Motorola Razr 50 Ultra Review
Big upgrades should make the foldable competition very worried
Verdict
The Razr 50 Ultra continues Motorola’s impressive foldable journey, boasting the biggest and most useful cover screen around, high-res cameras and a near-crease-less internal screen. It’s still not perfect, of course, but it comes closer than any clamshell foldable we’ve seen so far.
Pros
- Biggest cover screen around
- Stylish, colourful design
- IPX8 water resistance
Cons
- No ultrawide camera
- Middling long-term software promise
- Not quite the most powerful processor around
Key Features
- Massive cover screenThe Razr 50 Ultra has a 4-inch cover screen that takes up most of the space on the cover, ideal for accessing apps and more.
- Improved durabilityThe Motorola Edge 50 Ultra is IPX8 water resistant, and there’s Corning Gorilla Glass Victus screen protection on the cover screen.
- New 2x telephoto lensThe Razr 50 Ultra ditches the low-res ultrawide for a 50MP 2x telephoto for improved portrait photography
Introduction
Motorola’s top-end foldable for 2024, the Razr 50 Ultra, is one of the finest examples of a clamshell foldable phone I have seen.
Granted, the Razr 50 Ultra may not look that different from its predecessor but it makes improvements in key areas like cover screen tech, performance, camera capabilities and, crucially, AI, to create one of the more interesting foldables to hit the market in recent months.
In fact, even compared to newer foldables like the recently announced Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6, the Razr 50 Ultra stands out with its massive 4-inch cover screen and surprisingly high-res cameras.
The question is, then, is this the foldable that’ll finally convince you to move from your regular candybar phone? That might just be the case – especially since it’s one of the best Android phones you can buy right now.
The Motorola Razr 50 Ultra comes in at a cool £999 with 512GB of storage as standard, and is available to buy in the UK right now. It’s also available in the US for $999 under the slightly different name of Razr+ 2024.
Design
- Fashion-focused design
- Vegan leather finish
- IPX8 and Gorilla Glass Victus protection
The Motorola Razr 50 Ultra doesn’t look all that different from the Razr 40 Ultra from last year – but considering it was a pretty slim, stylish foldable with vibrant colours and a big cover screen, that’s not a bad thing.
There are a few key differences on offer this year however; the biggest of which is the cover screen. While the Razr 40 Ultra already had the biggest cover screen on the market at 3.6 inches, the Razr 50 Ultra takes it up to 4 inches, practically taking up the entire cover of the phone – more on that experience in a bit.
And, like last year, the dual cameras are embedded within the cover screen for a rather futuristic look. I have noticed that the cameras protrude much farther than those of last year’s Razr 40 Ultra, but with an upgraded camera setup, there’s a good reason for that.
Continuing Motorola’s partnership with colour experts Pantone, the Razr 50 Ultra is available in four colours including green, blue, peach fuzz (Pantone’s colour of the year) and a pink finish that’s a nice hat-tilt to the OG pink Razr that launched 20 years ago. This is definitely a fashion-focused smartphone, especially combined with AI-generated wallpapers that can match your outfit and accessories that turn it into a little handbag.
These all come with vegan leather rears, an upgrade over the frosted glass back from last year’s Razr 40 Ultra, but interestingly, the texture depends on the colour option. The blue finish, for example, has a subtle race-strip design on the vegan leather with two slightly differing textures, while the green finish has a more uniform look and feel to it.
Elsewhere, it’s pretty much business as usual – and business, where Motorola’s foldables are concerned, is good. It sports rounded edges and corners that fit nicely into the palm of the hand regardless of whether it’s open or closed, complete with a power button that doubles as a fingerprint scanner and volume rockers on the right-hand side, and it closes completely shut when folded.
The Razr 50 Ultra might be 0.1mm thicker than its predecessor at 7.1mm thick, but that’s not really that noticeable in everyday use – even when I held the two side-by-side. The Razr 50 Ultra remains a slim foldable with a large internal screen that folds down to something that I can easily fit in the palm of my hand.
Other improvements come in the form of Gorilla Glass Victus screen protection on the cover screen and full IPX8 water resistance that’ll protect it from water damage in up to 1.5m of water for up to 30 minutes, matching the standard set by Samsung’s foldables. It even boasts tech that’ll let you use the phone as normal even when rain droplets are hitting the screen.
