It’s been a while since I said “Hello, Moto” and boy, does the latest from Motorola impress! The RAZR 40 Ultra isn’t just the thinnest flip phone around (when closed), it also packs in the largest external display of any flip phone (3.6-inch, 144 Hz), vastly increasing how much you can do on the phone without ever having to open it up.
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The cover screen pushes all the way to the edges of half of the rear panel, even surrounding the dual cameras, and Motorola has added in quick access panels for settings, weather, calendar, contacts and the like. Yet, what surprised me most was how much I opted to use it instead of viewing stuff on the internal 6.9-inch, 165 Hz LTPO AMOLED display. The inner screen by itself is a good, HDR10+ compatible display without as much of a visible crease (where it folds) as the Samsung Flip 4.
The position and size of the cover display meant reading notifications and responding to them was a cinch, as was using it for navigating on Google Maps or reading the occasional email. My 10-year-old even enjoyed playing the handful of pre-loaded casual games, or while watching a quick video on YouTube with the phone propped up in tent mode.
That last bit of phone calisthenics is made possible courtesy the revamped hinge, so you can set the cover to almost any angle to take selfies with the rear camera or hold it camcorder style to record video. It’s a good-looking phone, particularly in the Viva Magenta colour, although the rounded corners are a far cry from the sharp edges that characterized the OG RAZR nearly twenty years ago. Do note, with an IP52-rating, it’s not as durable against the elements as the Samsung Z Flip 4.
Under the hood, the RAZR 40 Ultra sports the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1, which is a competent and battery-efficient chipset from last year. Which is just as well, since the 3,800 mAh battery managed to last a day of typical usage, a number that would vary based on how much you manage to get done on the external display. One wasn’t left wanting for performance either, as the chip performs expectedly well even while running games like COD Mobile, and 30 W charging will fill up the smaller capacity battery fairly quickly.
Finally, the cameras, which were a bit of a mixed bag. The primary shooter handled details well in good light, but colours were far too muted. Bright highlights and exposure often threw off the camera as well, but night mode shots were captured really well. One rarely used the selfie camera (thanks to the cover display), but the ultrawide isn’t tuned particularly well – it is good for macros though.
The RAZR 40 Ultra delivers a flip-style foldable with an actually usable display on the outside – a somewhat different take to intentional consumption from Nothing’s – but one that does feels like a big step forward.
Rating: 8/10
Price: INR 89,999