My favourite Razr Extremely (2025) function is one I did not see coming

I’ve all the time thought clamshell foldable smartphones are cool (there’s simply one thing satisfying about snapping them shut), nevertheless it’s by no means felt like their design has a very helpful goal. Certain, it is nice that they fold up and turn into smaller, making them simpler to slip right into a pocket in comparison with a normal smartphone. I’ve additionally loved leaving Motorola’s Razr Ultra (2025) open to look at YouTube movies whereas doing the dishes, and although I am not a selfie individual, the front-facing digicam is able to snapping some actually cool, very handy images of myself.

Past that, the Razr Extremely (2025) options stable build-quality, a superb array of top-tier cameras, a foldable show crease I can barely see and really feel, and a sturdy titanium hinge, making it an simple blast to snap the cellphone shut. This yr, Motorola’s flagship additionally comes geared up with Qualcomm’s highly effective Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, giving it loads of energy. I’ve even discovered its outer show to be helpful for shortly checking notifications (extra on this later) and taking part in one specific pre-installed recreation (Marble Mayhem is unbelievable and feels prefer it was designed for the Razr).

Nonetheless, in contrast to book-style foldables just like the Galaxy Z Fold 7, clamshell foldables do not provide an even bigger, tablet-like display once they’re open. The truth is, they’ll usually really feel downright awkward when unfolded, given their tall dimension and weighty higher half. With this in thoughts, over the previous few weeks I’ve spent with the Razr Extremely (2025), I’ve tried to discover a solution to match the foldable’s distinctive design into my life.

In practically each method, Motorola’s newest flagship clamshell is an absolute unit throughout the board, however my favourite function has truly stunned me.

Model

Motorola

SoC

Snapdragon 8 Elite

Show

7-inch foldable OLED (165Hz, 2992 x 1224 pixel decision), 4-inch exterior (165Hz, 1272 x 1080 pixel decision)

RAM

16GB

The Motorola Razr Extremely (2025) is a stable all-around clamshell foldable due to its sturdy design, Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, and expansive cowl show. 

It is doubles as a flexible, very costly desktop clock

This retains me plugged into notifications, with out diving too deeply into the cellphone

Together with being my major cellphone, I have been utilizing the Razr Extremely (2025) as a desk-side clock and notification machine. You are able to do this by opening the Razr Extremely (2025) and putting it in a triangle place or by opening it and pointing its inside display in direction of you (I favor the tent angle). The setting to show this function on is beneath Settings > Exterior Show and both Sleep Show or Desk Show. It might sound a bit foolish, however I’ve grown to essentially recognize this function over the previous few weeks.

Once I’m at my desk, the surprisingly expansive 3.6-inch 90Hz display is in its blacked-out, always-on mode the place it shows the present time and an array of notification symbols throughout the underside (how the time seems may be personalized in enjoyable methods, too). Once I wish to use the duvet display to test a notification, I simply faucet the show to gentle it up with the brilliant inexperienced background I set, and I am robotically logged in due to the magic facial recognition.

At one level, I assumed possibly the duvet display can be good for testing the climate, however so far as I can inform, I can not get it to vary to Celsius from Fahrenheit. 

I can then faucet on notifications and shortly scroll via them. If I see one which I want to reply to, I press on it and open the cellphone. This enables me to simply maintain tabs on my rising mountain of notifications with out getting distracted by the siren name of scrolling Instagram or TikTok as a result of I am not truly opening the Razr Extremely (2025) and utilizing its inside display.

I’ve additionally began checking my each day schedule with the surprisingly helpful Google Calendar Panel that is accessible by swiping proper after unlocking the cellphone. This has given me a centered solution to maintain tabs on what conferences I’ve developing all through the day.

I am wanting ahead to determining if different cowl display Panels and apps work for me

I have never discovered any extra but, although

Rapidly glancing on the Razr Extremely (2025)’s show has turn into my go-to solution to keep on high of notifications.

The expertise is not excellent, although. Generally facial recognition does not work, and I am pressured to place in my PIN, which might get irritating, particularly for those who’re making an attempt simply shortly to test a notification. I’ve additionally discovered that opening apps on the duvet display that are not official panels could be a cumbersome, irritating course of that does not really feel price it.

For instance, Gmail and Google Maps really feel cramped, and I shortly discovered myself opening the Razr Extremely (2025) to make use of the apps on the inside show.

It is like a really costly sandwich.

Nonetheless, it has been enjoyable to mess around with the foldable smartphone’s cowl display, and I am wanting ahead to uncovering extra methods to make it work for me.

This gadget was offered to Pocket-lint by Motorola.