Motorola Razr Ultra 2025 Review: The Flip Phone That Finally Feels Complete

Every year, foldable phones promise a little more magic than the last. Some years, they deliver. Other years, they leave us feeling like we’re buying into an experiment that isn’t quite finished. For Motorola, the Razr line has always been about nostalgia wrapped in futuristic design a balancing act between honoring its iconic flip phone past and keeping pace with modern smartphone expectations.

With the Motorola Razr Ultra 2025, the company finally seems to have reached a point where style, performance, and usability meet in harmony. This isn’t just another flashy foldable; it’s a carefully refined device that doesn’t feel like a compromise. After spending time with it testing the cameras in tricky lighting, flipping it open and shut until muscle memory kicks in, pushing the Snapdragon 8 Elite to its limits, and even gauging how long the battery lasts during a heavy travel day I can confidently say, the Razr Ultra 2025 is Motorola’s best foldable yet, and one of the strongest flip style phones on the market.

But is it the foldable phone to buy in 2025, especially when Samsung, Oppo, and Huawei are pushing their own innovations? Let’s dive deep into its design, performance, and quirks to see where it stands.

Design & Build Quality: Luxury Meets Function

The first thing you notice about the Razr Ultra 2025 isn’t its screen or specs it’s the feeling. This is a phone that begs to be touched. Motorola has gone beyond glass and metal conventions, offering finishes in eco leather, genuine wood, and ceramic coated Gorilla Glass. My review unit came in a forest green eco leather variant, and it’s easily one of the most satisfying textures I’ve felt on a phone in years. The grip is secure, the material resists fingerprints, and it gives off a subtle premium vibe that plastic clad foldables just can’t match.

Unlike earlier Razr models where the hinge felt delicate, the Ultra’s aluminum frame with reinforced hinge mechanics inspires confidence. Motorola claims the hinge has been tested for hundreds of thousands of folds, and while that number might sound abstract, the day to day takeaway is that you can flip this phone open and shut without worrying about wear. The screen crease that perennial concern in foldables is still there if you hunt for it in the right light, but it’s subtle enough to fade into the background after just a few days of use.

Another clever design detail is how the phone sits when folded. The Razr Ultra 2025 closes almost flush, leaving only a hairline gap that keeps dust out but doesn’t add noticeable bulk. Slip it into a pocket, and you’ll instantly appreciate how much less obtrusive it feels compared to slab smartphones. It’s the kind of everyday detail that doesn’t show up on spec sheets but makes a difference in how you live with the device.

Display Experience: Where the Magic Happens

Foldables live or die by their screens, and Motorola has clearly taken this to heart. The Razr Ultra 2025 gives you two AMOLED displays, each with its own personality.

Main Display A 7 inch LTPO AMOLED that stretches out with 165Hz refresh, Dolby Vision, HDR10+, and up to 4,500 nits peak brightness. That’s an insane number, and in practice, it means sunlight readability is almost flawless. Watching HDR content on Netflix or YouTube feels cinematic, with vibrant colors and smooth motion. Gaming at 165Hz, especially fast paced shooters, feels buttery smooth.

Cover Display A 4 inch AMOLED, also running at 165Hz with up to 3,000 nits brightness. This isn’t just a notification ticker it’s big enough to run full apps, reply to messages, control music, or even navigate with Google Maps without opening the phone. In fact, I found myself using the cover display almost as much as the main screen during quick errands.

Motorola has nailed the balance here. Unlike Samsung’s smaller cover display on the Flip 6, the Razr Ultra 2025 makes its external screen feel like a true secondary smartphone. It’s one of those features you don’t think you’ll use until you realize it saves you from fully opening the device dozens of times a day.

Performance: Snapdragon 8 Elite and Beyond

Powering all this is the Snapdragon 8 Elite (3nm) Qualcomm’s flagship processor for 2025. Paired with 16GB of RAM and up to 1TB of UFS 4.0 storage, this phone is unapologetically fast. Whether it was juggling multiple Chrome tabs, running Adobe Lightroom for quick edits, or streaming a 4K video while downloading files in the background, the Razr Ultra never broke a sweat.

What’s equally important is how cool the device stays. Earlier Razr models sometimes got warm under sustained load, but Motorola has improved its thermal management. Even after 20 minutes of Genshin Impact, the phone remained comfortable in hand a notable win for a compact foldable.

The benchmarks are impressive, sure, but real world performance matters more. In everyday use, the Razr Ultra 2025 feels less like a foldable experiment and more like a no compromise flagship that happens to fold in half.

