Before Samsung unveils its new Galaxy Z Flip 6 on July 10, Motorola steals the show with the Razr 50 Ultra. A folding smartphone model that puts pressure on the competition.
While Samsung reigns supreme in the foldable smartphone market, the competition is nevertheless strong and it does not lack much to take the lead, or even more market share. Motorola is undoubtedly its leader after having reborn from its ashes its famous Razr which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year.
The newcomer, the Razr 50 Ultra, refines the recipe. The 2024 version is bigger inside and out, with even more performance to offer. Can this be enough to overshadow Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy Z Flip6, which will be announced on July 10?
In any case, Motorola continues to put pressure on the South Korean, especially with its external screen which is still a few inches ahead and a usage which improves from year to year. At 1200 euros, you have to have serious assets to put forward to stand out.
WE love
The almost perfect design
Motorola is not revolutionizing the concept of the modern clamshell smartphone, but it is improving its formula. It is in particular the hinge that has been slightly redesigned to take the “drop” shape when the Razr 50 Ultra is folded without leaving any space between its screen halves. Once opened, the device is perfectly flat and thus allows for an almost invisible fold in the middle of the screen. The edges have been refined as much as possible around the 6.9-inch pOled FHD+ (HDR10+) panel adorned with a central punch with the 32 Mpx selfie camera.
Folded, the design has also been revised to leave more space for the external pOled screen which goes to 4 inches. It is reinforced with Gorilla Glass Victus to withstand multiple shocks. The two panels display an adaptive image refresh rate of 165 Hz. The question remains what the point of going so high is… even for mobile gaming, few titles are compatible.
In hand, the Razr 50 Ultra is always pleasant to hold, folded as open, thanks to its rounded sides and its thinness (7 mm open). Its light and well-distributed weight also helps (189 g). And no fear in case of falling into water, the smartphone is finally IPX8 certified to withstand 30 minutes of immersion up to 1.5 m. Otherwise, you can opt for the case offered with the phone and its strap to attach to carry the smartphone over the shoulder. It’s elegant and practical.
The Razr 50 Ultra plays the fun card with availability in navy blue, khaki green and Peach, the Pantone color of the year. The whole thing is in synthetic imitation leather which offers a rather pleasant touch. It also comes in raspberry-colored imitation suede.
The larger, more versatile external display
The screen now occupies almost the entire exterior facade when the smartphone is closed (17% more than Samsung’s). The two photo sensors and the flash are included in the panel. Unlike the Galaxy Z Flip5, Motorola uses the entire surface to display applications, games, music, information… and now Gemini as an application. However, many will see a black band appear on the bottom of the screen.
This large format makes closed use much easier. With its 4 inches, it has its customizable home menu with the applications of your choice (all are compatible). To quickly have a look at your messages, the applications open on the inner screen which is displayed as a shortcut (Google Maps, Music, Instagram …) or even the camera, it’s perfect. We will tend to use it much more often this way and more quickly, especially for taking photos. The person photographed can then be seen on the screen.
It is also perfect for holding the device and taking a selfie, by placing the smartphone or holding it in the “Flex” position (at 90°, but it can be held from 45 to 135°). You will then just have to close your wrist in front of the camera to trigger the photo.
The picture
On the outer panel, there is a 50 Mpx main sensor (Ultra-Res mode to be activated in the settings), but which will take photos by default in 12 Mpx, and a 50 Mpx 2x telephoto lens. Motorola has chosen to leave the ultra-wide angle to the Razr 50.
The Razr 50 Ultra is effective in photography with bright, detailed and warm shots. The zoom is effective and the night photo is honest without being bluffing. The Portrait mode, on the other hand, offers a very good quality rendering, but favor the photo outdoors. The shutter release tends to be a little slow at night.
Fans will appreciate the Pro mode that offers manual settings. On the video side, the Razr 50 Ultra can film in 4K/60 fps. And Motorola adds a little function that should amuse more than one. If you hold your smartphone horizontally, like an old-fashioned camcorder, video recording is triggered automatically. You will only have to tap on the interior screen to stop.
Performance and AI
Motorola has equipped its Razr 50 Ultra with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8s gen 3, which also equips its Edge 50 Ultra or the Honor 200 Pro. It’s a chip that allows you to do everything serenely, play games, open multiple applications at the same time or do photo editing, video, etc. This also allows the smartphone to better manage its battery life.
It runs on the Hello UI overlay based on Android 14, with a few home-grown apps and of course the essential AI features grouped together in the Moto AI space (for photos, AI wallpaper generation, Gemini in the cloud, etc.). It’s well integrated, but you won’t have the usual translation, transcription, document summary, or other features yet.
The Razr 50 Ultra only comes in one configuration with 512GB of storage and 12GB of RAM. But that’s much more than the Galaxy Z Flip5 (256GB of storage and 8GB of RAM for the same price). It’s 5G compatible, but also Bluetooth 5.4 and especially Wifi 7. It also offers eSIM.
Music lovers will be delighted with the compatibility with Dolby Atmos and Snapdragon Sound. Which allows it to broadcast sound lossless – without loss of quality (aptX HD, aptX Lossless and aptX Adaptive codecs), with headphones or directly from the speakers.
The charger provided
This is rare enough to be mentioned. Motorola announces a smartphone that supports 45W charging, but provides a 68W charger in the box. This gives you 50% battery recovery in 12 minutes of charging.
Better autonomy, but…
Compact and split format, the Razr 50 Ultra cannot boast of a large battery (4000 mAh). With the help of the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3, it manages to optimize everything. Nevertheless, it reaches the day of autonomy, but barely more. It even tends to quickly lose the last percentages, even without being particularly stressed. However, it remains one of the most enduring folding models. The good news is that it recharges quickly, offers reverse charging (5W) and wireless charging (15W).
We don’t like
Somewhat light updates
While Samsung will likely offer seven years of Android updates on its Galaxy Z Flip6 to bring it in line with the Galaxy S24, the Razr 50 Ultra has to make do with three years of Android updates and four years of security updates. That’s better than before. But for 1,200 euros, we would have liked longevity to be an additional strong point.
The price
So, we can point out that the Razr 50 Ultra does not increase compared to its predecessor. However, to come and cut the grass under Samsung’s feet, it would definitely have to make an effort on the price. At 1200 euros, Motorola does not stand out and its smartphone will suffer from the price comparison without many paying attention to its assets. Of course, for less than 1000 euros, there is the Razr 50 which takes the features of the Razr 40 Ultra and in a way lowers its price for a more than interesting quality-price ratio.
Conclusion
It’s still a great success for Motorola. Year after year since its redesign, the Razr has made a near-perfect copy. If you’re a fan of the compact format that slips into your pocket, you have here an elegant and premium smartphone, capable of meeting all demands and offering good quality photos. But at a price that always remains high to be competitive. If the format is your priority, go for it. If it’s not, other smartphones at 700 euros or less do just as well. But for a folding smartphone, it’s the perfect answer to Samsung.
