Motorola Razr 40 review: Flip Phone for the Masses

Jun 13, 2023

It might not break any new ground in terms of hardware and it won’t knock your socks off with performance either, but the Motorola Razr 40 does something no other folding flip phone has done before and that’s appeal to the masses thanks to a balance of price, design and specs.

Having first launched a modern foldable phone back in 2019, Motorola is one of the more experienced manufacturers in this area of the mobile market. For 2023, the Razr is back again with a new design and an attractive price.

The 2023 Razr is a range of two models for the first time and in most markets, the regular edition is called the Razr 40 in an attempt to tie the phones in with the Motorola Edge 40 series. There’s also the Razr 40 Ultra we’ve already reviewed.

However, in the US they are called the Motorola Razr and Razr+.

I’ve been testing the Razr 40 (which is what I’ll be calling it) for a while and although it has a smaller outer screen compared to the Ultra along with a few spec downgrades, it’s still a great flip phone and, perhaps most importantly, the price makes it the best choice for most people.

The Razr 40 is not like the previous three Razr foldables, with Motorola going in a different direction with the design of this phone.

It looks less like the iconic Razr designs of old in favour of a squared-off shape remarkably similar to the Samsung Galaxy Flip series. The first couple of Razr foldables had some design issues – namely the chin getting in the way.

I felt the Razr 2022 hit a sweet spot even though my colleague Lewis said it had “less of a Razr feel” in his review. The Razr 40, though, has barely a trace of that Razr charm and looks, at least at a glance, indistinguishable from the Galaxy Z Flip 4.

Chris Martin / Foundry

There are differences, of course, such as the orientation of the cameras. However, look closer and the vegan leather rear cover on the Razr 40 does give it some personality. I’ve always liked vegan leather phones and this another on the list.

Not only does it look nice – available in Sage Green and Vanilla Cream along with the Summer Lilac I’ve tested – but it offers good grip and is stain resistant according to Motorola. Foldables are delicate enough, so it’s nice not to have to worry about rear glass.

The metal frame comes in a matching colour apart from silver on the Cream model (as does the hard plastic case in the box) so overall, the Razr 40 looks very stylish indeed. The fashion element done very well, in my opinion, even if more colours would be welcome.

Motorola only offers a water-repellent coating with an IP52 rating – the Galaxy Z Flip 5 is IPX8 – and foldables still feel fragile in various ways.

Sure, Motorola touts a gapless design when the phone is closed but even getting the phone out of my pocket after some gardening resulted in some crunchy sounds when unfolding and closing. This went away with some strategic blowing, but it doesn’t instil much confidence.

Chris Martin / Foundry

If I was going to the beach, I would feel like the Razr 40 would need to stay at home or spend the day in a sealed bag – hardly ideal for taking photos of the day.

Those who live a more urban life won’t need to worry so much and the Razr 40 hinge is a thing of beauty. The internal screen neatly disappears into a teardrop shape inside to enable the gapless design and the hinge can hold the screen at just about any angle you want so it’s not simply closed or fully open.

Interestingly, I didn’t experience the same problem we found with the Razr 40 Ultra, which wouldn’t fully open to lay flat.

Haptic feedback isn’t particularly crisp, but I didn’t find myself noticing it being weedy either. A fingerprint scanner hides in the power button on the side and works very well indeed.

The Razr 40 changes tact when it comes to the setup of the two screens. Typically, Motorola has gone for a large outer display but here is a small 1.5in version much like the olders Galaxy Z Flip 3 and 4.

Motorola told me this is partly a way of helping owners use their phone less. You can use the cover screen to get key bits of information and carry out various tasks, saving you from opening the phone up and getting tempted by shiny apps.

Chris Martin / Foundry

Open the Razr 40 up and you get almost the same 6.9in pOLED screen as the Razr 40 Ultra. The difference with the more premium model is that it has a much larger 3.6in external display.

Internally, the main difference is that the Razr 40 has a 144Hz refresh rate rather than 165Hz but this doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme.

At 6.9in there’s plenty of real estate, although the 22:9 aspect ratio is very tall and means reaching the top one-handed is quite an effort. The Full HD+ resolution of 2640 x 1080 is a nice balance of crispness without sacrificing battery life unnecessarily.

Contrast and colour are both solid and I measured the brightness at a decent 515 nits with automatic brightness off. Motorola claims the phone can hit a peak of 1400 nits.

Chris Martin / Foundry

There are no major downsides to the internal screen, although the firm calling it ‘creaseless’ is a stretch. You can definitely see and feel where the display folds but it’s not a distraction in use. The blue tint you get when viewing the screen at an off angle was more of a problem in my time with the phone.

With the hinge able to hold the phone open at different angles, the Razr 40 can do some clever split screen tricks such as splitting the camera app in two giving you a lot more scope for angles as well as taking selfies without holding the phone.

No headphone jack isn’t a shock, and the stereo speakers aren’t anything to write home about. They’re fine for the odd YouTube video or taking a call on speakerphone but don’t expect to get anything immersive or cinematic from them.

It’s in the core specs where the Razr 40 somewhat reveals why it’s so much cheaper than the Ultra and typically other foldable phones. It’s a return to the old ways of the Razr foldable where the processor isn’t flagship tier.

Instead of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 found in the Ultra, you get a Snapdragon 7 Gen 1. In the UK, there’s only one version available with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage – and there’s no microSD card slot here.

Chris Martin / Foundry

Performance is a mixed bag and luckily the bad side of it is short-lived because it’s one of those phones that’s awkwardly laggy when you first boot it up. However, give it a bit of time to settle down and things run perfectly fine.

