Motorola telephones typically play third (or fourth) fiddle to Samsung and Google, however the winds are altering. Motorola is now one of many fastest-growing cell corporations on this 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, selecting one of the best Motorola telephone will be robust as a result of the corporate launches many fashions yearly. 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 Moto Razr to the Moto G Stylus 2025.
Take a look at our cell shopping for guides for extra, together with the Greatest Android Telephones, Greatest Samsung Telephones, Greatest Low-cost Telephones, Greatest Pixel Telephones, and Greatest Telephones With a Headphone Jack.
Up to date April 2025: We have added the Moto G Stylus 2025 and Motorola’s new Razr gadgets.
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What’s WIRED About Motorola Telephones
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{Photograph}: Julian chokkattu
Motorola telephones have a easy Android interface. This implies the corporate hasn’t executed a lot to gunk up the software program. It’s easy and simple to make use of. There’s more and more a variety of bloatware, however you possibly can simply uninstall virtually all of it.
They arrive with numerous 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 embrace a microSD card slot to increase storage on lots of its gadgets, and the Moto G telephones retain the headphone jack.
There’s broad service help. Whereas some Android telephone manufacturers have inconsistent service help within the US, like Nothing, Motorola telephones typically work on most if not all networks (the corporate lists service help particulars within the Specs part of all its telephones). All of them work on the large three—T-Cellular, AT&T, and Verizon. Be sure to purchase them unlocked.
The costs dip very often. By no means purchase a Motorola telephone at its MSRP. They virtually at all times go on sale a number of months (or weeks) after launch, typically at steep reductions.
What’s TIRED About Motorola Telephones
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Motorola’s software program updates are lackluster. The corporate is slowly enhancing 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 very long time to reach.
The cameras are lackluster. Among the many issues placing Motorola behind the likes of Samsung and Google are the cameras. Moto telephones can take superb photographs 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 if you would like an always-on show that may present a clock in your display screen even when the display screen is “off.” Motorola has Peek Show, which requires you to maneuver the telephone or faucet the display screen to see something. It’s not an enormous deal, however it’s a characteristic you may miss should you’re coming from one other telephone. The 2024 Razr gadgets lastly broke the mould with always-on shows, however it’s nonetheless not current in different gadgets.
The Greatest Motorola Telephone
If you are going to purchase a Motorola and cash is not a lot of a priority, it ought to be an announcement telephone just like the Razr+ (2024). This third-gen folding flip smartphone (7/10, WIRED Recommends) is far more refined, including options you’ve got come to count on in a modern-day handset, like an IPX8 water resistance score that retains it secure from dips within the pool and a vibrant 165-Hz OLED display screen that’s straightforward to learn in sunny circumstances. And sure, you possibly can flip open the telephone to reply a name and flip it shut to finish it.
When closed, the enlarged 4-inch OLED cowl display screen can present you notifications, apps, and useful widgets to examine the climate, calendar occasions, and information. It even permits you to play some enjoyable mini-games. You should utilize the superior major cameras—sometimes on the “again” of the telephone however are actually on the entrance—to snap selfies and see previews on this exterior display screen. They’re a few of the sharpest selfies you’ll snap.
Open it up and there is a 6.9-inch display screen that capabilities like an ordinary telephone. There’s nonetheless a crease on the display screen the place the machine folds, however I did not discover it annoying. It is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chipset, a barely lesser-performing processor versus the flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 discovered on different high-end Android gadgets in 2024. That mentioned, efficiency was clean, because of the 12 GB of RAM, even when taking part in video games. You get different standard-fare accouterments like NFC for tap-to-pay by way of Google Pockets, wi-fi charging, and 256 GB of inner storage.
This Razr+ solely makes use of Motorola’s new Photograph Enhancement Engine, which the corporate says makes use of synthetic intelligence to supply higher pictures. Certainly, these photographs are a few of the finest you may snap on any Motorola telephone, however it’s nonetheless taking part in catch-up with a lot of the competitors. Pictures take a while to course of, too, so you may should get used to that. It is not an ideal digicam system, however I used to be usually proud of a lot of the outcomes.
I want Motorola had saved the ultrawide digicam. In its predecessor, utilizing the entrance display screen as a preview made it easy to take selfies with others. Now, with the default 50-MP principal digicam, becoming extra folks into the body is a problem. The ultrawide has been changed by a 2X telephoto lens. Whereas I am normally a fan of zooming in, the zoom stage is underwhelming, and the standard is mediocre.
