Modern flip phones cause a great excitement not only among experts, but also among ordinary users. Today we have a real battle: Samsung Galaxy Flip5 vs Motorola Razr 40 Ultra.
I don’t really like to write articles where you have to compare similar devices. Yes, exactly similar devices. After all, in this case emotions and personal perception of this or that mobile device play a more important role. But still I decided to do it, I hope my article will help someone to make the right choice.
Samsung Galaxy Flip5 and Motorola Razr 40 Ultra are the main competitors in the rapidly developing foldable phone market, attracting users with their innovative solutions. This is the form factor that combines the convenience of a foldable design with the large screen of a conventional smartphone.
The year 2023 was the year of the foldable smartphone, as two major models on the market were updated. I had the honor of taking a detailed look at the Samsung Galaxy Flip5 and the Motorola Razr 40 Ultra. In the same comparison, we’ll take a closer look at the smartphones’ specs, design and other aspects, and try to determine which phone deserves a place in your pocket this year! At the end of each section, I will give the best model 1 point each, and at the end we will summarize.
Read also: Samsung Galaxy Flip5 review: There’s simply no better foldable smartphone
Galaxy Flip5 vs Razr 40 Ultra: almost similar design
At first glance, these two smartphones are very similar to each other. But when comparing them directly, it’s hard not to notice that they are still quite different.
The Samsung Galaxy Flip5 has a traditional style with a flat bezel, while the Motorola Razr 40 Ultra has a more modern look with a slightly curved bezel. This is noticeable when you place them side by side.
One of the most noticeable differences between these two flip phones is the hinge system. The Galaxy Z Flip5 has a regular hinge, which we’ve seen in previous models as well. Samsung decided not to change anything if it works as it is. Except that they managed to get rid of the usual click.
The Razr 40 Ultra, on the other hand, has a newly designed hinge, which should increase its durability. In addition, it feels more resilient and sturdy in practice. The smartphone can stay partially open at angles from 45º to 140º. I still haven’t managed to open it with one hand, though.
A few words about protection standards, which is a very important factor for foldable smartphones. Galaxy Flip5 has IPX8 waterproof standard, which means that it can withstand immersion in water to a certain depth. The Razr 40 Ultra, on the other hand, has an IP52 classification. This means that it is only protected against water splashes and dust.
In the end, the choice between these two smartphones comes down to personal preference. If you appreciate a sleek and classic design with a flat frame and don’t mind traditional hinges, the Galaxy Flip5 might be a good choice.
On the other hand, if you prefer a smartphone with a more modern look and a more durable hinge, the Razr 40 Ultra might be a better option. Plus, Motorola promises more resistance to damage in case of accidental drops or scratches.
However, it should be noted that the new hinge design makes the Razr 40 Ultra slightly thicker than the Galaxy Flip5.
- Galaxy Flip5: +1
- Razr 40 Ultra: +1
Read also: Samsung Galaxy Flip5 review: There’s simply no better foldable smartphone
Displays
Displays are definitely a major factor when it comes to the comparison between the Motorola Razr 40 Ultra and the Samsung Galaxy Flip 5. Both smartphones have fairly large displays, providing users with an immersive visual experience.
Let’s start with the Motorola Razr 40 Ultra. It boasts a basic 6.9-inch pOLED display with a resolution of 1080×2640 and a pixel density of 413 ppi. What makes this display stand out is the impressive 165Hz refresh rate, which provides an extremely smooth user experience. The clarity of the larger display is further enhanced by a peak brightness of 1400 nits, which ensures optimal visibility even under bright sunlight.
Undoubtedly, the main advantage is the external display of this miracle smartphone. It has a 3.6-inch pOLED panel with a resolution of 1056×1066 pixels and a refresh rate of 144 Hz. This gorgeous display with a maximum brightness of 1100 nits allows users to perform various daily tasks without unfolding the device, such as playing games, watching HDR10+ videos, using maps, and even answering messages. The interactive display takes up the entire front panel, something none of its competitors can boast of. The functionality of this 3.6-inch pOLED display provides users with a greater immersive experience and better personalization.
The Samsung Galaxy Flip 5 offers a 6.7-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2x display with a resolution of 1080×2640 pixels, which due to its smaller size offers a slightly higher pixel density of 426 ppi. However, the refresh rate is limited to 120Hz, so it is inferior to the smoothness of the Razr 40 Ultra’s display. However, the Galaxy Flip 5 has an impressive peak brightness of 1200 nits, which improves usage in bright lighting conditions.