Software & AI: Android 15 with a Twist

The Razr Ultra 2025 ships with Android 15 layered with Motorola’s My UX and a sprinkle of Moto AI. Now, AI in smartphones is everywhere sometimes useful, sometimes gimmicky. Motorola’s take feels practical, if not revolutionary.

Key features include:

Catch Me Up: Summarizes missed notifications or emails. Handy if you’ve been offline for a while.
Remember This: Lets you pin visual memories or notes contextually, like snapping a whiteboard and tagging it to a meeting.
Next Move: Context aware suggestions, like opening Spotify when you plug in earbuds.
Pay Attention: Highlights key phrases in lectures or meetings using live transcription.

There’s also a dedicated AI Key on the side, giving quick access to Moto AI or Google Gemini. In my testing, these features worked, but they didn’t dramatically change how I use my phone. They’re nice to have, but not deal breakers if ignored.

Where Motorola shines is its commitment 4 years of Android OS updates and 5 years of security patches. While not as long as Samsung’s or Google’s 7 year promises, it’s respectable and a step up from Motorola’s past.

Camera System: A Mixed Bag of Brilliance

Cameras have historically been a weak spot for Motorola’s foldables, but the Razr Ultra 2025 makes a solid leap forward. You get:

50MP Wide (f/1.7, OIS)
50MP Ultrawide (f/2.2)
50MP Selfie (on main screen, f/2.0)

On paper, these specs scream flagship, and in good lighting, the results match the hype. Photos are sharp, with accurate colors and great dynamic range. The wide sensor captures vibrant landscapes, while the ultrawide is fun for creative angles.

Where things wobble is in low light conditions. While the main sensor holds up decently, the ultrawide struggles with noise and softness. Motorola’s night mode helps, but consistency is hit or miss compared to Samsung or Apple.

Video, however, is surprisingly strong. The Razr Ultra supports 8K recording with Dolby Vision HDR. Footage is stable and cinematic, though file sizes balloon quickly. One underrated perk is the ability to use the cover screen as a preview, making vlogging or group selfies incredibly easy.

Is this the best camera on a foldable? Not quite. The Galaxy Z Flip 6 and Oppo Find N3 Flip still edge ahead in low light reliability. But for everyday shots, the Razr Ultra 2025 is finally a contender rather than an afterthought.

Battery Life & Charging: Finally Reliable

Battery life used to be the Achilles’ heel of flip phones. The Razr Ultra 2025 changes that with a 4,700 mAh battery, roughly 20% larger than its predecessor.

In my testing:

Screen on time: Around 8 - 9 hours.
Heavy day (gaming, video, navigation): Survived from morning to midnight with ~15% left.
Light day (messages, music, light browsing): Easily stretched into the next morning.

Charging is equally impressive:

68W wired: 0–100% in ~43 minutes.
30W wireless: Convenient and quick enough for overnight top ups.

For context, that’s better than Samsung’s Flip 6, which charges slower and has a smaller battery. Motorola has clearly prioritized endurance without sacrificing portability.

Real World Use: The Little Things Add Up

Specs and numbers tell one story, but the Razr Ultra 2025 shines in the daily grind. Take commuting, for instance. On a crowded subway, flipping the phone halfway open in “flex mode” to watch YouTube hands free felt oddly luxurious. At a café, I used the cover screen to reply to emails without drawing stares for unfolding a massive display.

Even small details, like how the haptics feel when typing on the cover screen or the reassuring click of the hinge, make the experience tactile and enjoyable. The Razr Ultra 2025 doesn’t just work; it feels good to use.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Premium design with eco leather and wood options.
Gorgeous dual displays with high brightness and refresh rate.
Snapdragon 8 Elite delivers top tier performance.
Cover display is fully functional, unlike some rivals.
Strong battery life and fast charging.
Improved camera system with clever features.

Cons

AI features feel underwhelming.
Camera struggles in low light compared to Samsung.
Software support shorter than Google or Samsung (4 years vs. 7 years).
Premium price (€1,299 / ~$1,299).

Conclusion: The Razr Ultra Finally Earns Its “Ultra”

The Motorola Razr Ultra 2025 isn’t just a nostalgic throwback with modern flair. It’s a fully realized foldable flagship that stands toe to toe with the best. For years, Motorola’s Razr series felt like stylish experiments beautiful but flawed. This year, it feels complete.

It’s not perfect AI features still need a killer use case, and the camera isn’t as consistent as Samsung’s. But for many, the trade offs will be worth it. If you value design, display quality, battery endurance, and the fun of a foldable that doesn’t compromise, the Razr Ultra 2025 deserves a spot at the top of your list.

This isn’t just a phone you buy for nostalgia. It’s one you buy because it makes sense in 2025. And that, perhaps, is the biggest win for Motorola.