Introduction
Flip phones have always been close to my heart. The first ever phone I owned was also a flip phone by Samsung (SGH X660). Motorola produced their iconic flip phone with the Razr lineup in 2004, which became an instant hit and a landmark for flip phones. Motorola is again back with its new slimmest clamshell style phones with Razr 40 series. In this post, we will have a detailed analysis of the Motorola Razr 40 Ultra based on user reviews and expert opinions. Is it worth your money? Let’s find out.
Motorola Razr 40 Ultra
Pros:
- Luxurious foldable design.
- A highly functional 3.6-inch exterior display with 144Hz Refresh rate.
- Excellent build quality.
- Top-tier 6.9-inch LTPO pOLED foldable display with 165 Hz refresh rate.
- All-day battery life
Cons:
- Employs a Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor which is a year old.
- Average camera quality.
Design and Build:
This device allows you to enjoy a nearly seven-inch (6.9 Inch) screen that can be folded in half to fit almost any pocket. The thin crease on the inner display is comparable to that of Samsung and Vivo foldable, but less conspicuous. The 165 Hz pOLED inner display reaches a maximum of 1400 nits of brightness. The viewing angles are good and the display quality is crisp.
Now let’s talk about the main selling point of this device, i.e., the outer screen. The outer screen is a massive (considering a foldable, of course) 3.6 Inch OLED display with a 144Hz of refresh rate. You can use the screen as a primary display without even opening the main screen for most tasks. Instead of supporting a fixed set of apps that other flippable are restricting us to, Motorola has a different take on it and allows us to use larger widgets and almost all the apps we have on our phones on the outer screen. This is no doubt the best implementation of an outer screen so far in the flip phone world. The phone is having an IP52 rating, which means it should be able to handle splashes of rain and water. Motorola Razr 40 Ultra comes in 4 different colours. Viva magenta colour variant is having a vegan leather back finish, whereas the others have Gorilla Glass Victus protection on the back.
Performance and Battery:
Measuring battery performance on a flip phone becomes tricky as Android only captures SOT for the inner display. However, the advantage of having the functional more diminutive outer display adds up to some extra juice as we do not need to use the large inner screen that often. As per the reviews, the phone should easily last a full day on a full charge. It also supports 30-watt fast charging and the charger comes in the box — Samsung, Apple please note that.Â
Motorola Razr 40 Ultra comes with 8 GB of RAM and is powered by Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1. Performance is top-notch and should not encounter any lag. Even though Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 is not the latest flagship chip, it is well-optimized for power efficiency, and the mobile’s battery life reflects this. This sort of optimization is a difficult task, especially for a flip phone this slim. Motorolla has done a great job for this.
Camera and Video:
Now let’s talk about the thing which is not the forte of Motorola, the Cameras. Cameras have never been the strongest area of flip phones and this is true for Motorola Razr 40 Ultra as well. Here we have a straight comparison with Samsung’s Flip 4 so we will take that as reference. In terms of daytime landscapes, Samsung’s photos have exaggerated colours, while Motorola’s images have desaturated tones. However, in specific scenarios like blooming trees, Motorola’s colours are preferred over Samsung’s overly contrasty hues. Though Razr Ultra has a disadvantage in ultra-wide mode as its narrower field of view compared to Samsung.
At night, the Razr Ultra performs better, maintaining contrast in low-light conditions. The cover screen makes it easier for taking selfies. However, the 4k videos appear choppy with inconsistent frame rates and muted colours. Switching between ultrawide and main cameras is also not supported.
Final Verdict:
Finally, I would say it is worth considering Motorola Razr 40 Ultra despite its camera shortcomings. We have to admit that no flip phone has a great camera and while the RAZR+ falls short in certain ways, the Samsung Galaxy Flip 4 also has its underwhelming aspects.
The standout feature of the Motorola Razr 40 Ultra or Razr+ is its ability to provide the convenience of two phones in one, with a large screen when unfolded and a cover screen for quick tasks.The Build quality, reliable tap and twist gestures, clean interface, and the usefulness of the peak display for notifications are praiseworthy. The RAZR Ultra is seen as a return to form for Motorola in the foldable phone market and is considered special due to its form factor. Overall, the Motorolla Razr 40 Ultra/ Razr+ is recommended as a noteworthy option for those seeking a foldable phone experience.
