I'm giving Motorola another chance
Hello Moto.
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I used to be a big supporter of Motorola. I've used their products — both consumer products like phones and industrial products like remote terminal units — and thought they were best in class. As far as phones go, the first Moto X is still one of the best and most innovative devices ever made in my opinion.
Then Google lost interest in the company, and it ended up being bought by Lenovo, one of my least favorite manufacturers. Mediocre products with terrible support meant I was happy to tell anyone that you should never buy a product with a Motorola logo on it.
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I wasn't happy about this. Motorola had fallen from the company that made both the best "flagship" phone in the Moto X and the best budget phone in the Moto G to a company I couldn't recommend with a clear conscious. Rehashing the same thing year after year and having a pricing strategy that made no sense made their products forgettable, and failing to support them once they were sold made them regrettable.
Motorola may not be the "American-made" company they once were, but the way the company is turning itself around shouldn't be dismissed. I think one of their phones in particular — The 2024 Razr — is once again the best in class.
I don't use a foldable and really don't see myself using them in the immediate future. I don't think they are a fad though, and I honestly believe they will become mainstream in the coming years. Companies aren't going to stop making "regular" phones, but foldables will gain significant market share eventually.
I have a few reasons for resisting. I really do love the flip form factor and phones like the Galaxy Z Flip and the Razr are functional and fun to use. I'm not in love with the plastic screens, I think they have inherent durability issues, but most of all I hate the price. I'm never going to buy a Z Flip or a Razr when I can get a Pixel 8a for hundreds less and have every feature except flipping it open.
I know folding phones are more expensive because making them costs a lot more. But Motorola has the right idea here by releasing both the Razr Plus and a more price-friendly Razr. Samsung could do the same (and maybe it will) by announcing a Z Flip FE but Motorola is doing it now.
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This ties in with the company's marketing and advertising push which feels a lot like something we would see from Samsung or Apple. It's well done, and not a bunch of numbers for nerds to fight about. It shows how fun these phones are and people want something fun. As Android Central's EiC Shruti Shekar points out, Samsung needs to worry about this because Motorola is doing it better.
Of course, Motorola still makes budget phones and the lineup is still too confusing. I think that the company can meld the Razr marketing into something that works as well for $200 phones, letting you know why you might want one. Websites like AC can still analyze the devices, pointing out both the flaws and features if you need more information before you buy but Moto is making sure you know they exist.
The one concern I still have is product support. I don't mean some silly promise about seven OS upgrades (your phone is not going to last that long nor will it be able to include all the goodies seven years from now); I mean supporting the products they sell for a reasonable lifespan. I would love to see a reasonable security patch schedule as well as prompt attention to the inevitable bugs that will pop up.
This is one area where Motorola slid from the top of the hill to the sewer and that leaves plenty of room for improvement. Motorola has pledged that it will improve, giving a schedule it can live up to for planned updates and it should have a team in place that can handle any pressing bugs.
I'm willing to believe the company. It has shown me that it does take great pride in its products and it is spending time and money to market them. Supporting them well would be the logical choice.
Times are tough right now. They are slowly getting better and that means more people will have the means to do things like buy a new phone. It really looks like Motorola realizes this and is willing to spend money to try and make money. I think what they are doing is great and I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.
My endorsement or my purchase doesn't mean much for Motorola's bottom line. But I am a firm believer that we all should "vote with our wallets" and strive to buy products and support companies we think are doing the right thing. Motorola has the right ideas when it comes to selling foldables and offers a great line of affordable products. It's working to sort out its marketing and appeal to regular folks like us and that's something we all should get behind.
Jerry is an amateur woodworker and struggling shade tree mechanic. There's nothing he can't take apart, but many things he can't reassemble. You'll find him writing and speaking his loud opinion on Android Central and occasionally on Threads.
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dennygreen I wouldn't recommend it. I've tried a couple Motorola phones in the last couple years and they've had some pretty big problems. The G7 Power and 2020 G Power were fine though.Reply -
SeeBeeEss Sadly, Lenovo Beijing began immediately destroying the Motorola brand when it acquired it in 2014. If you take the time to read the current Motorola/Lenovo boards (and I would suggest that you would be wise to do so if contemplating buying the brand) you will see that little has changed in the intervening ten years. They are still among the "worst-in-class" for both updates and support. Are you a gambler? Do you have plenty of cash to burn? Why spend the money to go to Vegas? Buy yourself a Motorola and see if you can beat the house odds.Reply -
vespajet I bought my first Motorola phone a few years ago (Motorola One 5G Ace, replacing a OnePlus device that was several years old and not being supported by OnePlus outside of security updates.) and I've stayed with them. Bought the regular 2023 Razr last Fall off of eBay for a decent price and just upgraded to the 2024 Razr+ (With the preorder price, trade-in and trade-in bonus from ordering directly from Motorola it was too good of a deal to pass up. Not to mention it arrived before it was on store shelves.). One of the reasons why I dropped my 5G Ace for the Razr was because the expected upgrade to Android 13 never happened. I'm planning on keeping this one for a decent amount of time (Probably until the 2026 model comes out.). For me, the Razr is my kind of phone, as I've been the sort to go for phones that are a bit different (I've had phones like the Blackberry Passport and the Blackberry Priv.). Even with multiple foldable phones on the market, you don't see as many of the "flip" style ones out in the wild as you do the "fold" style ones. I was at a bar in Vegas last December and a patron thought my Razr was a pager (Which still exists, even in the smartphone era.).Reply -
ByoDyne My first Android phone was the Motorola Droid X in 2010. I purchased the G Power 2023 and just upgraded to the G Stylus 2024. I will continue to buy Motorola phones as long as they continue to have a headphone jack which I use daily as nobody else seems to want to offer them anymore.Reply -
Chirs23 One thing that Motorola does better than just about any other Android manufacturer is to be pretty chill about allowing you to unlock the bootloader. I make a point of buying a previous "flagship" that's being closed out for dirt cheap but is either still current on its OS level or has another Android upgrade left. Once the warranty expires, I load LineageOS and use it as long as the maintainers provide updates. It helps that I really tend to like their phones too. Right now, I'm using a 2020 Edge with LineageOS 20 (and hoping for 21/Android 14).Reply -
planetjeffy I bought our family Moto phones from 2016 to 2020 but they tended to break. I liked the form and function but they never lasted 2 years and often quit functioning at 1 year. My Lenovo laptops last 5+ years. I'm pretty happy with my Xiaomi phone. I'm on my 3rd. $350 and they take a beating. I get regular updates and while photos aren't mind blowing - they are good enough.Reply -
DominiMMIV What exactly do you mean "won't last that long"? I am still using a 12 year old HTC One X+ as a media hub. Of course the battery life has taken a hit and I certainly don't use it as a daily driver-but it still works and has a use. Despite it being so old it's form function and build is still one of my favorites. Phones are a lot more powerful than in 2012 so I think I may still have a use for my Pixel 8a in 2030 AND it will have up to date software.Reply -
kiniku Regardless of manufacturer, all flip phones present several significant sacrifices compared to traditional slab phones. So you have to strongly prefer flip phones first to balance their downsides.Reply
Even the folding phones have drawbacks, and they are twice the price of their flips.
Not there yet.