That’s a welcome addition to the Razr 50 Ultra then, although implementing a higher water resistance rating has meant that dust-proofing has fallen by the wayside. However, Motorola has reassured me that, even without an official rating, the company has worked to minimise the areas – particularly around the hinge – that can let dust in.
Screens
- Massive 4-inch cover screen
- Cover screen functionality is very useful
- 6.9-inch 165Hz internal foldable screen
Let’s start with the cover screen, arguably the most interesting aspect of this year’s foldable, measuring in at a boosted 4 inches compared to its 3.6-inch predecessor. This may not sound like a big jump on paper, but it’s hugely different in real life.
While the Razr 40 Ultra – and the newer Razr 50 – have a small gap above the screen, there’s no such gap on the Razr 50 Ultra. The cover screen takes up the entire exterior panel, with fairly slim bezels around its edges.
The bigger screen not only makes it easier to read notifications and enjoy the Motorola-designed cover screen widgets, but it also makes it even easier to use full Android apps without unfolding the phone. It was already a strong point of the Razr 40 Ultra compared to the likes of the rather limited Z Flip 5, and it’s continuing to get better with the 50 Ultra this year.
It means that I can use apps like Google Maps to get directions without having to constantly unfold the phone, and with it being small enough to fit into the palm of my hand when folded, I don’t mind using it out and about in a city where phone snatching is rife.
It’s also helped by the ultra-smooth 120Hz refresh rate. Admittedly this isn’t a new feature, also available on last year’s Razr, but it still beats the Galaxy Z Flip 6’s 3.4-inch 60Hz cover screen – and it boasts more advanced app functionality too.
The hinge has also been reworked, making it not only easier to open and close the phone one-handed, but further reduces the crease on the inner 6.9-inch screen. Motorola had already done a stellar job with the Razr 40 Ultra, and the 50 Ultra continues that journey.
Of course, there’s still a crease on the inner screen and you’ll probably notice it in particularly bright environments, but in most scenarios, I’d say it’s close to near-invisible. Even when you swipe over it with your finger, it feels like more of a slight bump than a canyon.
Speaking of, the internal screen isn’t one to sleep on; it’s a whopping 6.9-inch pOLED screen with a 165Hz refresh rate and 3000 nits peak brightness that should make it easy to use in outdoor conditions. The latter is particularly important for outdoor use, as the plastic build of the internal screen makes it more reflective than your average candybar smartphone in bright environments.
Elsewhere, the combination of OLED’s vivid colours and deep blacks and HDR10+ support make the internal screen a solid option for scrolling through TikTok, watching YouTube videos or even something a little more long-form on Netflix. I happily used it to watch content on an eight-hour flight from New York without issue, anyway.
That’s the nice thing about the foldable nature of the Razr 50 Ultra; while a 6.9-inch screen would be too big as a regular candybar phone, the fact that it folds down into two to easily slip into a pocket or bag is a massive plus.
Cameras
- Dual 50MP camera setup
- New 2x telephoto camera
- No ultrawide lens
Motorola has made a rather interesting decision when it comes to the camera offering of the Razr 50 Ultra – and it might not be what you expect.
While most smartphone companies seem to prioritise including primary and ultrawide cameras on dual camera smartphones, Motorola has decided to ditch the 13MP ultrawide of last year’s model for a high-res 50MP 2x telephoto that sits alongside the upgraded 50MP main.
This means that the Razr 50 Ultra is much better at handling portrait photography, as well as general zoom shots, with pretty impressive results even at the 4x mark thanks to its high-res nature.
The 2x zoom delivers a tighter angle better suited to portrait shots, and Motorola uses AI to further improve the bokeh effect for something a little more natural. It’s still not perfect, missing the occasional whisper of hair and sometimes badly judging distance, but I’ve been happy with the results more often than not.
In fact, even in fairly low-light events like the Razr launch party in a New York warehouse, I was able to take some pretty impressive photos of Paris Hilton spinning the decks at the 2x mark.
Now you won’t be able to push it much further in low light without everything looking a little bit like an oil painting, lacking detail in areas, but it’s pretty solid for a foldable telephoto.
There is a trade-off for this lens, however; you won’t be able to take those cool ultra-wide scenic shots that have become so popular in recent years with the mass adoption of ultrawide lenses. For that, you’ll have to opt for the regular Razr 50.
Of course, it’s the main camera that most people will use most often, which makes the inclusion of a boosted 50MP main (up from 12MP on the previous-gen device) with specs like a wide f/1.7 aperture and OIS a welcome upgrade to the Razr experience.
