The Best Motorola Phones (2025), Tested and Reviewed

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Motorola phones often play 3rd (or fourth) fiddle to Samsung and Google, but the winds are changing. Motorola is present 1 of the fastest-growing mobile companies successful the world, and the institution claims its Razr folding smartphones are the fig 1 successful the flip class successful North America. The institution has besides been experimenting with colorful Android phones and amusive textures, making its devices basal retired from the oversea of boring solid handsets.

If you’re an funny buyer, picking the champion Motorola telephone tin beryllium pugnacious due to the fact that the institution launches galore models each year. I’ve tested astir each of them, and successful this guide, I interruption down the pros and cons and steer you toward my favourite Moto models—from the Moto Razr to the Moto G Stylus 2025.

Check retired our mobile buying guides for more, including the Best Android Phones, Best Samsung Phones, Best Cheap Phones, Best Pixel Phones, and Best Phones With a Headphone Jack.

Updated April 2025: We've added the Moto G Stylus 2025 and Motorola's caller Razr devices.

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What’s WIRED About Motorola Phones

Photograph: Julian Chokkattu

Motorola phones person a elemental Android interface. This means the institution hasn’t done overmuch to gunk up the software. It’s elemental and casual to use. There’s progressively a batch of bloatware, but you tin easy uninstall astir each of it.

They travel with tons of storage. The institution stuffs 256 GB arsenic modular into astir of its smartphones, adjacent immoderate of the inexpensive models. Most Android flagship devices inactive travel with conscionable 128 GB. Motorola is besides 1 of the lone telephone brands to inactive see a microSD paper slot to grow retention connected galore of its devices, and the Moto G phones clasp the headphone jack.

There’s wide bearer support. While immoderate Android telephone brands person inconsistent bearer enactment successful the US, similar Nothing, Motorola phones often enactment connected astir if not each networks (the institution lists bearer enactment details successful the Specs conception of each its phones). They each enactment connected the large three—T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon. Make definite you bargain them unlocked.

The prices dip rather often. Never bargain a Motorola telephone astatine its MSRP. They astir ever spell connected merchantability a fewer months (or weeks) aft launch, sometimes astatine steep discounts.

What’s TIRED About Motorola Phones

Motorola’s bundle updates are lackluster. The institution is dilatory improving here—it promises to present 3 Android OS updates and 4 years of bimonthly information updates to its high-end smartphones but inactive lags down its peers. Most of the Moto G phones lone person 1 OS Android update—though this is changing successful 2025 with caller devices getting two upgrades—along with 3 years of information updates. Fewer updates mean you miss retired connected caller Android features quickly. Even if a telephone is promised updates, they instrumentality a long clip to arrive.

The cameras are lackluster. Among the things putting Motorola down the likes of Samsung and Google are the cameras. Moto phones tin instrumentality fine photos but they’re eclipsed by their peers. Motorola made immoderate improvements with its high-end phones but it's inactive behind.

There’s nary always-on display. Most Android phones person a mounting you tin toggle connected if you privation an always-on show that volition amusement a timepiece connected your surface adjacent erstwhile the surface is “off.” Motorola has Peek Display, which requires you to determination the telephone oregon pat the surface to spot anything. It’s not a large deal, but it's a diagnostic you mightiness miss if you’re coming from different phone. The 2024 Razr devices yet broke the mold with always-on displays, but it's inactive not contiguous successful different devices.

The Best Motorola Phone

If you're going to bargain a Motorola and wealth isn't overmuch of a concern, it should beryllium a connection telephone similar the Razr+ (2024). This third-gen folding flip smartphone (7/10, WIRED Recommends) is overmuch much refined, adding features you've travel to expect successful a modern-day handset, similar an IPX8 h2o absorption standing that keeps it harmless from dips successful the excavation and a agleam 165-Hz OLED surface that is casual to work successful sunny conditions. And yes, you tin flip unfastened the telephone to reply a telephone and flip it unopen to extremity it.

When closed, the enlarged 4-inch OLED screen surface tin amusement you notifications, apps, and useful widgets to cheque the weather, calendar events, and news. It adjacent lets you play immoderate amusive mini-games. You tin usage the superior superior cameras—typically connected the “back” of the telephone but are present astatine the front—to drawback selfies and spot previews connected this outer screen. They’re immoderate of the sharpest selfies you’ll snap.

Open it up and there's a 6.9-inch surface that functions similar a modular phone. There's inactive a crease connected the surface wherever the instrumentality folds, but I didn't find it annoying. It's powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chipset, a somewhat lesser-performing processor versus the flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 recovered connected different high-end Android devices successful 2024. That said, show was smooth, acknowledgment to the 12 GB of RAM, adjacent erstwhile playing games. You get different standard-fare accouterments similar NFC for tap-to-pay via Google Wallet, wireless charging, and 256 GB of interior storage.

This Razr+ exclusively uses Motorola's caller Photo Enhancement Engine, which the institution says uses artificial quality to nutrient amended images. Indeed, these photos are immoderate of the champion you'll drawback connected immoderate Motorola phone, but it's inactive playing catch-up with overmuch of the competition. Photos instrumentality immoderate clip to process, too, truthful you'll person to get utilized to that. It's not a cleanable camera system, but I was mostly blessed with astir of the results.

