The Motorola Razr 40 Ultra is a game changer in the foldable smartphone market. While the design may not be as "edgy" as the original RAZR V3, it’s a brilliant evolution that brings an impressive blend of features and functionality. The Razr 40 Ultra is not just another foldable – it’s a statement of intent from Motorola, a powerful claim for a space dominated by Samsung. This review dives deep into the device, exploring its design, performance, phenomenal cover display, and camera capabilities, ultimately explaining why it’s a compelling option for tech enthusiasts and anyone looking for a premium foldable experience.
Motorola Razr 40 Ultra price in India
The Motorola Razr 40 Ultra is priced at ₹89,999 in India. This premium price point lands it alongside Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 4, making the price difference a key factor in the decision-making process. The phone comes with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage, offering ample storage for photos, videos, and apps. It’s available in two captivating finishes: Viva Magenta and Infinite Black. I reviewed the Infinite Black model, which exudes a sleek and sophisticated aesthetic. The Razr 40 Ultra comes with a 33W charger, a transparent TPU hard case, and a Type-A to Type-C USB cable.
Motorola Razr 40 Ultra design
The Motorola Razr 40 Ultra stands out with its rounded and sleek design, offering a thin profile whether it’s folded (15.1mm) or open (6.99mm). A key design highlight is the seamless integration of the two halves, with no gap separating them when folded. This contributes to its sleek appearance when closed, offering a noticeable improvement over the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4. This is especially important as design remains a significant selling point, and the Razr 40 Ultra certainly stands out.
The Motorola Razr 40 Ultra uses Gorilla Glass Victus for its front and rear panels
Motorola has implemented Gorilla Glass Victus on both the front and rear panels, adding a layer of durability. The design extends to the rear-facing cameras, which sit nearly flush with the cover display’s glass surface. This cover display is a real showstopper, offering 3D curved-edge glass that wraps around the metal frame, resulting in a polished and premium appearance. The curved edges also give the phone a unique, customizable aesthetic, as changing the wallpaper changes the look of the display’s top half.
The Motorola Razr 40 Ultra’s hinge does not open to 180-degrees
The matte finish on the rear panel is unfortunately slippery, which can make maneuvering the phone with one hand difficult. The glossy finish on the frame and hinge provides a better grip. Opening the phone with one hand requires a specific technique: spacing out the top half and then flicking it out with a twisting motion. While this may seem like a risky maneuver, it’s actually reminiscent of the original Razr V3, adding a nostalgic touch.
The Motorola Razr 40 Ultra’s fingerprint reader is embedded into its power button, on the right side
If the Infinite Black finish isn’t appealing, the Viva Magenta option offers a faux-leather textured back, which might be better suited for those who prefer a more secure grip.
The Razr 40 Ultra features an IP52 rating, which is remarkable for a foldable phone. This rating offers dust protection and a basic level of water resistance. This is a significant improvement over the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4, which only has an IPX8 rating (water resistance without dust protection).
The water-drop hinge employed in the Razr 40 Ultra minimizes the crease on the inner display, but it does not fold completely flat, resulting in a slightly concave appearance when unfolded. However, this is a minor aesthetic compromise for the phone’s overall design.
Motorola Razr 40 Ultra specifications and software
The Razr 40 Ultra offers compelling specifications, making it a strong contender against the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4. It boasts a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 SoC, which may seem outdated compared to newer chipsets, but still delivers ample power for gaming and everyday tasks.
The 8GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage are generous provisions, exceeding the Galaxy Z Flip 4’s base model, which includes only 128GB of storage at the same price point. This makes the Razr 40 Ultra a more attractive option for users who value plentiful storage space. The Oppo Find N2 Flip also offers 256GB of storage at a similar price, but with a MediaTek Dimensity 9000+ processor.
The Razr 40 Ultra supports a range of communication standards, including Wi-Fi 6e, Bluetooth 5.3, NFC, and various 5G bands. It offers a single nano-SIM card slot along with e-SIM functionality, enabling dual-standby mode. A USB 2.0 Type-C port graces the bottom, while a 3,800mAh battery powers the device, which can be charged with the included 30W charger.
The Razr 40 Ultra’s Retro mode will remind users of the old Razr V3
Motorola’s software experience, known for its near-stock Android interface, takes a leap forward in the Razr 40 Ultra, thanks to the inclusion of the second cover display. Based on Android 13, the software comes with extensive customization options, including fonts, wallpapers, themes, and even the ability to theme icons like on a Pixel smartphone. The bloatware is minimal, featuring apps like Family Space, Moto, Moto Secure, and Moto Notifications.
