The Best Motorola Phones (2025), Tested and Reviewed Leave a comment
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 firms 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 units stand out from the ocean of boring glass handsets.
When you’re an purchaser, selecting the perfect Motorola cellphone will be powerful as a result of the corporate launches many fashions yearly. I’ve examined nearly 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 units.
Desk of Contents
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What’s WIRED About Motorola Telephones
{Photograph}: Julian Chokkattu
Motorola telephones have a easy Android interface. This implies the corporate hasn’t accomplished a lot to gunk up the software program. It’s easy and straightforward to make use of. There’s more and more a variety of bloatware, however you possibly can simply uninstall nearly all of it.
They arrive with a number of storage. The corporate stuffs 256 GB as normal into most of its smartphones, even a few of the low cost fashions. Most Android flagship units nonetheless include simply 128 GB. Motorola can be one of many solely cellphone manufacturers to nonetheless embody a microSD card slot to develop storage on lots of its units, and the Moto G telephones retain the headphone jack.
There’s broad service assist. Whereas some Android cellphone manufacturers have inconsistent service assist within the US, like Nothing, Motorola telephones typically work on most if not all networks (the corporate lists service assist particulars within the Specs part of all its telephones). All of them work on the large three—T-Cell, AT&T, and Verizon. Be sure you purchase them unlocked.
The costs dip very often. By no means purchase a Motorola cellphone at its MSRP. They nearly all the time go on sale just a few months (or weeks) after launch, typically at steep reductions.
What’s TIRED About Motorola Telephones
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 units getting two upgrades—together with three years of safety updates. Fewer updates imply you miss out on new Android options shortly. Even when a cellphone 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 wonderful 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 need an always-on show that can present a clock in your display even when the display is “off.” Motorola has Peek Show, which requires you to maneuver the cellphone or faucet the display to see something. It’s not a giant deal, however it’s a characteristic you would possibly miss in case you’re coming from one other cellphone. The 2024 Razr units lastly broke the mildew with always-on shows, however it’s nonetheless not current in different units.
The Greatest Motorola Telephone
If you are going to purchase a Motorola and cash is not a lot of a priority, it must be an announcement cellphone 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 protected from dips within the pool and a vivid 165-Hz OLED display that’s simple to learn in sunny situations. And sure, you possibly can flip open the cellphone to reply a name and flip it shut to finish it.
When closed, the enlarged 4-inch OLED cowl display can present you notifications, apps, and helpful widgets to examine the climate, calendar occasions, and information. It even helps you to play some enjoyable mini-games. You should utilize the superior major cameras—sometimes on the “again” of the cellphone however are actually on the entrance—to snap selfies and see previews on this exterior display. They’re a few of the sharpest selfies you’ll snap.
Open it up and there is a 6.9-inch display that features like a typical cellphone. There’s nonetheless a crease on the display the place the system 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 units in 2024. That mentioned, efficiency was easy, because of the 12 GB of RAM, even when enjoying video games. You get different standard-fare accouterments like NFC for tap-to-pay through Google Pockets, wi-fi charging, and 256 GB of inner storage.
This Razr+ completely 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 cellphone, however it’s nonetheless enjoying catch-up with a lot of the competitors. Photographs take a while to course of, too, so you may should get used to that. It isn’t an ideal digital camera system, however I used to be typically proud of many of the outcomes.
I want Motorola had stored the ultrawide digital camera. In its predecessor, utilizing the entrance display as a preview made it easy to take selfies with others. Now, with the default 50-MP principal digital camera, becoming extra individuals 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 probably might want to high up earlier than the day’s finish. That is nearly the one principal gripe I’ve with this cellphone. It is tremendous enjoyable and satisfying to make use of, appears nice within the new sizzling pink colour, and runs properly with a stable digital camera system. My professional tip? Look ahead to a sale.
That is the most affordable folding cellphone 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. You may’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 identical OLED 6.9-inch display with as much as a 120-Hz refresh fee. It retains the ultrawide as a substitute of the telephoto, and the digital camera system is total stable—not horrible, not superb. The 4,200-mAh battery does last more than the Razr+, although the system 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 cellphone is steadily on sale for $330, and it is a no-brainer for anybody on a funds. You get a big 6.6-inch AMOLED display with a 144-Hz display refresh fee and speedy efficiency because of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 chipset. It isn’t 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 along with your cellphone through Google Pockets, plus an IP68 water resistance score, making certain 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 day by day cellphone for 2 weeks, and it carried out remarkably properly. The 5,000-mAh battery comfortably lasts a full day with common use and sometimes can go properly 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 just a few gripes, although. The Edge makes use of a so-called waterfall show, the place the glass on the entrance curves into the sides for a extra immersive look. It definitely appears fancy, however I’ve had a number of moments the place my fingers holding the cellphone’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 shortly, however it’s annoying.
Second, the 50-MP principal digital camera has a little bit of shutter lag, which will be irritating if you’re attempting to seize shifting topics (like my canine, who will not sit nonetheless). The pics you will get out of it are stable, completely acceptable pictures throughout the day. The distinction is a bit too robust typically, and it would not deal with high-contrast scenes all that nice, however there’s good element. In low mild, you may encounter just a few extra blurry photographs as a result of that shutter lag and shaky palms, but when the situations are proper, you will get some sharp, in-focus pictures. That is the place a cellphone 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 assist. That is one in all Motorola’s largest weaknesses, however this is probably not as a lot of a difficulty at its frequent $330 sale value. When 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 the perfect Moto G cellphone proper now, which may be a given contemplating it is the priciest mannequin within the household. Nonetheless, for $400, it is the most effective smartphone values available on the market. Because the title suggests, it comes with a built-in stylus—the one different cellphone with that characteristic is Samsung’s $1,300 Galaxy S25 Extremely.
It is a slim and superbly blue cellphone. My mother mentioned it seemed good. Even a stranger stopped me to ask what cellphone 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 colour. You may 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 provide solely 128 gigs.
You get a 120-Hz AMOLED 6.7-inch display that is loads vivid in sunny situations, 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 hardly ever 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 simple to uninstall.
The 5,000-mAh battery in tow has steadily lasted a full day for me with roughly 35 % left by bedtime, with common to excessive use. It isn’t fairly a two-day cellphone. You may high it again up pretty shortly with Motorola’s 68-watt TurboPower charging system, however I’ve largely juiced it with my Qi wi-fi charger with no issues.