I privation Motorola had kept the ultrawide camera. In its predecessor, utilizing the beforehand surface arsenic a preview made it elemental to instrumentality selfies with others. Now, with the default 50-MP main camera, fitting much radical into the framework is simply a challenge. The ultrawide has been replaced by a 2X telephoto lens. While I'm usually a instrumentality of zooming in, the zoom level is underwhelming, and the prime is mediocre.

There's a 4,000-mAh artillery connected the Razr+, and it'll get you done a afloat time with mean use, but dense users astir apt volition request to apical up earlier the day's end. That's conscionable astir the lone main gripe I person with this phone. It's ace amusive and satisfying to use, looks large successful the caller blistery pinkish color, and runs good with a coagulated camera system. My pro tip? Wait for a sale.

This is the cheapest folding telephone you tin bargain successful the US, particularly connected sale. Compared to the Razr+, the Razr (7/10, WIRED Recommends) has a somewhat smaller beforehand screen. You can't spot as overmuch accusation astatine a glance, but it's inactive large capable to presumption immoderate apps, notifications, and entree widgets. Inside is simply a akin OLED 6.9-inch surface with up to a 120-Hz refresh rate. It retains the ultrawide alternatively of the telephoto, and the camera strategy is wide solid—not horrible, not amazing. The 4,200-mAh artillery does past longer than the Razr+, though the instrumentality falls abbreviated successful performance. Powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 7300 with 8 GB of RAM, I conscionable encountered much sluggish behaviour that sometimes made it annoying to use.


The Best Trad Moto Phone

This telephone is often connected merchantability for $330, and it's a no-brainer for anyone connected a budget. You get a ample 6.6-inch AMOLED surface with a 144-Hz surface refresh complaint and speedy show acknowledgment to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 chipset. It's not a flagship chipset, but capable to present snappy app launches and lag-free gameplay, and it's leagues amended than the show you'll find connected the different Motorola phones featured below.

It has each the basics from NFC truthful you tin wage with your telephone via Google Wallet, positive an IP68 h2o absorption rating, ensuring it won't succumb to a driblet successful the pool. It supports wireless charging, comes with 256 GB of storage, and packs immoderate beauteous large Dolby Atmos stereo speakers. I utilized it arsenic my regular telephone for 2 weeks, and it performed remarkably well. The 5,000-mAh artillery comfortably lasts a afloat time with mean usage and often tin spell good into the 2nd time earlier a top-up. Use the Edge heavily, and it's firmly successful the charge-once-a-day territory.

I bash person a fewer gripes, though. The Edge uses a alleged waterfall display, wherever the solid connected the beforehand curves into the edges for a much immersive look. It surely looks fancy, but I've had respective moments wherever my fingers holding the phone's edges disrupted an enactment I was trying to implicit with my different hand. This has agelong been an contented connected phones with curved screens. It's casual to get utilized to and set your grip quickly, but it's annoying.

Second, the 50-MP main camera has a spot of shutter lag, which tin beryllium frustrating erstwhile you're trying to seizure moving subjects (like my dog, who won't beryllium still). The pics you tin get retired of it are solid, perfectly acceptable images during the day. The opposition is simply a small excessively beardown sometimes, and it doesn't grip high-contrast scenes each that great, but there's bully detail. In debased light, you'll brushwood a fewer much blurry photos owed to that shutter lag and shaky hands, but if the conditions are right, you tin get immoderate sharp, in-focus shots. This is wherever a telephone similar the Google Pixel 9a handily beats the Edge 2024.

Unfortunately, Motorola promises lone 2 Android OS upgrades (up to Android 16) and 3 years of information updates to the Edge 2024. The Pixel 9a volition get 7 years of bundle support. This is 1 of Motorola's biggest weaknesses, but this whitethorn not beryllium arsenic overmuch of an contented astatine its predominant $330 merchantability price. If you're wondering astir a successor, the Motorola Edge launched successful June 2024, truthful you tin expect a follow-up this summer.


Best Moto G Phone

The Moto G Stylus 2025 is the champion Moto G telephone close now, which mightiness beryllium a fixed considering it's the priciest exemplary successful the family. Still, for $400, it's 1 of the champion smartphone values connected the market. As the sanction suggests, it comes with a built-in stylus—the lone different telephone with that diagnostic is Samsung’s $1,300 Galaxy S25 Ultra.

This is simply a slim and beautifully bluish phone. My ma said it looked nice. Even a alien stopped maine to inquire what telephone I was using! The Surf the Web bluish truly pops with the vegan leather back, though you tin get it successful a much muted Gibraltar Sea color. You'll announcement a headphone jack connected the bottom, a rarity successful today's smartphone climate, and popular unfastened the SIM tray to find a spot to adhd a microSD card, different rapidly disappearing feature. Motorola besides includes 256 GB of storage, a bully bump compared to pricier smartphones that connection lone 128 gigs.

You get a 120-Hz AMOLED 6.7-inch surface that's plentifulness agleam successful sunny conditions, and satisfactory, stutter-free show with the Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 chipset. It mightiness not consciousness the speediest, but this is the smoothest-performing Moto G; I've seldom seen choppy animations successful the interface. Speaking of, there's a bully woody of bloatware apps successful the Android 15 operating system, but they're casual to uninstall.

The 5,000-mAh artillery successful tow has often lasted a afloat time for maine with astir 35 percent near by bedtime, with mean to precocious use. It's not rather a two-day phone. You tin apical it backmost up reasonably rapidly with Motorola's 68-watt TurboPower charging system, but I've mostly juiced it with my Qi wireless charger with nary problems.

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