I don't understand what Motorola expects its underpowered iPhone Duo rival to achieve

By Adrian Diaconescu · Senior Deals and News Writer

Published: Oct 22, 2026, 9:41 AM

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The Razr Flex is definitely smaller than both the iPhone Duo and Galaxy Z Fold 8. | Image by Android Headlines

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Does anyone here remember what company was named the key driver behind last year's North American foldable market growth by Counterpoint Research? Yes, it was Motorola, and for about... 15 minutes, the Lenovo-owned brand looked capable of threatening Samsung's supremacy not just in the US and Canada, but around the world as well.

Unfortunately for the Razr family, flip phones became undesirable for the vast majority of global foldable buyers all of a sudden this year, and because Motorola waited far too long to throw a book-style Galaxy Z Fold alternative in the ring, its sales numbers fell off a cliff in Q2 2026.

Intent on not repeating the Razr Fold mistake, the company clearly plans to go after the passport-style iPhone Duo and Z Fold 8 sooner rather than later, although the Razr Flex (or Razr Flex 27) seems like it might suffer from a bigger issue than timing.

Who exactly is this device for?

Evidently, for folks who felt the iPhone Duo and Galaxy Z Fold 8 were too powerful and big. Do you know someone in that position? Because I sure don't, and I also know that one of the (major) reasons why the Razr Fold failed to connect with mainstream audiences was its use of a Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 chipset months after the Galaxy Z Fold 7 debuted with a superior Snapdragon 8 Elite processor under its hood.

Motorola Razr Flex concept images in two color options

Those colors certainly sound intriguing, but they're not official, and they're really not that important either. | Image by Android Headlines

You'd think Motorola learned a valuable lesson there, and yet even though the non-foldable Signature 27 is set to pack a state-of-the-art Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 SoC, a recent benchmark strongly suggests the Razr Flex will settle for a Snapdragon 8 Gen 5. No, not even a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, which is what the Z Fold 8 and Z Fold 8 Ultra are already using.

Now, I'm obviously not saying this is going to be a pushover compared to a conventional Android mid-ranger, for instance, but I think it's relatively safe to assume that the Razr Flex will cost a lot more than something like the upcoming Moto G47 Power or the existing Motorola Edge (2026). It's probably going to be pricier than the Snapdragon 8 Elite-powered Razr Ultra (2026) clamshell too, in which case I'm sure the raw speed is going to prove a big problem and a dealbreaker for plenty of prospective buyers.

Let's not forget about those screens either

Remember when a 6.9-inch or so display sounded like an absolute nightmare and something that could never break into the mainstream? We're clearly in a different era now, and with the iPhone Duo sporting a 7.6-inch primary screen and a 5.4-inch cover panel, the Razr Flex is just about guaranteed to look like a major compromise with its rumored 6.92-inch and 4.97-inch displays.

Do you think the Razr Flex has any chance to challenge the iPhone Duo?

37 Votes

Could the device be easier to maneuver thanks to its reduced size? Definitely. Could its weight and thickness be reduced as well to give Motorola a key strategic advantage in at least those two departments over both Apple and Samsung? That's actually pretty unlikely considering that the Razr Flex is expected to pack 5,000mAh battery capacity.

Of course, that sounds like a big potential advantage over the iPhone Duo and Galaxy Z Fold 8, which settle for around 4,900 and 4,800mAh cell sizes, respectively, but it still feels like the Razr Flex will cut far too many corners that seem unnecessary or outright illogical.

Could a reasonable price save Motorola here?

Without a doubt, but after seeing the clamshell-style Razr Ultra (2026) powerhouse released at a recommended price of $1,500 just a few months ago (and very rarely discounted since then), do you really think Motorola will charge... $1,500 for the first-of-a-kind Razr Flex at launch?

The chances that the Razr Flex will be cheaper than the Razr Ultra (2026) are not zero, but pretty close to zero. | Image by PhoneArena

I certainly don't, and with the outstandingly powerful, gargantuan, and silky smooth Galaxy Z Fold 8 frequently available for $1,700 or (much) less, I'm not entirely sure I'd recommend Motorola's iPhone Duo answer at $1,500 either. At $1,700, $1,800, or more? Forget about it, and no, I don't care what swanky Pantone-branded colorways Moto might pull out of its sleeve to mask the wide foldable's internal (and external) compromises.

I'm afraid this device is doomed right off the bat... unless, of course, all these recent rumors and leaks prove wildly inaccurate, which unfortunately seems highly unlikely to me right now.

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Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.

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