When folded, the smartphone offers a 3.4-inch “Flex Window” display with a Super AMOLED panel, 720×748 pixel resolution and 306 ppi density. While it allows users to access a variety of apps and perform almost the same tasks as the Razr 40 Ultra, it doesn’t have the added benefits of HDR10+ support and a higher refresh rate. To be honest, the Galaxy Flip 5 loses significantly to its competitor in terms of usage. Samsung for some reason paid little attention to the external display, even sometimes you get the impression that it is an unnecessary element of a flip smartphone from this manufacturer.
So Motorola has a clear advantage when it comes to using the external display. Everything has been thought out to the last detail. You don’t have to constantly open your smartphone to read notifications, browse social networks, or reply to Messenger messages. That is, the external display here is full-fledged, you can do literally EVERYTHING on it. But it is frankly annoying to open and close Galaxy Flip 5 every time.
- Galaxy Flip5: 0
- Razr 40 Ultra: +1
Read also:
- Motorola razr 40 Review: What is the cheapest folding smartphone capable of?
- Motorola Moto G13 review: classic budget phone up to $135
Performance
Thanks to Samsung’s ongoing partnership with Qualcomm, the Galaxy Flip5 gets a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy processor. That is, a specially tuned version of the flagship chip that is slightly faster than the versions used by competing manufacturers.
While the Flip5 only comes with 8GB of RAM, the faster UFS 4.0 storage with 256 or 512GB of storage and Adreno 740 GPU make up for this limitation. So it’s no surprise that the Samsung Galaxy Flip5 is one of the fastest flagship smartphones currently on sale. Thanks to this efficient processor, the smartphone has more than enough features for gamers. The foldable from the Korean company can easily handle gaming, although like most foldable devices, it can get very hot during long sessions of demanding games like Call of Duty Mobile or Genshin Impact, and trotting.
The Motorola Razr 40 Ultra is equipped with last year’s Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 chipset. This chipset offers a significant improvement in battery efficiency over the early 2022 Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. However, signs of its aging are starting to show, and are especially noticeable when examining the benchmark results.
It is coupled with 12GB of RAM and unlike the Galaxy Flip 5, it only comes with 256GB of older UFS 3.1 storage. With no option to expand its capacity, there is also no microSD card slot.
In practice, though, both smartphones impress with their performance. The difference between the processors is hardly noticeable. Both Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Motorola Razr 40 Ultra have excellent performance and meet the needs of even tech-savvy users.
- Galaxy Flip5: +1
- Razr 40 Ultra: 0
Read also: Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra smartphone review: An unprecedented flagship
Battery life
In terms of battery performance, both the Razr 40 Ultra and Galaxy Flip 5 perform well considering their compact size. The Motorola Razr 40 Ultra boasts of a fairly powerful 3,800 mAh battery, which provides continuous use throughout the day, even during gaming sessions and video recording sessions. Charging the Razr 40 Ultra to full capacity with the included 30W wired charger takes about an hour, which means it provides a fairly fast and efficient charge. 5W wireless charging is also supported.
The Galaxy Flip 5 has a slightly smaller 3,700mAh battery, which is 100mAh less than the Motorola Razr 40 Ultra. The 25W wired charging allows the smartphone to reach 50% charge in just 30 minutes, while a full 100% charge takes about an hour, similar to the Razr 40 Ultra. The Galaxy Flip 5 also offers a 15W wireless charging option as well as a convenient 4.5W reverse charging, a feature not found on the Razr 40 Ultra.
At the end of the day, both flip smartphones offer good battery performance. The choice between the two may depend on individual preferences, such as wanting the slightly faster wired charging of the Galaxy Flip 5, or a preference for a larger battery capacity, which is helped by the “pure” Android with its customizations in the Motorola Razr 40 Ultra.
- Galaxy Flip5: +1
- Razr 40 Ultra: +1
Read also:
- Review Motorola’s proprietary apps and features
- Motorola Ready For app review: Smartphone as a computer
Software
Motorola Razr 40 Ultra and Samsung Galaxy Flip 5 run on Android 13, offering users the latest features and security updates. However, the software and interface of these two smartphones differ significantly, catering to different user preferences.
The Motorola Razr 40 Ultra boasts Vanilla Android technology, which provides a clean and smooth interface with improved refresh rate optimization on both folded and unfolded displays. Users can enjoy an environment without pre-installed apps.
Razr 40 Ultra has a MyUI 3.0 shell. One of the interesting features of the Razr 40 Ultra interface is Moto Gestures, which allows users to use gestures to conveniently turn on the flashlight, camera and the like. Moto’s Sidebar feature enables multitasking by providing quick access to your favorite apps. While it doesn’t have an always-on display option, the Peek Display feature allows users to bring the device out of sleep mode with a simple tap.
The Razr 40 Ultra also promises three major OS updates, ensuring long-term support for the device.
