Motorola Razr Ultra (2025) assessment: wanting sharp

The Motorola Razr Ultra is one thing particular, nevertheless it’s not fairly Ultra.

It’s beautiful. It’s a delight to make use of, and even after a number of generations of this revamped Razr flip format, checking bus arrival occasions on the outer display nonetheless appears like getting away with one thing. This cellphone is a whole lot of issues — however Ultra feels a bit too robust.

This is a brand new addition to the Razr lineup, sitting atop the trio of flip telephones in options and worth, beginning at $1,299. You get a better decision inside display, Qualcomm’s strongest cellular processor, double the space for storing, and an upgraded selfie cam. Oh, and a devoted button to summon Motorola’s AI options, however extra on that later.

Is it a lower above the remainder of the Razr household? Sure. Is it a lovely cellphone? Definitely. It’s simply that Ultra is a loaded time period, particularly when you’re speaking about Android telephones. Samsung has set the tone for what makes a cellphone extremely, which presently means a whole lot of cameras and principally each high-end spec you may consider. This Razr has loads of appeal and a robust listing of specs, nevertheless it nonetheless highlights the hole between the easiest slab-style telephones and flip telephones — even Ultra ones.

Did I point out how good this cellphone appears? I truly did a double tackle no less than one event after I noticed it in my tote bag. My assessment unit’s facet rails are a goldish, bronzy colour that emphasizes the nice and cozy tones of the picket again panel. It’s actual wooden, too, although just a little little bit of give after I press down on the middle suggests it’s a skinny layer on high of one thing else.

The 4-inch 1080p outer display covers virtually the whole entrance of the cellphone. It’s responsive and clean, and Motorola’s cowl display software program stays my favourite option to work together with a flip cellphone. You swipe between panes, together with a brand new display for widgets, and a well-known one devoted to apps you may allow to run on the small display. This is the place issues get fascinating.

Opening Instagram on a tiny four-inch display sounds horrible, and it’s. That’s sort of the purpose. The display is large enough to deal with checking notifications, typing a response, and taking fast actions in apps like beginning an exercise in Strava. For every part else, you’ll need to use the inside display. It helps me lower a few of my senseless scrolling after I have to open the cellphone to test an Instagram notification.

The inside show measures 7 inches with a 1224p decision — a hair larger and sharper than the 6.9-inch 1080p screens on the opposite two Razr fashions. It’s a great show. I preferred it rather more as soon as I modified the colour setting to “pure” from its default “vivid,” which overdoes it with the reds, in my view. Outside, the display was just a bit dimmer than I’d like in vibrant situations; even when peak brightness mode kicks in, it’s not fairly sufficient to be comfy to make use of in direct daylight.

Motorola says the brand new hinge is extra sturdy and reduces the crease when the display is open. I don’t normally discover the crease on a foldable distracting, however this one virtually disappears once you unfold the cellphone. The earlier hinge felt just a little floppy when you opened the cellphone previous 90 levels; this one has higher resistance.

The Razr Ultra has an IP48 score, persevering with to supply full water-resistance like final 12 months’s fashions. This was reassuring after I watched my child drool instantly into the cellphone’s hinge. The “4” score for particle resistance positive appears friendlier than the X of the earlier fashions, however that doesn’t imply it’s dust-resistant. The internals are secure from particles as small as one millimeter, larger than the grain of mud or sand that would wreak havoc on the cellphone’s inside display. The Ultra has stood as much as loads of abuse up to now, together with publicity to the dusty inside of my tote bag and manhandling by my toddler. Long-term sturdiness stays much less sure than a slab-style cellphone, although.

Motorola can also be debuting a set of AI options it’s been beta testing. “Catch Me Up” summarizes notifications from messaging apps, “Remember This” information away screenshots, textual content, and photographs so you may ask about them later, and “Pay Attention” begins a voice recording with computerized transcription. The fast model of my expertise through the week I’ve been utilizing them? Meh.

I like “Remember This” as a repository for screenshots of issues I’d in any other case go away open in a Chrome tab forever, however I didn’t discover it as helpful in a private assistant. I added screenshots of particulars for some upcoming flights, and it obtained issues proper after I requested questions on them, like what time my flight was leaving. But it’s additionally just a little sluggish to answer a question since a part of it runs within the cloud. In the time it takes to search out the knowledge, I may have simply opened the Delta app and checked myself.

