Motorola is winning the foldable war and it's leaving Samsung in the dust

Not that many years ago, in the heady days of 2019, Motorola was looked upon with a sort of pity. Its latest attempt at relaunching the Razr brand was met with a resounding "eh."

Samsung, having already launched its first Galaxy Fold, quickly took the lead, leaving Motorola behind as it tried to regain its legacy.

However, Motorola rapidly regained its trust, and in 2026, it seems to be the only smartphone maker that's making (mostly) the right decisions.

While its devices certainly aren't perfect, they exhibit a purer approach to Android that is lacking in Google and Samsung's flagships. This approach has not only won us over, but it seems to be working for Motorola as well.

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By  Ben Khalesi

Motorola has finally married popularity with success

Profits don't always align with popularity

We look upon the Motorola Razr as one of the best phones of the pre-smartphone era. Indeed, it appeared to do well for Motorola, as the Razr is the best-selling clamshell phone of all time.

However, despite massive sales and user popularity, Motorola couldn't sustain long-term success. The phone's low price couldn't balance out the high manufacturing costs, and Motorola failed to innovate on the successful design. Fortunately for Motorola, history isn't repeating itself.

After a rocky start, Motorola finally found success with its recent Moto Razr devices. AP's Stephen Radochia named the Razr+ 2024 as his device of choice in 2025, and our Razr 2025 review was equally glowing.

Part of what won us over is that Motorola managed to make its flip phones affordable, which was one of our biggest problems with Samsung's Z Flip line.

Motorola also introduced great features like a fully functional cover screen while maintaining solid performance and battery life.

These efforts led Motorola to be the top foldable phone manufacturer in the US, cornering a whopping 50% of the foldable market.

Motorola and Samsung are the biggest names in the foldable market, and the comparison has parallels with the classic Windows vs. macOS rivalry.

On one side, you have cheaper, functional devices that dominate the market, while on the other side, you have premium devices that cater to a smaller, but loyal fanbase.

Motorola has finally landed on a winning strategy, and it looks to be maintaining it as it prepares for the launch of its first book-style foldable.

The Razr Fold might be late to the party, but it's all the better for it

Learn from the mistakes of your predecessor

Google's first foldable phone had all the hallmarks of a first attempt. While it offered a fantastic outer screen and high-quality cameras, the inner display and software couldn't compete with Samsung's refined Z Fold series.

While Google later refined the design into the excellent Pixel 10 Pro Fold, it was the perfect example of why we should be wary of new designs.

While we haven't received the Razr Fold for review yet, we saw the device at MWC 2026 and walked away impressed.

Unlike the flip-style Razr Phones, which were relatively affordable, Motorola is marketing the Razr Fold as a premium device with a €2,000/£1,800 price tag (US pricing is yet to be revealed). It's high, but the manufacturer is packing in as many features as it can to make the price easier to swallow.

The Razr Fold packs a 6,000mAh battery, 512GB storage, 16GB of RAM, Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 chipset, and an 8.1-inch OLED inner display. You can see the full specs on Motorola's UK website.

We have not heard that the Razr Fold's hardware in the US will differ from that in the UK.

All of this is subject to review. While the Razr Fold has impressed us on first look, there's still a chance it could fall apart under close inspection. Nevertheless, it's still a device to be excited about and one that could cement Motorola as the foldable king.

Motorola still needs to make changes despite its success

Come on Motorola, you're so close to perfection

While Motorola is on track to succeed where others have failed, it hasn't addressed some of our biggest problems with its phones.

For example, while Google and Samsung offer seven years of software support on their flagship devices, Motorola only offered a paltry three years on its $1,300 Razr Ultra.

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While we can forgive lackluster software support on budget devices, three years of software support on a phone this expensive is inexcusable.

There's also the problem of bloatware. It's one of the worst offenders in this category, packing its phones with a frustrating amount of apps and folders that need to be manually removed. It contradicts the premium feel of Motorola's hardware.

Finally, there's AI. While I never expected Motorola to ignore AI (although I did fantasize about it), I hoped for something unique.

Instead, Motorola phones ship with the most underwhelming suite of AI features on any smartphone. At this level of effort, I don't understand why it bothered to introduce it in the first place.

Despite its flaws, Motorola is the manufacturer I'm betting on in 2026

I've been a loyal Pixel user for years, as, despite its many flaws, Google has consistently provided me with a good Android phone. I've never considered a Pixel phone I've owned to be "bad," and I could easily see myself with my Pixel 10 Pro in 2030.

My decision to use Pixel phones is mostly due to practicality. I need a reliable device that works whenever I pick it up; I don't care about flashy features or hardware.

So while I don't think I'll be buying a Razr Fold in 2026, if Motorola maintains its success, I may be jumping ship for the first time since 2018.