The Best Motorola Phones (2025), Tested and Reviewed

If its performance was a little better, this bike would be a home run. It’s worth considering if money is tight, but go for the Moto G Stylus if you can (even if you don’t care for the stylus). Keep in mind that Motorola will likely announce a new version in early 2026.

Other Motorola Phones to Consider

I suggest you stick to the phones above, but here are some other alternatives if you’re not satisfied.

Motorola Edge 2025 for $400: Motorola is one of the few companies still making smartphones with waterfall displays, where the edges of the screen blend into the frame of the phone for a cool, almost bezel-less effect. Popular just a few years ago, the trend went out of fashion because it was simply harder to use the phone (glasses can be good!). I didn’t have as many issues with this model’s touchscreen, and while I think the overall aesthetic is nice with the vegan leather back, the Edge doesn’t impress as much as the tough competition with its $550 MSRP. Performance is a little too choppy at this price (I noticed a lot of lag in the camera app). The main camera is solid, but the lackluster software update policy makes it hard to recommend. It’s a much better deal when it drops during major sales events.

Motorola Razr+ (2025) for $650: The Razr+ is identical to the Razr+ (2024), except it uses Motorola’s titanium-reinforced hinge for improved durability. The specs are otherwise the same, but they fall into a happy medium where they don’t offer a massive improvement over the Razr 2025, but aren’t too far off from the Razr Ultra. You might find the lack of an ultra-wide camera annoying, especially for group selfies, and the battery here is the smallest in the current lineup. You can always save money and buy last year’s Razr+ (7/10, WIRED recommends), which offers good performance and solid cameras, but I highly recommend waiting for a sale. This phone is down to $580, which is fantastic for a foldable phone.

Photography: Julian Chokkattu

Moto G Play 2026 for $180: Motorola’s cheapest phone still finds itself in a tough spot. Yes, for less than $200, this is a serviceable handset now with 5G connectivity. You get two days of battery life, a headphone jack, expandable storage, and a pretty cool design. But the MediaTek Dimensity 6300 chip with 4GB of RAM is very slow: be prepared to wait a second or two, sometimes more, for an app to launch or a web page to load. Photo quality is fair; most of my images have dull colors. I took several calls and the people on the other end were generally complaining about my audio quality, which is not great. It’s nice that this ultra-budget phone is getting two Android OS updates, but when the Moto G Power 2025 is on sale for $190 at Amazon and generally offers faster performance, double the storage, and better camera quality, the Play is hard to justify. Motorola also announced the upcoming Moto G 2026 ($200), but it’s virtually the same as the Play except with 128GB of storage and improved cameras. I would at least choose this model, considering the $20 price difference. But really, get the Moto G Power 2025 on sale (or wait a few months for the inevitable Moto G Power 2026).

Which Motorola Phones to Avoid

Motorola Moto G2025

Photography: Julian Chokkattu

The value of Motorola phones is decreasing quite quickly. You should avoid buying Moto G phones from 2024 or earlier. They probably won’t receive any more Android version updates and the prices aren’t drastically different from the latest models. I also no longer recommend buying the Moto G 2025 since its successor is almost here. Last year’s Motorola Edge 2024 or the aforementioned Razr+ 2024 are the oldest I’d go for, so don’t consider anything else.

Competition

Photography: Julian Chokkattu

Motorola’s main competitors come from Google, Nothing and Samsung. If you asked me which phone to buy, I’d tell you the Google Pixel 9a ($499). It has most of the features people look for in a smartphone, including wireless charging. Nothing also has new devices, the Phone (3a) and Phone (3a) Pro. These are attractive, stylish and affordable handsets, although carrier compatibility isn’t as straightforward. Nothing’s CMF sub-brand also offers an equally excellent $279 phone, the CMF Phone 2 Pro.