What sets the Razr 40 Ultra apart is its unique approach to customizing the external display. Unlike other foldables, where customizing the external display often involves navigating settings menus, the Razr 40 Ultra allows seamless customization directly from the external display itself or the inner display. This intuitive design is a key advantage, ensuring a smoother experience.
It’s also possible to play regular casual games on the cover display in fullscreen
This external display truly distinguishes the Razr 40 Ultra, transforming it into a mini gaming console reminiscent of the Nintendo Gameboy Advance or Playdate. Motorola has preloaded a collection of mini games, designed specifically for the external display, resulting in an addictive and entertaining gaming experience. The display can even handle regular, casual games like Subway Surfers without issues, enhancing its versatility.
Motorola’s MyUX interface takes full advantage of the external display, enabling users to view notifications and even run full-fledged apps on it. The interface also provides per-app settings for transitions between external and internal displays, making the switch seamless for most third-party apps. This level of functionality is unprecedented in the Indian foldable market, and truly elevates the user experience.
Instagram running in full-screen mode (left) on the external display versus default view (right) which avoids the cameras
The two floating cameras embedded in the cover display offer a futuristic aesthetic but can present an obstacle for apps. To address this, Motorola offers the user a choice between fullscreen mode and a default view that cuts out the camera areas, resulting in a rectangular display. This minimalist view is surprisingly effective for productivity.
However, there are limitations with note-taking apps, such as Evernote. In these apps, the keyboard appears on the external display, obscuring the text selection area. This limitation makes it challenging to edit or work with text on the external display.
Motorola Razr 40 Ultra performance
The Razr 40 Ultra lives up to expectations, delivering robust performance driven by the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 SoC. Benchmark scores reflect this power, with a score of 9,76,130 points in AnTuTu and 1,826 and 4,703 points in Geekbench’s single and multi-core tests respectively.
Gaming performance on this foldable device is surprisingly good. While the phone does experience some heating after five minutes of playing Call of Duty: Mobile at ‘Very High’ graphics and framerates, performance remains consistent during gameplay.
The only app that consistently pushes the device to its thermal limits is the camera app. After just five minutes of use, the phone can become noticeably hot, resulting in performance degradation. The camera app’s response times become sluggish, capturing images slowly and encountering stutters in videos that would otherwise be smooth.
The dual speaker setup is impressive, delivering immersive audio experiences for both gaming and movie watching. While the left speaker is slightly louder than the right speaker (when held horizontally), overall, the sound quality is well balanced.
The main display on the Razr 40 Ultra is a pOLED panel with a full-HD+ resolution and offers a 165Hz maximum refresh rate and a 360Hz touch sampling rate. The 22:9 aspect ratio main display, measuring 6.9 inches diagonally, provides a spacious view for content and text. It’s impressively bright outdoors, though the colors might seem a bit jarring at the default ‘Saturated’ setting. I found the ‘Natural’ setting to be more agreeable and closer to accurate. The new hinge effectively minimizes the display crease.
The Motorola Razr 40 Ultra’s main inner display is sharp and vibrant
The main display frequently drops to 1Hz, a feature designed to conserve battery life, but it often seems capped at 120Hz. The only instance where the display can be forced to 165Hz is during gaming with Motorola’s Gametime tools. While Motorola claims the main display supports HDR content, I only witnessed this support in the YouTube app.
Regarding durability, the Razr 40 Ultra’s folding display isn’t as tough as Samsung’s ultra-thin glass found on the Galaxy Z Flip 4. It’s still better than the Oppo Find N2 Flip, which has been described as quite delicate. In my two weeks of usage, which included a significant amount of gaming, I only managed to acquire a small, barely noticeable dent on the Razr 40 Ultra’s display.
The external display boasts a 1:1 aspect ratio, measures 3.6 inches diagonally, and has a remarkable resolution of 1,066 x 1,056 pixels. It provides a crisp viewing experience with a 413ppi density, matching the internal display. It offers a 144Hz refresh rate that dynamically adjusts based on the content being viewed. While the display’s reflective nature makes it slightly duller than the internal display, it’s sufficiently bright for outdoor use.
Call of Duty: Mobile works just fine on the cover display. Switching between both displays is also possible when gaming
The battery life of the Razr 40 Ultra is remarkably good, especially considering its slim design. The usefulness of the external display reduces the need to unfold the phone frequently, contributing to battery longevity. In our video loop test (with the display refresh rate set to High), the Razr 40 Ultra lasted for 18 hours and 27 minutes. With casual usage, the phone can easily last for a full day and beyond, often ending the day with 25-30 percent battery remaining even after 45 minutes of intensive gaming. This suggests the camera and gaming are the top battery drainers, both of which could be optimized for greater efficiency.
