It’s the 12 months of the folding cellphone. Although developments within the slab cellphone world are sure to carry some pleasure in 2026, should you ask me essentially the most attention-grabbing and revolutionary developments on this 12 months’s smartphone story are going to come back from foldables.
That’s already proved true within the few days of 2026 we’ve already skilled – the Samsung Galaxy TriFold is casting an extended shadow over the tech world forward of its unannounced US launch date, and rumors of the iPhone Fold and its potential specs are transferring at tempo.
Nonetheless, neither of those tales have captured my consideration fairly just like the Motorola Razr Fold, the model’s first booklet-style folding cellphone. After a short however dense barrage of rumors and leaks for the reason that begin of the 12 months, Motorola formally introduced the brand new handset at CES 2026, and it’s trying very attention-grabbing already.
The Motorola Razr Fold comes with a 6.56-inch cowl show and an 8.09-inch inside display – that’s the biggest folding show on any bifold cellphone. It additionally sports activities a triple digicam system with the standard trio of essential, ultra-wide, and 3x telephoto cameras.
The revived Razr collection has constructed its fame by providing a stable Android folding cellphone expertise at decrease costs than the competitors, with a selected concentrate on undercutting Samsung. For instance, the Motorola Razr 2025 (offered because the Razr 60 in different markets) begins at $699.99 / £799.99, beating the Galaxy Z Flip 7 which is available in at $1,099 / £1,049 / AU$1,799.
After all, Samsung nonetheless comes out on high on the subject of {hardware} efficiency and, should you ask me, construct high quality. However for some customers value is the one essential metric.
Within the wake of the Galaxy Z Fold 7 launching at a retail value of virtually $2,000, I wrote that the widening hole between folding telephones and flagship slab telephones may enable for the expansion of a mid-range folding cellphone market. This 12 months will carry the eighth technology of Samsung Galaxy Z Fold telephones and the fourth technology of Google Pixel Professional Fold telephones, and because the know-how matures I feel we’re getting to a degree the place customers will settle for barely much less superior options if this engenders a extra affordable value level.
As such, I’m hoping that the Razr Fold will proceed the pattern set by the Razr flip telephones and act as a mid-range various within the folding cellphone market. We don’t have pricing data for the brand new cellphone but, however I’d prefer to see it are available in at round $1,499 / £1,499 / AU$2,199.
At this value – barely cheaper than the launch value of the OnePlus Open – I feel the Razr Fold may catalyse a surge in curiosity in folding telephones from eager onlookers who could be postpone by the massive value tags connected to the mainstream choices (Honor and Oppo provide their folding telephones for affordable costs, however aren’t obtainable within the US). It’d be my hope that cellphone makers take observe and begin planning for cheaper variations of their flagship foldables – I’ve used loads of folding telephones, and all that have has proven me that the thought of folding telephones as a essentially overpowered productiveness instrument could be one to let go of.
In fact, what I and I feel most customers use folding telephones for are the very same issues we use common telephones for, solely larger, and due to this fact higher. Studying articles, watching movies, taking part in video games – these are all typically extra comfy on the interior display. To be trustworthy, multitasking is usually a secondary use case – there’s solely a lot you are able to do on an 8-inch display, and Motorola can use this to its benefit by positioning the Razr Fold because the informal person’s foldable.
Nonetheless, we already know that Motorola isn’t skimping on {hardware} with the Razr Fold, which could make it troublesome to achieve such a modest value level. Moto isn’t any stranger to releasing premium merchandise, and as our Razr Extremely 2025 overview notes, the model’s costliest cellphone prices greater than the Galaxy Z Flip 7, greater than the Galaxy S25 Extremely, in reality. It’s solely potential that Motorola sees the Razr Fold as a premium various to the Galaxy Z Fold 7, quite than a mid-range competitor.
However should you ask me, that’d be a missed alternative. Motorola is just not the form of model that may lead the cost into the post-$2,000 value level; it’d be wiser to depart that to Samsung, from which prospects anticipate heftier value tags. Motorola’s best cellular wins are in worth for cash, and that’s what I feel it ought to chase with the Razr Fold – each for the great of a nascent mid-range folding cellphone market, and for its personal sake.
So, since we already know that the Razr Fold will ship with two enormous LTPO shows and a stable array of cameras, there’s no level in search of value financial savings there. What I’m in search of now are the interior {hardware} parts that would shave a couple of share factors off the worth tag – I’d be joyful to see the Razr Fold launch with a second-tier chipset and a hard and fast 12GB of RAM if it means bringing the required spend down.
In any case, the Razr Fold’s design selections are doubtless all confirmed now, so all we are able to do is wait and see. Not one of the above is to say that the Razr Fold could be a write-off if it launches at a comparable or larger value than Samsung and Google’s handsets (I’m notably joyful to see stylus assist and palm rejection for all my note-takers and doodlers on the market), however I do discover myself involved that Motorola may not have the ability to compete with out both expertise or worth for cash as a promoting level (a priority shared by a latest Android Authority op-ed).
In any case, the Razr Fold is certain to register as among the best Motorola telephones at launch, and I’ll be rooting for it to have some quirk or particular high quality that makes it worthy of our greatest folding telephones information, too. Remember to regulate each guides for updates.
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