Motorola brought a handful of new phones to Berlin for this year’s IFA show, but only one really stole the show for me – and it wasn’t the budget-friendly Edge 70 Plus. A renewed partnership with crystal jeweler Swarovski has delivered the blingiest flip phone yet.
Taking the place of the Razr 60-based model announced last month as part of the new Brilliant Collection, the Razr 70 with crystals from Swarovski is a special edition take on an already sharp-looking clamshell. It’s draped in a “leather-inspired” texture and a color chosen from the more comfortable end of the Pantone palette – Meteorite – but the highlight has to be the 32 ‘Silver Night’ crystals emblazoned across the quilted back panel, plus three more on the front face directly above the 3.6in cover display. One last, larger crystal was embedded into the hinge. The mood matching home screen wallpaper is a nice touch.
It’s undeniably a head turner that feels truly premium to hold and adds real fashion appeal to Motorola’s more mainstream flip phone. I was a little surprised that the company didn’t use the Razr 70 Ultra as a base, but I guess the phone’s larger lid screen left less room for Swarovski flair.
Hardware-wise, it’s the Razr 70 through and through, meaning the outer screen is a 6.9in flexible AMOLED that sits atop a Mediatek Dimensity 7450X chipset, 4800mAh battery and dual 50MP outer cameras.
You can get one soon, direct from Motorola, for £900/€1000.
The Motorola Edge 70 Plus, meanwhile, is an all-new addition to the company’s mainstream mobile line-up. It borrows styling cues from the pricier Edge 70, namely the offset rear camera island – except here it includes a 200MP main snapper with optical image stabilization and a 2MP secondary dedicated to macro shots.
It will land in a choice of four distinctive Pantone colors. Mountain View (dark green) has a finish inspired by silk, while Sage and Milky Blue have a soft, leather-like texture. Gray Lilac uses acetate, which creates a convincing marble impression.
Up front, the 6.78in AMOLED display rocks curved edge glass rather than repeating the Edge 70’s flat panel. Personally, I think this is a trend where the phone world will probably retreat into the past, because flat screens don’t have to be content with distracting light reflections in bright sunlight. The panel itself seems decent for the cash though, with a 1.5K resolution, HDR10+ support and a whopping 5200 nits peak brightness.
Motorola has squeezed a relatively large 6500mAh battery inside, which promises all-day use and fast 45W wireless charging. Gamers will also appreciate the bypass charging mode that preserves battery health while playing online. Internals are on the money for an affordable mid-ranger, with a Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 chipset, 8GB of RAM and up to 256GB of storage.
There are currently no plans to bring the Edge 70 to the US. It will launch in the UK and Europe later this year, for £530 / €600. Moto is likely hoping that the large battery and high pixel count camera can take points away from the slightly cheaper Google Pixel 10a.
Motorola also debuted an ultra-slim Qi2.2 25W magnetic wireless charger this week. It will ship both solo for £40/€40 and as a bundle with a custom desk stand made from a mix of aluminum and Alcantara – but neither of the new phones will actually support it.
