Skip to main content

Verizon drops Motorola Droid Razr to $200, cuts 16GB microSD

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Motorola’s Droid Razr, one of Verizon’s high-end 4G smartphones, now costs $100 less than it used to — but those savings come at a price. At the $300 price point, the Droid Razr came with 32GB of internal storage. Now, it’s down to just 16GB, thanks to the removal of an included 16GB microSD card. The $300 package is no longer available.

You might be saying to yourself, OK, but can’t I just pop my own microSD card into the slot? Yes, yes you can. And it will cost you far less than $100. A quick search shows that a 16GB SanDisk microSD card will only run  you about $15 on Amazon. Or you could upgrade to a 32GB card (the maximum storage size allowed by the Razr) for a mere $25 to $30. In other words, those of you who bought the Droid Razr for $300 got ripped off.

Of course, Verizon didn’t just drop the price for nothing. It did so to make room for the upcoming Droid Razr Maxx, which will fill in the $300 price point. This time, however, the premium price just might be worth it. The primary difference between the Droid Razr and the Droid Razr Maxx is greatly improved battery life. Motorola claims that the gigantic 3300mAh battery will last you all day long, with 21.5 hours of talk time, 15 hours of video playback (from local storage), 6 hours of HD video streaming over Verizon’s 4G LTE network, and 10 hours of continuous GPS navigation.

These specs put most other smartphones to shame, especially the early breed of 4G LTE phones, which have notoriously terrible battery life. The sacrifice is a minor increase in thickness — about 1.9mm, which brings the Droid Razr Maxx’s heft to 9mm. This is noticeably thicker than the ultra-thin Droid Razr, which measures just 7.1mm at its thinnest, but still thinner than the 9.3mm-thick iPhone 4/4S.

Another downside to the Maxx is that it will ship without Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich), and instead runs on Android 2.3.5 (Gingerbread). There is currently no date set for the upgrade to ICS.

The Droid Razr Maxx is expected to hit Verizon in the next couple of weeks. In the mean time, potential customers can decide whether they want to save $100 for a thinner phone, with less-than-stellar battery life, or heave out the extra change for a phone that will last you all day.

*All prices listed here are contingent upon signing a new two-year contract with Verizon.

Andrew Couts
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Features Editor for Digital Trends, Andrew Couts covers a wide swath of consumer technology topics, with particular focus on…
Don’t buy this new Motorola phone — get this other one instead
Renders of the Moto G 5G (2024) and Moto G Power 5G (2024).

the Moto G 5G (left) and Moto G Power 5G Digital Trends

Budget phones can slip under the radar when shiny, powerful flagships launch. But if you're in the market for a smartphone that gets the job done and won't blow a four-figure hole in your bank balance, then a great budget smartphone is the way to go.

Read more
Get 32% off the cellular model of the iPad Pro 12.9 this weekend
The iPad Pro on a desk next to a stylus and AirPods.

If you've been thinking about getting the iPad Pro with cellular connectivity but you've been hoping to buy the tablet from iPad deals for a discount, this may be what you've been waiting for -- a 32% discount from Amazon's Woot on the 12.9-inch, Wi-Fi + Cellular model of the 2021 Apple iPad Pro with 128GB of storage. From $1,199, it's down to just $810, which is a steal price for this device with savings of $389. However, while there are still several days left on this offer, it's highly recommended that you proceed with the purchase immediately because there's a chance that stocks don't last that long.

Why you should buy the 2021 Apple iPad Pro 12.9
It's not the latest version of Apple's top-of-the-line tablet -- the honor goes to the 2022 Apple iPad Pro -- but the 2021 Apple iPad Pro is still a pretty powerful device by today's standards. That's because it's equipped with Apple's M1 chip, which promises fantastic speed and excellent graphics when you're working on your multimedia projects, multitasking between several apps, or playing console-level games. With its 12.9-inch Liquid Retina XDR touchscreen, you'll enjoy high-brightness and high-contrast content, and its mini-LED display provides deeper black levels and more vibrant colors.

Read more
Samsung Galaxy A55 vs. A54: all the big changes, explained
Renders of the Samsung Galaxy A55 next to the Galaxy A54.

Galaxy A55 (left) and Galaxy A54 Digital Trends

Samsung has been on a roll with new phone releases in 2024. At the end of January, Samsung released the flagship Galaxy S24 lineup. It's fantastic, but not everyone can afford the latest and greatest flagship. Thankfully, Samsung also makes budget-friendly alternatives, and that’s the appeal of the new Galaxy A55.

Read more