It’s not lightning-fast, but performance is good enough that it’s not something that stands out. Even the chip inside the Ultra is a 2022 flagship so if you want top performance, look to the Galaxy Z Flip 5 with its Snapdragon 8 Gen 2.

The Razr 40 benchmarks are expectedly lower than rivals, but don’t let them put you off, especially when it’s understandable at this price point.

There’s no scrimping on connectivity with Bluetooth 5.3, Wi-Fi 6E, NFC and 5G all onboard.

The camera setup on the Razr 40 is a little different from the Ultra model. They have the same 32Mp selfie (internal) camera and a 13Mp ultrawide/macro on the outside, but the Ultra’s field of view is oddly narrower at 108 degrees vs 120.

The main camera here is 64Mp so is higher resolution than the 12Mp on the Ultra but has a slower aperture of f/1.7 instead of f/1.5. Overall, though you’ve essentially got the same three cameras in terms of what they do.

Chris Martin / Foundry

Performance is a mixed bag with the main camera (which pixel bins to 16Mp) doing a reasonably good job in decent lighting with sharp and colourful results but even before reaching low light, starts to struggle. For me, this was particularly in terms of focus – despite having OIS (optical image stabilisation) and laser autofocus.

Acceptable results in low light are possible but you’ve got to have the time and patience to hold the phone steady while it does its thing. I will sound like a broken record already, but portrait mode shots are hit and miss.

The ultrawide camera makes for a useful addition in certain situations but compared to the main camera looks washed out in most shots. This also gets used when you select the macro mode in the app and takes some poise to get good results.

To my surprise, it’s the internal 32Mp selfie camera that I found to be the most consistent and reliable. It pixel bins to 8Mp and this gives you a nice balance of detail without large files to upload to social media or clogging up cloud storage.

Impressively, this camera can shoot video at up to Ultra HD quality at 30fps. However, you’ll probably want to make use of the main camera for video as OIS helps to keep things smooth, even though it also offers the same quality settings.

At 4200mAh, the battery inside the Razr 40 isn’t breaking any longevity records but it’s not just the size that counts. In our usual PCMark battery test the phone managed a solid, but middle of the road, 10 hours and 15 minutes.

However, the real headline here is that it consistently got me two days of usage. I’m typically not a heavy user but I was using the phone more than I would normally be due to testing it out.

Chris Martin / Foundry

Motorola supplies a 33W fast charger in the box, but the Razr 40 is rated slightly lower at 30W. Not particularly fast by modern standards but still, this can get you a decent 60% with a 30-minute charge.

Pleasingly, the Razr 40 has wireless charging. I was not expecting this at this price point on a folding phone. Granted, it’s super slow at just 5W but it’s there if you need it and that speed isn’t an issue if you’re putting it on a charger overnight.

The Razr 40 runs on Android 13 out-of-the-box and Motorola has promised a reasonable but not industry leading three version updates taking you to Android 16. You’ll also get four years of security updates so it’s only a year off Samsung on both fronts.

As Motorola has been doing for years, the operating system is very close to stock (what you’d get on a Google Pixel phone) with just some simple and helpful additions. Personalisation is a highlight, as are the physical twist and chop gestures which make things like launching the camera and switching the flashlight on super easy – a real boon when you’re holding a baby in the other arm, let me tell you.

Chris Martin / Foundry

The main thing you might want to know about the Razr 40’s software is how the external screen works.

It’s easy to use and you can select which ‘panels’ you want to use on it such as the clock, weather, media playback, calendar and more (although not many more).

I found it very useful without being intrusive, though it has limitations beyond the available panels. Notifications are a prime example where you can also see so much of a message. An email reminder to put my bin out got cut off just before it said which colour bin was being collected.

Chris Martin / Foundry

You can also use the screen as a live preview of the camera, meaning you can use the ‘rear’ cameras for selfies. A neat trick but it’s very difficult to frame the image properly with the 2:1 aspect ratio and tiny size.

The Razr 40 Ultra with its larger external screen might be tempting as you can run any Android app on it, but it’s not without its quirks.

One of the best things about the Motorola Razr 40 is the price. It’s just £799 in the UK which places it in the regular flagship range rather than the often £1,000+ mark asked for foldables.

In fact, it’s cheaper than many regular candybar flagships and is the cheapest folding phone to date. For comparison, the freshly announced Galaxy Z Flip 5 starts at £1,049 which matches the Razr 40 Ultra.

This price will get you the 8/256GB model in the UK with no other options on the official store. You can also buy it from Amazon, Very and Currys.

Oddly, it’s not anywhere to be seen on the US store where the Razr 40+ is $999.

Check out our ranking of the best foldable phones to see how the Razr 40 compares to its peers.

Chris Martin / Foundry

Motorola may have lost some of the Razr charm by going with a Galaxy Flip-esque design but it doesn’t matter much on what is otherwise a very successful folding phone.

What was a luxury purchase in the smartphone world is now a normal option thanks to the Razr 40’s £799 asking price. That makes it cheaper than many regular flagships.

And despite this price, the Razr 40 has some impressive specs including decent AMOLED displays, long lasting battery life and a solid software experience. There’s even wireless charging, albeit very slow.

There are, of course, downsides to consider here when comparing to the Razr 40 Ultra and rivals. The Snapdragon 7 chip isn’t the fastest, there’s no proper waterproofing and the cameras aren’t overly impressive.

However, all of this is acceptable to get a flip phone at a reasonable price, meaning the Razr 40 is currently the best folding phone for the masses.

Tech Advisor's Reviews Editor, Chris has been reviewing all kinds of tech for over 10 years and specialises in audio. He also covers a range of topics including home entertainment, phones, laptops, tablets and more.