare it to right now, but we had to replace the screen protector on both her Z Flip 3 and Z Flip 4 every 3-4 months as it would inevitably start lifting off the display right at the hinge. One of her phones cracked right at this line, and I blamed the cracked screen protector for it.

This has yet to happen on the Motorola Razr Plus 2024. Motorola's display folds differently from Samsung's previous models, and it clearly works better for both the display and the preinstalled screen protector.

When I asked her if she's ever noticed any peeling or bubbling, the immediate response was "Nope!" She also added that she doesn't "really notice a bump in the folding part of the screen either," once again alluding to Motorola's superior screen and hinge design for this product.

Additionally, she can show me videos and posts on her phone, unlike when she used the Galaxy Z Flip 4, which has a terrible PWM dimming rate and hurts my eyes to look at. Motorola lets you disable PWM dimming entirely, making it a great foldable choice for sensitive eyes.

I was also pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to find a good case and MagSafe adapter for the phone. She's been using this $9 clear case paired with the OhSnap Snap 4 Luxe Mag Safe grip ring and hasn't felt the need to change it. It adds very little bulk to the phone, and the addition of the OhSnap ring gives us the ability to use this excellent Qi2 car charger.

Lastly, I also noticed that she didn't mention battery life at all, which is a massive change coming from the Z Flip 3/4. Both of those phones had downright terrible battery life, and while the Flip 4 improved things, she regularly had to charge both models before the day was over.

That's not a problem for the Razr Plus 2024, which ranked in the top 10 for best battery life from Phone Arena last year. Despite having a more "power-efficient" Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 — that's marketing speak for less powerful — I can't recall a time she's ever complained about the phone being slow or laggy.

While I fully expected the Razr to be a good choice after all the praise it got at launch, this phone more than exceeded even my wildest expectations as a replacement for Samsung's Z Flip series. Motorola more than won my wife over here, and her experience has only further proven to me that the company makes the best foldable phones you can buy today.