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The Motorola Razr+ is $300 off in an early Black Friday deal
That brings the flip-style foldable phone down to a new low of $700.
If you're interested in a flip-style foldable phone, you effectively have two choices in the US: the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 and the Motorola Razr+. We think the former is ultimately better for most people, but the latter is still a worthy alternative, and now it's on sale for $700 at Amazon. That's the lowest price we've seen for an unlocked model outside of trade-in deals. Motorola normally sells the Razr+ for $1,000, though we've seen the phone fall between $800 and $900 a couple of times since it arrived in June. This deal is applicable to the black, magenta and blue versions of the device.
Photo by Cherlynn Low / Engadget
This is the lowest price we've seen for the unlocked version of Motorola's clamshell-style foldable phone. Other color finishes are also on sale.
We gave the Razr+ a score of 85 in our review. As with the Galaxy Z Flip 5, the Razr+'s biggest selling point is that you can fold it in half and make it easier to tuck away. The main display is a vibrant 6.9-inch OLED panel with a 165Hz refresh rate; fold it shut, and you can use a 3.6-inch OLED display around the back. One advantage the Razr+ has over Samsung's foldable is that it can run most Android apps on that outer display with less fuss. (The Galaxy Z Flip 5 limits its cover screen to a handful of widgets by default, though can you enable wider app support through the device's settings.) Not every app is optimized for such a tiny screen, but you can quickly fire off a text, reply to an email, pick a new Spotify playlist or do other phone things without having to actually open the device.
Beyond that, the Razr+'s cover display has a higher refresh rate (144Hz versus 60Hz) and pixel density (413 ppi versus 306 ppi) than that of the Galaxy Z Flip 5, plus it's 0.2 inches larger. It should last a little longer per charge, and its take on Android has more of a light touch than Samsung's One UI interface. It also supports slightly faster wired charging speeds.
That said, there are a few clear downsides. For one, we found the Razr's camera performance to be a step behind the Galaxy Z Flip 5. The hardware has a meager IP52 water-resistance rating — which means it can withstand some light rain but little more — whereas Samsung's phone has a more robust IPX8 rating. (Though you'll want to be delicate with either phone, as all foldables carry a greater risk of durability issues.) While it's not slow, it uses a year-old Snapdragon Galaxy 8+ Gen 1 chip, so its performance is a little less futureproof. And Motorola's update policy is less robust: It promises three major OS updates and bi-monthly security updates for the Razr+, while Samsung promotes four years of OS updates and five years of monthly security updates for the Galaxy Z Flip 5.
In the end, the main reason to consider the Razr+ is the bigger and more functional cover display, so if you're sold on the idea of a clamshell-style foldable, it's worth considering at this price. Just note that we may see a deal on Samsung's foldable as we get closer to Black Friday. One foldable we're less bullish on, however, is Motorola's midrange Razr: That one is also on sale for $500, but we found it to be too limited in our review.
Your Black Friday Shopping Guide: See all of Yahoo’s Black Friday coverage, here. Follow Engadget for Black Friday tech deals. Learn about Black Friday trends on In The Know. Hear from Autoblog’s experts on the best Black Friday deals for your car, garage, and home, and find Black Friday sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.
