Motorola telephones usually play third (or fourth) fiddle to Samsung and Google, however the winds are altering. Motorola is now one of many fastest-growing cell firms on the planet, and the corporate claims its Razr folding smartphones are the primary within the flip class in North America. The corporate has additionally been experimenting with colourful Android telephones and enjoyable textures, making its gadgets stand out from the ocean of boring glass handsets.
In the event you’re an purchaser, choosing the perfect Motorola telephone could be robust as a result of the corporate launches many fashions every year. I’ve examined virtually all of them, and on this information, I break down the professionals and cons and steer you towards my favourite Moto fashions—from the Razr Extremely to the Moto G Stylus 2025.
Take a look at our cell shopping for guides for extra, together with the Finest Android Telephones, Finest Samsung Telephones, Finest Low cost Telephones, Finest Pixel Telephones, and Finest Telephones With a Headphone Jack.
Desk of Contents
Up to date June 2025: We have added the Motorola Edge 2025.
What’s WIRED About Motorola Telephones?
{Photograph}: Julian Chokkattu
Motorola telephones have a easy Android interface. This implies the corporate hasn’t finished a lot to gunk up the software program. It’s easy and simple to make use of. There’s more and more a number of bloatware, however you possibly can simply uninstall virtually all of it.
They arrive with a number of storage. The corporate stuffs 256 GB as normal into most of its smartphones, even a few of the low cost fashions. Most Android flagship gadgets nonetheless include simply 128 GB. Motorola can also be one of many solely telephone manufacturers to nonetheless embody a microSD card slot to increase storage on a lot of its gadgets, and the Moto G telephones retain the headphone jack.
There’s broad service assist. Whereas some Android telephone manufacturers have inconsistent service assist within the US, like Nothing, Motorola telephones usually work on most if not all networks (the corporate lists service assist particulars within the Specs part of all its telephones). All of them work on the large three—T-Cellular, AT&T, and Verizon. Ensure you purchase them unlocked.
The costs dip very often. By no means purchase a Motorola telephone at its MSRP. They virtually all the time go on sale a number of months (or weeks) after launch, typically at steep reductions.
What’s TIRED About Motorola Telephones?
Motorola’s software program updates are lackluster. The corporate is slowly bettering right here—it guarantees to ship three Android OS updates and 4 years of bimonthly safety updates to its high-end smartphones however nonetheless lags behind its friends. A lot of the Moto G telephones solely obtain one OS Android replace—although that is altering in 2025 with new gadgets getting two upgrades—together with three years of safety updates. Fewer updates imply you miss out on new Android options rapidly. Even when a telephone is promised updates, they take a lengthy time to reach.
The cameras are lackluster. Among the many issues placing Motorola behind the likes of Samsung, Apple, and Google are the cameras. Moto telephones can take positive images however they’re eclipsed by their friends. Motorola made some enhancements with its high-end telephones however it’s nonetheless behind.
There’s no always-on show. Most Android telephones have a setting you possibly can toggle on in order for you an always-on show that can present a clock in your display even when the display is “off.” Motorola has Peek Show, which requires you to maneuver the telephone or faucet the display to see something. It’s not a giant deal, however it’s a characteristic you may miss in the event you’re coming from one other telephone. Newer Razr gadgets lastly broke the mildew with always-on shows, however it’s nonetheless not current within the firm’s different merchandise.
The Finest Motorola Cellphone
{Photograph}: Julian Chokkattu
Motorola
Razr Extremely (2025)
The Razr Extremely (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is the perfect cause to get a Motorola telephone over the likes of Samsung, Apple, and Google. It is a assertion piece, not simply because it is a compact folding flip telephone, however as a result of Motorola presents it in a number of snazzy and classy designs. There’s the Mountain Path, which employs sustainably sourced wooden; Scarab, the primary use of Alcantara on a smartphone; Rio Purple, a leather-inspired end; and Cabaret, which seems like satin. You may be exhausting pressed to discover a telephone that appears this modern as of late.
The spacious 4-inch OLED display has extra customization choices than ever, with the flexibility so as to add extra widgets for glanceable data, so that you needn’t continuously open the telephone. When you do, you are handled to a big 7-inch AMOLED show that is sharp, vivid, and easy because of the 165-Hz refresh price. Motorola has improved the Razr Extremely’s sturdiness with a brand new Gorilla Glass Ceramic combination for the screens that makes it more durable to crack, and the titanium-reinforced hinge design is supposedly stronger, too. It now has an IP48 ranking, providing some correct mud safety.
Motorola has stuffed flagship options via and thru (which explains the excessive value), from 512 GB of inside storage to the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset powering all of it. Efficiency shouldn’t be an issue in any respect, with apps and video games working easily. This Razr Extremely additionally has the most important battery ever in a Razr at 4,700 mAh, and it reliably lasted me a full day with common use. That stated, energy customers who rack up display time could discover themselves reaching for the charger earlier than bedtime. No less than it helps quick charging speeds, wired and wirelessly.
