Hands on: Motorola Razr 50 review
This review first appeared in issue 360 PC Professional Edition.
If the Razr 50 Ultra is too expensive, Motorola also offers a regular version of its latest offering flip phone. At just £800 including VAT, it’s the cheapest of the current generation of foldable phones, but it largely matches the Ultra’s style and appeal.
It’s also available in cool colors, from earthy Koala Gray to tasteful Beach Sand to Spray Orange. The vegan leather shell remains, with contoured edges and a lightweight feel, and an updated folding mechanism opens and closes with a satisfying click.
The Razr 50 also has a large screen cover, which also has two punch-hole holes for mounting the screen. camera lens. It doesn’t quite cover the entire front of the phone like the Ultra does, but it’s large enough to be useful and attractive, with a 90Hz refresh rate and a whopping 413ppi pixel density. You can happily use the rear camera to take selfies, use the half-unfolded phone as a desktop monitor, and even run full apps without opening the case. It’s protected by a Gorilla Glass Victus coating, and the entire device is IPX8 waterproof.
6.9 inches organic light emitting diode The internal display looks great too. It has the same sharp density, smooth 120Hz refresh rate, and 3,000cd/m2 maximum brightness as the external screen2can be used easily even under direct sunlight. The creases are noticeable, but fewer than those on older flip phones.
One notable difference between the Razr 50 and Ultra is that this model doesn’t have a telephoto lens, instead pairing a decent 50MP main camera with a 13MP ultra-wide-angle lens. I prefer this arrangement for vlogging, selfies, and group photos, as the ultra-wide angle lets you capture more of the scene, while the upgraded photo booth mode works with both internal and external displays. In camera mode, the Razr 50 can capture 4K Video speeds up to 60 fps in either vertical or horizontal position, although there’s no high dynamic range support.
The Razr 50 also benefits from AI Enhancements improve photo quality and stabilize video, and when I compared the image quality of this phone to the pricier Razr 50 Ultra, I couldn’t tell much of a difference. Colors are more muted, and the dynamic range in the shadows isn’t quite as good, but the Razr 50 still takes great photos. The biggest compromise is the all-digital zoom; it works very well, but on closer inspection, the enlarged images look dirty compared to those shot with the 50 Ultra.
Another notable difference between the Razr 50 and Ultra is processor. The standard Razr uses the MediaTek Dimensity 7300X chip instead of the Ultra’s Snapdragon chip, which is mid-range performance. It also comes with a more modest 8GB of RAM and 256GB of UFS 2.2 storage.
Even so, apps run smoothly and I barely noticed any difference between this phone and the Ultra in day-to-day use. Although a bit hung up during the intense battle scenes Age of originthe game is definitely achievable. In fact, there’s an optional Turbo mode that ekes out optimal gaming performance, but at the expense of battery life.
I’m also happy to see all of Motorola’s software enhancements here. I like the personalization options for the external display, as well as gestures like slashing to instantly turn on the flashlight. Razr 50 also includes Google Gemini, can be accessed directly from the external display, but it’s worth noting that the phone won’t get the full set of future Moto AI features that should be coming to Ultra. It’s hard to say how important this is at the moment, but over the life of the phone it could become frustrating. At this point, the Razr 50’s software support period is also relatively short, with Motorola only promising major Android updates for three years.
One thing the Razr 50 doesn’t lack for is battery life. In our full test, it managed a screen-on time of 14 hours and 37 minutes, almost half an hour longer than the Ultra, and in real-world use, I found it typically had around 35% battery remaining at the end of the day.
In terms of charging, the Razr 50 supports 30W fast charging, charging from zero to 58% in half an hour, and an additional 15W wireless charging For wireless recharge.
All in all, the Razr 50 is an impressive product. Of course, it’s not the best flip phone in the world: If you want optical zoom, top-tier gaming performance, and a full suite of AI features, you’ll need to pay extra for the Ultra. Even so, the Razr 50 offers a bunch of goodies, including a great exterior screen, an attractive waterproof design, decent performance, strong battery life, and a pretty positive camera experience. For the price, this is a great deal.
