Motorola’s Razr Flex Might Be the iPhone Mini Fans Have Been Waiting For. It Just Happens to Fold

Motorola’s wide foldable finally has a name, the Razr Flex, and a full spec sheet leaked this week ahead of a launch expected in mid-December. Wide foldables, which open into a short, tablet-like screen instead of a tall, narrow one, have become this year’s hottest phone shape since Samsung and Apple both jumped in. Here’s what the Razr Flex gets right, where it falls short of the Galaxy Z Fold 8 and iPhone Duo, and why its size might be the whole point.

Closed, It’s Shorter Than an iPhone Mini

This is the number that surprised us most. Folded, the Razr Flex is just 110mm tall. The iPhone 13 mini, the last small iPhone and a phone people still hunt for on the used market, stood 131.5mm tall. So the Razr Flex is about 2cm shorter than the smallest modern iPhone.

The trade-off is width and thickness. At 76mm wide, it’s a bit wider than the mini, and at 12.6mm thick when closed, it’s chunky. In your pocket, it’ll feel more like a small, thick wallet than a slab phone.

We think that’s a smart bet. Plenty of people have been asking for a small phone for years, and the market answered with bigger and bigger screens. The Razr Flex offers a compact phone when it’s closed and a 6.92-inch screen when you need more room, which is about the size of a large regular phone today.

The Screens: Small but Fast

The inner screen uses a 2364 x 1728 resolution, which works out to roughly a 4:3 shape, the same proportions as an iPad. That’s what makes it a “wide” foldable. When you open a traditional book-style foldable, you get a squarish screen that’s taller than it’s wide, which leaves videos with thick black bars. A 4:3 screen fits video, photos, and documents much better.

It also runs at 165Hz, meaning it can refresh the image 165 times a second. Most flagship foldables stop at 120Hz, so scrolling and games should feel noticeably smoother. We estimate sharpness at about 423 PPI on the inside and about 418 PPI on the cover screen, both comfortably sharp.

The 4.97-inch cover screen is the one to think about. It’s small by 2026 standards, and at 1736 x 1140, it has a wider-than-usual shape. Typing on it will feel cramped compared with a regular phone, especially if you have big thumbs. If you plan to use your phone closed most of the time, that’s a real consideration.

How It Compares With Samsung, Apple, and Motorola’s Own Fold

	Razr Flex	Galaxy Z Fold 8	iPhone Duo	Razr Fold
Inner screen	6.92 inches	7.6 inches	7.6 inches	8.1 inches
Cover screen	4.97 inches	5.5 inches	5.4 inches	6.6 inches
Battery	5,000mAh	4,800mAh	5,400mAh	6,000mAh
Weight	215g	201g	254g	243g
Thickness (closed)	12.6mm	9.7mm	N/A	9.89mm
Price	TBA	$1,899	From $1,999	$1,899.99

The Razr Flex is the smallest phone here, and the size gap with Samsung is the story. Yet it still carries a bigger battery than the Fold 8, which is impressive. It’s not magic, though. The extra capacity comes at the cost of nearly 3mm more thickness when closed.

Apple’s iPhone Duo is the heavyweight at 254g, and if you want to see how those two very different ideas of a wide foldable play out, our iPhone Duo vs Galaxy Z Fold 8 comparison breaks down the $350 gap between them.

Where Motorola Cut Corners

Every compact phone makes compromises, and the leak makes Motorola’s clear.

• No telephoto camera. You get a 50MP main and a 50MP ultrawide, with “30x” digital zoom that’s really just cropping. The Razr Fold and Galaxy Z Fold 8 both have a dedicated zoom lens. If you shoot a lot of portraits or concerts, you’ll notice.
• One storage option. 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, with no microSD slot. That’s fine for most people but tight for heavy video shooters.
• Wireless charging tops out at 25W. It uses Qi2, the magnetic wireless charging standard that works with MagSafe-style accessories, which is nice. Wired charging speed hasn’t leaked yet.
• The chip is a question mark. Some listings say Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, others say Snapdragon 8 Gen 5, a step below. The Razr Fold uses the non-Elite chip, so we’d bet on that.

On the plus side, there’s a side-mounted fingerprint reader in the power button, a dedicated AI button, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6.0, and a physical SIM slot, which the full leaked spec list confirms.

What IP48 and IP49 Mean for You

The Razr Flex is rated IP48 and IP49. The first digit covers solids: a 4 means it blocks objects larger than 1mm, like wires or small screws, but it’s not dust-tight. That’s normal for foldables, because hinges have gaps. The 8 means it survives being dunked in water, and the 9 means it can handle high-pressure, hot water jets.

In plain terms: rain, spills, and a drop in the sink are fine. A day at the beach with sand blowing around is still a risk. That’s true of nearly every foldable on the market.

Motorola Now Has Three Ways to Fold

With the Razr Flex, Motorola will sell three foldable shapes:

1. The Razr flip phones, which fold top to bottom like a classic flip phone.
2. The Razr Fold, a full-size book-style foldable at $1,899.99, which just landed at Verizon with a $50 markup.
3. The Razr Flex, a compact wide foldable.

That’s an aggressive lineup for a company that holds roughly half of the US foldable market, mostly through flip phones. It also creates a naming headache. “Razr” used to mean flip phone. Now it’s a family, and shoppers will need the spec sheet to tell them apart.

Price will decide everything. Motorola hasn’t said a word, but the Flex’s smaller screens, missing telephoto, and single storage tier all point to a price well below the Razr Fold. Our view: anything above $1,499 would be a hard sell next to a Fold 8 that’s been on shelves since August and will likely see holiday deals. Around $1,199 to $1,299, it could be the easiest way into a wide foldable.

The mid-December timing is also odd. It misses Black Friday and lands just before the holidays, which could mean a China-first launch with the US to follow. We’d wait for Motorola to confirm US carriers and pricing before getting too excited.

FAQs

What is a wide foldable, and why is everyone making one?

It’s a book-style foldable whose inner screen opens into a wide, tablet-like shape instead of a tall square. Videos and apps fit better with fewer black bars. 

Is the iPhone Duo worth $1,999?

For Apple fans who want a foldable, it’s the only option, and it’s well built. But it’s heavy at 254g and costs more than most rivals. Apple’s iPhone Duo makes the most sense if you already live in Apple’s ecosystem and want one device to replace your phone and tablet.

Which company sells the most foldable phones?

Samsung has long led globally, while Huawei dominates in China and Motorola does well in the US thanks to cheaper flip phones.

Can you get a wide-screen phone without a fold?

Yes. Huawei’s widescreen phone that ditches the hinge uses a regular, non-folding panel in a wider shape. You avoid crease and hinge worries, and it costs less, but you lose the bigger screen that folding gives you.

Is Samsung’s next tri-fold coming soon?

Reports suggest Samsung is speeding up its second tri-fold, which unfolds twice into a small tablet, to answer Apple’s foldable push. The Galaxy Z TriFold 2 timeline points to an earlier launch than expected, though pricing will likely sit well above regular foldables.

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