As a Motorola fan, the 2026 Razr lineup is a lazy and expensive mess

But looking at the Razer (2026) series, I can’t help but be disappointed.

Motorola has been at the forefront of flip-phone foldables for the past few years, but the company’s latest performance can only be described as sluggish. These are not good successors, and if this is what Motorola is thinking of for a flagship foldable in 2026, we could be in trouble.

It takes me no pleasure to describe the entire series of new Razr phones as “lazy,” but that’s really the most appropriate word for what Motorola is launching this year.

The best example of this is the Razr Ultra (2026) – the pinnacle of Motorola’s Razr series. Looking at the Razer Ultra (2025) alongside this new model, it doesn’t take long to realize that these are effectively the same smartphone.

Both the Razer Ultra (2026) and Razer Ultra (2025) have the same display size (7-inch internal screen, 4-inch cover screen) and almost unchanged features, including resolution and refresh rates. The phone has the same primary, ultrawide and selfie cameras. The dimensions and weight are practically the same, and Motorola is sticking with exactly the same Snapdragon 8 Elite – a chipset that will be two years old this October.

Motorola is offering new colors/finishes for the Razr Ultra (2026), as well as a larger 5,000mAh battery (upgraded from 4,7000mAh) that uses a silicon-carbon design. And that’s… basically that.

Things are a little better with the Razer Plus (2026), but not by much. The Razr Plus (2025)’s awkward 50MP 2x telephoto camera has been replaced with a more useful 50MP ultrawide camera. The upgrade from a 4,000mAh battery to a 4,500mAh battery is also welcome.

But that’s where the meaningful upgrades end. The internal and external displays, weight/dimensions, RAM, storage, primary camera, selfie camera, charging speed, and chipset are the same between the Razer Plus (2026) and 2025 edition. Not changing the chipset is particularly disappointing here, as the Snapdragon 8S Gen 3 is already over two years old and is a smaller version of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 from October 2023.

The baseline Razr (2026) is arguably the better phone of the three, with a slightly better chipset, a higher quality ultrawide camera, and a larger battery. But its other specifications – including the primary camera, display, design, and charging – are largely the same as the Razer (2025).

And that’s not even mentioning the areas where all three phones are lagging behind the competition. In a world where other foldables like the Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold and the HONOR Magic V6 offer IP68 ratings for full water submersion, it’s disappointing that Motorola still can’t move beyond IP48 for its all-new Razr phones.

What’s even more frustrating is Motorola’s continued disregard for long-term software update policies. The Razer (2026), Razer Plus (2026), and Razer Ultra (2026) all only promise three years of major OS upgrades — seriously lagging behind Samsung and Google’s seven-year guarantees. This isn’t surprising given Motorola’s repeated failures with its software support, but frustration grows until Motorola makes improvements.

Then we have the cherry on top of the Razer (2026) series: pricing. It would be one thing for Motorola to launch such disappointing upgrades at the same prices as last year’s models, but that’s not happening. As has been the case with many smartphones released this year, the entire 2026 Razer lineup is more expensive.

The baseline Razer (2026) sees a $100 price increase compared to the Razer (2025), now starting at $800 instead of $700. This doesn’t seem too bad on the surface, given that the 2026 Razr actually has a new chip and new ultrawide camera, but Motorola has also quietly downgraded the storage – taking last year’s 256GB and reducing it to 128GB.

The Razer Plus (2026) is also $100 more expensive, starting at $1,100 compared to the Razer Plus (2025)’s $1,000 price tag. Meanwhile, the Razer Ultra (2026) – despite seeing the least year-on-year change – has seen the steepest price increase. The Razer Ultra (2026) now starts at $1,500, compared to the Razer Ultra (2025)’s $1,300 price tag. $200 more for basically the same phone. Great job, Moto.

As someone who spent a lot of time with the 2024 Razr Plus, I have no doubt that these 2026 Razrs will be objectively good flip-phone foldables. Motorola has a strong foundation for this form factor, and you could well argue that the company is smart not to change a good thing too much.

However, when Motorola reuses a two-year-old chipset, keeps the camera specifications unchanged, and downgrades the storage while charging $100 or $200 more, that’s when we have a problem.

The good news for Motorola is that the flip-phone market in the US still lacks competition besides Samsung, and the existing Galaxy Z Flip 7 isn’t even perfect. But with the Galaxy Z Flip 8 looming on the horizon – and early leaks suggesting at least one major design upgrade – Motorola may find itself losing the momentum and edge it’s had for the past few years.

That doesn’t mean Motorola can’t regain that momentum, but I’m also not sure if I trust the company to do so. Outside of last year’s Razer Ultra, the 2025 Razer lineup was already showing signs of stagnation — and that’s only increased with the 2026 handsets.

I’d like to think that Motorola might change things in 2027, but the company hasn’t given me any reason to believe so. More than anything, this is what worries me the most.