The Motorola Razr Plus 2024 stands tall as one of the year’s best folding phones. It’s highly performant and has good cameras, solid software, and a striking design. That last point was one of my favorite aspects of the phone when I reviewed it this summer, and just in time for the new year, Motorola found a way to ensure the Razr Plus continues to be a design leader heading into 2025.
Earlier this month, Motorola announced its new Mocha Mousse color for the Razr Plus. I thought the renders looked good, but as with any smartphone color, it’s difficult to get the full experience until it’s in your hands.
Motorola sent me the Razr Plus in the new Mocha Mousse getup so I could do just that, and after spending some quality hands-on time with the color, I think it’s safe to say I’m 100% sold on it.
This isn’t just a brown phone
Upon first seeing the Mocha Mousse shade online, I was quick to dismiss it as a strange (and slightly gross) finish. Brown isn’t a color we usually see on smartphones, and for good reason. Motorola associated it with coffee grounds in its press release, but my first thought was something that happens after having too much coffee.
However, after seeing Mocha Mousse in person, I take back my immature gut reaction. This is a stunning smartphone. It’s sophisticated, unique, and quickly becoming one of my favorite phone colors of the entire year.
To simply describe Mocha Mousse as a “brown phone” would be inaccurate. Yes, the back of the phone is brown, but Motorola didn’t just slap a shade of brown on the back of the Razr Plus and call it a day. Quite the opposite, in fact.
The back of the phone is speckled with black dots, giving off the impression of tiny bits of coffee grounds in a warm cup of Joe. The brown is also much warmer and saturated in person than it looks online, which I’m a big fan of. It reminds me of the days of Motorola’s real leather-backed Moto X handsets, and with a soft vegan leather finish on the back of the Razr Plus, it’s as good of a callback to those phones as we’ve ever gotten.
Accompanying the brown backside are gold accents for the Razr’s aluminum frame. They contrast just enough to stand out from the brown while simultaneously pairing beautifully with it. Add that with the black front of the Razr Plus’s cover screen, and you end up with what I think is one of the most sophisticated-looking phones I’ve seen all year.
Motorola’s ongoing color expertise
If Motorola’s design expertise comes as a surprise, you haven’t been paying close enough attention to the company this year. Before Mocha Mousse, the Razr Plus already came in four other incredible colors, including Hot Pink, Peach Fuzz, Midnight Blue, and Spring Green (my personal favorite).
And it’s not just the Razr Plus that’s been treated with great fashion sense. The Motorola Edge 50 Pro comes in gorgeous Caneel Bay and Luxe Lavender colors (seen above), the newest Moto G Stylus has an incredible Scarlet Wave red color, and so on.
Motorola has been killing it with smartphone colors for a while now, and there’s a reason for it. The company has a distinct eye for style and fashion, and its color options show that. They feel intentional and thoughtfully crafted in a way colors from competing phones often don’t. It’s an arguably small detail, but it’s one I’m very happy to see.
I want more of this in 2025
I’ve had my fair share of gripes with Motorola in 2024. The company’s Moto G lineup is a confusing mess, some of its phones are cluttered with ads and bloatware, and Motorola still needs to commit to longer software updates. There’s plenty the company needs to correct in the new year.
But just as important as calling out a company’s faults is recognizing what’s being done right. In Motorola’s case, that’s exquisite design and interesting colors, and Mocha Mousse is another prime example of its expertise in these departments.
I hope Motorola continues this in 2025. Especially with all signs pointing to another year of drab and familiar hardware with the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S25 lineup, it’s encouraging to know that a company is still pushing for fun and original smartphone hardware.