The Galaxy Z Flip 5 is powered by Samsung’s latest One UI 5.1.1. And it comes with pre-installed Samsung apps, which may not be to everyone’s liking. Along with all the One UI 5.1 features, it offers additional ones optimized for the foldable screen, which improves interaction. Samsung is also giving the Galaxy Flip5 up to four major Android updates.
As for software, my personal choice is on the side of Motorola. “Pure Android is more to my liking. There is no imposition of a bunch of unnecessary programs, games or settings. Yes, Samsung OneUI is quite modern, advanced shell, but I did not like that even in the Galaxy Flip5 for some reason there is no very useful program Samsung Dex. Which is strange, because we are facing a flagship device.
- Galaxy Flip5: 0
- Razr 40 Ultra: +1
Read also: Samsung Galaxy S23 review: the cool compact flagship
Galaxy Flip5 vs Razr 40 Ultra: cameras
Both the Samsung Galaxy Flip 5 and the Motorola Razr 40 Ultra have a pair of rear cameras, as well as a single camera for selfies on the inside display.
Samsung has decided to keep the same 12-megapixel main camera and 12-megapixel Ultra wide camera found in the previous generation Galaxy Flip 4, but has updated the lenses to reduce light glare. Optical image stabilization and dual-pixel PDAF should help the main camera take high-quality photos, even if its f/1.8 aperture lens isn’t as wide as the Razr 40 Ultra’s.
The Galaxy Flip5’s wide-angle lens has an aperture of f/1.5, which offers better low-light performance compared to the Razr 40 Ultra’s wide-angle lens.
The ultra-wide-angle lens with f/2.2 aperture and 108º viewing angle works well in daylight conditions, similar to the Razr 40 Ultra. The Galaxy Z Flip 5’s 10-megapixel front camera takes selfies outdoors with a great perspective. Both the front and rear cameras support video recording up to 4K, giving users the flexibility to suit different recording needs.
Motorola opted for a 12MP main camera with PDAF, OIS and an f/1.5 aperture lens. It’s paired with a 12MP ultra-wide lens with autofocus, a 108º field of view and f/2.2 aperture. That’s a narrower view than the 123º ultra-wide angle of the Galaxy Flip5, but the macro focus adds extra versatility. The maximum video resolution is 4K/60p and 120fps full HD.
The Razr 40 Ultra’s internal camera has a 32-megapixel sensor and an f/2.4 lens, which is three times the pixel count of the Flip 5’s 10-megapixel camera. But it’s not about the numbers: Motorola has historically been a step behind Samsung in terms of image processing. For more on the photographic capabilities of the Samsung Galaxy Flip5 and Motorola Razr 40 Ultra, check out our reviews of these foldable smartphones.
ORIGINAL PHOTOS CAN BE FOUND HERE
I decided to compare in practice the photographic capabilities of the devices. On the left are photos taken by Samsung Galaxy Flip5, on the right – by Motorola Razr 40 Ultra. In my opinion, there is parity here.
- Galaxy Flip5: +1
- Razr 40 Ultra: +1
Prices
Users are always primarily interested in the price of smartphones, especially when it comes to devices from the same category.
Samsung Galaxy Flip5 with a configuration of 8/256 GB can now be bought for $1150, but for the configuration of 8/512 GB will have to lay out already $1250. This is quite expensive, but in front of us is an innovative device.
Motorola Razr 40 Ultra is significantly cheaper. For the configuration 12/256 GB you will need to lay out about $1000. That is, the clamshell from Motorola is much cheaper than its competitor, which makes it more attractive in terms of price.
- Galaxy Flip5: 0
- Razr 40 Ultra: +1
Read also: Motorola Edge 40 review: the one that’s “top for its money”
Summary
- Galaxy Flip5: 4
- Razr 40 Ultra: 6
It can be said that both the Samsung Galaxy Flip5 and the Motorola Razr 40 Ultra are great foldable smartphones for multimedia lovers. In fact, the choice between these two phones depends on personal whims, the amount of money available and priorities.
The advantage of the Samsung Galaxy Flip 5 is its performance, as it has the most powerful processor on the market at the moment. It also uses the latest type of memory, a generation newer than its competitor. The Galaxy Flip 5 also has the advantage of longer support from the manufacturer. This ensures that you get up-to-date software for years to come.
The Motorola Razr 40 Ultra has the best screens – both outside and inside. This really is a great advantage, as far as I am concerned. The external screen of the novelty from Motorola really sets a new trend that everyone, even Samsung, should now follow. It also has a slightly larger battery. However, it is difficult to say whether this affects the charging time. The quality software is also worth mentioning. It’s intuitive and user-friendly, almost perfect for this form factor. And the much lower price may be a decisive factor in your choice.
Great cameras and spectacular design are undoubted pluses of both models. But the choice is yours!
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- Samsung Galaxy Fold5 review: updated, flagship, foldable
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