Motorola Razr 40 Ultra Review: Robust Design, Large Versatile Secondary Screen, Powerful Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1

The Motorola brand continues to join the foldable phone race with the Motorola Razr 40 Ultra model. So, how is the design of the Motorola Razr 40 Ultra? What's the experience like with the secondary screen of the Motorola Razr 40 Ultra? Does the Motorola Razr 40 Ultra deliver strong performance? How does the Motorola Razr 40 Ultra's camera perform? Let's review the Motorola Razr 40 Ultra together to learn more about this product!

Note: This article is translated and referenced from the technology website GSMArena.

See more: Is it Worth Making the External Screen of Foldable Phones Larger, What's New?

Design of Motorola Razr 40 Ultra: Minor Changes, Solid Waterdrop Hinge

The Motorola Razr 40 Ultra is an upgraded version of the 2022 Razr with a familiar overall look but significantly improved design. Depending on the color you choose, the phone will be made of different materials. The Infinite Black and Glacier Blue colors use Gorilla Glass Victus for the lower part of the phone, increasing durability and impact resistance. Meanwhile, the Viva Magenta version is equipped with synthetic leather, bringing a luxurious and classy feel. All versions use the 7000 series aluminum frame, providing durability and lightweight construction while enhancing the phone's sturdiness.

The Viva Magenta color on the Motorola Razr 40 Ultra with synthetic leather provides a smooth and comfortable touch feel. Not only that, but its grip is also excellent, ensuring the phone doesn't slip easily. Additionally, the Gorilla Glass Victus on the outside of the screen also ensures maximum protection.

Thanks to the new waterdrop hinge design, the Motorola Razr 40 Ultra allows the two halves of the phone to be closer together when folded, with almost no gap between them. Compared to the Razr 2022, the Razr 40 Ultra is also thinner. The thickness of the device is 15.1 mm compared to 17 mm of the Razr 2022. When unfolded, the new Razr is also thinner at just 6.99 mm compared to 7.6 mm on the Razr 2022. Additionally, the Razr 40 Ultra is significantly lighter. The Viva Magenta variant weighs only 184.5 grams, while the glass options weigh slightly more at 188.5 grams.

Despite the folding hinge design, the Razr 40 Ultra still achieves IP52 water and dust resistance certification, although not completely waterproof. However, the phone is capable of withstanding splashes, spills, sweat, or light rain. This is a notable advantage because in most everyday random situations, this water resistance capability is sufficient to ensure the phone is not damaged by short-term exposure to water.

With its hinge, the Razr 40 Ultra provides a sturdy and robust feel, although sometimes it feels a bit heavy-handed. Opening the phone with one hand can be challenging and sometimes difficult to accomplish. However, you can still easily close the phone with one hand, and the device also supports opening at various positions, with the limit being 120 degrees. After surpassing this angle, the phone unfolds completely. The author noticed that the phone does not open completely and still has a slight curve.

The screen of the Razr 40 Ultra has been expanded with a diagonal size of up to 6.9 inches and ultra-thin bezels. The crease on the screen is also less bothersome than its predecessor, and this deserves praise. With the current flexible OLED screen technology, the Motorola Razr 40 Ultra has nothing to complain about.

The author greatly appreciates the narrower size of the Razr 40 Ultra, providing a comfortable grip. However, due to its height, one-handed usage can still be challenging. This means accessing buttons at the top is also a challenge. It would be better if the power button (which integrates a fingerprint sensor) were placed at the bottom of the device, while the volume buttons were placed closer to the hinge.

The remaining part of the side frame is designed conventionally. The bottom edge of the Razr 40 Ultra houses the speaker and USB-C port, while the top edge contains the earpiece and microphone. Motorola has relocated the included earphones with a speakerphone to the top so you can take calls when the phone is folded.

The outer screen of the Razr 40 Ultra measures 3.2 inches and is stunningly beautiful. It almost fills the entire top half of the device, while two camera sensors along with an LED flash are positioned at the top of the screen. The camera sensors are designed to be completely flat, not obstructing interactions on the screen.

The 'wow' factor of foldable phones may have faded at this point, which is understandable. However, the Razr 40 Ultra still boasts a beautiful, fully functional, and sturdy design. The color options are also very intriguing, especially the Viva Magenta version with synthetic leather. The author has nothing to complain about and finds no issues in the design. Just hoping for improved button placement, as they are currently quite challenging to access when the phone is unfolded.

Motorola Razr 40 Ultra secondary screen offers unique experiences

The outer display of the Motorola Razr 40 Ultra utilizes a 3.2-inch OLED panel with a resolution of 1,066 x 1,056 pixels. Additionally, the device's secondary screen features many similar technologies as the main display, including: HDR10+, 10-bit color depth, and a 360 Hz touch response rate. However, the Motorola Razr 40 Ultra's secondary screen has a refresh rate of 144 Hz instead of the main display's 165 Hz. Nevertheless, the 144 Hz figure is more than sufficient to provide users with a smooth viewing experience.

