I am a Samsung fan. I’ve written enough Samsung-centric content in my time here that this statement shouldn’t surprise anyone, but I’ve grown to realize in the last year that I’m also a Motorola fan. Loved their phones in the early 2010s and recently, rediscovered that love with the Moto Razr+ 2023, or Razr 40 Ultra as it’s called here in Europe.
Of course, there are some big questions about software updates, but when I compared the Razr+ to Samsung’s Z Flip 5, I preferred it. In fact, over the past few months, I’ve found myself torn between my Razr+ (2023) and my Galaxy S24 Ultra, often switching SIMs to the former every weekend. Now, the Razr+ 2024 is here, and its improvements might be enough to keep me using it for a long time over my Ultra.
Connected
Our Samsung family can’t decide between the Moto Razr+ and the Galaxy Z Flip 5
The Razr+ and Z Flip 5 are the best flip phones, but which one is better?
Hinges and build quality
No more swings
The hinge is one of the most important parts of any foldable, and the one found on last year’s Razr+ wasn’t great. It couldn’t handle many angles, and the hinge movement felt cramped, for lack of a better word. When you opened or closed it, it felt like the hinge would momentarily catch on something, so you’d have to push harder. When closed, the two halves swing, making it feel cheap, even though the rest of the phone felt expensive.
Based on what I’ve heard from colleagues who have used the new Razr+, the new hinge fixes all of that. Moto focused on making it easier to open with one hand and made the hinge smaller. It is much stronger than before.
Perfect cover screen
Now fingerprint free
The Razr+ 2023 has a bigger screen than Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 5, but it had less usable space. The Razr’s screen was technically bigger because it falls between the cameras, but the actual usable space above those cameras was less than the Flip 5’s because of the larger hinge.
As mentioned before, the new hinge on the Razr+ 2024 is smaller, which means the screen has been pushed into that space. It’s hard to believe that this cover screen is now four inches, the same size as the iPhone 5, just in a different form factor.
My other biggest gripe was how reflective the lid screen was on the old Razr+. It attracted fingerprints like nothing else and had an almost mirror finish. The Razr+ 2024 corrects this too, so it fights reflections and fingerprints better, and it’s also brighter. In fact, the lid display is almost as bright as my S24 Ultra, and the interior display is even brighter.
Surprisingly, this square 1080p display is now 165Hz to match the internal display, which is definitely overkill, but I can’t wait to try it out.
Moto has also added, finally, a true always-on display. The “View Display” that the old Razr has, an evolution of what was introduced on the Moto X, is fantastic, but it lacked always-on functionality, and now it’s here.
On top of that, Moto also added something called a desk display — put the phone slightly unfolded in tent mode and it’ll use that new always-on display to become a desk clock, much like iOS’s standby feature recently approved. year.
Lights, camera, good photos?
(Hopefully) less blur in low light
Source: Motorola
As someone who has used every Galaxy S Ultra phone, I’m no stranger to shutter lag and blurry photos indoors or in low light. The Razr+ 2023 took it to the extreme, however, rendering the cameras almost entirely unusable in anything but perfect lighting. The new Razr+ is upgraded with dual 50MP shooters, a wide lens and a 2X telephoto.
Of course, we’ll need more time with the phone to really judge the quality, but based on what I’ve seen in the few YouTube videos that already exist, and the confidence Moto had when talking about them, I’m expecting big things from this one year. I don’t need the cameras to be perfect, as I still have my S24 Ultra for when I want to get creative, but I wish the Razr was at least capable of capturing memories.
The wait begins
Time passes so slowly
It’ll be about a month before I finally get my hands on the Moto Razr+ 2024, and I’m looking forward to it a lot more than I expected. Motorola has addressed almost all of my concerns this year and I think I’ll be getting a lot of use out of this thing.
I definitely like the S24 Ultra; a folding flip won’t do everything the S24 can, and it certainly won’t have an S Pen, but it will be more comfortable to hold, fit in my pockets, and be more flexible. The only thing left is for Motorola to fix its software update practices, and I hope that’s something it does sooner rather than later.