Motorola is expected to launch a suite of new Razr clamshell foldables on Wednesday, as well as its first book-style folding phone. The simply named Motorola Razr Fold will go up against other, similar devices like the Galaxy Z Fold 7, but it may only get a few months in the spotlight -- later this year, Apple's long-awaited iPhone Fold could debut and steal Motorola's thunder.

While Motorola has been competing with Samsung on annual clamshell foldables for years, it's stayed out of competing in the book-style folding phone niche until now. That makes the Motorola Razr Fold a novel new entry for the phone-maker, and CNET senior technology reporter Abrar Al-Heeti found it to be a keen rival to the Galaxy Z Fold 7 from her time with it at MWC 2026. 

"The Fold is an important device for Motorola. After growing significantly in the foldable market almost entirely through clamshell flip phones, Motorola is now making its first move into book-style foldables, which is the format that Apple is expected to enter later this year," said Francisco Jeronimo, vice president of client devices research at the International Data Corporation.

With standout specs, it could help Motorola continue growing its share of the North American foldables market, which rose to 44% in 2025, according to Counterpoint Research (up from 30% the year before). According to IDC data, Jeronimo said. Motorola holds around 50% of the US foldable market, roughly 55% in Latin America, and has grown its global share from about 6% to nearly 14%.

With new Razrs and the debut of the Fold, it should be Motorola's year to take on Samsung. But as often happens in the mobile market, all eyes turn to what Apple's doing. While rumors have swirled for years that a foldable iPhone was in the works, more evidence than ever suggests one will debut later in 2026 (presumably in the September release window alongside other iPhones). 

Motorola and Apple have a curious causal relationship: Motorola claims that 25% of people buying its Razr clamshell foldables are former iPhone users. When the Motorola Razr Fold is revealed, it could convert more folks too tired of waiting for Apple's folding phone. That is, if they don't wait just a little longer to see if their long-awaited iOS-running foldable will launch at last in September. A few sizable iPhone Fold rumors could convince fence-sitters to hold on.

At the moment, we still don't know much about the iPhone Fold -- starting with its name, which rumors have also suggested could be called the iPhone Ultra or iPhone Flip. The latter name was more rumored when Apple was supposedly angling to release a clamshell foldable first, but the latest leaks are heavily favoring a book-style folding device like the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and the Motorola Razr Fold. The rest of the details are murky, with recent CAD design file leaks suggesting it will be a wide-format foldable like the original Google Pixel Fold that launched in 2023. 

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In contrast, the Motorola Razr Fold is a known quantity. CNET's Al-Heeti has held it, finding the foldable to be slightly larger than the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold (6.6-inch external display, 8.1-inch internal screen) and somewhere between the two in weight (243 grams). It packs a triple 50-megapixel rear camera system, 32-megapixel selfie camera on the cover and 20-megapixel selfie shooter inside. It has a huge 6,000-mAh battery, 80-watt wired charging and an impressive 50-watt wireless charging. It's powered by a Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 processor and has an IP48 and IP49 rating for high water and middling dust resistance.

"Both screens are brighter than any rival foldable, and the 6,000-mAh battery outclasses the competition, while stylus support via the Moto Pen Ultra fills a gap that Samsung itself left open by dropping S Pen support from the Galaxy Z Fold 7," Jeronimo said.

That makes the Motorola Razr Fold a safer bet, though not completely safe, as it will be a first-generation device. I remember trying out the original Motorola Razr in late 2019 and seeing its proto-folding display leave a gap between the screen and the phone when closing or opening it. The phone industry has come a long way in developing folding screens since then, and Motorola in particular has continued refining its own tech -- I don't expect air gaps in the Motorola Fold, especially with that IP resistance rating. 

Even if the Motorola Razr Fold's spotlight gets stolen by rumors of the iPhone Fold, Apple's first-generation foldable will be a far more unknown quantity. Motorola, Samsung, and even Google have refined durability and design over the years. How close the iPhone Fold comes to its rivals has yet to be seen, but it will need to live up to Apple's famous commitment to design excellence. As some rumors have suggested, Apple has delayed production of the iPhone Fold while it sought to eliminate the screen crease over the foldable's hinge, and Samsung display concepts shown off at CES 2026 suggest that design wrinkle may have been ironed out. (Apple is reportedly tapping Samsung for the screens on its foldable.)

So Motorola will have its time in the sun. It remains to be seen whether Apple's foldable will arrive, and if it does, what shape it will be in. The ultimate winner will be all the folding phone fans and the foldable-curious who have been waiting for the right device to take the plunge -- and this year, there's more of them than ever to convince flat phone owners to get bendy.