요약
Keep bringing back what Samsung doesn't
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By
Stephen Radochia
Published Apr 20, 2026, 6:00 AM EDT
Steve is a Senior Writer at AP, where he covers over 40 smartphones a year. Steve has carried the latest and greatest around in his pocket for nearly 30 years, with everything from Motorola StarTACs to Samsung Galaxys crossing his path. Early appearances on TechTV fueled his love of media, and when he isn’t writing, you’ll find him ranting on YouTube as StevealiciousTech.
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Moto is slowly becoming the anti-Samsung, and it’s made me love the company. It’s not by accident, and over the last few years, Motorola has made many smart choices.
The company has struck a fantastic balance between its midrange value phones and its premium foldable flagships.
I expect more of the same in 2026, and we’re already seeing hints of what Moto’s strategy is with the new Moto Razr Fold and Moto G Stylus.
Samsung has made some interesting choices of its own over the last few years. I don’t agree with everything the company’s done, but it’s hard to argue with success.
Still, there are plenty of changes Samsung made that have annoyed longtime fans, and Moto seems keen to pick up a few of those buyers.
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Credit: Lucas Gouveia / Android Police | MotorolaI was concerned about the Razr Fold after hearing the rumored pricing. I thought Moto would need to heavily undercut the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 to gain any traction at this point.
The company is late to the book-style foldable game, and it needed to do something different to compete with Samsung and Google. Even though it doesn’t appear to be doing it with price, Moto has some other advantages.
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It might not seem like a big deal to most, but don’t underestimate the stylus pen support on the Razr Fold. Samsung made an error removing S Pen support on the Z Fold 7, and it hasn’t sat right with a vocal minority of users.
Motorola is in the ideal position to scrap AI.
I get it — Samsung wanted to make the Z Fold 7 thinner, and the digitizing layer was a roadblock.
Still, I absolutely understand the other side of the argument. Such an expansive internal display just screams out for stylus support, and I’m glad Motorola made it available on the Razr Fold.
Motorola is also innovating more. The Razr Fold features a larger, silicon-carbon battery, and Moto worked on the camera system. The results are still to be seen, but I like what’s on paper so far.
Motorola isn’t done with the stylus just yet
The Moto G Stylus pokes a bit of fun at Samsung
It’s hilarious that Motorola is adding a battery to its stylus, a year after Samsung removed one from the S Pen.
I don’t expect the improved Moto G Stylus to rival S Pen functionality at its peak, but it doesn’t have to, especially for a fraction of the price.
I love that the stylus is now pressure and tilt-sensitive, which will make note-taking feel more natural.
I get it’s a small thing, and Samsung claims most buyers don’t use the S Pen daily, but how many people does Moto have to siphon off to make a difference?
I love that stylus users have an alternative, and while the Moto G Stylus was always attractive for its price, it’s even more functional now.
If you’re sick and tired of paying over $1,300 for a flagship phone, but can’t give up your Ultra, Motorola made it just a little easier to give it a shot.
Motorola could go all the way and please more people
Moto AI isn’t it, so why not reverse course?
My colleague Andy Boxall is absolutely right in saying that anti-AI smartphones are around the corner.
We’ve had the pendulum swing too far in one direction, and the utility isn’t there to keep us excited about relatively worthless AI features on our smartphones.
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Get deeper perspective by subscribing to our newsletter — expert takes on Moto, Samsung, foldables, stylus trade-offs and value-focused handset strategy. Smart analysis helps you weigh features and choose phones with more confidence. By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.If the user experience were somehow radically improved by AI, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. But despite repeated attempts and claims, that hasn’t happened yet.
Motorola is in the ideal position to scrap AI. No one is saying it needs to dump computational photography or suddenly remove Gemini from its phones.
But don’t lean into it. Give us a solid value experience that isn’t heavily reliant on AI as a selling point. Moto AI is fine, but it blends into the crowd.
The company has a chance to stand out in a way that will get people to notice. Enough is enough with smartphone AI, and Motorola is in a prime position to lead that charge.
Either way, Motorola is on the right track
I don’t know what it says about Samsung that you can score by simply doing the opposite, but I’m excited about the Razr Fold and Moto G Stylus 2026.
Global pricing issues will test every manufacturer this year. Still, as long as Motorola keeps making smart decisions, it’ll be able to hang around by providing good devices at reasonable prices.