The author cannot confirm this for certain, but Motorola may have used one of the camera sensors to detect ambient light and automatically adjust the brightness of the secondary screen. However, the main display still comes with a separate ambient light sensor.

The main display of the Razr 40 Ultra utilizes a foldable LTPO OLED panel measuring 6.9 inches. This display features Full HD+ resolution (1,080 x 2,640 pixels), equivalent to a 22:9 aspect ratio. The device also supports HDR10+, 10-bit color depth, and a refresh rate of up to 165 Hz, making it one of the fastest displays on the market today. Particularly, during gaming, the display also supports a touch response rate of up to 360 Hz, providing a more responsive experience.

The Motorola Razr 40 Ultra comes with a pre-applied film layer to provide additional protection for the screen, which may also be necessary for the operation of the display. The crease in the middle almost disappears at a glance but can still be felt when swiping across the screen.

Both screens of the Motorola Razr 40 Ultra exhibit excellent performance in GSMArena's tests. The main display can fold up to achieve a maximum brightness of 1,050 nits in auto mode, while in manual mode, it can reach 506 nits. Despite having a protective film layer, the maximum brightness is sufficient for comfortable outdoor usage. The external display shows similar measurements, reaching 505 nits in manual mode and 932 nits in auto mode.

The color accuracy on the external display is not good, often displaying whites and grays with a greenish tint. A similar issue occurs on the main display in the default Saturated color mode. However, switching to the Natural color setting reduces the average color difference (dE2000) to just 2.2, providing stable results.

Powerful Performance with Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 in Motorola Razr 40 Ultra

Before diving into details, let's summarize the specifications of Motorola Razr 40 Ultra for your convenience.

• Main Display: 6.9-inch size, LTPO AMOLED panel, Full HD+ resolution (1,080 x 2,640 pixels), 413 ppi pixel density, 22:9 aspect ratio, 165 Hz refresh rate, up to 1,400 nits brightness, and HDR10+ support.
• Secondary Display: 3.2-inch size, OLED panel, 1,056 x 1,066 pixels resolution, 413 ppi pixel density, up to 1,100 nits brightness, 144 Hz refresh rate.
• CPU: Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1.
• RAM: 8 GB, 12 GB.
• Internal Storage: 256 GB, 512 GB.
• Rear Camera: 12 MP + 13 MP.
• Front Camera: 32 MP.
• Battery: 3,800 mAh, supports 30 W fast charging.
• Operating System: Android 13.

See more: Learn about the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chip

Razr 40 Ultra is equipped with the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 (4nm) processor from last year, which is a top-of-the-line, modern chip, albeit not the latest version. However, Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 is powerful enough to handle all tasks you throw at it, and this is the official version of the chip, not an overclocked variant like some other phones are using. This means the CPU's octa-core configuration includes the following clock speeds: 1 Cortex-X core at 3.19 GHz, 3 Cortex-A710 cores at 2.75 GHz, and 4 Cortex-A510 cores at 1.80 GHz. The Adreno 730 GPU handles graphics-intensive tasks.

The standard memory configuration of Razr 40 Ultra is 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of internal storage, while the 12 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage variant is available only in selected markets.

As you've noticed in the performance benchmarks below, the Razr 40 Ultra delivers good results most of the time and leverages the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chip quite well. However, there are some instances of heavy GPU usage that cause this device to lag behind the average scores of other Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 smartphones. One hard-to-ignore point is that the Razr 40 Ultra comes at a higher price compared to other flagship phones of 2023 but delivers inferior performance. All true flagships from this year onward are using the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 with many enhancements.

Razr 40 Ultra doesn't surprise with its unstable performance, partly due to its external factor. Splitting the device's frame into two parts leads to reduced heat dissipation capability, making it increasingly challenging for the cooling design to meet the processor's demands. That's why the Razr 40 Ultra starts throttling within the first 5 minutes of heavy CPU stress testing.

There's no sign of improvement throughout the entire testing process, with the processor maintaining only about 50% of its theoretical performance in prolonged 1-hour heavy load tests.

Motorola Razr 40 Ultra battery delivers better usage time than its predecessor generation

Equipped with a large 3,800 mAh battery and the high-performance Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor, Razr 40 Ultra shows significant improvement compared to the Motorola Razr 2022 in all scenarios. Results from GSMArena's tests reveal notable enhancements, with overall endurance increasing up to 83 hours, both with the screen off and on. Particularly satisfying is the substantial increase in web browsing and video playback times, which were disappointing in the previous generation.

When comparing the Motorola Razr 40 Ultra to its predecessor, the overall battery life is not particularly impressive when placed in the context of other high-end smartphones. Some rival flagships may offer much longer usage times. Compared to other vertically folding phones like the Galaxy Z Flip 4 and Oppo Find N2 Flip, the Motorola Razr 40 Ultra maintains decent endurance but falls somewhat short in battery life.