There is a 4,000-mAh battery on the Razr+, and it will get you thru a full day with common use, however heavy customers almost certainly might want to prime up earlier than the day’s finish. That is nearly the one principal gripe I’ve with this telephone. It is tremendous enjoyable and satisfying to make use of, seems to be nice within the new sizzling pink shade, and runs nicely with a stable digicam system. My professional tip? Await a sale.
That is the most cost effective folding telephone you should purchase within the US, particularly on sale. In comparison with the Razr+, the Razr (7/10, WIRED Recommends) has a barely smaller entrance display screen. You’ll be able to’t see as a lot data at a look, however it’s nonetheless large enough to view some apps, notifications, and entry widgets. Inside is an analogous OLED 6.9-inch display screen with as much as a 120-Hz refresh price. It retains the ultrawide as an alternative of the telephoto, and the digicam system is general stable—not horrible, not wonderful. The 4,200-mAh battery does last more than the Razr+, although the machine falls brief in efficiency. Powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 7300 with 8 GB of RAM, I simply encountered extra sluggish conduct that typically made it annoying to make use of.
The Greatest Trad Moto Telephone
This telephone is continuously on sale for $330, and it is a no-brainer for anybody on a price range. You get a big 6.6-inch AMOLED display screen with a 144-Hz display screen refresh price and speedy efficiency because of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 chipset. It is not a flagship chipset, however sufficient to ship snappy app launches and lag-free gameplay, and it is leagues higher than the efficiency you may discover on the opposite Motorola telephones featured under.
It has all of the fundamentals from NFC so you possibly can pay together with your telephone by way of Google Pockets, plus an IP68 water resistance score, guaranteeing it will not succumb to a drop within the pool. It helps wi-fi charging, comes with 256 GB of storage, and packs some fairly loud Dolby Atmos stereo audio system. I used it as my every day telephone for 2 weeks, and it carried out remarkably nicely. The 5,000-mAh battery comfortably lasts a full day with common use and sometimes can go nicely into the second day earlier than a top-up. Use the Edge closely, and it is firmly within the charge-once-a-day territory.
I do have a number of gripes, although. The Edge makes use of a so-called waterfall show, the place the glass on the entrance curves into the perimeters for a extra immersive look. It actually seems to be fancy, however I’ve had a number of moments the place my fingers holding the telephone’s edges disrupted an motion I used to be attempting to finish with my different hand. This has lengthy been a difficulty on telephones with curved screens. It is easy to get used to and alter your grip rapidly, however it’s annoying.
Second, the 50-MP principal digicam has a little bit of shutter lag, which will be irritating once you’re attempting to seize transferring topics (like my canine, who will not sit nonetheless). The pics you will get out of it are stable, completely acceptable pictures through the day. The distinction is a bit of too sturdy typically, and it does not deal with high-contrast scenes all that nice, however there’s good element. In low mild, you may encounter a number of extra blurry photographs on account of that shutter lag and shaky palms, but when the circumstances are proper, you will get some sharp, in-focus pictures. That is the place a telephone just like the Google Pixel 9a handily beats the Edge 2024.
Sadly, Motorola guarantees solely two Android OS upgrades (as much as Android 16) and three years of safety updates to the Edge 2024. The Pixel 9a will get seven years of software program help. That is one among Motorola’s largest weaknesses, however this might not be as a lot of a difficulty at its frequent $330 sale worth. In the event you’re questioning a couple of successor, the Motorola Edge launched in June 2024, so you possibly can count on a follow-up this summer season.
Greatest Moto G Telephone
The Moto G Stylus 2025 is one of the best Moto G telephone proper now, which is perhaps a given contemplating it is the priciest mannequin within the household. Nonetheless, for $400, it is top-of-the-line 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.
This can be a slim and fantastically blue telephone. My mother mentioned it seemed good. Even a stranger stopped me to ask what telephone I used to be utilizing! The Surf the Net blue actually pops with the vegan leather-based again, although you will get it in a extra muted Gibraltar Sea shade. You will discover a headphone jack on the underside, a rarity in as we speak’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 supply solely 128 gigs.
You get a 120-Hz AMOLED 6.7-inch display screen that is loads vibrant 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 straightforward 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 is not 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.
