Motorola's Razr 40 Ultra was indeed a game changer in the foldable world. Released in July 2023, the phone certainly made an impact and raised the bar for foldable (or flip) designs, forcing other manufacturers to reconsider how cover displays could be used. In my reviews of the two competing flips (the Oppo Find N3 Flip and the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5), it was clear that neither managed to deliver the seamless cover screen experience that Motorola mastered with its Razr 40 Ultra.
It's 2024 and Motorola is back with the next version of its foldable phone called the Razr 50 Ultra. It looks very familiar to the previous model, but take a closer look and there are a ton of changes.
The Motorola Razr 50 Ultra has a 6.9-inch pOLED main screen as before, but with a screen refresh rate of 165 Hz
The new Motorola Razr 50 Ultra sure looks a lot like the previous model it replaces. Very little has changed in the design department, save for the rear panels finished in vegan leather that are now standard in all three color combinations, two of which are new. Motorola has certainly gone into detail this year, as the Midnight Blue finish offers a double-splice pattern that results in a different feel texture compared to the single finish of the Spring Green and Peach Fuzz options .
The hinge feels much smoother and more refined this year, and Motorola claims it offers much better free-stop performance compared to the previous model. The hinge is also better designed to deal with dust. In terms of water, the phone gets an IPX8 certification, which is in line with what Samsung offers with its Galaxy Flip 5. The cover A (protective sleeve) on the hinge is also flatter, which makes the phone is a little thinner than the previous one. model too.
The larger 4.0-inch cover display is fully capable of running Google's Gemini AI
One design feature that many may overlook is the cover display, which, unlike the Razr 40 Ultra, now stretches from edge to edge with a thin, even bezel. The screen size has increased from the already large 3.6 inches on the Razr 40 Ultra to an even larger 4-inch pOLED unit with a higher resolution (1,272 x 1,080 pixels) that is now LTPO and offers a frame rate of 165Hz refresh rate. The hinge assembly, which was introduced to the deck screen with the previous model and resulted in a metal band at the top of the deck screen, is now gone and so has a very clean and perfect look. In fact, Motorola has opted for more subtle improvements this time around that will mostly be visible to an existing customer when the two devices are placed together.
The Motorola Razr 50 Ultra has a new hinge that, apart from being more compact, also feels smooth and refined in action.
Another area that feels more polished is the phone's software. Motorola's new Android 14-based Hello user interface is gradually moving away from what used to be almost stock Android. Still, it's nice to see a revamped Cover Screen UI that even has a pinch-to-zoom gesture to see all the new tabs at once (like on the Galaxy Z Flip 5). What's new in the foldable line is the use of Google's Gemini AI, which is now accessible on the cover screen. From searching for explanations to brainstorming, even general questions and tasks can now be handled without opening the phone's main screen, making the already useful cover screen , be even more practical.
All finishes of the Motorola Razr 50 Ultra this year have a vegan leather back panel
Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 SoC powers this new UI and AI experience. The phone comes with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, which is probably why the software experience feels smoother this year. But more on that in my full review.
There are also new cameras. The two rear cameras have been upgraded to high-resolution 50-megapixel sensors. The second camera is now a telephoto camera with 2X optical zoom. Selfies are handled by a 32-megapixel front-facing camera embedded in the foldable main display.
With a bigger and faster display this year, Motorola has backed this phone up with a larger 4,000mAh battery (up from last year's 3,800mAh unit), paired with LTPO technology available in the two screens and a much more efficient processor compared to the previous one. model (in theory it should result in better battery life too. Charging is handled by a 68W wired charger, which comes in the box. The phone, like last year's model, also supports 15W wireless charging.
In addition to the charger, Motorola also includes the Moto Buds+ TWS and an eco-friendly case in the box
With a hefty price tag of Rs. 99,999 this year, it all seems justified, considering the many upgrades available in this year's model. Motorola is also offering a rugged case in the box along with a premium Moto Buds + TWS (Review) priced at Rs 9,999, which seems like a good deal. What remains to be seen is whether Motorola has addressed the heating issues and mediocre photo and video camera performance of last year's Razr 40 Ultra into something better this year in its quest to perfect its foldable. And that's something we conclude in our full review coming out soon.
