Hands-on: Motorola Razr 2019 review - Tom's Guide

The Motorola Razr is a foldable phone you might actually want

Editor’s note: We’ve only included a part of Tom’s Guide’s hands-on review of the Motorola Razr. Click here for the full review and specs.

OUR VERDICT

The classic Motorola Razr gets a bold redesign with a foldable screen and a pocket-friendly size, but it's pricey.

FOR

• Pocketable size
• Throwback design
• Foldable display with no gaps
• Useful exterior notification screen

AGAINST

• Expensive
• Lacks a top-of-the-line processor
• Single camera lenses on front and interior

I admit it: I'm a foldable phone skeptic. Even putting aside Samsung's botched Galaxy Fold launch, I'm unconvinced that people need — or will want to pay thousands of dollars for — a chunky, hinged phone that unfolds into a tablet.

But Motorola's foldable Razr is here, and even with its very high $1,500 price, it might have just made me a believer.

The new Razr isn’t a giant phone that unfolds into an even bigger tablet. It’s small, fits perfectly in a pint-sized pocket, and then unfolds into a 6.2-inch phone. Somehow, it’s the best of both worlds: the size I need and the size I want.

Motorola Razr release date and price

The 2019 Motorola Razr will cost $1,500 when it's available to preorder through Verizon on Dec. 26. That's a bargain of sorts when you consider the Galaxy Fold's $1,980 price tag, but it'll be awhile before foldable displays come in sub-$1,000 devices.

You can spread out the payments on Verizon's 24-month payment plan, bringing the cost down to $62.49 per month.

The Razr will arrive in Verizon stores and at select Walmart locations in January.

Motorola Razr: 2019 vs. 2004

The Motorola Razr V3 debuted in 2004 and instantly became an icon. The flip phone was superslim and came in multiple colors; later versions featured iTunes built-in for playing MP3s. But mostly, people just loved the clamshell design, which snapped shut with a satisfying click when you finished a call. That's what we used our Razrs for: phone calls. It was a simpler time.

The new Razr is just as thin (14 millimeters) when closed as the original was. And the phone is still as satisfying to close, though it doesn't snap in quite the same way. But the original's tiny screen (by today's standards) and dial pad are gone. Instead, Motorola put a 6.2-inch, foldable display in the 2019 Razr. When you flip open the device, the plastic OLED screen unfurls to become perfectly flat.

I owned a dark-blue Razr when I met my now-husband in college, and when I shattered the screen, he had to call me on my dorm room phone and leave messages with my roommates. Like I said, it was a simpler time.

But in 2019, people don't leave messages with roommates, and few people use their phones primarily for phone calls. Using a classic Razr today would be nostalgic but frustrating. Motorola knows this. That's why the new Razr isn't a blast from the past. Instead, it's a throwback to the future. After all, a lot has changed in the past 15 years.

Editor’s note: We’ve only included a part of Tom’s Guide’s hands-on review of the Motorola Razr. Click here for the full review and specs.

See also: LG's New G8X ThinQ With Dual Screen Gets A Launch Date And Price In The US