Around 20 years ago, the Razr was one of the most popular mobile phones around. Manufacturer Motorola has been following this for four years with a folding smartphone, which is now being released in a new edition.
Motorola has presented completely revised versions of its foldable Razr smartphones. The new top-of-the-range Razr 40 Ultra (sold as Razr+ in North America) competes against competing models such as the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip primarily with a larger outer screen. The simpler Razr 40 does not have a large external display and only has a narrow display strip for the most important status information, text messages or weather.
Folding smartphones in flip format
The two new Razr devices are so-called clamshell models, i.e. clam shell models that are folded horizontally and unfolded to normal smartphone size.
Both the Razr 40 and Razr 40 Ultra have a 6.9-inch screen with a resolution of 2640 by 1870 pixels. The screen supports the HDR10+ video playback standard for optimized color and contrast values and achieves a brightness of up to 1400 nits.
The only difference: in the Ultra, the display has a refresh rate of 165 Hertz. The normal Razr 40 is limited to 144 Hertz – still a very good value. The high refresh rate ensures that nothing stutters when scrolling in the web browser, gaming and video playback.
Videos and maps on the external display
With the outer screen (3.5 inches), the resolution of the Ultra is 1056 by 1066 pixels. That’s big enough for apps like YouTube or Google Maps to run clearly visible on the outer display when folded. In principle, the smartphone can be operated completely via the external display – also with a refresh rate of 165 Hertz. The display even offers a keyboard for answering messages and small games.
TECHBOOK means
“Apart from the fact that I think the naming is completely wrong, “Razr+” just sounds a lot crisper than “Razr 40 Ultra”, I’m not sure whether the new folding smartphone from Motorola will be able to assert itself. With its huge outer screen, the Ultra offers practically a fully-fledged smartphone in the closed format. However, it is quite expensive, especially in Europe at 1200 euros. The rapid 165 Hertz folding screen doesn’t really help either – especially considering the Qualcomm chip from the previous year. The “normal” Razr 40 would have what it takes to be a sales hit with its larger battery and excellent display. But this model is also simply too expensive at 900 euros, because the Galaxy Z Flip 4, which is now almost a year old, offers more performance for less money. Adrian Mühlroth, editor
The Ultra’s outer display houses two camera lenses and an LED light. Motorola uses a Sony sensor (IMX563) with a resolution of 12 megapixels (MP) for the main camera. This is supported by an ultra wide-angle lens with 13 MP, which is also used for macro shots. The selfie camera, which can also be used for video conferences, works with 32 MP.
The Razr 40 has to do without the big screen on the outside. Here is a 1.5-inch display that is only used to show the most important information such as news, music, weather, calendar, etc.
Bigger battery in the cheaper Razr 40
Motorola uses the high-performance chip from Qualcomm from the previous year as the main processor for the Ultra with the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1. It’s no more powerful than the August 2022 Galaxy Z Flip 4, which is now available for significantly less money than the Razer 40 Ultra. The normal Razr 40 even has to be satisfied with the mid-range chip Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 – also from the previous year. Although both models have 8 gigabytes of RAM, only the Ultra gets the faster LPDDR5 type.
Both models charge with a power of 30 watts by cable and a measly 5 watts wirelessly. According to the manufacturer, you can easily get through the whole day with the battery (3800 mAh) of the Ultra. The simpler Razr 40 even offers more space for a larger battery (4200 mAh) thanks to the smaller outer screen.
The Ultra is offered in black, turquoise and magenta. The magenta model has vegan leather on the back that is resistant to fingerprints. The Razr 40 comes in green, silver, and purple color choices. The Razr 40 Ultra is available for 1200 euros, for the simpler Razr 40 Motorola charges 900 euros.