The cameras are a pleasant enchancment—you will get fairly nice images from the 50-megapixel main digicam and the 50-megapixel ultrawide. You have to keep nonetheless in low mild, particularly since Motorola confusingly hides the Evening mode perform within the “Extra” tab of the digicam app. (It would not routinely kick in in low mild.) The perfect half is that you should utilize the superior main cameras—sometimes on the “again” of the telephone, however at the moment are on the entrance—to snap selfies and see previews on this exterior display. They’re a few of the sharpest selfies you’ll snap.
Video seize can also be significantly better on the Extremely than on another Motorola telephone. When you allow Dolby Imaginative and prescient (and also you do should faucet it manually), you will get well-exposed footage that is not too grainy or shaky. The digicam outcomes, whether or not in photograph or video, nonetheless do not fairly match the competitors at this value, however that is nonetheless Motorola’s finest digicam system thus far.
The software program expertise is nice, aside from all the substitute intelligence options Motorola is advertising. Copilot! Perplexity! Gemini! Moto AI! There is a boatload of choices, even a devoted AI button, although I have never discovered Moto AI too useful. The perfect perk is Pay Consideration, which makes the telephone begin recording with real-time transcriptions—helpful for interviews, however that is a standard characteristic on most telephones, and Motorola’s implementation is inferior. It is also a disgrace that Motorola’s software program replace coverage continues to be not so good as the competitors.
As all the time, I like to recommend ready for a giant sale occasion, as Motorola telephones are continuously discounted. The Razr Extremely is the most costly Razr thus far, however I believe it will be a terrific purchase as soon as it comes nearer to $1,000 or $1,100. It barely takes up any room in your pocket or purse, will look extra modern than another smartphone on the market, and you will really feel tremendous happy ending a telephone name with a flip.
The Finest Low cost Folding Cellphone
{Photograph}: Julian Chokkattu
You needn’t spend $1,300 to get folding flip telephone. The Razr 2025 (8/10, WIRED Recommends) wins the “Most Improved” award as a result of efficiency is lastly not as uneven as on prior fashions. Thoughts you, it will nonetheless stutter right here and there, however that is not a defining facet of this telephone anymore. My expertise with it wasn’t massively totally different from the Razr Extremely—battery life is roughly the identical, lasting a full day with common use, and the screens are good and vivid, even when they’re barely smaller.
Cameras are its weak level in comparison with the Extremely. You will get some good images, however they’re going to wrestle extra in high-contrast scenes, look grainy in low mild, and really feel a bit extra processed. Pores and skin tones and colours are additionally not as correct as with the pricier sibling, and video seize is noticeably worse. Nonetheless, contemplating the $700 value for a folding smartphone, it is an unbelievable worth, whereas nonetheless managing to look beautiful.
Finest Moto G Cellphone
{Photograph}: Julian Chokkattu
Motorola
Moto G Stylus 2025
The Moto G Stylus 2025 is the perfect Moto G telephone proper now, which is likely to be a given contemplating it is the priciest mannequin within the household. Nonetheless, for $400, it is probably the greatest smartphone values available on the market. Because the identify suggests, it comes with a built-in stylus—the one different telephone with that characteristic is Samsung’s $1,300 Galaxy S25 Extremely.
It is a slim and fantastically blue telephone. My mother stated it regarded good. Even a stranger stopped me to ask what telephone I used to be utilizing! The Surf the Internet blue actually pops with the vegan leather-based again, although you will get it in a extra muted Gibraltar Sea coloration. You may discover a headphone jack on the underside, a rarity in right now’s smartphone local weather, and pop open the SIM tray to discover a spot so as to add a microSD card, one other quickly disappearing characteristic. Motorola additionally contains 256 GB of storage, a pleasant bump in comparison with pricier smartphones that provide solely 128 GB.
You get a 120-Hz AMOLED 6.7-inch display that is a lot vivid in sunny circumstances, and passable, stutter-free efficiency with the Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 chipset. It won’t really feel the speediest, however that is the smoothest-performing Moto G; I’ve not often seen uneven animations within the interface. Talking of, there’s a great deal of bloatware apps within the Android 15 working system, however they’re simple to uninstall.
The 5,000-mAh battery in tow has continuously lasted a full day for me with roughly 35 % left by bedtime, with common to excessive use. It isn’t fairly a two-day telephone. You’ll be able to prime it again up pretty rapidly with Motorola’s 68-watt TurboPower charging system, however I’ve largely juiced it with my Qi wi-fi charger with no issues.
I have been impressed with the 50-megapixel major digicam. It takes crisp images in good lighting, and in low-light settings, Motorola’s Evening mode does a pleasant job of preserving particulars and shadows. The catch is it’s essential be very nonetheless—any motion and you will find yourself with a blurry shot. (I’ve a number of of these in my digicam roll.) I believe most individuals will likely be pleased with the outcomes.
The issue? There’s a considerably higher telephone for simply $100 extra: the Google Pixel 9a. Google will assist that system for seven years, and it additionally comes with flagship-grade efficiency, higher cameras, and extra sensible software program options. The Moto G Stylus will solely get two Android OS upgrades and three years of safety updates. That is exactly why you can purchase it on sale. Await this Moto telephone to drop to $300 or $330.
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