As you’d expect from a high-end Motorola in 2024, daytime shots are vibrant and detailed, and, with the f/1.7 aperture, close-ups get a natural bokeh without the need for software processing, though it can struggle a bit with particularly bright, vivid scenes like a deep orange New York sunset, looking significantly more red than orange on the Razr.
You’ve also got two shooting modes to choose from – natural and enhanced – with the latter boosting elements like light and tweaking the colours to get, what the AI assumes, is the best look for your photos. They’re certainly more vibrant than the more realistic natural mode results, but I think the boosted light and other tools that the enhanced mode uses make it the go-to for most.
That’s especially helpful when taking night photos, although the Razr 50 Ultra’s combination of a wide aperture and OIS means it’s perfectly capable of taking pretty high-quality low-light shots without it. While some competitors try to artificially brighten the image, the Razr 50 Ultra tends to capture something more true-to-life, with a nice balance between the light and dark spots.
Of course, with clamshell foldables like this, it’s not just the camera hardware; it’s the ways that you can use the camera technology. The big 4-inch cover screen doubles up as a viewfinder, allowing you to take high-quality selfies using the ‘rear’ cameras, and it can be used as a preview when taking shots of other people, helping them to pose and feel more natural.
There’s also the fact that you no longer need a tripod to take group shots; simply half-fold the phone, hold out your palm to activate the trigger and pose. The camcorder mode, activated automatically when you half-fold the phone and hold it sideways like an old-school 90s camcorder, is a nice touch too.
Finally, there’s an upgraded 32MP camera on the foldable screen within. With the ability to take selfies using the cover display and the high-res cameras, you likely won’t be using it often, but it is a handy upgrade for video calls and the like, and takes a surprisingly good selfie for what I imagine was considered a bit of an afterthought.
Performance
- Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chipset
- 12GB of RAM & 512GB of storage as standard
- Solid everyday performance
Within the Razr 50 Ultra, you’ll find Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chipset alongside 12GB of RAM and 512GB of UFS 4.0 storage as standard. While it’s not quite as performant as the truly top-end Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, with performance closer to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, it’s not that far behind either.
Crucially, it’s a massive upgrade from the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 found in the Razr 40 Ultra – a chipset that was already ‘old’ by the time it was launched last year. This way, Motorola closes the gap between it and the competing Galaxy Z Flip 6, though, with Samsung’s foldable sporting a custom top-end Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, it still lags behind.
That’s pretty much backed up by our benchmark tests, with the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 delivering results closer to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2-enabled OnePlus Open than Snapdragon 8 Gen 3-equipped devices, particularly when it comes to graphics performance.
This might paint a bit of a negative picture of the Razr 50 Ultra’s performance, but it shouldn’t; the Razr 50 Ultra feels about as slick as you’d expect from a phone with a high-end processor.
It feels responsive, apps open instantly and camera processing is pretty quick, and even without the 8 Gen 3 chipset, it can play demanding 3D games like Genshin Impact with high-level settings enabled – it just won’t be the very best performance you’ll find on a foldable in 2024.
Elsewhere, flagship-level connectivity including Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, support for a whole suite of GPS networks and NFC, you’ll be downloading and streaming to your heart’s content.
Software and AI
- Some AI features available at launch
- Advanced Moto AI will roll out later this year
- Only three OS upgrades promised
Motorola has gone all-in on AI with the Razr 50 Ultra. It offers AI-powered features like the Photo Enhancement Engine, text-based image generation in the form of Magic Canvas and improved low-light photography, but goes further than that.
You can, for example, use GenAI to create a wallpaper that compliments your outfit, and it’s the first phone to run Google Gemini out of the box rather than Google Assistant. It has also been fully optimised by Google to run on that 4-inch cover display too, something you can’t do on the Z Flip 6.
Unfortunately, the truly exciting AI features aren’t coming until later this year – sometime in the autumn – but it’ll seemingly be worth the wait.
Moto AI seems to be one of the more fully featured implementations of AI so far. While Motorola hasn’t fully revealed its capabilities, it has teased that you’ll be able to tell it to ‘pay attention’ when chatting with friends to record and summarise your conversations, as well as remind you of anything timely from the chat at the relevant time.
It’ll also be able to look through photos to get information, as well as summarising notifications and more.
It doesn’t have some of the flashy features of Galaxy AI and co, lacking elements like the ability to remove people from images, but given that Google Photos ships with the phone and offers this functionality, I don’t think it’s a dealbreaker.
Elsewhere, Motorola’s implementation of Android continues to be close to stock, with only minimal changes to the OS – and where there are changes, they’re usually for the better. This includes elements like flicking your wrist to open the camera, Motorola ReadyFor smart screen tech and Windows compatibility, with full support for customisable elements like Material You.
The only chink in the Razr 50 Ultra’s software, then, is its long-term support. While competing foldables like the Galaxy Z Flip 6 offer a whopping seven years of OS upgrades, among the best in the smartphone market at large, the Razr 50 Ultra will only get three OS upgrades and four years of security updates.
It’s still enough to get you through most regular 24-month contracts with new features and other updates, but it doesn’t feel quite enough for a phone that costs a grand in 2024.
Battery Life
- 4000mAh battery
- Solid all-day battery life
- Fairly speedy 40W charging
The Razr 50 Ultra packs a 4000mAh battery – oddly 200mAh smaller than the regular Razr 50, though 200mAh more than the Razr 40 Ultra – that, when combined with the power efficiency of the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3, Motorola claims has no issues lasting all day.
I must admit, I was sceptical about the claim, especially with a 6.9-inch 165Hz internal display to power, but those were largely unwarranted. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a device that’ll keep on going and going, but it made it to the end of the day without a top-up every day of my testing, including a few very busy days in New York where I was using Google Maps and the Camera pretty consistently.
I wouldn’t go as far as to describe it as a multi-day device, usually finishing the day with around 10-20% in the tank. More specifically, I found that it’d usually hit around 5 hours of screen-on time between the cover and internal screen before it’d get low and demand a top-up.
Thankfully, even with relatively slow 40W fast charging capabilities compared to candybar phones like the OnePlus 12 and its 120W fast charging, the smaller 4000mAh capacity means it’s still pretty speedy at topping up, gaining 62% in 30 minutes and a full charge in just under an hour.
There’s also 15W wireless charging and, despite not officially supporting the Qi2 wireless charging standard, the placement of magnets in the phone means it actually sticks to most MagSafe charging accessories without issue. That was a nice surprise, to say the least.
Rounding out the offering is 5W reverse wireless charging, allowing you to top up wireless earbuds and the like without a dedicated charger.
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Should you buy it?
You want a solid all-round foldable experience
The Motorola Razr 50 Ultra ticks most boxes for what a good flip phone should offer, from a useful cover screen to great cameras and a near crease-less internal screen.
You want the fastest performance possible
Sporting the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 instead of the full-fat Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, there are more powerful foldable phones around – including the competing Galaxy Z Flip 6.
Final Thoughts
Motorola has a winner on its hands with the Razr 50 Ultra; it not only fixes the few complaints we had about its predecessor but it continues to improve in key areas like the cover screen experience and further reducing the inner display’s crease – areas where competitors like Samsung still need to improve, even compared to its recently-revealed Galaxy Z Flip 6.
The decision to ditch the ultrawide for a telephoto lens may be a controversial one, but I think it plays well into the selfie-first focus for clamshell foldables in general. It helps that it performs very well both in well-lit and low-light situations, with a digital 4x delivering solid results thanks to the sensor’s high megapixel count.
It’s not the perfect foldable, lacking in the power department compared to Snapdragon 8 Gen 3-equipped alternatives, and the rather disappointing three-year OS upgrade promise is underwhelming for such a premium smartphone. I also imagine the lack of an ultrawide will simply be too much for some, regardless of the value of its swap.
However, I think that there’s still a lot of value to be had here – especially when you consider that it ships with a boosted 512GB of storage as standard, and still manages to come in at a slightly cheaper price than the aforementioned Z Flip 6.
How we test
We test every mobile phone we review thoroughly. We use industry-standard tests to compare features properly and we use the phone as our main device over the review period. We’ll always tell you what we find and we never, ever, accept money to review a product.
Used as a main phone for over a week
Thorough camera testing in a variety of conditions
Tested and benchmarked using respected industry tests and real-world data
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FAQs
Yes, and a fast charger at that, meaning you can take advantage of the foldable’s speedy charging from day one.
It has an IPX8 water resistance rating, which means it can survive being submerged in up to 1.5m of water for up to 30 minutes.
The Razr 50 Ultra will get three major OS upgrades and four years of bi-monthly security patches.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
