I haven't paid much attention to Motorola's foldables; I prefer book-style devices like the Vivo X Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Fold 7, and Motorola just didn't cater to this category — until now. The Razr Fold is launching later this year, and Motorola showcased the device at an exclusive product briefing I attended at CES 2026.
To be honest, I wasn't quite as enthused about the Razr Fold as my colleagues; AC managing editor Derrek Lee adores his Razr Ultra, and while I'll admit that Motorola makes good foldables, I didn't think the brand would have a particularly strong device as its debut effort in the book-style category. I used all the Vivo, Huawei, and Honor foldables released in the last three years, and with even Samsung and Google struggling to measure up to Chinese brands, I just figured the Razr Fold wouldn't be anywhere as good.
I was wrong — although I used the Razr Fold for just 15 minutes, I got a good sense of what Motorola is trying to achieve with the device, and I believe it may just be the ideal rival to the upcoming Galaxy Z Fold 8.
The Razr Fold has a svelte design that's similar to Vivo and Samsung's foldables, and it feels just as thin as its immediate rivals. That in itself is a good starting point; this is an area where Google didn't make any measurable advances with the Pixel 10 Pro, so it's great to see Motorola opting to go with a thin-and-light design.
The brand did all the right things with the color options as well; the Pantone Lily White model has a silky finish that feels good to hold, and the Pantone Blackened Blue variant has a distinctive texture that I prefer. Another positive is the rounded edges; they make holding and using the Razr Fold that much more comfortable, and they're just as good as the X Fold 5 in this regard.
Motorola retained a similar camera island that you'll find on its regular phones, and again, I like how the brand preserved its unique design identity. The width of the camera island means there isn't much wobble when using the Razr Fold on a table — this was a bugbear on the Z Fold 7, and I'm glad that it isn't a problem with Motorola's foldable.
Continuing with the positives, there isn't much in the way of a visible crease along the inner panel. The hinge flexes smoothly and has good articulation, and on the whole, I didn't see any issues when it comes to the hardware design as such. Basically, if you covered up the Motorola logo and told me it was a Vivo or Honor foldable, I would've believed it — Motorola has a strong contender out of the gate with the Razr Fold.
The outer panel extends to 6.6 inches and is comfortable to hold. The inner 8.1-inch panel gets a 2K resolution, and at an initial glance, it is just as bright and vibrant as what Vivo and Samsung have to offer.
Motorola nailed the basics with the cameras; the Razr Fold gets a 50MP Sony Lytia LYT-828 module as the primary camera, and a 50MP Lytia LYT-600 as the 3x optical zoom lens. You also get a 50MP ultrawide-angle lens that doubles as a macro lens, a 32MP camera on the outer panel, and a 20MP shooter on the inner panel.
The software itself is similar to what you get on any other Motorola phone, and the brand has additional multitasking features to make the most of the real estate. Interestingly, Motorola is debuting a stylus alongside the foldable, and while it won't be bundled with the phone, the fact that there's stylus integration is a positive move.
As I used the Razr Fold in a controlled setting, I wasn't able to test the cameras at all, but the foldable has a good foundation in this area. Other unknowns include the internals; Motorola didn't detail what platform it's running, the size of the battery, or other hardware information — all of that will be shared closer to launch.
On the subject of the launch, Motorola says it is targeting a summer release window, which means the Razr Fold may just show up at roughly the same time as the Galaxy Z Fold 8. That should make things interesting, and initial excitement around the device may just come down to how Motorola prices the foldable. Samsung is effectively unchallenged when it comes to book-style foldables in the U.S., and I'm excited that Motorola has a viable contender in the Razr Fold.
