Motorola Razr 2022 review - Much less compromises with the foldable phone
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Possible competitors in comparison
rating | date | model | weight | drive | size | resolution | price from |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
87 % v7 (old) | 01 / 2023 | Motorola Razr 2022 SD 8+ Gen 1, Adreno 730 | 200 g | 256 GB UFS 3.1 Flash | 6.70" | 2400x1080 | |
76.1 % v7 (old) | 06 / 2020 | Motorola Razr 2019 SD 710, Adreno 616 | 205 g | 128 GB UFS 2.0 Flash | 6.20" | 2142x876 | |
87.9 % v7 (old) | 10 / 2022 | Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 5G SD 8+ Gen 1, Adreno 730 | 187 g | 128 GB UFS 3.1 Flash | 6.70" | 2640x1080 | |
86.3 % v7 (old) | 12 / 2022 | Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 SD 8+ Gen 1, Adreno 730 | 262 g | 256 GB UFS 3.1 Flash | 8.02" | 2160x1914 |
Case and equipment - The chin is gone
Around 2005, the Motorola Razr V3 was the flip phone that everyone wanted to own. No wonder it is still one of the best-selling phones of all time.
The Motorola Razr 2022 cannot be quite as compact due to the modern demands on a smartphone, but it is definitely also special with its foldable display. The predecessor Razr 2019 had its difficulties but still exerted a certain fascination. Let's see what Motorola has improved in its successor.
The casing does without the typical chin, which was already present in the first Razr models and which also made the Razr 2019 still had. The Razr 2022 is slightly lighter than its predecessor and considerably wider, so it offers more screen space overall. When folded, it is about 1.8 centimeters thick and measures about 8 x 8.5 centimeters in width and length. Thus, it is bulkier in the pocket than other smartphones, but it also fits into smaller pockets.
Motorola has fundamentally reworked the hinge, which is now completely silent, looks much more solid than in the predecessor and keeps the display stable even in a half-open state, so you can take selfies with a tripod, for example.
The frame is now made of aluminum and the casing is protected by resistant Gorilla Glass 5.
The phone comes with 256 GB of mass storage for just under 1,200 Euros, which is 300 Euros cheaper than the predecessor at release, and also offers twice as much storage. A microSD reader for memory expansion is still not available. However, it is possible to insert 2 SIM cards if the phone is purchased from a retailer.
Communication, software and operation - Finally WiFi 6E and 5G
Today's standards WiFi 6E and 5G are finally on board in the Razr 2022; the predecessor was already outdated for a high-end phone when it was released. However, very fast Internet is now available via Wi-Fi, as we can confirm after our test with the reference router Asus ROG Rapture AXE11000. However, the data rates fluctuate quite a bit during transmission.
Numerous 5G and 4G frequencies are supported, so you can easily access the mobile Internet worldwide with Motorola's Razr 2022.
The manufacturer installs very pure Android 12 without ad apps. At the time of testing, the security patches are from December 2022 and are still quite up-to-date. Motorola promises security patches until October 2025 and at least an upgrade to Android 13. Great: you can check the status of further updates on the Motorola website at any time.
The Motorola phone's large touchscreen can be operated very accurately and quickly thanks to good gliding properties and up to 144 Hz frame rate. Even the crease that the main display gets when it is folded is only minimally noticeable after several days of use and is not annoying. The operation of the outer screen is a bit slower due to the lower frame rate. This is probably also due to the direct comparison with the fast main screen. Nevertheless, it can be operated reliably and can be used as a full-fledged secondary display.
Unlocking is possible via Face Unlock, which works both when the phone is closed and opened. The fingerprint sensor can also be used for biometric user recognition. It is hidden on the right side of the case in the standby button, so unlocking is also possible in a closed state. The phone is unlocked very reliably and without delay.
Networking | |
iperf3 transmit AX12 | |
Motorola Razr 2019 | |
iperf3 receive AX12 | |
Motorola Razr 2019 | |
iperf3 transmit AXE11000 | |
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 5G | |
Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 | |
iperf3 receive AXE11000 | |
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 5G | |
Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 | |
iperf3 transmit AXE11000 6GHz | |
Motorola Razr 2022 | |
iperf3 receive AXE11000 6GHz | |
Motorola Razr 2022 |
Cameras - Good, but not perfect
While the predecessor had to make do with a lame 16-megapixel single camera two years ago, Motorola has installed a more price-appropriate dual camera with the Omnivision OV50A as the main sensor and the Hynix HI336 as the wide-angle camera in the Razr 2022.
The main sensor of the Razr 2022 cannot quite keep up with the sharpness of detail of the iPhone 14 in our test photos, but it takes very good photos overall in daylight that could still use a bit more contrast. Many details are still displayed in low light, but the brightening is only mediocre. Pictures from the wide-angle camera look very washed out in detail, but the sensor compensates the the distortion at the picture's edge well.
In the lab, the main camera's color reproduction is a bit too bright in good lighting. The test image is very sharp, even at the edges.
Videos can be recorded in 8K at a maximum of 30 fps, and the wide-angle camera is limited to 4K. The exposure adjustment works quickly, but the autofocus could be a bit more precise; sometimes you can see it pumping briefly.
There is a camera on the inside of the phone that takes nice self-portraits. As a special feature, you can also use the main camera for selfies and use the outer display as a viewfinder.
Image Comparison
Choose a scene and navigate within the first image. One click changes the position on touchscreens. One click on the zoomed-in image opens the original in a new window. The first image shows the scaled photograph of the test device.
Main cameraMain cameraLow LightWide-angle

Display - Brighter, bigger, wider
The display of Motorola's Razr 2022 is considerably larger, especially wider than the predecessor, and also has a higher resolution: it now offers an expanded Full HD with 2400 x 1080 pixels. In addition, it is also much brighter with 495 cd/m² than in the Razr 2019. However, it cannot keep up with the competitors from Samsung or Xiaomi in this discipline.
A much higher frame rate of 144 Hz is also possible, which means that movements on the screen are displayed more smoothly and the system reacts more directly to inputs.
We measured PWM flickering at very low brightness, but this can be reduced to the refresh rate via the "Flicker Prevention" setting, so it should be less annoying.
We like the color reproduction, which we determined with the CalMAN software and a spectrophotometer in the test. A color cast is not visible to the naked eye in the grayscale.
The outer display has a resolution of 800 x 573 pixels, it is also touch-sensitive and most apps can be started directly there, so you can also play YouTube videos, for example.
|
Brightness Distribution: 98 %
Center on Battery: 500 cd/m²
Contrast: ∞:1 (Black: 0 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 1.99 | 0.5-29.43 Ø4.9
ΔE Greyscale 2.7 | 0.5-98 Ø5.2
92.4% sRGB (Calman 2D)
Gamma: 2.202
Motorola Razr 2022 OLED, 2400x1080, 6.7" | Motorola Razr 2019 P-OLED, 2142x876, 6.2" | Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 5G Dynamic AMOLED , 2640x1080, 6.7" | Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 OLED, 2160x1914, 8" | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Response Times | -537% | -74% | -119% | |
Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% * | 1.2 ? | 7 ? -483% | 1.41 ? -18% | 2.97 ? -148% |
Response Time Black / White * | 0.69 ? | 8 ? -1059% | 1.52 ? -120% | 1.56 ? -126% |
PWM Frequency | 745 | 231.5 -69% | 120 -84% | 120 -84% |
Screen | -74% | 45% | 45% | |
Brightness middle | 500 | 428 -14% | 795 59% | 1015 103% |
Brightness | 495 | 428 -14% | 800 62% | 1022 106% |
Brightness Distribution | 98 | 89 -9% | 97 -1% | 98 0% |
Black Level * | ||||
Colorchecker dE 2000 * | 1.99 | 6.39 -221% | 1 50% | 1.6 20% |
Colorchecker dE 2000 max. * | 5.37 | 10.83 -102% | 2.5 53% | 3.4 37% |
Greyscale dE 2000 * | 2.7 | 5 -85% | 1.5 44% | 2.6 4% |
Gamma | 2.202 100% | 2.25 98% | 2.37 93% | 2.22 99% |
CCT | 6663 98% | 7649 85% | 6466 101% | 6506 100% |
Total Average (Program / Settings) | -306% /
-228% | -15% /
5% | -37% /
-10% |
* ... smaller is better
Display Response Times
↔ Response Time Black to White | ||
---|---|---|
0.69 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 0.35 ms rise | |
↘ 0.34 ms fall | ||
