The 2026 Razr lineup forgets what used to make it great

I’m a huge fan of the Motorola Razr Ultra. I always find an excuse to get it back in my pocket when I’m not testing another phone. So, naturally, I was excited when Moto announced its new Razr lineup for 2026. Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for my enthusiasm to melt away.

Smartphone manufacturers seem to have two paths to address component price increases in 2026. Samsung introduced a new chipset and other improvements for the Galaxy S26, but raised prices on some models. Google elected to keep the Pixel 10a price the same, but with an older chipset and lackluster upgrades.

Motorola has somehow forged a third direction with its new Razrs, offering limited upgrades while still charging buyers more. It’s a confusing strategy that runs counter to what has made the company successful over the last few years. I’m sure Motorola has a plan, but if it wants to go down this path, there’s plenty of work that needs to be done.

I love what Motorola offers. Its midrange phones provide performance and style at a reasonable price. The Moto G Stylus is a great example of this. I appreciate that buyers who want a stylus with their smartphones don’t have to spend a ridiculous amount of money on a Galaxy S26 Ultra. Moto is also putting a battery in its stylus, something Samsung removed on the Galaxy S25 Ultra. I’m not saying you’ll enjoy the same functionality as an expensive Galaxy smartphone, but the G Stylus is close enough to consider at a fraction of the price.

The Motorola Edge is similar. It features a gorgeous display, smooth performance, and a capable camera. Its thin aluminum frame feels fantastic in the hand, and it’s one of my favorite phones to carry around. If the Pixel 10a doesn’t speak to you and you’re not a fan of Samsung’s midrange phones, it’s an excellent alternative.

Then there is last year’s Razr lineup. I’ll talk about the Razr Ultra in a moment, but the base Razr was an outstanding phone for $700. It provided all the fun and style of a clamshell foldable, while maintaining a wallet-friendly price. It was pure Motorola, and I was looking forward to more this year.

I didn’t recommend people run out and buy a Motorola Razr Ultra last year for $1,300, but at least I understood it. The phone was a monster, especially for a clamshell foldable. It featured a Snapdragon 8 Elite, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of base storage. I may not have loved the price tag, but at least it was justified.

I don’t get that sense this year. I don’t need all the power of a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. I’m not editing 4K video on a Motorola Razr, and the thought of long gaming sessions on a phone like that makes me nauseous. But if you’re charging me $1,500, I will want the latest and greatest, even if it’s just extra futureproofing if I keep my device for a few years. Motorola’s Smart Connect software is fantastic, and I think it bests Samsung’s DeX in plenty of areas. I would like the most powerful desktop experience possible from my $1,500 smartphone.

If Motorola is truly building a lifestyle brand with a premium ecosystem and devices, there is added responsibility. A flashy design is nice, but Moto’s software support is woeful. My $1,300 Razr Ultra from last year just received the March security patch in May, and I was running a December patch for months before that. None of that even phased me because I’m just thankful it even has Android 16 at all.

Matching Google and Samsung’s promised software support should be standard when you set your prices at the high end. And promises aren’t enough. Both Samsung and Google have done a phenomenal job making sure newer software runs well on older hardware. One UI 7 on the Galaxy S21 Ultra was a great experience, as was Android 16 on my original Google Pixel Fold. Solid updates delivered in a timely fashion need to be Motorola’s standard going forward, and the company hasn’t shown me that yet.

Thankfully, Motorola displays a trend that means we might not have to pay those high prices for long. I’m often confused by the company’s high initial MSRPs. That Motorola Edge I mentioned earlier typically starts around $550, and for that price, there are better alternatives. However, that’s not the entire story. It only took a month or two for the price to dip to $400 or lower, making it one of the best values you can buy.

We also didn’t have to wait months for the Razr Ultra to come off its $1,300 peak price. It was available for most of last year for $1,000, making it one of the more reasonable premium flagships you could buy. Even now, the $800 price makes it incredibly attractive compared to the $1,500 price tag of its successor.

Motorola could do something similar with this year’s crop, even though I’m hesitant to believe, given how expensive components are. A smartphone with 16GB of RAM will never be cheap, especially if it starts with 512GB of storage. The silver lining is the company’s carrier store presence, so aggressive trade-in discounts and carrier finance deals are always an option. Whatever the solution, I’d be disappointed if the Razr Ultra and base Razr stayed at their higher prices for very long.

It wasn’t that long ago that OnePlus forgot itself. The company launched the OnePlus 10 Pro, a phone designed to compete spec-for-spec with Samsung, with a price tag to match. It was a disaster that set the company’s devices back.

Yes, Motorola has had some success being a stylish brand, and that’s absolutely part of the appeal when buying a clamshell foldable, but it can’t forget about the value. Motorola is best as the underdog; I’m worried this latest strategy is a mistake.