Motorola unveils Razr 40 Ultra foldable phone

The Motorola Razr 40 Ultra is Motorola’s latest foldable smartphone to date, one that takes the lessons learned from the 2022 Moto Razr to deliver a highly commendable foldable device to the masses that doesn’t skimp on anything when it comes to it is about its design, choice of materials and performance. Today we will take a deep dive into it, and by the end of the quote we hope to make it clear what makes it special.

A perfected clamshell mobile

The clamshell (or lid) design is a trend that has returned to the market after a decade of disuse and the Motorola Razr 40 Ultra is here to take it to the next level. The terminal exhibits a Premium finish in glass and aluminum , which, of course, is characterized by being foldable and that is something that we can thank for the hinge, which has been significantly improved from the last generation.

Patented teardrop hinge, as Motorola calls it, and is responsible for perfectly aligning the upper and lower edges of the mobile. This also ensures that there are no gaps in the screen and that the device lies completely straight when opened. Similarly, the improved hinge design makes the fold that all folding screens carry almost imperceptible, and that small detail makes a world of difference.

With that in mind, the true protagonist is the internal pOLED screen , which when unfolded reveals a 6.9-inch diagonal panel, FHD+ resolution, 165Hz refresh rate with LTPO and HDR10+ support . Simply put, it’s a phenomenal panel that delivers a vibrant, detailed, well-lit, and fluid visual experience that’s second to none of the best smartphones on the market today.

At the back it houses the happy external screen, which is significantly smaller than the main one, but which opens up a whole realm of possibilities. Here we are dealing with a 3.6-inch panel with a resolution of 1066×1056 pixels and a refresh rate of 144Hz , so it is not far behind in terms of visual quality or fluidity. This is not an ornament, because we can see notifications, play videos, open apps like Google Maps, use it as a mirror to take photos with the rear camera, and much more.

Performance and features

The Motorola Razr 40 Ultra isn’t as ultra as its name implies. The chip inside is the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 , which has been on the market for a couple of years now, but still holds up pretty well when put to the test. The chip is accompanied by 8GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage, resulting in a proficient combination that can handle any mobile task, app, or game we throw at it.

The problem is that, due to its small internal size, it can overheat under certain circumstances. If, for example, we decide to play a demanding title like Genshin Impact or Call of Duty Mobile, in a matter of 20-30 minutes the Motorola Razr 40 Ultra will start to overheat and lower performance to control temperatures.

Similarly, a stressful benchmark can reproduce the same results. In the defense of the Motorola Razr 40 Ultra, this is a common problem with foldable smartphones; They just aren’t built to sustain that workload for long, as heat dissipation is a challenge given the foldable design.

In another order of ideas, the mobile is powered by a battery of only 3,800mAh ; again, another weak point of this and other folding, which has its origin in the reduced internal space. Be that as it may, it provides about 5-6 hours of screen time with mixed use, so we’d say it’s enough for a day with moderate use, but don’t forget to put it on charge before going to sleep, otherwise we’ll we risk waking up with 0%.

Finally, it has a 30W charge and in theory this is enough to recharge the battery to 60% in half an hour.

cameras

The Motorola Razr 40 Ultra has a pair of cameras on the back, they are 12MP and 13MP sensors (angular and ultra wide-angle) with optical image stabilization and the ability to shoot video in 4K UHD at 60FPS, that’s for not mention that they have night vision for portraits and HDR mode.

On the internal screen it has a 32MP front camera with similar recording capabilities; but as we mentioned before, the external screen and the design of this mobile allow us to take selfies always using the best cameras. How are the photographic results themselves? Well, not bad, but they fall behind what we can expect from a standard flagship in 2023.

Going into details, the photos enjoy great detail, vitality and sharpness in well-lit environments thanks to that wide f / 1.5 aperture and OIS capabilities, but the processing leaves to be desired and the dynamic range is mediocre, not to mention that the colors they are not very precise, in fact, they can be exaggerated.

Macro photography doesn’t do well on fixed-focus cameras, and the Razr 40 Ultra is no exception to that predicament—it’s hard to get up-close shots worth sharing on social media. Similarly, in low light conditions we can expect a darker, cloudier and also softer image.

Motorola Razr 40 Specifications: