Technologies

I’ve Been Testing the Motorola Razr for a Day and It’s Already a Fun Companion

After 24 hours with Motorola’s 2025 Razr, the flip phone scores high marks for its looks.

It’s amazing what a nice shade of green can do for your mood. After unboxing the 2025 edition of Motorola’s Razr, I was immediately struck by the $700 flip phone’s vivid shade of green — specifically Pantone’s Spring Bud. It’s somewhere between the lightness of mint and the medium shade of flower leaves. Even though I usually put my phone in a case, the Razr’s «leather-inspired» textured back makes me not want to.

That «fun to hold» feeling may be the most notable thing about Motorola’s new Razr line, which gets even more unique with Alcantara fabric and wood options on the $1,300 Razr Ultra. But thanks to the bold color, a cover screen that’s just big enough to knock out the essentials, and a variety of half-folded modes, even this lower-cost edition of the phone feels expressive. The Motorola Razr is a breath of fresh air compared to standard rectangular phones that are typically in the $700 price range.

Motorola is quite aware that the Razr’s striking looks are a selling point to new customers. The company cited during the Razr’s unveiling that 25% of its customers are coming from an iPhone. Since this Razr costs $700, its price is just above value-oriented flagships like the $650 Samsung Galaxy S24 FE — yet lower than an $800 iPhone 16. And even though this year’s base Razr is a refinement of last year’s Razr design, it’s one that remains eye-catching. I still have a lot of testing to do, but I wanted to share some of my early impressions of the Motorola Razr 2025, after using it for a day.

My day with the Razr

The Razr is easy to grip whether it’s open or closed, and having the rest of the phone’s body match the green shade makes it feel fun from the start. The Razr also comes in a Parfait Pink color with a similar leather finish, Gibraltar Sea (blue) with what Motorola describes as a «nylon-inspired» finish, and Lightest Sky (silver) that is «acetate-inspired.»

The Razr’s style and shape made it a fun companion for a dinner out with friends. I kept it folded on the train and used the cover screen to manage my subway directions to a restaurant in Queens. I flipped it open to take a few food and street photos. And I used Moto AI on both screens to look up quick facts as they came up over dinner. All in all, though, one of my friends found the new Razr so cute that she said she wanted to steal it — but because it’s such a pocketable size, she won’t get the chance.

I’ve also enjoyed using the Razr in ways that I simply can’t use similarly priced phones from Samsung and Apple. I often attach kickstands to phones for video calls, but with the hinge, I can instead use the phone half-folded like a stand and (in supported apps like Meta’s Messenger and Google Meet) have the video call on the upper half with call controls on the lower half. When in this stand mode or partly folded like a tent, the cover screen can be set to show ambient information like the time, while a wave of my hand in front of the phone can activate Moto AI for quick questions.

More to come with the Razr

As I continue to test this Motorola Razr, I’m focusing on how functional the smaller 3.6-inch cover screen is. That display is like a «mini» phone and is one of the biggest ways the Razr sets itself apart from other sub-$800 phones. You can set it up to run nearly every Android app, as with prior Razr phones.

The Razr is also the entry-level device for Moto AI, which highlights Motorola’s own efforts alongside features built in partnership with Perplexity, Meta’s Llama AI and Microsoft Copilot. Moto AI deeply integrates these services into the phone so it can make suggestions based on what’s on your screen. Separately, you can still summon Google’s Gemini to access the AI services built directly into Android 15.

There are a lot of different ideas inside Moto AI for conducting quick research or organizing data. AI is a particularly competitive space right now, and I hope to see if Moto AI’s features will help me get the most out of the phone’s cover screen.

As a result, this year’s $700 Razr gets to dance on two different stages of interest. It could be a nice minimalist phone, thanks to its cover screen that can do more functions than the $800 Light Phone 3. And it could also serve as a refreshing alternative to buying the $800 iPhone 16 while saving significant money over the $1,100 Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6. I’ll be seeing how the Razr fits each method as I continue testing it out.

Technologies

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Technologies

Google races to put Gemini at the center of Android before Apple’s AI reboot

Google is using its latest Android rollout to position Gemini as the AI layer across phones, Chrome, laptops and cars.

