Why Motorola’s ThinkPhone 25 reveal breaks my heart

I’ve never had an experience that moved me to tears like Motorola’s press release announcing the ThinkPhone 25. Moto took my favorite phone from last year and turned it into a mid-range also-ran. If that isn’t bad enough, it added insult to injury by announcing the nerfed ThinkPhone 25 wouldn’t be available in the United States.
It’s unfair to say the ThinkPhone 25 will be a bad phone. Still, I’m disappointed that Motorola took it in a different direction than the original. Instead of making a run at devices like the Google Pixel 9 and Samsung Galaxy S24 FE, Motorola seems content to relegate the ThinkPhone to niche status when it could’ve been much more.
What made the original ThinkPhone fantastic?
Powerful performance and value
I didn’t think Motorola would sell the ThinkPhone to non-enterprise customers. When I saw it go live on Moto’s site for purchase, I was excited for a few reasons. The Motorola ThinkPhone offered all the power we’d reasonably need in a no-frills package with outstanding battery life. But Motorola could sell the ThinkPhone for $700 by cutting out the fluff, an exceptional value given everything we received.
The Motorola ThinkPhone offered all the power we’d reasonably need in a no-frills package with outstanding battery life.
It wasn’t as flashy as the flagship offering from Samsung and Google, but it included many features to love. Its display was a fantastic 6.6-inch P-OLED 1080p panel refreshing at 144Hz. It was snappy and responsive, with enough brightness to be viewable outdoors. The ThinkPhone was powered by a Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1, which was more than enough power for everything we needed to do at the time, paired with 8GB of RAM.
Much of the ThinkPhone’s appeal was its build quality. I loved how it felt with an aramid fiber weave back and aluminum frame. It was military drop-test compliant and IP68-rated, giving it superior durability to other high-powered phones. I never rocked my ThinkPhone with a case, as I thought the phone would protect the case and not vice versa. It was also light, weighing 188g thanks to no back glass.
Phones aimed at business customers are only good if the battery lasts the course. The ThinkPhone had a 5,000mAh cell, and I typically got eight to nine hours of screen-on time without breaking a sweat. When it was time to recharge, I could use TurboPower, which delivers 68W wired charging. Motorola ensured that ThinkPad 68W charging cords would work on the ThinkPhone, meaning you only had to remember one charger on a trip. This was a nice touch.
The software was also a strong point of the ThinkPhone. Moto’s Ready For (since rebranded Smart Connect) is a wonderful Samsung DeX competitor, allowing connectivity between a phone and a PC. I could use my ThinkPhone as a webcam or run apps on a larger display. It was a fantastic experience.
Motorola takes things in another direction with the ThinkPhone 25
Slower specs and lower price point
Source: Motorola
I don’t have many complaints about the ThinkPhone 25 on paper. Motorola is going with a Dimensity 7300 chipset, which I’ve been happy with in other devices. It also plans to keep the rugged build, just in a smaller form factor, as the ThinkPhone 25 will sport a 6.36-inch P-OLED display. A compact chassis means reduced battery size. Still, I don’t think battery life will be impacted negatively, given the ThinkPhone 25’s smaller display and mid-range chipset.
I’m more disappointed that Motorola is abandoning a portion of buyers who would love a more powerful phone and durable build but don’t need all the bells and whistles of expensive flagships. We don’t see many no-nonsense phones released.
I don’t think a $500 price point makes sense for the ThinkPhone 25. It’ll face the same issues as the overpriced Moto Edge (2024), struggling to find a home in a crowded mid-range market.
Motorola let a winner get away
The ThinkPhone deserved a chance to run back with a clear marketing strategy and presence in carrier stores as a value alternative to the wallet-eating behemoths we get from Google and Samsung. If Motorola had stayed the course, there would’ve been tremendous competition between the Google Pixel 9, Samsung Galaxy S25, and ThinkPhone 25. Instead, the ThinkPhone 25 won’t make it stateside, and I’ll be left with the dream of what could have been and slightly misty eyes.