June 2, 2023, 7:11 am | Read time: 3 minutes
About 20 years ago, the Razr was one of the most popular mobile phones ever. Manufacturer Motorola has been building on that legacy for four years with a foldable smartphone, which is now being released in a new edition.
Motorola has unveiled completely revamped versions of its foldable Razr smartphones. The new flagship model, Razr 40 Ultra (sold as Razr+ in North America), primarily competes with rival models like the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip with a larger external display. The simpler Razr 40 does without a large external display, featuring only a narrow display strip for essential status information, text messages, or weather updates.
Foldable Smartphones in Flip Format
The two new Razr devices are clamshell models, meaning they fold horizontally and open up to a standard smartphone size.
Both the Razr 40 and Razr 40 Ultra feature 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 reaches a brightness of up to 1400 nits.
The only difference: the Ultra’s display has a refresh rate of 165 hertz. The standard Razr 40 is limited to 144 hertz–still a very good value. The high refresh rate ensures smooth scrolling in web browsers, gaming, and video playback.
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Videos and Maps on the External Display
The Ultra’s external display (3.5 inches) has a resolution of 1056 by 1066 pixels. This is large enough for apps like YouTube or Google Maps to be clearly visible on the outer display when folded. In principle, the smartphone can be fully operated via the external display–also with a refresh rate of 165 hertz. The display even offers a keyboard for replying to messages and small games.
The Ultra’s external display houses two camera lenses and an LED light. Motorola uses a Sony sensor (IMX563) with a 12-megapixel resolution for the main camera. It is accompanied 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, operates with 32 MP.
The Razr 40 does without the large external screen. Instead, it has only a 1.5-inch display for showing essential information like messages, music, weather, calendar, etc.
Larger Battery in the More Affordable Razr 40
For the Ultra, Motorola uses the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1, Qualcomm’s high-performance chip from last year. This makes it no more powerful than the Galaxy Z Flip 4 from August 2022, which is now available for significantly less than the Razr 40 Ultra. The standard Razr 40 has to make do with the mid-range Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 chip–also from last year. Both models have 8 gigabytes of RAM, but only the Ultra gets the faster LPDDR5 type.
Both models charge at 30 watts via cable and a meager 5 watts wirelessly. According to the manufacturer, the Ultra’s battery (3800 mAh) easily lasts all day. The simpler Razr 40 offers more space for a larger battery (4200 mAh) due to the smaller external display.
The Ultra is available in black, turquoise, and magenta. The magenta model features vegan leather on the back, which is resistant to fingerprints. The Razr 40 comes in green, silver, and purple. The Razr 40 Ultra is priced at 1,200 euros, while Motorola charges 900 euros for the simpler Razr 40.