I spent 7 days with the Razr Fold and this is the best

If he Motorola Razr foldable intrigues or leaves you skeptical is probably due to the hardware. The large 8.1-inch main display, active stylus support, and silicon-carbon battery favor the Razr Fold, while the non-Elite chip, 243-gram weight, and IP49 dust resistance could be cause for concern.

I was hoping that one of those aspects of the Razr Fold’s hardware would influence my feelings toward or against the foldable device during my first full week using the device as my daily driver. Instead, the Razr Fold is starting to win me over with something you won’t find anywhere on the spec sheet: excellent multitasking software.

Motorola’s version of Android 16 is quite similar to Google’s, but the Razr Fold emphasizes multitasking in a way you won’t find on a Galaxy Z Fold or Pixel Fold. It’s the first foldable phone that constantly reminds me of the value of carrying a thicker, heavier, more expensive smartphone in my pocket every day.

I was an early adopter of foldable devices and bought the Galaxy Z Flip 3 and Galaxy Z Fold 4 each on their launch day, but they’ve soured me lately. Despite testing review units of the foldable Google Pixel 9 Pro and the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7I was not tempted to do either my daily driver. I didn’t feel like I had used the main screen enough to justify the extra bulk or inflated price that comes with having large-screen foldable devices. This is because habits are hard to break and you’ll find yourself using flip phones like big traditional phones unless you’re actively looking for smarter ways to multitask or be productive.

The Motorola Razr Fold offers many of the same Android 16 multitasking features available on other foldable devices. These include taskbar and 90:10 split viewsas well as quick launch and switching of applications. What’s unique about the Razr Fold’s multitasking software is how the operating system gently nudges you to use these features. For example, if you switch between two apps multiple times, the Razr Fold display a message “Open in split screen mode” popup window. Tapping it immediately brings up the two most recently used apps in a 50:50 split.

From there, you can tap and drag the slider between the two apps to adjust the ratio. This makes it easy to activate 90:10 split-screen mode, which lets you quickly tap to switch between apps. Again, there’s nothing inherently special about Motorola’s split-screen views compared to options from Google or Samsung. The difference is in how they are presented to the user, because I haven’t been able to replicate the split view suggestions on my Pixel 9 Pro Fold or Galaxy Z Fold 7.

In other words, a Pixel or Galaxy foldable offers multitasking features that you have to make a conscious effort to use, while the Razr Fold always pushes you to use them. This may seem like a small distinction, but as a long-time foldable user, it means everything. You wouldn’t believe how easy it is to use a large foldable device for days or weeks without using multitasking features. That all changes when a device like the Razr Fold constantly reminds you that they’re available.

Another way the Razr Fold pushes you to multitask is by automatically opening links in split-screen view in certain apps, like Gmail or Google Messages. Tap a link and instead of taking up your entire home screen, the Razr Fold will open Chrome in a 50:50 split with the app you were initially using. Pixel foldables also do this automatically, but interestingly, Galaxy foldables don’t.

Pop-up suggestions aside, the Razr Fold’s taskbar app drawer is more compact than those on the Pixel or Galaxy. It doesn’t lock the entire app you’re using, which can be helpful when you’re trying to find the app you want to add to a split-screen layout. Similarly, the Razr Fold’s app switcher has a split-screen button for each app, while Samsung and Google hide the button in a submenu behind each app’s name or icon.

It’s like Motorola took what was already great. Pixel 10 Pro Fold’s multitasking system and he made it even better. If you know anything about Hello UI Design for Motorola AndroidThat shouldn’t be too surprising. The result is a Razr Fold user experience that helps you get more value out of your foldable device with intuitive multitasking flows.

The software on the Razr Fold blew me away, but the processor was a concern I had before I got my hands on it. Motorola’s first big-screen foldable starts at $1,899, and while you get 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage to justify that price, the chip is also important. Inside is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Generation 5 mobile platform – not the “Elite” version It is expected to appear on the Galaxy Z Fold 8. It turns out that the Razr Fold’s performance was not a cause for concern.

On the one hand, there was nothing I threw at the Razr Fold that it couldn’t handle. I wrote articles, listened to music, watched videos, and played games on the foldable device and didn’t notice any slowness. This shouldn’t surprise anyone, as smartphone chips have been able to handle all but the most strenuous tasks for a while now.

The question is really how it compares to the Tensor G5 and Snapdragon 8 Elite currently powering foldable devices from Google and Samsung, and the answer is what would you expect. The Razr Fold performs better than the Pixel 10 Pro Fold and worse than the Galaxy Z Fold 7 in Geekbench 6, with a score of 2606 single-core and 8690 multi-core. Benchmarks aren’t everything, but this one gave me more confidence in the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5’s ability to power a high-end foldable device.

Everybody talks about the silicon-carbon battery inside the Razr Foldand for good reason. The 6000 mAh battery capacity translates into incredible runtime. Foldable battery life generally varies depending on how often you use the main screen, but I haven’t yet run out of battery on the Razr Fold before the day is over. If I ever need to recharge, the 80W wired charging support ensures it won’t take long to power up. This resolves a complaint I had with the Galaxy Z Fold 7: it was a pleasure to use, but it completely drained my battery life.

The Motorola Razr Fold doesn’t have a small camera bump, but it does pack a trio of 50MP lenses in a square casing. The 50MP Sony LYTIA main camera sensor should not be seen as a downgrade compared to the 200MP sensor on the Galaxy Z Fold 7. While Samsung’s foldable has a higher megapixel count, Motorola’s foldable has much larger pixels. This typically improves low-light performance and the Razr Fold still offers the flexibility to shoot at 50MP or 12MP photos grouped.

The secondary cameras are a 50MP ultra-wide-angle lens with a 122-degree field of view and a 50MP telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom. I was especially impressed by the telephoto lens, as it provides incredible detail even beyond its optical zoom range. However, the colors seemed to change as I got closer.

The Razr Fold has two selfie cameras, but they are not the same. The main screen has a 32MP front camera, while the cover screen has a 20MP camera. Placing the best selfie camera on the inside is an interesting option – it could make the Razr Fold better for video calls. I try to use both as little as possible, because I consider using the rear cameras for selfies to be one of the best advantages of driving a foldable car on a daily basis.

Make no mistake: the Razr Fold is not perfect. The 243 gram weight is the most notable drawback, and the large camera bump makes the Razr Fold very top-heavy, coming in second place. Still, it appears to have picked up enough features from each of the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Pixel 10 Pro Fold to be a compelling alternative to both. The Motorola Razr Fold offers performance and thinness similar to a Samsung foldable, while providing the software and battery life like a Google foldable.

That could even be a short sell on the Razr Fold, because this foldable looks like the multitasking and battery life champ. It’s the first foldable that I’m excited to open in years, and that counts for something.