I’m reserving some judgment as a result of these options are extra helpful the longer you reside with them, and Motorola’s method is wise. Everything depends on you manually including info to the service — it requires a Motorola / Lenovo account — which avoids among the ickiness of an always-listening or watching AI system. It additionally means you have to habituate to saving screenshots and data in a brand new location, and you’ll inevitably neglect to do this.

Motorola has made each effort to get you to have interaction with its AI. There’s a devoted AI key to launch two of those features with an extended press or double press. You can disable both, however you may’t assign non-AI features to this key, which sort of sucks. There’s a distinguished homescreen icon for the Moto AI app, a floating bubble, an choice to have the display get up once you take a look at it, and extra. Somehow, it feels overwhelming and forgettable on the identical time. But I haven’t given up on it fairly but, I plan to maintain testing these options.

All of the above describes a great flip cellphone, which I’ve come to anticipate from Motorola. But is it an Ultra? Some different {hardware} specs assist make that case: a Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, 16GB of RAM, 512GB of storage, and a Gorilla Glass Ceramic layer on the outer display. There’s as much as 68W wired charging and as much as 30W wi-fi charging. Nothing to sneeze at.

The Razr Ultra behaves like a top-shelf Android cellphone. It renders Pocket City 2’s 3D mode with no hiccup, and although it warms up with quick charging or prolonged gaming, I by no means noticed a drop in efficiency. Battery life is a vibrant spot too, particularly for a flip cellphone that has to surrender a few of its inside actual property to the hinge. Even on a day the place I spent a while utilizing the Razr propped as much as stream a video of the Vatican on Pope Watch, tracked a 45-minute bike journey whereas streaming audio, and dialed into a gathering, I used to be solely right down to about 50 % by bedtime. That’s slab cellphone battery efficiency from a flip cellphone, an actual achievement.

It’s slated to obtain three OS upgrades and 4 years of safety updates. That’ll be sufficient for most individuals, however Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 6 provides seven years of OS and safety updates. It’s simpler to grasp the shorter software program longevity on a inexpensive cellphone, however on this $1,300 Ultra? That’s more durable to justify.

The story of utilizing a Motorola cellphone digital camera goes like this: you may take some very nice photographs with it, however you may’t be totally positive which of your photographs will prove effectively and which is able to obtain some questionable processing. It does effectively with flattering lighting, like indoors along with your topic subsequent to an enormous window. It can produce a good portrait mode portrait. Other occasions, photographs can look just a little overbrightened, oversaturated, or a mixture of the 2. These issues appear to occur extra typically in “meh” lighting — overcast and grey situations, or a dimly lit room.

This Razr has a 50-megapixel vast digital camera and a 50-megapixel ultrawide, with a 2x crop zoom possibility through the primary one. I’m wondering if a 50-megapixel selfie digital camera is overkill, since you need to use these on the outer panel with the entrance display for selfies. Maybe it’s there so that you’ll look further crisp in your Zoom conferences, or perhaps it’s there to lend one other air of Ultra. Hard to say.

There’s one thing intangible in regards to the Razr that’s exhausting to elucidate with out utilizing it for a short while. I don’t even totally perceive it myself. Why does it really feel so good hailing an Uber from the front-facing display as an alternative of opening the cellphone? Why is it so satisfying to tug up my digital boarding move on the duvet display utilizing one hand whereas I’m wielding a espresso and a rolling suitcase with the opposite? Why does it really feel so triumphant to snap the cellphone shut after firing off a zinger within the group chat? I don’t know, nevertheless it simply does.

For all of the flip cellphone advantages, it comes with some acquainted flip cellphone drawbacks. The inside display folds, positive, nevertheless it’s not as vibrant or sharp as these on one of the best slab-style telephones. It’s moderately sturdy, however mud remains to be a priority. You get an ultrawide and first rate crop zoom to enhance the primary digital camera, however some other slab-style cellphone at this worth comes with a devoted telephoto lens. There are fewer tradeoffs than on earlier flip telephones, however they nonetheless exist.

“Ultra” is within the eye of the beholder, actually. If a flip cellphone with a stacked spec sheet and a stunning exterior end sounds Ultra sufficient, this Razr will delight you. It’s exhausting to argue that case for anybody who’s extra casually occupied with a flip cellphone, particularly contemplating the caliber of slab-style cellphone you may get for $1,300. But this cellphone is very particular as an object, a instrument, and a factor of magnificence.

Photography by Allison Johnson / The Verge