The screen shows very fast response rates in our tests and should be very well suited for fast-paced gaming. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.1 (minimum) to 240 (maximum) ms. » 1 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is better than the average of all tested devices (20.9 ms). | ||
↔ Response Time 50% Grey to 80% Grey | ||
1.2 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 0.53 ms rise | |
↘ 0.59 ms fall | ||
The screen shows very fast response rates in our tests and should be very well suited for fast-paced gaming. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.165 (minimum) to 636 (maximum) ms. » 3 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is better than the average of all tested devices (32.7 ms). |
Screen Flickering / PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation)
Screen flickering / PWM detected | 745 Hz | ||
The display backlight flickers at 745 Hz (worst case, e.g., utilizing PWM) . The frequency of 745 Hz is quite high, so most users sensitive to PWM should not notice any flickering. In comparison: 53 % of all tested devices do not use PWM to dim the display. If PWM was detected, an average of 8627 (minimum: 5 - maximum: 343500) Hz was measured. |
Measurement series with fixed zoom level and different brightness settings
Performance, emissions and battery life - Lots of power, but heavy throttling
The Razr 2022 finally gets a real high-end SoC, namely the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1. This puts the performance of the clamshell phone on par with other high-end phones in the price range. The predecessor, which only had a good mid-range SoC, is far behind in the benchmarks.
With up to 45.3 °C under high load, Motorola's Razr 2022 can get very warm, especially in the area around the cameras, and the heating is more evident on the touchscreen than outside. We also see significant performance losses of up to 50% under prolonged load in the 3DMark stress test.
The Razr 2022 comes with stereo speakers, but they are not that loud due to the limited space, quickly seem overpowered, and overall only sound mediocre for a high-end phone. Headphones can be connected via USB-C or Bluetooth. A large number of codecs are available for the latter, including LDHC and aptX TWS+.
The battery is considerably larger than the predecessor's 3,500 mAh. However, runtime fans will not be satisfied because 9:25 hours in our WLAN test are significantly better than the predecessor but overall rather mediocre for a smartphone. You should get through the day with a low load, but there are hardly any reserves.
The phone charges with up to 30 watts, but it takes less than 2 hours to fully recharge the small battery.
GFXBench | |
on screen Aztec Ruins Normal Tier Onscreen | |
Motorola Razr 2022 | |
Average Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 (51 - 104, n=24) | |
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 5G | |
Average of class Smartphone (5.5 - 166, n=204, last 2 years) | |
Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 | |
Motorola Razr 2019 | |
1920x1080 Aztec Ruins Normal Tier Offscreen | |
Average Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 (71 - 138, n=24) | |
Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 | |
Average of class Smartphone (3.4 - 321, n=204, last 2 years) | |
Motorola Razr 2022 | |
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 5G | |
Motorola Razr 2019 | |
on screen Aztec Ruins High Tier Onscreen | |
Motorola Razr 2022 | |
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 5G | |
Average Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 (31 - 86, n=24) | |
Average of class Smartphone (0.85 - 144, n=205, last 2 years) | |
Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 | |
Motorola Razr 2019 | |
2560x1440 Aztec Ruins High Tier Offscreen | |
Average Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 (34 - 52, n=26) | |
Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 | |
Motorola Razr 2022 | |
Average of class Smartphone (1.2 - 129, n=204, last 2 years) | |
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 5G | |
Motorola Razr 2019 |
Motorola Razr 2022 | Motorola Razr 2019 | Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 5G | Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 | Average 256 GB UFS 3.1 Flash | Average of class Smartphone | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
AndroBench 3-5 | -76% | -13% | 26% | -3% | 6% | |
Sequential Read 256KB | 1768 | 510 -71% | 1598.77 -10% | 1882.11 6% | 1742 ? -1% | 1902 ? 8% |
Sequential Write 256KB | 1149 | 186.4 -84% | 987.09 -14% | 1783.27 55% | 1160 ? 1% | 1522 ? 32% |
Random Read 4KB | 315 | 88.6 -72% | 308.23 -2% | 342.67 9% | 286 ? -9% | 277 ? -12% |
Random Write 4KB | 332 | 80.1 -76% | 245.94 -26% | 446.48 34% | 319 ? -4% | 316 ? -5% |
Temperature
(-) The maximum temperature on the upper side is 45.3 °C / 114 F, compared to the average of 35.1 °C / 95 F, ranging from 21.9 to 63.7 °C for the class Smartphone.
