Motorola Razr 50 Ultra Review: The Best Foldable You Can Get

Price When Reviewed

$999

Best Prices Today: Motorola Razr 50 Ultra

Since the release of the reimagined Razr in 2019, Motorola has come a long way.

Last year’s Razr 40 Ultra beat its biggest rival, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5, to win our crown as the best folding phone.

There were some hiccups preventing it from perfection, including an older chipset and a slightly underwhelming camera for the price. However, this year Motorola has managed to incorporate hardware upgrades and a competitive price for 2024’s release, the Razr 50 Ultra – also known as the Razr+ (2024) in the US.

There are compromises, but they’re all in the right areas – making this flip phone the cream of the foldable crop, and one of the best smartphones I’ve ever reviewed.

Design & Build

• Four colours
• IPX8 rating
• Matching leather case and strap

At first glance, the Razr 50 Ultra looks like last year’s model. It retains the same curved edges that allow it to fit comfortably in your palm when closed. That said, Motorola has outdone itself this year with the cover display, which is the largest we’ve seen on a flip phone at 4-inches.

The hinge on the phone allows it to open and close smoothly, leaving barely any gap between the two halves. When shut, the phone is just 15.32mm thick, 73.9mm long and weighs just 189g, so it fits perfectly in pockets – even the minuscule ones on women’s jeans (game-changing, folks).

Due to the camera bump, the phone doesn’t lie fully flush with the display facing up, but that’s a common gripe of many flagship smartphones. Motorola claims that the revamped hinge allows users to close and open the phone one-handed more easily. It’s doable, but it still takes a bit of fiddling around.

There is a minimal crease, especially after just unfolding the device. However, unlike cheaper foldables like the Nubia Flip 5G, it’s barely noticeable and doesn’t ruin my experience watching YouTube or streaming Netflix.

The phone comes in four colours: Hot Pink, Spring Green, Peach Fuzz, and Midnight Blue, which I tested. These tones are present on both the aluminium chassis and the vegan leather rear part of the phone. The blue version has a subtle stripe down the middle, adding a bit of flair to the most understated colour in the range.

The Razr 50 Ultra packs an IPX8 rating, which means it can survive a 1.5-metre dunking for up to 30 minutes. While that’s a higher water resistance than last year’s model, the phone has no dust protection, though Motorola did tell Trusted Reviews that the build and hinge are designed to minimize letting this in.

There’s also now Gorilla Glass Victus on the cover screen, so it’s more protected against drops. But of course, I’d recommend still using a case due to the nature of its build.

The volume rocker and power button sit on the right-hand side, with the USB-C port at the bottom. The power button has a fingerprint scanner built in, and it works consistently well. Face recognition is also available.

This premium phone comes with a matching vegan leather cast and optional strap, so you can carry the phone on a lanyard or crossbody style. I loved the purple colorway on my model, though it sometimes had trouble gripping the phone when first putting it on.

Screen & Speakers

• Huge 4-inch external display
• 6.9-inch internal display
• Stereo speakers

Due to its foldable nature, there are two displays to discuss on the Razr 50 Ultra. Let’s start with that big old 4-inch FHD+ pOLED 120Hz external one.

This bold, colorful, and impressive outer display stretches around the cameras, so you can run any app on it. This is a contrast to many other flip rivals that only include smaller screens predominantly for reading notifications.

That means you can watch YouTube videos, use Google Maps, and reply to chats on Messenger, all without unflipping the phone. There are also dedicated widgets for the external display, such as a Spotify player.

Apps that are opened on the outer display mostly default to running smaller, leaving a gap at the bottom. Some apps such as Messenger offer the option of a ‘Fullscreen editor’ when typing on the keyboard, which gets rid of the chat above for a cleaner viewing experience. Others, such as the weather, extend to the bottom – though the camera bump does cover over some icons.

Using the display closed while traveling is extremely handy. I can control my music and answer messages, all while having a more secure grip on my phone. It’s also helped me manage my screen time better, as I’m less likely to scroll through social media once the Razr is closed.

Moving onto the internal display – you get a 6.9-inch pOLED display, with a resolution of 2640 x 1080 and a refresh rate of up to 165Hz. That’s the joint-highest refresh rate of any phone.

There’s only the option to select between ‘high’ and ‘standard’ rather than putting the display permanently on any specific number. However, the LTPO tech means it can drop all the way down to 1Hz to conserve battery life when not required.

You also get a peak brightness of 2400 nits, resulting in a glossy, bright screen that’s easy to view under sunlight and is a joy to watch videos on. However, because it’s longer than the average candy bar model, you’ll get letterboxing on the edges of content from the likes of Netflix, which uses the 16:9 ratio. It’s responsive to taps and swipes, though, with no sluggishness in sight.

The Razr 50 Ultra has stereo speakers, with support for Dolby Atmos. The audio isn’t as colorful or punchy as I’ve seen on other flagships, but it’s reasonably loud so decent for podcasts and videos. There’s also no headphone jack, but that’s standard these days on phones of this price.

Specs & Performance

• Snapdragon 8s Gen 3
• 12GB RAM/512GB worth of storage

Last year’s Razr 40 Ultra ran on an old Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor – that’s not the case anymore. The Razr 50 Ultra is packed with the latest Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 which launched in 2024. This is paired with 12GB RAM and 512GB worth of storage in the UK. US users only get 256GB, unfortunately.

This chipset may not be as powerful as the 8 Gen 3, but you can still expect rapid performance day-to-day. The phone is quick to boot up, and has no problems switching between app and between the two