The Best Motorola Phones (2025), Tested and Reviewed Leave a comment
Motorola telephones usually play third (or fourth) fiddle to Samsung and Google, however the winds are altering. Motorola is now one of many fastest-growing mobile companies on the 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.
For those who’re an purchaser, selecting the perfect Motorola telephone could 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 Finest Android Telephones, Finest Samsung Telephones, Finest Low cost Telephones, Finest Pixel Telephones, and Finest 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 achieved a lot to gunk up the software program. It’s easy and simple to make use of. There’s more and more plenty of bloatware, however you may simply uninstall nearly all of it.
They arrive with a lot of storage. The corporate stuffs 256 GB as commonplace 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 telephone manufacturers to nonetheless embody a microSD card slot to increase storage on lots of its units, and the Moto G telephones retain the headphone jack.
There’s broad service assist. Whereas some Android telephone manufacturers have inconsistent service assist within the US, like Nothing, Motorola telephones usually work on most if not all networks (the corporate lists carrier support details within the Specs part of all its telephones). All of them work on the massive three—T-Cellular, AT&T, and Verizon. Be sure you purchase them unlocked.
The costs dip very often. By no means purchase a Motorola telephone at its MSRP. They nearly all the time go on sale a couple of months (or weeks) after launch, generally at steep reductions.
What’s TIRED About Motorola Telephones
Motorola’s software program updates are lackluster. The corporate is slowly bettering 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 rapidly. Even when a telephone is promised updates, they take a lengthy 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 images however they’re eclipsed by their friends. Motorola made some enhancements with its high-end telephones nevertheless it’s nonetheless behind.
There’s no always-on show. Most Android telephones have a setting you may toggle on in order for you an always-on show that can 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 a giant deal, nevertheless it’s a characteristic you would possibly miss in case you’re coming from one other telephone. The 2024 Razr units lastly broke the mildew with always-on shows, nevertheless it’s nonetheless not current in different units.
The Finest Motorola Telephone
If you are going to purchase a Motorola and cash is not a lot of a priority, it ought to be a press release telephone just like the Razr+ (2024). This third-gen folding flip smartphone (7/10, WIRED Recommends) is far more refined, including options you have come to anticipate in a modern-day handset, like an IPX8 water resistance score that retains it secure from dips within the pool and a vivid 165-Hz OLED display screen that’s straightforward to learn in sunny situations. And sure, you may 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 helpful widgets to test the climate, calendar occasions, and information. It even enables you to play some enjoyable mini-games. You need to use the superior main cameras—usually 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 features like a typical telephone. There’s nonetheless a crease on the display screen the place the gadget 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 stated, efficiency was clean, due to the 12 GB of RAM, even when enjoying 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+ completely makes use of Motorola’s new Photograph Enhancement Engine, which the corporate says makes use of synthetic intelligence to supply higher photographs. Certainly, these images are a few of the finest you will snap on any Motorola telephone, nevertheless it’s nonetheless enjoying catch-up with a lot of the competitors. Photographs take a while to course of, too, so you will should get used to that. It is not an ideal digital camera system, however I used to be usually proud of many of the outcomes.
I want Motorola had saved the ultrawide digital camera. 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 major digital camera, 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 degree 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 definitely might want to high up earlier than the day’s finish. That is nearly the one major gripe I’ve with this telephone. It is tremendous enjoyable and satisfying to make use of, appears nice within the new scorching pink colour, and runs nicely with a stable digital camera system. My professional tip? Anticipate 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 may’t see as a lot data at a look, nevertheless it’s nonetheless sufficiently big to view some apps, notifications, and entry widgets. Inside is the same OLED 6.9-inch display screen with as much as a 120-Hz refresh fee. It retains the ultrawide as an alternative of the telephoto, and the digital camera system is total stable—not horrible, not wonderful. The 4,200-mAh battery does last more than the Razr+, although the gadget falls quick in efficiency. Powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 7300 with 8 GB of RAM, I simply encountered extra sluggish conduct that generally made it annoying to make use of.
The Finest Trad Moto Telephone
This telephone is incessantly on sale for $330, and it is a no-brainer for anybody on a finances. You get a big 6.6-inch AMOLED display screen with a 144-Hz display screen refresh fee and speedy efficiency due to 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 will discover on the opposite Motorola telephones featured under.
It has all of the fundamentals from NFC so you may pay together with your telephone by way of 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 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 couple of 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 telephone’s edges disrupted an motion I used to be making an attempt 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 modify your grip rapidly, nevertheless it’s annoying.
Second, the 50-MP major digital camera has a little bit of shutter lag, which could be irritating once you’re making an attempt to seize shifting topics (like my canine, who will not sit nonetheless). The pics you may get out of it are stable, completely acceptable photographs in the course of the day. The distinction is a bit of too sturdy generally, and it would not deal with high-contrast scenes all that nice, however there’s good element. In low mild, you will encounter a couple of extra blurry images attributable to that shutter lag and shaky arms, but when the situations are proper, you may 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 assist. That is one among Motorola’s largest weaknesses, however this is probably not as a lot of a difficulty at its frequent $330 sale value. For those who’re questioning a couple of successor, the Motorola Edge launched in June 2024, so you may anticipate a follow-up this summer time.
Finest Moto G Telephone
The Moto G Stylus 2025 is the perfect Moto G telephone proper now, which is likely to be a given contemplating it is the priciest mannequin within the household. Nonetheless, for $400, it is probably the greatest smartphone values available on the market. Because the title 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 superbly blue telephone. My mother stated it seemed good. Even a stranger stopped me to ask what telephone I used to be utilizing! The Surf the Internet blue actually pops with the vegan leather-based again, although you may 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 screen that is a lot vivid in sunny situations, and passable, stutter-free efficiency with the Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 chipset. It may not 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 straightforward to uninstall.
The 5,000-mAh battery in tow has incessantly 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 may high 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.
