Moto Razr 40 Review: Taking Foldable To The Masses

Moto Razr 40 Review Summary:

Editor’s rating: 3.75/5

Motorola’s latest offerings have included not just one, but two Razr foldable phones, making quite the surprise for tech enthusiasts. Among them is the highly anticipated flagship, the Razr Ultra model, showcasing an exceptional clamshell design. Alongside this premium variant, we also have the “inexpensive” option, the Motorola Razr (2023), as an entry-level foldable device.

The Vanilla Razr phone is priced aggressively at Rs 59,990 which makes it a tempting phone to buy at that price. In this comprehensive review, we delve into the trade-offs made for a lower price tag, as we explore the features and performance of the Razr (2023).

Moto Razr 40 Review: Design and Build Quality

Motorola loaned us a Moto Razr 40 in Saga Green Black colorway, which exudes a classy appeal. As expected, this variant proves to be less prone to dirt compared to the Vanilla Cream color option. The Razr 40 boasts a distinctive touch feel with its faux leather finish on the back panel. This elegant design not only enhances the device’s premium aesthetics but also ensures a secure grip, elevating the overall user experience. The top half of the phone has a black strip that houses a tiny front screen along with the dual camera module and flagship. Motorola has used a robust aluminum frame for its Chesis which gives it exceptional durability and structural integrity.

Motrola’s overhauled teardrop hinge system adorns the Razr 40, delivering a seamless closure without any gaps between the two halves of the phone when shut. This impressive improvement surpasses the experiences often observed with Samsung’s foldable counterparts, where noticeable openings might be more prevalent.

Adding to its appeal, the new hinge incorporates a half-folding mechanism, granting users the freedom to set the phone at various angles. This flexibility comes in handy, enabling users to place the phone on flat surfaces for capturing videos or taking photos, a convenience that underscores the charm of clamshell foldable. It undoubtedly serves as a unique and attention-grabbing device, attracting curious gazes from various onlookers in different settings.

The phone exhibits strong overall build quality; however, it is worth noting that the hinge does not exude the same level of sturdiness as observed in its competitors. It is essential to acknowledge the possibility that this observation may be confined to my specific unit but upon joining the two halves together, a subtle degree of movement becomes observable when even minimal pressure on the one half. It is also worth mentioning here that the Moto Razr 2023 boasts an IP52 certification, rendering it resistant to dust and water ingress, so you can use it poolside.

Moto Razr 2023 Review: Display and Audio

The Moto Razr 2023 has two displays – Exterior Display and Interior Display so we will talk about them one by one. Let’s start with one on the outside. It’s a 1.5-inch OLED display that delivers a resolution of 194 x 368 pixels at 282 PPI and a maximum brightness of 1,000 nits, this screen on the front primarily serves as a medium for displaying incoming notifications but also offers a number of widgets like weather updates, calendar events, as well as quick access to camera and voice recording features. Moreover, it enables convenient call management and quick access to essential settings like Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, flight mode, flashlight, hotspot, and more.

Its effectiveness reduces the number of times one needs to unfold his phone to just check notifications. Having said that, you will have to unfold if you want to reply to messages or take calls from apps like WhatsApp, Telegram, and Instagram you need to flip open the phone.

Inside, the phone packs a 6.9-inch pOLED display, capable of reaching a peak brightness of 1,400 nits, which is a standout feature that ensures you it is visible even in peak sunlight. Utilizing LTPO technology, the display achieves an impressive 144 Hz refresh rate, providing smooth interactions and fluid visuals, albeit different from the 166 Hz refresh rate found in its Plus counterpart.

The inner display has all the characteristics of a good display. It delivers vibrant colors, optimal contrast, and dependable viewing angle stability. While the Moto Razr 40 impressively minimizes the visibility of a crease in everyday usage, it is worth noting that a slight indentation can be felt when scrolling through content.

The device delivers an enjoyable content consumption experience, particularly when indulging in videos. The screen showcases crisp and intricate visuals, capturing colors with remarkable fidelity to reality. For those seeking a more vibrant display, the saturated preset option proves beneficial in enhancing visual impact. However, one notable disappointment with the Razr 40 is its absence of Widevine L1 certification. Regrettably, this affects streaming on OTT apps, limiting the content resolution to less than 720p.

Adding to the device’s multimedia prowess, the Razr 40 boasts a stereo speaker configuration that delivers both loud and clear audio output. Notably, Dolby Atmos support further enhances the audio quality, so I would recommend you use headphones/ earphones for the best listening experience.

