Motorola Razr 40 Ultra Review: What a glow-up

By Alex Choros

Last updated 07 July 2023

Motorola Razr 40 Ultra Review: The Verdict

The Razr 40 Ultra isn't just good for a foldable, it's a good phone full stop. Motorola's sanded off the rough edges associated with the flip-style form factor and cemented itself as a brand to pay attention to for premium devices.

What we love

Large, useful external display
Premium design with minimal crease
Lovely display

What could be improved

Camera can be slow to shoot
Only rated IP52 for splash resistance

The essentials

Performance: Super zippy. No complaints.
Battery: Solid. Can get around 4.5 hours of screen time, which should be enough for a moderate day of usage with a small buffer.
Screen: Lovely, and almost no crease.
Camera: Can take great photos in most lighting situations, struggles with motion.

85/100

$1,499

Motorola is having a bit of a glow-up lately; a renaissance. Its affordable phones are once again among the very best, while its efforts in the premium space are starting to pay off in a big way.

The Razr 40 Ultra epitomises this. It's a flagship flip-phone foldable that not only matches what brands like Samsung and OPPO have brought to the table, but also adds its own meaningful improvements to the category.

It's an especially welcome surprise given where the Razr revival started. The Razr 40 Ultra feels like it was made by a completely different company than the first generation Razr foldable, a device so questionable Motorola didn't have the confidence to distribute review units locally.

Fortunately, four generations of iteration and improvement have more than paid off.

A big small screen

The key innovation the Razr 40 Ultra brings to the table is the largest external display on a flip-style foldable so far. It measures in at 3.6-inch, which is actually bigger than the display in the original iPhone. It also edges out the 3.26-inch display on OPPO's Find N2 Flip, and is significantly bigger than the 1.9-inch cover display on Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip 4.

From a practical perspective, the Razr 40 Ultra's display is a fully functional way to interact with the phone. It doesn't just show notifications and widgets - you can literally run any app you desire. While many apps are too cramped on the baby screen (don't even bother opening Instagram), the functionality is largely positive.

You can reply to a message without needing to unfold the phone, for example. The keyboard takes up most of the screen, but you can still see what you're typing.

The Razr 40 Ultra software has a nice seamlessness to it. If you open up an app while the phone is closed, unfolding it will take you to the full-size version of the app.

Similarly, you can continue whatever it is you're doing on the external display when you close the phone. Google Maps is a great example of this. You can start navigation with the phone unfolded, and then keep directions up on the external display without needing to open up the Razr again every time you want to make sure you're still going the right way.

The initial Razr 40 Ultra experience could use some improvement, however. Whenever you open an app on the external display for the first time, you have to grant it new permissions. It's not a big deal, but it means the Razr 40 Ultra isn't as friendly as it could be. It adds unnecessary friction.

On top of the large external display, the Razr 40 Ultra is also a big step up in industrial design for Motorola. The phone is sleeker than last year's model, bezels are slimmer, and it folds entirely flat with no gap when it's shut. The display crease is all but invisible unless you're looking at the Razr 40 Ultra off-angle, and it's barely noticeable when you're running your finger over it.

The phone bits

The Razr 40 Ultra is of course more than a folding screen. There's the whole phone part too.

Let's start with the camera. It's not up there with the best from Apple, Samsung, or Google, but it's certainly not bad. You can get fantastic photos in good lighting, and great shots in low light. The Razr 40 Ultra does however struggle with motion - getting a sharp photo of my dog always took multiple attempts.

The ultra-wide lens definitely represents a step down in quality from the primary 12MP camera, but can still take great photos in all but dark lighting. It's not just there for the sake of being there.

While the Razr 40 Ultra missed out on some versatility thanks to the lack of a zoom lens, the foldable form factor makes up for this. You can take amazing selfies when the phone is shut (to the point you shouldn't even bother with the front-facing camera in the internal display), and the fact the phone can be its own tripod if used partially unfolded is very helpful in a pinch.

When it comes to internals, the Razr 40 Ultra is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 chipset. While that processor is almost a year old now, the Razr 40 Ultra is still flagship fast. I didn't experience a single performance issue.

In terms of battery, you can expect about 4.5 hours of screen time per charge. That should be enough for a day of moderate usage, but you might not have much of a buffer left at the end of the day. You might need to give the Razr 40 Ultra a top-up if you're expecting a big day.

While 4.5 hours of screen time isn't outstanding, it's the best we've seen in the form factor, on par with OPPO's Find N2 Flip. It's also pretty similar to the battery on the iPhone 14 Pro.

Motorola's Samsung problem

As excellent a device as the Razr 40 Ultra is, Motorola has a Samsung problem. The Galaxy Z Flip 5 is expected to be on the cards for Samsung's July 26 Unpacked. If you're considering a foldable phone, it's probably worth waiting the extra couple of weeks before making up your mind.

Like the Razr 40 Ultra, a larger external display is on the cards for the Z Flip 5. Samsung is likely to have better water resistance with an IPX8 rating (like the Galaxy Z Flip 4), whereas the Razr 40 Ultra is rated IP52, which means it's only splash resistant.

Samsung typically also offers a longer support life for its phones. Flagship Galaxy devices get four major operating system upgrades and five years of security updates. Meanwhile, the Razr 40 Ultra will get three years of operating system and four years of security. That's a big improvement for Motorola, but not quite best in class.

Of course, we've currently got no idea how the Galaxy Z Flip 5 will perform in terms of camera and battery, neither of which have been strengths for previous models in the Z Flip family. And Samsung is definitely lacking when it comes to nostalgia-inducing not quite hot pink colourways.

Motorola Razr 40 Ultra - Final Thoughts

With the Razr 40 Ultra, Motorola has managed to shed itself of the foldable curse. The Razr 40 Ultra isn't just good for a foldable, it's a good phone that happens to fold. This makes the Razr 40 Ultra more than worth considering if you're interested in the form factor, but it's also exciting from a broader perspective.

We're now at an inflection point where foldables have stopped feeling like oddities. Between the OPPO Find N2 Flip and the Motorola Razr 40 Ultra, we've seen the rough edges associated with the category sanded away. Samsung is all but certain to follow suit later this month.

This is great; choice is good for consumers, and competition breeds innovation. Now that phone makers are all but done racing to address bugbears with the category, I'd love to see them think about what's next. What else can a flip-style foldable be other than a big phone that's also a small phone?

But circling back to here and now, the Razr 40 Ultra isn't just a compelling foldable, it's a clear sign that Motorola should be taken seriously as a premium phone manufacturer.