Motorola’s next foldable phone is an Optus exclusive

Motorola is flexing on Samsung again but if you want to grab it on a postpaid plan you'll only have one option.

While the blueprint for the newly-announced Motorola Razr 50 isn’t too much of a deviation from its predecessors, the clamshell-style foldable does come with a few incremental improvements. The most visible of these is the larger cover display that the Razr 50 inherits from last year's Razr 40 Ultra. 

All told, the Motorola Razr 50 features a 6.9-inch pOLED on the inside and a 3.6-inch one on the outside. In addition to being larger, that external display comes protected by Corning's Gorilla Glass Victus.

The Razr 50 also improves on the IP52 rating for durability found in its predecessor with an IP68 one. On the inside, the handset is powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 7300X, 8GB of RAM and 256GB of on-board storage. The Razr 50 is also packing a 4200mAh battery with 30W fast charging and 15W wireless charging.

As is now the style, the Razr 50 also comes pre-loaded with a growing list of AI-powered bells and whistles. Similar to what Google and Samsung are doing nowadays, these inclusions promises greater customisation over the aesthetic of  the Hello UX skin wrapped around the version of Android here.

The camera system on the back of the Razr 50 is a more tangible upgrade to the formula. Motorola's latest foldable smartphone has a 50MP wide angle lens on the back of it, paired with a 13MP ultawide one. This setup is complemented by a 32MP selfie shooter on the interior, but should make for a surefire improvement on what you could do with the hardware on the previous model.

So far as colors are concerned, the Motorola Razr 50 comes in two vegan leather variants (Spritz Orange and Beach Sand) and a single vegan suede shade: Koala Grey.

In a statement, Motorola’s head of Greater Asia Pacific Kurt Bonnici reiterated Motorola’s commitment to offering its customers with a diverse range of options when it comes to foldable devices.

These improvements do come at a cost though. This year’s Motorola Razr 50 is $200 more expensive than last year’s Razr 40 was. In Australia, the new foldable starts at $1199.

It will also be available exclusively on a mobile plan through Optus. It's not yet clear if that's likely to a be limited time partnership, but Optus' head of devices Danni Calkin spoke highly of the arrangement regardless.

The Motorola Razr 50 is available in Australia from today.