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Why Motorola’s new Razr is its best foldable flip phone yet
At last, here’s a model with a bright, 3.6-inch external display that supports widgets and – ta da! – also runs most Android apps.
For such a heavily hyped category as foldable phones, it’s surprising to stop and think that there aren’t that many actually available to buy. Samsung leads the market, Oppo’s had a stab at it, and then there’s Motorola.
Motorola revived its now ancient Razr brand (not for the first time) as a foldable flip phone a few years back but, to date, it’s always felt like it has been playing catch-up to Samsung.
If I’m honest, small flip phones have never appealed to me. I can appreciate the bigger ones that fold outwards from a regular phone size into a small tablet because it feels like you’re getting more out of them. Flips, however, have always been a matter of getting less.
The Motorola Razr 40 Ultra changes all that in the simplest of ways. Unfolded, it looks much like any other 6.9-inch phone. Indeed, it doesn’t look that much like a classic Razr, a style that its immediate predecessors clung to for dear life. But fold up the Razr 40 Ultra and you hit its not-so-secret weapon.
Whereas previous flip phones only notified me of an email or text, I can read both in full on the 40 Ultra.
To date, foldable flip phones have had tiny external displays, good only for notifications, or maybe selfies – if you’re happy to squint at their tiny panels in a futile effort to get a good photo.
The Razr 40 Ultra has a bright, 3.6-inch AMOLED external display that effectively works like a second screen. It supports widgets like calendars and weather reports, as well as a choice of clock displays, but the real magic is in its ability to run most Android apps.
The external display works like a second screen.
It doesn’t work for every app, as some onscreen elements end up tiny. But it does mean I haven’t had to actually unfold the Razr 40 Ultra all that much as I’ve been reviewing it. Whereas previous flip phones only notified me of an email or text, I can read both in full on the 40 Ultra, run quick web searches and even frame myself properly for a selfie.
As great as this is, there are other compromises. Motorola has opted to power the Razr 40 Ultra with one of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chips, which is last year’s model. It’s still fast, but in this price bracket this year’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is faster – and likely to power Samsung’s next generation of flip foldables, due for release soon.
Durability is also a key issue for foldable phones with flexible screens, and here Motorola has taken an each-way bet. The Razr 40 Ultra is IP52 rated, meaning a little rain isn’t likely to damage it, but also that it’s sealed from light dust ingress. By comparison, Samsung’s Z Flip 4 phone has an IPX8 rating, so you can dunk it fully in water (in theory), but dust could be a real problem.
I don’t go around drowning phones as a rule, but dust gets everywhere, so I think I like Motorola’s approach a little more.
The other reason flip foldables haven’t set my world on fire to date is because their foldable nature and smaller size lead to reduced battery capacity. Which means you’re always thinking: “Where’s the nearest charger, because I’m going to run out before lunchtime”.
Except, it turns out, if it’s a Razr 40 Ultra. I could flatten it in a day with really heavy use, but it performed brilliantly in day-to-day use and across specific tests, for the most part gently sipping at its 3800-mAh battery.
Cameras are still a weak point, however. Maybe that’s going to be the story for these little foldable phones, because the Razr 40 Ultra’s primary cameras aren’t quite up to what you can get at this price. It’s got a primary 12MP f/1.5 sensor paired with a 13MP ultrawide sensor that also acts as a macro lens, while the internal camera has a 32MP sensor.
The 12MP primary is easily the best part of the camera, delivering decent regular photos, but the ultrawide suffers in any kind of challenging light. If smartphone cameras are your passion, stick to the non-folding options from Google, Samsung or Apple at this price point.
Still, I did come to the Razr 40 Ultra thinking I wouldn’t like it because it’s not my kind of foldable. Turns out you can warm the heart of even the most jaded tech reviewer.
Digital Life columnist John Davidson will be back next week.
Motorola Razr 40 Ultra
- Likes | Excellent external display, great battery life.
- Dislikes | Ordinary cameras, questions around long-term durability.
- Price | $1499 (8GB RAM, 256GB storage)
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