The most exciting foldable phone of 2019 is back for 2020 in 5G form: say hello to the Motorola Razr 5G (or just Motorola Razr as it'll be called in the USA - no 5G badge on honour to be seen in the name). But just what else is different about the new handset?

Design

  • Razr (2020): Unfolded: 72.6 x 169.2 x 7.9mm / Folded: 72.6 x 91.7 x 16mm / 192g
  • Razr (2019): Unfolded: 72 x 172 x 6.9mm / Folded: 94 x 72 x 14mm / 205g
  • Razr (2020): Polished Graphite, Liquid Mercury, Blush Gold
  • Razr (2019): Noir Black, Blush Gold
  • Razr (2020): Fingerprint scanner to rear, tapered 'chin'
  • Razr (2020): Fingerprint scanner to front within 'chin'
  • Both devices: Water repellent (no IP rating)

At first glance the new Razr looks a lot like the old. But there are nips and tucks here that see it stand apart. Primarily it's the moving of the fingerprint scanner from the front of the original 2019 device to the rear of the new device; this placement means the 2020 Razr has a more tapered front 'chin' area.

There's more changes afoot too. The 'zero gap hinge', as it's called, has been concealed more on the 2020 handset so that the gears don't show. The mechanism is much the same, though, with a 200,000 folding test threshold passed by Motorola's labs to ensure resilience over time.

Although it doesn't look or feel it, the newer 5G handset is a little larger than the original too. That couple of millimetres when folded might not sound like a lot, but a 16mm form factor in the pocket is fairly substantial overall. It's half that when unfolded.

Lastly there's the finishes. Whichever colour option lures you in the most, it's the shift in materials that's most noticeable. The 5G Razr comes with a glass rear, compared to the original's textured rear. It makes the newer device look altogether more complete.

Display

  • Both devices: 'Quick View display' 2.7-inch GOLED (glass OLED), 800 x 600 resolution, 4:3 aspect ratio
  • Both devices: 6.2-inch POLED (plastic OLED), 2142 x 876 resolution, 21:9 aspect ratio

Despite these nips and tucks to the design, both the original Razr and the new 5G model have the same two screens. So no changes there at all.

Cameras

  • Razr (2020): 48-megapixel (Samsung GM1), f/1.7 aperture, optical stabilisation (OIS), laser autofocus (TOF)
  • Razr (2019): 16MP resolution, f/1.7 aperture, laser autofocus (TOF)
  • Razr (2020): 20MP internal camera
  • Razr (2019): 5MP internal camera

It's visually apparent that the Razr 5G comes with a different camera setup. It's most welcome, too, as the original Razr was surprisingly lacking in this area for such a high-price device.

That said, the 48-megapixel camera in the second-gen Razr will output 12MP images by default - as it uses four-in-one Quad Pixel technology to oversample and keep quality to its utmost. Having seen other Motorola phones with this sensor in the past we know it does a good job.

The internal camera was 5MP on the original, which now gets four times the resolution, at 20MP, in the 5G Razr. Although you needn't use this camera for much - as the flippable nature of the Razr means the main camera can be used for selfies anyway. It's most useful for face unlock really.

Hardware spec

  • Razr (2020): 2,800mAh battery capacity, 15W TurboPower fast-charging
  • Razr (2019): 2,500mAh battery capacity, 15W TurboPower fast-charging
  • Razr (2020): Qualcomm Snapdragon 765, 8GB RAM, 5G (sub-6GHz)
  • Razr (2019): Qualcomm Snapdragon 710, 6GB RAM (4GB in USA)
  • Razr (2020): 256GB storage, dual SIM (1x slot, 1x eSIM)
  • Razr (2019): 128GB storage, eSIM only

The minor size increase also brings with it a battery capacity increase for the 5G Razr (it's 2,800mAh, a 300mAh increase over the original - so a 12 per cent boost). That might sound like a frightfully small battery for a modern day flagship phone, but having used the Razr 5G for the best part of a week we've found it lasts just fine (probably even better than the Samsung Note 20 Ultra).

The 2019 Razr came with Qualcomm's Snapdragon 710 platform, avoiding the top-tier processors of the time to save on processing power and battery life. The 2020 Razr ups things a little by using SD765, which is the reason 5G connectivity is possible. Otherwise the power is similar, although the new Razr ups the amount of RAM.

On the bottom of the Razr 5G there's a SIM slot. There wasn't one on the original Razr because you could only use eSIM. Neither has microSD support, but with 256GB storage as standard in the 2020 model we don't see that being a bother (even the 128GB of the 2019 model was plenty).

Software

  • Both devices: Android 10 operating system, Moto app
  • Razr (2020) adds new Quick View display features

Some of the biggest changes to the 5G Razr are centred around the software. Not the core Android operating system experience, more the features now open to the smaller Quick View display on the front. It's now able to open any app (perhaps not successfully, as few are optimised for this), whereas the original Razr had limits to which apps were available. A new notification bar is also present.

Release date and price

  • Razr (2020): $1,399 / £1,399 / €1,499
  • Razr (2019): $1,499 / £1,499 / €1,599

So the Razr 5G brings faster connectivity, greater longevity, more power, more possibilities from its software... and it's actually cheaper than the original (well, if you ignore the third-off price cut that happened).

Not that either handset is cheap by any measure. After all, if you want a Razr it's because you want to make a statement above all else. And if you want to be in that gang then the Razr 5G will go on sale "fall 2020" across the globe - that's as specific a quote as we've got from Motorola at this stage in time.