Moto Razr 40 Review: Performance and Software

The Razr 40 comes equipped with the latest iteration of Google’s operating system, Android 13, offering users a clean user experience. Motorola has made a commitment of three major version updates and four years of comprehensive security updates for this device. Presently, Motorola phones feature a customized version of Android that closely resembles Google’s default interface but boasts a host of additional functionalities.

Notably, the device incorporates intuitive gesture controls that surpass expectations, an interactive always-on display, and extensive options for personalized device settings. Motorola’s unique approach to Android stands out as one of the finest available, making it a favorable choice over alternatives such as ColorOS and FunTouch OS, which further solidifies the Razr’s appeal.

The Razr 40 derives its power from the Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 chipset, which was introduced by Qualcomm in May 2022. Notably, the Moto Razr 40 is the first smartphone in India to feature this cutting-edge System-on-Chip (SoC). Fabricated on the advanced 4nm node process, the Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 boasts a total of eight cores, comprising four Cortex-A710 performance cores with a commendable maximum clock rate of 2.4 GHz, and four Cortex-A510 efficiency cores, operating at a maximum frequency of 1.8 GHz. This well-integrated SoC also includes an Adreno-644 graphics chip and an X62-5G modem to ensure seamless connectivity.

The device is thoughtfully equipped with 8 GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 256 GB of internal storage based on UFS 2.2 technology. While Motorola provides a generous amount of memory, it is important to note that there is no provision for optional expansion through a microSD memory card slot, a feature not available in the Razr (2023).

During everyday use, the Razr 40 operates without any discernible issues. Seamless app switching is effortlessly achieved, showcasing the device’s commendable performance.

Gaming enthusiasts will find the Razr 40 to be a capable companion. When indulging in popular games like BGMI, the device is capable of reaching HDR graphics and Ultra framerates, ensuring an immersive gaming experience capped at 40fps. For those seeking higher frame rates of 60fps, they can opt for the Smooth graphics preset, which unlocks the Extreme frame rate option. Remarkably, gaming at these settings does not exhibit significant frame drops. However, it should be noted that the upper portion of the phone may exhibit a slight warming sensation during intense gameplay.

Moto Razr 40 Review: Cameras

The phone’s rear features a 64-megapixel primary camera and a 13-megapixel ultrawide angle camera. Interestingly, the rear cameras can also be used for selfies by twisting your wrist twice rapidly. At the front, there’s a hole-punch cutout housing a 32-megapixel selfie camera. The viewfinder is interactive, allowing you to switch between photo and video mode. However, for portraits, you’ll need to flip open the phone.

Ultrawide photos and main camera photos have distinct characteristics. At first glance, photos from the Razr 40 main camera appear colorful and well-brightened. However, upon closer inspection, they may lack sharpness and slightly less detail compared to high-end smartphones when enlarged. Nevertheless, the main camera of the Razr 40 is capable of taking very nice shots, especially in low-light conditions, although dark areas could use some improvement in brightness.

In low-light conditions, the main sensor performs well, brightening up dull scenes with the help of the night mode while maintaining low noise. Selfies taken with the external display were enjoyable. On the other hand, the selfies captured with the actual selfie camera were decent, but HDR performance was disappointing, despite the images having decent details.

Regarding video capabilities, the Razr 40 can shoot up to 4K at 30fps, and there’s an option to shoot HDR10+ videos in the camera settings.

Moto Razr 40 Review: Battery life

The Moto Razr 40 boasts an impressive 4200mAh battery, providing a significant 400mAh advantage over the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4. This substantial capacity ensures that users need not exercise austerity in their phone usage. Throughout my busiest days, I found the device to be remarkably resilient, and even during extended usage, the battery level remained comfortably far from depletion.

Replenishing the battery is a breeze with its 33W wired charging capability, which efficiently restores the power level in a relatively short time. Although it may not be as swift as the fastest wired chargers available, it proves to be adequately rapid for everyday convenience, delivering enough juice to comfortably last through an afternoon with just a 30-minute charge.

Review Verdict: Should you buy Moto Razr 40?

The Moto Razr 40 presents itself as an exceptional choice for those seeking the allure of a flip phone. It successfully delivers on numerous aspects, although there are some minor areas where improvements could be made. The phone has its own charm, which undoubtedly appeals to those who wish to own a flip phone. We were quite content with the device’s overall user experience as we didn’t face any noticeable stuttering. Software experience was also better than OPPO N2 Flip that we reviewed earlier this year. Battery life and charging speeds both are also better than Samsung’s alternative so I think you may consider this phone. Having said that, it is worth mentioning that I have my doubts about the longevity of this hinge as the phone doesn’t feel as solid as Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 (review).