Motorola Moto RAZR 60 review: Not the upgrade you want it to be

Last year’s Moto RAZR 50 Ultra was hands down my favourite smartphone of 2024. It offered a really premium experience as a foldable, with an external screen that was big enough to use as a screen, and not just a place for widgets.

So when I unboxed the RAZR 60, I was extremely excited by the possibilities of a cheaper version with the benefit of an annual specs bump.

But in the time I spent playing with the RAZR 60 this past month, I think the sacrifices made to hit the lower price point aren’t necessarily worth it.

As a foldable, the RAZR family should already be a premium offering. But while the RAZR 60 is a gorgeous device, its performance feels a little undercooked, even though it’s one of the cheapest coding phones you can buy.

What is the Moto RAZR 60 offering?

Motorola’s RAZR brand has been around almost as long as I’ve been writing about phones, but the new and improved RAZR family of devices are all built around a folding screen.

The RAZR 60 has a folding 6.9-inch 120Hz pOLED main display rocking a 2640 × 1080 resolution, with a 3.6-inch 90Hz pOLED cover display offering 1056 × 1066 (minus the cameras, of course).

Under the hood, there’s a MediaTek Dimensity 7400X, 8 GB RAM and 256 GB of storage. The phone offers a 4,500 mAh battery, Wi-Fi 6 support and has had its IP rating improved to IP48, so you do get a basic level of dust resistance this year.

The 50 MP Wide and 13MP Ultra-wide lenses on the back of the camera are the same as last year’s RAZR 50, as is the 32 MP selfie camera.

When all is said and done, the phone is almost identical to last year’s RAZR 50. The dimensions are the same, the weight is the same, the screens are the same, and the cameras are the same.

The only real noticeable differences are the upgraded processor, added dust resistance and a slightly larger battery.

There is added AI functionality in the phone if you want it, but I could happily live without that.

What does the Moto RAZR 60 do well?

Don’t get me wrong. From a style perspective, the Moto 60 is a clear hit. The combination of vegan leather and a gorgeous pOLED folding screen makes the RAZR an iconic phone for all ages.

The fact that you can run apps from the external screen quickly and easily – including games – gives the RAZR an extra layer of versatility I love. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the phone didn’t rotate the screen to let me play Call of Duty: Mobile while connected to a BackBone Pro controller. But the fact that the game even plays on that external screen should be counted as a win.

And there’s something about opening a Motorola phone’s box, with a subtle hint of perfume, that makes the entire experience feel more luxurious than some other devices.

The cameras on the RAZR 60 are decent enough for daylight shooting, particularly for the price. Sure, you might see the occasional blowout in extremely bright shots, and low-light images aren't fantastic either. But generally speaking the camera is quite good.

I had no problems with battery life, which was a good thing. It got me through the day easily enough. The fact you can fast charge at 30W is nice, though it would be nicer if there was a 30W fast charger in the box.

What could the Moto RAZR 60 improve?

Arguably, the most significant change with the RAZR 60 over the RAZR 50 is the processor. I never actually tested the RAZR 50, so I don’t have comparative benchmarks. But I can compare it to other devices in the “premium” price bracket of $1,000-$1,500, and as you can see, the numbers disappoint.

Perhaps most surprising is that the performance is uniformly beaten by the Pixel 8, a phone released over two years ago.

Of course, benchmarks don’t reflect real-world usage, but sadly, I found that the MediaTek Dimensity 7400X running the RAZR 60 regularly started to chug under strain. Whether that was dropped frames while playing Call of Duty, or just a general sluggishness when trying to do multiple tasks, the processor performance here underwhelms for a phone at this price.

Verdict

I understand what Motorola was hoping to achieve with the RAZR 60. Foldable screens are still a premium commodity, but by trying to keep the cost down, it has the potential to attract a whole new class of customers.

But I don’t think Moto struck the right balance this time. The level of performance against the price is disappointing, and more akin to a phone that comes in under that $1,000 mark.

Now, the foldable screen may make the $1,000 price point impossible to break, but that’s why I think Motorola has the wrong approach here. The RAZR 50 Ultra was my favourite phone last year, and my 6th favourite review product all year. It offered a premium device with a premium experience.

It’s also easy to pick up now for $1,349, making it just $150 more than the RAZR 60’s asking price.

That $150 is worth every cent, in my opinion.

Specs comparison

When you look at the RAZR 50 and the RAZR 60 side-by-side, it’s clear that there’s not been a huge amount of effort put into upgrading this year’s model.

Tips and tricks

• Motorola loves its gesture controls. One that I particularly liked with the RAZR 60 is split screen. By swiping from left to right, then back on the screen, you can easily allocate two windows on the phone, one on top and one on the bottom.
• If you love the old-style retro RAZR from the early 00s, then you have to try this one. Retro RAZR is an option in the extended settings shortcuts menu – you need to scroll to the bottom when editing your quick menu to find it. It basically turns the phone into an old-school RAZR device, well, visually at least. The best part is that all the functions will send you to the modern-day equivalent app on your existing device. Seriously, try it out, it’s brilliant.
• You can use the phone as a desk or bedside clock. In the Settings, in External Display, choose the option for Desk Clock, and choose how you want the external screen to work when it’s in either Tent or Stand mode.

One more thing

I find it interesting that last year, we saw the RAZR 50 Ultra launch in Australia, with the RAZR 50 coming as an Optus exclusive later in the year. This year, we’ve only seen the RAZR 60 launch so far, with no word on the 60 Ultra in Australia just yet.

Is this decision because the 60 Ultra is destined to be a carrier exclusive? Or is there global stock challenges, perhaps?

In any case, my feeling that the “Ultra” version of the phone is a better value for money investment stands firm.

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