Remember that the Razr 40 Ultra’s adaptive battery optimization needs a break-in period of about three days before it delivers its optimal performance. The external display becomes a lifesaver in low-battery situations, providing a power-efficient alternative for various tasks.
Charging the device is swift, reaching 50 percent charge within 30 minutes and fully charging within an hour and nine minutes. While wireless charging is available, the Razr 40 Ultra charges at a slow 5W, falling short of the Galaxy Z Flip 4’s 15W charging capability.
Motorola Razr 40 Ultra cameras
The Razr 40 Ultra packs a pair of rear-facing cameras embedded within the cover display. These include a 12-megapixel primary camera with OIS and a 13-megapixel ultra-wide camera featuring a 108-degree field of view (FOV) capable of capturing macro photos. Selfies are handled by a 32-megapixel camera located within the inner folding display. Both front and rear camera systems can capture video at 4K 60fps.
The dual displays enable several unique functionalities. The rear cameras, when the phone is folded, can be used for capturing selfies in either a squarish 1:1 ratio or the standard 4:3 ratio. The cover display can also serve as a viewfinder, and it can be propped up in tent mode for hands-free selfies or selfie videos.
Motorola Razr 40 Ultra daylight camera samples (tap to see full size)
In daylight, images captured by the primary camera exhibit good detail, but the dynamic range is somewhat limited. This is evident in the shadows and when pointing the camera towards a bright light source. The camera’s HDR system handles darker areas better than brighter areas, which often experience clipping in challenging lighting conditions. The images tend to have a slightly contrasted look, and colors are saturated, which may appeal to some users. Minor purple fringing can be seen in brighter scenes.
Motorola Razr 40 Ultra low-light camera samples (tap to see full size)
In low light, photos captured using Night mode are surprisingly good. I found Night mode preferable to the primary camera’s Auto mode, as it delivers better dynamic range and maintains sharpness despite using longer exposure times. In street-lit scenes, dynamic range is excellent, while finer details like grass and foliage appear less sharp. Colors are also impressive compared to Auto mode photos. However, in dimly lit scenes, visible noise is present in the darker areas.
Motorola Razr 40 Ultra ultra-wide-angle camera samples (tap to see full size)
The ultra-wide-angle camera performs well in daylight, capturing photos with good sharpness, colors, and dynamic range. Its consistency in color reproduction is notable compared to the primary camera. Lens barrel distortion is effectively controlled, and details are good. However, in low light, details suffer, and the camera struggles to focus, especially in street-lit situations, resulting in softer or out-of-focus images at times. Locking the focus by tapping the screen before shooting leads to improved image quality.
The ultra-wide-angle camera also doubles as a macro camera capable of capturing stunning close-up photos with excellent colors, dynamic range, and a sharp focus.
Motorola Razr 40 Ultra selfie camera samples (tap to see full size)
Selfies are sharp, clear, and well-exposed, with accurate edge detection. However, night selfies present a different outcome, with predominantly flat textures that resemble paintings. The primary camera turned out to be a better option for selfies, delivering consistently better results in all lighting conditions.
Shooting videos at 4K 30fps is the ideal setting, delivering good details and stabilization. However, automatic exposure adjustment can be problematic, leading to video flickering. At 4K 60fps, videos have a slightly contrasted look with less detail, and the framerate isn’t stable, fluctuating during recording. The Razr 40 Ultra is capable of recording HDR10+ video at 4K 30fps, but this mode lacks stabilization and produces choppy footage, along with other issues.
Recording video in low light proved to be a less enjoyable experience. 4K 30fps footage came out dark, contrasted, and noisy. Stabilization was substandard, and the same exposure problems encountered in daylight footage were present. 4K 60fps footage appeared even darker and noisier but provided a steadier framerate.
Verdict
The Motorola Razr 40 Ultra is a clear winner, offering an innovative approach in a market saturated with cutting-edge technology. The cover display is exceptional, even though it could quickly be surpassed by new offerings, such as the upcoming Samsung Z Flip 5. The fluid display and software optimization combine to deliver one of the most practical user experiences in this segment. The phone boasts a capable set of cameras and includes a macro mode.
Of course, the Razr 40 Ultra isn’t without flaws. The primary issue is camera app heating, which can negatively impact performance. However, at ₹89,999, it’s difficult to find a foldable phone that packs so many features, looks stylish, and manages to execute them seamlessly. This new flagship Razr is sure to appeal to a wide range of tech-savvy Android users seeking a fresh and compelling smartphone experience.
