{"id":92441,"date":"2025-08-24T01:05:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-24T01:05:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/92441\/"},"modified":"2025-08-24T01:05:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-24T01:05:10","slug":"the-motorola-razr-is-cool-but-foldables-are-still-a-gimmick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/92441\/","title":{"rendered":"The Motorola Razr+ is cool, but foldables are still a gimmick"},"content":{"rendered":"

Up until recently, I haven\u2019t spent much time using foldable phones. However, after trying out Motorola\u2019s 2024 Razr+ clamshell foldable for a couple of weeks, I\u2019m more certain than ever that foldables are mostly a gimmick.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not to say the Razr+ is a bad phone. Not by any stretch \u2014 I actually really like it. But I can\u2019t help thinking I\u2019d like it a little more if it didn\u2019t fold. Increasingly, the \u2018folding\u2019 nature of the phone feels more like a hindrance than a feature and I have a hard time thinking of any meaningful improvement that comes from folding.<\/p>\n

Before I go much further, I want to note that this isn\u2019t a review \u2014 we already reviewed the Razr+<\/a> and don\u2019t really need to rehash that. Instead, I\u2019m going to focus just on the foldable experience and my thoughts after trying it out.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve always had a somewhat negative view of foldables, even before I reviewed Microsoft\u2019s Surface Duo<\/a> and Duo 2<\/a> several years ago. The Duo phones are foldables in a very different way from what\u2019s available on the market today, but they suffer from the same core issue: sacrificing the convenience of a standard smartphone form factor for the \u201cbenefits of a foldable.\u201d But for me, the benefits don\u2019t stack up.<\/p>\n

The main advantages I saw with the Duo phones, and see with more modern foldables like the Galaxy Z Fold 7<\/a> and Pixel 10 Pro Fold<\/a>, are that you have constant access to a larger display. At a base level, this is somewhat compelling. You have a small computer in your pocket, and as needed, you can expand the display size. I see why people are interested in foldables.<\/p>\n

But what do you actually use the big screen for? I haven\u2019t figured that part out yet. Could I use it to watch videos? Sure, but most videos aren\u2019t designed for the weird aspect ratio of most foldable displays. And even though it\u2019s bigger than a typical phone screen, it\u2019s still not a big display. Most of the time, I\u2019d rather just watch on my (much, much larger) TV.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I could use the foldable screen to play games. But again, few games take advantage of that screen size. And there are better options for gaming, even if you want to game on the go. What else is there? Multitasking? That\u2019s basically just letting you use two, maybe three apps simultaneously. Scrolling TikTok and Twitter at the same time, just what I always wanted.<\/p>\n

Seriously though, foldable makers seem to push productivity use cases in their marketing, but I\u2019ve never found that compelling. If I actually want to get something done, I get my computer. Again, it is exceedingly rare that I need to do work and also don\u2019t have access to my laptop to do said work.<\/p>\n

And all of the above mostly applies to book-style foldables like the Fold 7 and Pixel Fold. Clamshell-style foldables like the Razr+ are in an even worse spot. The unfolded screen is just a taller phone screen, and it\u2019s not enough to enable effective multitasking. Instead, the main benefit of this type of foldable is that it gets smaller, and thus takes up less space in your pocket. Sure, it\u2019s about half the height of the average smartphone, but it\u2019s also twice as thick, so it doesn\u2019t feel like I\u2019m saving all that much space. What else is there?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

When it comes to using the Razr+, there isn\u2019t really a good way to do it. The small front screen is handy for quickly checking notifications, firing off short texts, or setting timers, but that\u2019s about it. If I\u2019m writing more than a couple words, the keyboard on the front screen feels too cramped and I have to open the thing up to do what I want to do.<\/p>\n

In fact, the constant need to \u2018open\u2019 the foldable to be able to do something useful is what ultimately turned me off of the Razr+. It added considerable friction to even simple phone tasks and it got to the point where if I wasn\u2019t putting the phone in my pocket, I\u2019d just leave it unfolded. For me, the benefits of this type of foldable couldn\u2019t justify the friction of using it. Once the novelty wore off, it was just annoying to use.<\/p>\n

Couple that with the downsides of foldables \u2014 the higher price, the reduced durability, the visible crease and the plasticy internal screen, to name a few things \u2014 and for me, it\u2019s a non-starter. Obviously, not everyone will agree with me, nor do I think everyone should. If foldables \u2014 be it book-style or clamshell \u2014 work for you, that\u2019s great! I hope you continue to enjoy using them. But this little experiment confirmed for me that foldables aren\u2019t for me.<\/p>\n

MobileSyrup may earn a commission from purchases made via our links, which helps fund the journalism we provide free on our website. These links do not influence our editorial content. Support us here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Up until recently, I haven\u2019t spent much time using foldable phones. However, after trying out Motorola\u2019s 2024 Razr+…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":92442,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[49,48,1122,61],"class_list":["post-92441","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-foldables","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92441","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92441"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92441\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/92442"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}