Motorola Razr 40 Ultra review

Design and ergonomics

The Motorola Razr 40 Ultra features a familiar but largely revamped design compared to its Razr 2022 predecessor. And depending on the color version you choose, you get different materials. The Infinite Black and Glacier Blue colorways use a Gorilla Glass Victus sheet for the bottom half of the phone, while the Viva Magenta color, which is in our hands, has vegan leather. All versions use 7000 series aluminum frame, though.

The vegan leather on the Viva Magenta feels really nice to the touch and it's super smooth. It does help with the grip too. A gorilla Glass Victus sheet protects the external display.

Thanks to the new teardrop hinge design, the two halves are brought closer when the device is folded and there's virtually no gap between them. For reference, last year's Razr 2022 measures 17mm in thickness, while the Razr 40 Ultra is 15.1mm. To be fair, the new Razr is thinner when unfolded too - just 6.99mm as opposed to 7.6mm on the Razr 2022. Moreover, the new Razr is substantially lighter, tipping the scale at 184.5 grams for the Viva Magenta color, while the glass options are slightly heftier at 188.5g.

Motorola Razr 40 Ultra

Despite the hinge, the Razr 40 Ultra offers IP52 certification against water and dust. Notably, this isn't full-on water-proofing but it can withstand splashes, spills, sweat or light rain, which should be more than enough in most accidental situations.

Motorola Razr 40 Ultra

Speaking of the hinge, it feels sturdy and solid, sometimes even too much. Opening up the phone with one hand is a hassle, nearly impossible even. But you can still close it with one hand and it supports a wide range of positions, capping at around a 120-degree angle. After that point, it opens up completely. We noticed the phone doesn't open completely and remains slightly bent.

The display is now bigger, measuring 6.9" in diagonal and features razor-thin bezels. The crease is a bit less obtrusive than last year's, so bonus points for that. It doesn't get any better than this, given the available flexible OLED technology.

We like that the handset is narrower than before and sits comfortably in hand. It sure is a tall device, though, so it will still be a challenge to operate with one hand. This means reaching the buttons on the top half is an issue too. It would have been better for the power button (which doubles as a fingerprint too) to be placed on the bottom part, while the volume buttons moved closer to the hinge.

The rest of the side frame is business as usual. The bottom half accommodates the loudspeaker grille and the USB-C connector, while the top houses the earpiece that doubles as a second loudspeaker. Motorola moved it to the top so you can take calls with the handset folded.

The external display is now 3.2" and it's a nice touch. It almost fills the entirety of the top half of the Razr 40 Ultra, while the two camera sensors, along with the LED flash, look as if they are floating on top of the display. The two camera sensors lie almost completely flush, so they don't obstruct the screen all that much.

Motorola Razr 40 Ultra's external display

The "wow" effect of foldable smartphones is long gone, which is understandable, but the Razr 40 Ultra has a nice, functional and sturdy build. The color options are cool, especially the Viva Magenta one we have with vegan leather. There's nothing to complain about and we can't find any deal-breaking issues. We just wished for better button placement as it's hard to reach them when the device is unfolded.