The Best Motorola Phones, From Razr to Moto G (2026)

Motorola is rapidly growing thanks to its popular Razr foldables and feature-packed Moto G series. This comprehensive guide highlights the brand's pros, cons, and a deep dive into the flagship Razr Ultra (2026).

Motorola phones often play third (or fourth) fiddle to Samsung and Google, but the winds are changing. Motorola is among the fastest-growing mobile companies in the world, and the company’s Razr handsets are the most popular folding smartphones in the US. Motorola has also been experimenting with colorful Android phones and fun textures, making its devices stand out from the sea of boring glass handsets.

If you’re an interested buyer, picking the best Motorola phone can be tough because the company launches several models each year. I’ve tested almost all of them, and in this guide, I break down the pros and cons and steer you toward my favorite Moto models—from the Razr Ultra to the Moto G Power 2026.

What’s WIRED About Motorola Phones?

Motorola phones have a simple Android interface. This means the company hasn’t done much to gunk up the software. It’s simple and easy to use. There’s increasingly a lot of bloatware, but you can easily uninstall almost all of it.

They come with lots of storage. The company stuffs 256 GB as standard into many of its smartphones, even some of the cheaper models. Most Android flagship devices still come with just 128 GB of storage. Motorola is also one of the only phone brands to still include a microSD card slot to expand storage on many of its devices, and the Moto G phones retain the headphone jack.

There’s broad carrier support. While some Android phone brands have inconsistent carrier support in the US, like Nothing, Motorola phones often work on most networks, if not all.

The prices dip quite often. Never buy a Motorola phone at its MSRP. They almost always go on sale a few months (or weeks) after launch, sometimes at steep discounts.

What’s TIRED About Motorola Phones?

Motorola’s software updates are lackluster. The company is slowly improving here—it promises to deliver three Android OS updates and five years of bimonthly security updates for its high-end smartphones—the ultra-expensive Razr Fold gets seven years—but overall, it still lags behind its peers.

The cameras are lackluster. Among the things putting Motorola behind the likes of Samsung, Apple, and Google are the cameras.

There’s no always-on display. Motorola has Peek Display, which requires you to move the phone or tap the screen to see anything.

When's the Right Time to Buy?

If you’re looking for a budget Moto G smartphone, the company releases them at the beginning of the year in January. Wait for the next big sale event and check for slashed prices. As for its Razr folding phones, those arrived in the spring.

The Best Motorola Phone: Motorola Razr Ultra (2026)

The Razr Ultra is the best reason to get a Motorola phone over the likes of Samsung, Apple, and Google. It’s a statement piece, not just because it’s a compact folding flip phone, but because it’s stylish, whether you opt for the Alcantara finish or the elegant wood.

The spacious 4-inch OLED screen is quite customizable. Once you open it, you’re treated to a large 7-inch AMOLED display that’s sharp, bright, and smooth thanks to the 165-Hz refresh rate.

You get the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, 512 GB of storage, and 16 GB of RAM. The biggest and best improvement is the 5,000-mAh silicon-carbon battery. It’s remarkable to have a fairly compact phone with such a large battery capacity, easily lasting two full days.

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