Review: Motorola razr 50 — the affordable flip phone with full external display functionality

The motorola razr 50 ultra won our best foldable smartphone of the year thanks to its compact nature and feature-packed outer display.  

As with the 2023 version of the motorola razr, Motorola has also released a more affordable version, the razr 50.  The razr 50 sees some significant upgrades from last year’s razr 40 and is in fact very nearly equivalent to last year’s flagship flip from Motorola, the razr 40 ultra.

The razr 50 has a RRP of a tick under $1,200, making it cheaper than all other flip phones to be released in Australia this year.

We were sent the motorola razr 50 to review and have been using it for the last couple of weeks and while it is billed as an affordable flip phone it is still an outstanding phone that competes well on its own, setting aside the price.

Read on to hear our thoughts on whether you should consider it for your next smartphone purchase.

Design

I’m not going to reinvent the wheel here with a description of what it looks like as we all know what a flip phone looks like by now.  What I will talk about is how the new outer display (3.6-inch) is much larger than last year’s razr 40 display (1.5 inches) and instead is the same size as that on the razr 40 ultra.

The outer display is, in fact, improved upon that ultra display of last year in some ways, with a higher peak brightness of 1,700 nits compared to 1,100 nits.  The refresh rate of the external display is only 90Hz which is still good but not at the 144Hz of last year’s ultra display.

Using the device is just as it is for the razr 50 ultra – fully functional.  You can still use any app and any widget on the outer display, making it more useful than any other flip phone on the market today.  Motorola has nailed this like no one else has managed to.

Motorola has included every piece of external display software on this that is included on the razr 50 ultra, so you can be certain you are getting the full experience with the razr 50.  The external display may not be the full outer surface of the razr 50 ultra (4-inches) but it is still exceptional and easy to use.

The internal display on the motorola razr 50 is a 6.9-inch LTPO AMOLED display with a refresh rate of 120Hz.  This is a great display although it doesn’t match the specs of the 40 ultra nor the 50 ultra.  The crease is still small and unnoticeable if you don’t go looking for it.  It’s like the nose in your field of view.  After a while, you forget it’s there and it just blends into the background.

The display is taller and thinner than any other display you will have used on a smartphone. At times, reaching the far corners of the display can be difficult, so keep that in mind.  Being thin though, you can move it around in your hand to get to those corners.  It didn’t concern me in the least, but then I have been using a foldable flip phone for a while now.

Once again, the fingerprint sensor is hidden/included in the power button, which seems to be the norm with all foldables these days. The fingerprint is consistent and accurate, but you can also use face unlock to log in.

Keep in mind though that the face unlock is not accurate enough to be used for Google Wallet and banking apps so you will need to unlock the phone with your fingerprint or re-enter it when going into these apps if you do go down the face unlock path.

Once again, Motorola include a case for the razr 50 in the box, and it’s a really good case. Not a cheap plastic thing but a soft touch case that fits like a glove.

Software

The software on the motorola razr 50 is the same as that on the razr 50 ultra.  I encourage you to head on over to that review to check that out.  In the meantime, I’m going to discuss the latest update that is coming to moto ai.  

Installing the beta version of moto ai onto the razr 50 was simple but getting it to work, not so much.  I’m not entirely sure what I did to get it working because I tried everything but I suspect it had something to do with changing the language to US English and then back to Aussie and then rebooting – or it could have just been the rebooting?

You can trigger moto ai using several gestures – including using the floating bubble, double tapping the rear of the device and long pressing the power button.  I favoured the double tap of the rear of the device – you need to tap it on the frame part of the front/external display close to the hinge.

• Update me: Update me is meant to quickly summarise the notifications you have.  It did not seem to work for me but the summary mentioned personal communication notifications.  This seems to be only for emails and messaging apps because other notifications did not register.  I suppose they are the most important.
  • Interestingly I did have a Whatsapp message where I had asked someone how they were feeling and their reply was “Thankfully I am decent” and moto ai summarised that as “They are well.”

• Take notes: First things first, these notes are saved in “Journal.”  The transcription of my voice talking was perfect and word for word, including acronyms such as LTPO.  Then after providing the transcription, moto ai inserted a summary at the end of the transcription.

• Remember this: Remember this allows you to add notes to photos, screenshots or make a text note to help you return to it later simply by entering the “Journal” app.  This worked extremely well, not only does moto ai add your note to the photo or screenshot but adds what it thinks it relevant information to what it thinks is on the screen.

• Magic Canvas: Similar to Google’s offerings, you just type in what you want the AI-generated image to look like and moto ai generates it.  There are a few options and it works well.  If you don’t like the image it created you can modify the description or just ask it to do it again.

These are just the new moto ai features coming soon to the stable version of moto ai but for me, this beta version worked just fine so I recommend signing up.

Camera quality

While the motorola razr 50 ultra now houses dual 50MP shooters inside the external display, the razr 50 does not.  Instead, it houses a main 50MP wide-angle camera alongside a 13MP ultrawide camera.  This camera solution is still good though, and is actually better than that in the razr 40 ultra of last year.

The daytime imaging is great, as it is in nearly all smartphones on the market today. The night imaging has also vastly improved from last year.  This is due to the new sensor’s ability to register more light and the results are great.

The best thing about a foldable smartphone camera though is that you can use the main camera for selfies.  You can open the foldable device and use the external display as your viewfinder and see what you are taking a photo of. Of course the dual camera is better than the internal 32MP camera.

There is a new function in the software this year for selfies where it will automatically snap a photo when it sees everyone in the photo smiling.  This worked extremely well and I love it!  You can also raise your palm to take the photo – I prefer the smile though as there’s less chance of moving the phone (or including your palm in the photo).

Battery life

Remember when I wrote that the battery life on the motorola razr 50 ultra was “really good.”  If that was the case for that flip phone, then the battery life on the razr 50 is exceptional.  It has a bigger battery than the razr 50 ultra and a smaller external display, so it’s the battery life will be even better.

Add to that the usual advantage of Motorola’s flip phones, the ability to use the smaller external display as a fully functional display, and you have a phone that will last well over a day and for many people, over two days.  I was at just over a day, which is exceptional for me and my power usage.

The charging on the razr 50 ultra is slower than that on the razr 50 ultra, 30W vs 45W wired but the wireless charging is still at 15W which is impressive.  Last year’s razr 40 ultra was just 30W and 5W for each type of charging.

Should you buy the motorola razr 50?

Yes. Simple.

If you have a phone from last year’s motorola razr 40 series then this year’s devices are upgraded in every single way. Even the camera on the razr 50 is a decent upgrade from the razr 40 ultra. If your budget extends, I would consider moving the razr 40 (or ultra) on and purchasing something from Motorola’s razr 50 family.

If you can afford it, the motorola razr 50 ultra is an exceptional device with a much much much improved camera, external display, faster charging, bigger battery and more. The motorola razr 50 has all of the same improvements but is for those who don’t want to spend as much but still want the best brand in flip phones in their pocket.

The motorola razr 50 is a flip phone that does everything well, it just is not their flagship, which many (I dare say most) do not need. If you want a flip phone that is not at flip flagship prices but is still an excellent phone then I highly recommend the motorola razr 50.

The motorola razr 50 is available in Pantone colours – Beach Sand, Spritz Orange and Koala Grey. It is available exclusively at Optus to buy outright for $1,198.80 or with OptusPay to pay it off over time on an eligible Optus plan. 

To find out more visit optus.com.au/mobile/phones/motorola/razr-50.