(±) The bottom heats up to a maximum of 43.7 °C / 111 F, compared to the average of 33.9 °C / 93 F
(+) In idle usage, the average temperature for the upper side is 22.8 °C / 73 F, compared to the device average of 32.8 °C / 91 F.
Speaker
Motorola Razr 2022 audio analysis
(±) | speaker loudness is average but good (81.9 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(-) | nearly no bass - on average 20% lower than median
(±) | linearity of bass is average (12.1% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(+) | balanced mids - only 2.9% away from median
(±) | linearity of mids is average (9.6% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(±) | higher highs - on average 6.8% higher than median
(±) | linearity of highs is average (8.8% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(±) | linearity of overall sound is average (20% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 28% of all tested devices in this class were better, 9% similar, 63% worse
» The best had a delta of 12%, average was 36%, worst was 134%
Compared to all devices tested
» 48% of all tested devices were better, 8% similar, 44% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 24%, worst was 134%
Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 audio analysis
(+) | speakers can play relatively loud (84 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(-) | nearly no bass - on average 24.3% lower than median
(±) | linearity of bass is average (11.1% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(+) | balanced mids - only 3.5% away from median
(+) | mids are linear (4.7% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(+) | balanced highs - only 4.6% away from median
(+) | highs are linear (3.6% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(±) | linearity of overall sound is average (18% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 13% of all tested devices in this class were better, 8% similar, 79% worse
» The best had a delta of 12%, average was 36%, worst was 134%
Compared to all devices tested
» 34% of all tested devices were better, 8% similar, 58% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 24%, worst was 134%
Battery life
Battery Runtime - WiFi Websurfing | |
Average of class Smartphone (476 - 3244, n=202, last 2 years) | |
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 5G | |
Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 | |
Motorola Razr 2022 | |
Motorola Razr 2019 |
Pros
Cons
Verdict - Finally suitable for everyday use
The Motorola Razr 2022 is a huge leap over the predecessor in many respects: much better build quality, much more power, longer runtimes, an upgraded camera, and finally also modern communication standards. And all that is available for considerably less money.
The battery runtimes still cannot keep up with rigid high-end phones and you also have to live with significant warming.
The longevity of the folding mechanism and especially the screen remain a black box: even though the technology has already improved a lot here, no one can guarantee whether the phone will still work flawlessly in a few years.
On the other hand, the fascination that the Razr exerts with its folding mechanism should not be underestimated. If you love something special, you will enjoy the concept, which is probably not perfect yet but has been improved all around.
The Motorola Razr 2022 has been improved considerably compared to its predecessor and is now a really good foldable smartphone at a fair price.
With all its upgrades, the foldable also becomes much more competitive against the (manageable) competition: the Galaxy Z Flip4 is still a bit cheaper, but does not offer WiFi 6E and uses a slower USB port. The predecessor Razr 2019 is hardly available anymore, but it is only worth buying at a very low price, and if you are ok with its restrictions.
Price and availability
At amazon.de or directly from the manufacturer you can get the Motorola Razr 2022 with 256 GB mass storage for the manufacturer's price of just under 1,200 Euros. At cyberport.de you can even save a few Euros at the time of testing and only pay just under 1,150 Euros.
Motorola Razr 2022
- 01/11/2023 v7 (old)
Florian Schmitt