Google is using its latest Android rollout to make Gemini less of a chatbot and more of an operating layer across the phone, browser, car and laptop, just weeks before Apple is expected to show its own Gemini-powered Apple Intelligence reboot at WWDC.
Ahead of its Google I/O developer conference next week, the company previewed a number of Android updates, including AI-powered app automation, a smarter version of Chrome on Android, new tools for creators, a redesigned Android Auto experience, and a sweeping set of new security features.
Alphabet is counting on Gemini to help Google compete directly with OpenAI and Anthropic in the market for artificial intelligence models and services, while also serving as the AI backbone across its expansive portfolio of products, including Android. Meanwhile, Gemini is powering part of Apple’s new AI strategy, giving Google a role in the iPhone maker’s reset even as it races to prove its own version of personal AI on the phone is further along.
Sameer Samat, who oversees Google’s Android ecosystem, told CNBC that Google is rebuilding parts of Android around Gemini Intelligence to help users complete everyday tasks more easily.
“We’re transitioning from an operating system to an intelligence system,” he said.
As part of Tuesday’s announcements. Google said Gemini Intelligence will be able to move across apps, understand what’s on the screen and complete tasks that would normally require a user to jump between multiple services. That means Android is moving beyond the traditional assistant model, where users ask a question and get an answer, and acting more like an agent.
For instance, Google says Gemini can pull relevant information from Gmail, build shopping carts and book reservations. Samat gave the example of asking Gemini to look at the guest list for a barbecue, build a menu, add ingredients to an Instacart list and return for approval before checkout.
A big concern surrounding agentic AI involves software taking action on a user’s behalf without permissions. Samat said Gemini will come back to the user before completing a transaction, adding, “the human is always in the loop.”
Four months after announcing its Gemini deal with Google, Apple is under pressure to show a more capable version of Apple Intelligence, which has been a relative laggard on the market. Apple has long framed privacy, hardware integration and control of the user experience as its advantages.
Google’s Android push is designed to show it can bring AI deeper into the device experience while still giving users control over what Gemini can see, where it can act and when it needs confirmation.
The app automation features will roll out in waves, starting with the latest Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel phones this summer, before expanding across more Android devices, including watches, cars, glasses and laptops later this year.
The company is also redesigning Android Auto around Gemini, turning the car into another major surface for its assistant. Android Auto is in more than 250 million cars, and Google says the new release includes its biggest maps update in a decade and Gemini-powered help with tasks like ordering dinner while driving.
Alphabet’s AI strategy has been embraced by Wall Street, which has pushed the company’s stock price up more than 140% in the past year, compared to Apple’s roughly 40% gain. Investors now want to see how Gemini can become more central to the products people use every day.
WATCH: Alphabet briefly tops Nvidia after report of $200 billion Anthropic cloud deal

Technologies

Waymo recalls 3,800 robotaxis after glitch allowed some vehicles to ‘drive into standing water’

Waymo issued a voluntary recall of about 3,800 of its robotaxis to fix software issues that could allow them to drive into flooded roadways.

Waymo is recalling about 3,800 robotaxis in the U.S. to fix software issues that could allow them to “drive onto a flooded roadway,” according to a letter on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s website.
The voluntary recall is for Waymo vehicles that use the company’s fifth and sixth generation automated driving systems (or ADS), the U.S. auto safety regulator said in the letter posted Tuesday.
Waymo autonomous vehicles in Austin, Texas, were seen on camera driving onto a flooded street and stalling, requiring other drivers to navigate around them. It’s the latest example of a safety-related issue for the Alphabet-owned AV unit that’s rapidly bolstering its fleet of vehicles and entering new U.S. markets.
Waymo has drawn criticism for its vehicles failing to yield to school buses in Austin, and for the performance of its vehicles during widespread power outages in San Francisco in December, when robotaxis halted in traffic, causing gridlock.
The company said in a statement on Tuesday that it’s “identified an area of improvement regarding untraversable flooded lanes specific to higher-speed roadways,” and opted to file a “voluntary software recall” with the NHTSA.
“Waymo provides over half a million trips every week in some of the most challenging driving environments across the U.S., and safety is our primary priority,” the company said.
Waymo added that it’s working on “additional software safeguards” and has put “mitigations” in place, limiting where its robotaxis operate during extreme weather, so that they avoid “areas where flash flooding might occur” in periods of intense rain.
WATCH: Waymo launches new autonomous system in Chinese-made vehicle