As a Motorola fan, the 2026 Razr lineup is a lazy and costly mess

However taking a look on the Razr (2026) sequence, I will be able to’t lend a hand however really feel upset.

Motorola has been at the vanguard of flip-phone foldables for the remaining couple of years, however the corporate’s newest appearing can simplest be described as lazy. Those aren’t just right successors, and if that is what Motorola thinks passes for flagship foldables in 2026, we may well be in bother.

It doesn’t carry me any pleasure to explain a complete lineup of recent Razr telephones as “lazy,” but it surely in point of fact is probably the most becoming phrase for what Motorola is launching this 12 months.

That is very best exemplified by way of the Razr Extremely (2026) — the crème de los angeles crème of Motorola’s Razr sequence. Having a look on the Razr Extremely (2025) aspect by way of aspect with this new style, it doesn’t take lengthy to understand those are successfully the similar smartphone.

Each the Razr Extremely (2026) and the Razr Extremely (2025) have the similar show sizes (7-inch interior display screen, 4-inch duvet display screen) and just about unchanged specifications, together with the resolutions and refresh charges. The telephones proportion the similar number one, ultrawide, and selfie cameras. The scale and weight are almost an identical, and Motorola is even sticking with the very same Snapdragon 8 Elite — a chipset that might be two years previous this October.

Motorola is touting new colours/finishes for the Razr Extremely (2026), together with a bigger 5,000mAh battery (upgraded from 4,7000mAh) that makes use of a silicon-carbon design. And that’s … mainly it.

Issues are fairly higher with the Razr Plus (2026), however no longer by way of a lot. The awkward 50MP 2x telephoto digital camera from the Razr Plus (2025) has been changed with a a lot more helpful 50MP ultrawide digital camera. The improve from a 4,000mAh battery to a 4,500mAh battery is welcome, too.

However that’s the place the significant upgrades finish. The interior and exterior presentations, weight/dimensions, RAM, garage, number one digital camera, selfie digital camera, charging speeds, and the chipset are an identical between the Razr Plus (2026) and the 2025 model. The chipset no longer converting is particularly irritating right here, because the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 is already over two years previous and is a pared-down model of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 from October 2023.

The baseline Razr (2026) is arguably probably the most stepped forward cellphone within the trio, that includes a fairly stepped forward chipset, a higher-quality ultrawide digital camera, and a bigger battery. However its different specifications — together with the principle digital camera, presentations, design, and charging — stay in large part the similar because the Razr (2025).

And that’s no longer even citing spaces the place all 3 telephones proceed to lag in the back of the contest. In an international the place different foldables just like the Google Pixel 10 Professional Fold and HONOR Magic V6 be offering IP68 scores for complete water submersion, it’s disappointing that Motorola nonetheless can’t transfer previous IP48 for all of its new Razr telephones.

Much more irritating is Motorola’s persevered fail to remember for long-term instrument replace insurance policies. The Razr (2026), Razr Plus (2026), and Razr Extremely (2026) are all promised simplest 3 years of main OS upgrades — significantly in the back of the seven-year ensure we see from Samsung and Google. This isn’t unexpected given Motorola’s repeated failings with its instrument enhance, however the frustration builds the longer Motorola doesn’t beef up.

Then we’ve the cherry on most sensible of the Razr (2026) sequence: pricing. It might be something for Motorola to release such disappointing upgrades on the identical costs as remaining 12 months’s fashions, however that’s no longer what’s going down. As has been the case with many smartphones launched this 12 months, all of the 2026 Razr lineup is dearer.

The baseline Razr (2026) sees a $100 value hike in comparison to the Razr (2025), now beginning at $800 as a substitute of $700. That doesn’t appear too dangerous at the floor, bearing in mind the 2026 Razr in fact has a brand new chip and new ultrawide digital camera, however Motorola has additionally quietly downgraded the garage — taking remaining 12 months’s 256GB and reducing it to 128GB.

The Razr Plus (2026) may be $100 dearer, beginning at $1,100, in comparison to the $1,000 ticket of the Razr Plus (2025). In the meantime, the Razr Extremely (2026) — regardless of seeing the least year-over-year exchange — has the steepest value hike. In comparison to the $1,300 value of the Razr Extremely (2025), the Razr Extremely (2026) now begins at a whopping $1,500. $200 extra for mainly the similar cellphone. Nice activity, Moto.

As any person who spent a large number of time with the 2024 Razr Plus, I haven’t any doubt that those 2026 Razrs might be objectively just right flip-phone foldables. Motorola has a robust basis for this manner issue, and you’ll want to really well argue that the corporate is sensible to not exchange an excessive amount of of a just right factor.

On the other hand, when Motorola reuses two-year-old chipsets, assists in keeping digital camera specifications unchanged, and downgrades garage whilst charging $100 or $200 extra, that’s when we’ve an issue.

The excellent news for Motorola is that the flip-phone marketplace in america remains to be missing festival rather than Samsung, and the present Galaxy Z Turn 7 isn’t best possible both. However with the Galaxy Z Turn 8 at the horizon — and early leaks suggesting a minimum of one giant design improve — Motorola may in finding itself dropping the momentum and edge it’s had for the previous couple of years.

That’s to not say Motorola can’t regain that momentum, however I’m additionally no longer certain if I agree with the corporate to take action. Outdoor of the Razr Extremely remaining 12 months, the 2025 Razr lineup was once already appearing indicators of stagnation — and that’s simplest been exacerbated with the 2026 handsets.

I’d love to assume Motorola may flip issues round in 2027, however the corporate hasn’t given me any reason why to consider it’s going to. Greater than the rest, that’s what worries me probably the most.