The new Razr 40 Ultra seems to have borrowed the TurboPower 30W charger from the previous version, but surprisingly, the phone comes with a USB-A to USB-C cable instead of a USB-C to USB-C cable, which caught the author off guard. However, a suitable USB-A charger is also included in the box. Nonetheless, the Razr 40 Ultra still charges faster than the Razr 2022 despite having a larger battery.

However, when considering the overall segment, the charging time of the Motorola Razr 40 Ultra is not impressive. With a 3,800 mAh battery, it takes 1 hour and 27 minutes to fully charge, while a 30-minute charge only restores 45% of the battery. This is not significant enough to be considered a competitive advantage against rivals.

Motorola Razr 40 Ultra's 12 MP camera meets basic photography needs

It's surprising that Motorola opted not to use a Quad-Bayer sensor for the main camera, but instead, a 12 MP sensor with large 1.4µm pixels. This sensor is paired with an optically stabilized lens with a very large f/1.5 aperture. The larger aperture will help the sensor capture more light at night, but close-up shots will have very limited focus distance.

On the other hand, the ultra-wide camera of the Motorola Razr 40 Ultra has fairly standard specifications, similar to last year's Razr, with a 13 MP sensor, f/2.2 aperture, and 1.12 μm pixel size with a 108° field of view. This lens also supports autofocus, allowing for macro-level photography. The selfie camera is also equipped similarly to its predecessor, using a 32 MP 0.7µm sensor, paired with an f/2.4 aperture. As this is a Quad-Bayer sensor, this camera will produce 8 MP resolution images.

• Daytime Photos with Main Camera

The performance of the main camera on the Motorola Razr 40 Ultra in daytime conditions is quite good, although it can't be considered outstanding compared to a flagship phone. This camera handles detail in photos very well, but the software can make them overly sharp, sometimes causing discomfort in specific situations.

The main camera of the Motorola Razr 40 Ultra reproduces vibrant colors; the dynamic range is very good, but the author feels they still have a better experience with some other devices in the segment.

The noise phenomenon is well controlled, even indoors. However, sharpness and detail are affected in unfavorable lighting conditions. The wide aperture f/1.5 has both advantages and disadvantages. When shooting close objects, it creates a natural bokeh effect and may blur some parts of the object due to limited depth of field.

• Daytime Photos, 2x Zoom

The Motorola Razr 40 Ultra does not include a 2x zoom function as the 12 MP camera is not designed for zoom photography. However, you can still use pinch gestures to zoom and capture photos. The post-processing process is similar to the 1x photo mode but with significantly reduced sharpness.

• Daytime Photos from Ultra-Wide Angle Camera

The ultra-wide-angle camera performs well in favorable lighting conditions. This lens has a good dynamic range, reproduces colors, and meters light similar to the main camera. The photo quality is quite detailed, especially for an ultra-wide lens.

Ultra-wide camera surprisingly shows more consistency than the main camera in various situations, and the author is also very impressed with the indoor ultra-wide shots.

• Daytime Macro Photos

With the ultra-wide camera's autofocus capability, the Razr 40 Ultra utilizes this feature to capture close-up macro photos. The resulting samples below demonstrate significant detail and sharpness. Additionally, the camera's performance is good in low-light conditions.

• Portrait Photos

The portrait mode on the Motorola Razr 40 Ultra produces beautiful bokeh effects, natural-looking colors, relatively good detail, and sharpness as long as the lighting conditions permit. Even the slightest decrease in light results in added skin smoothing and significant quality reduction. Edge detection works quite well even with complex backgrounds and only struggles with stray hair.

• Selfie Shots

The author tested both the default selfie camera and the main camera using the secondary display as a viewfinder. Surprisingly, both methods yielded similarly impressive photo quality in most cases. However, the author preferred using the selfie camera because it provided more natural colors and skin tones. The resolution, detail, and sharpness of both cameras were excellent. Even in low-light conditions, the selfie camera performed reliably.

• Low-Light Photos with Main Camera

In standard Photo mode under low-light conditions, the wide dynamic range in the photos makes the light sources look beautiful, and the balance between highlights and shadows is relatively good. However, the sharpness still needs improvement. Strong noise reduction causes the loss of most fine details, and the images appear quite blurry upon closer inspection. Motorola has provided a solution to this issue through the Night Vision mode.

Night Vision mode addresses most of the sharpness issues. The reproduction of fine details is improved, and light sources and highlights also look better. Night Vision mode specifically produces high contrast and vibrant colors. However, the author found that photos taken in low-light conditions were better from competing rivals, such as the Galaxy Z Flip4.

Conclusion

The Motorola Razr 40 Ultra is a clamshell foldable phone worth owning with its unique folding design and secondary display that offers many exciting experiences. However, the weaknesses of the device include cropped photos and videos when folded, slow charging speed, and relatively low battery life. Overall, the Motorola Razr 40 Ultra delivers a premium experience with corresponding value.

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