Samsung Galaxy Flip 7 FE vs. Motorola Razr 2025: Battle of the Budget Foldables

CNET

2 days ago

Samsung just unveiled its $900 Galaxy Flip 7 FE, the most affordable foldable phone the company has ever released. Despite that position in Samsung's history, the Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE is still notably pricier than the $700 Motorola Razr 2025, leaving a decided gap in cost that makes their value comparison even more intriguing.
That's because Samsung and Motorola have been neck and neck in pushing the envelope for clamshell foldables. The first modern-era Motorola Razr came out in early 2020 and the initial Samsung Galaxy Z Flip came out months later, and ever since, the companies have launched annual refinements iterating on their designs. Last year, however, Motorola split its Razr series into a pair of models, a cheaper one and a premium one, to appeal to two different potential owners. As a result, Motorola has sold around 3 million flip smartphones since 2022, according to an April report by Counterpoint Research. Now Samsung has a model that's trying to compete when it comes to more cost-conscious phone buyers.
The $200 gap between the Razr 2025 and the new Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE makes the choice very simple for some phone buyers: If they prioritize affordability, there isn't much in Samsung's clamshell that should convince them to opt for the pricier handset.
But a deeper comparison reveals the specific audience for each foldable. The Motorola Razr 2025 is for folks who want a clamshell foldable for less than a premium iPhone 16 or Samsung Galaxy S25 and don't mind lower specs. The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE is for folks who want to pay a little more for higher performance but don't want to spend the full $1,100 for a Galaxy Z Flip 7 or Motorola Razr Ultra (2025).
Though we haven't tested the Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE yet, its specs and similarity to last year's Galaxy Z Flip 6 do give us a good idea of what it's capable of -- and with some less-impressive benchmarks scored by the Motorola Razr 2025, it's possible the Samsung outpaces it. Samsung's Flip 7 FE lacks the Snapdragon processor the Flip 6 had, however, so its performance might be closer to the Motorola's. Here's a proper rundown of the Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE versus the Motorola Razr 2025.
Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE.
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Design and display
You'd be excused for thinking these flip phones look roughly identical. Both devices fold in half, have an outer cover display with twin cameras that can be used while the phone is folded up or unfolded flat, and an inner display with a selfie camera that can only be used when the device is opened up (say, for a video chat). Both also have IP48 water and dust resistance, so they're protected from being submerged in water for up to half an hour, and they have somewhat of a shield against dust, though they shouldn't be around a lot of it, or around sand.
The starkest visual difference lies with the Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE's 3.4-inch AMOLED cover screen (720 by 748 pixels), which has an angled cutout around its dual rear cameras. The Motorola Razr 2025, on the other hand, has its 3.6-inch AMOLED cover screen display (1,056 by 1,066 pixels) wrap around the cameras, resulting in more screen real estate (though the lenses block some of that).
Bright sunlight may be tough to see on either phone's cover display, as Motorola's handset has a maximum brightness of 1,700 nits, while the Samsung foldable's outer screen tops out at 1,600 nits. But the Razr 2025 is smoother, with a 90Hz refresh rate compared with the Z Flip 7 FE's 60Hz.
Motorola Razr 2025.
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Of course the biggest difference between the two cover screens is the software. The Razr supports nearly any Android app out of the box, allowing you to use the screen just as you would a regular Android phone. The Flip 7 FE's screen defaults to widgets, though by way of some changes to settings and with an app called MultiStar, you can get apps to run on the display. The experience feels like an afterthought and is nowhere near as integrated as what you'll find with Motorola's cover display.
When unfolded, the handsets look roughly the same, though the Motorola Razr 2025's 6.9-inch AMOLED display is slightly larger than the Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE's 6.7-inch AMOLED screen. Since they're both 1,080 by 2,640 pixels, that means the Samsung foldable has slightly higher pixel density (around 426 pixels per inch versus around 413 ppi), a difference most people probably won't notice. What they might see is the difference in maximum brightness, with the Razr 2025 taking the lead with 3,000 nits and the Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE topping out at 2,600 nits. Both foldables' inner displays have a maximum 120Hz refresh rate.
The last comparison the Motorola Razr 2025 handily wins is in colors, as it comes in black, white, pastel pink and light green. As opposed to glass on the backside, the Razr features a number of different materials, like vegan leather. The Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE comes only in black or white.
The Razr has a 50-megapixel wide camera and a 13-megapixel ultrawide camera embedded within the cover screen.
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Cameras
Both clamshell foldables have similar camera arrays, at least on paper, with 50-megapixel main cameras paired with an ultrawide camera (12-megapixel for the Z Flip 7 FE, 13-megapixel for the Razr 2025). Likewise, the cameras on each phone can be used either normally when the phone is unfolded or for selfies using the cover screen when the phone is folded up (since their sensors have more megapixels than the inner screen's selfie camera, they take sharper photos).
Each flip phone also has a front-facing camera on the inner display, with the Razr 2025 likely taking sharper photos with its 32-megapixel shooter compared with the Z Flip 7 FE's 10-megapixel camera.
"Likely" is the operative word, as we haven't had time to test the Z Flip 7 FE and thus take its cameras for a spin. Our nearest comparison is last year's Z Flip 6, which took decent daytime and night shots that are "good enough to post to IG and TikTok," as CNET Managing Editor Patrick Holland noted in his review. By comparison, the Razr 2025 takes respectable photos, though its AI processing results in unnaturally vibrant colors.
The Z Flip 7 FE can record video in 4K resolution and up to 60 frames per second. The Razr also can shoot 4K video, but at a slower 30fps.
Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE.
Joe Maldonado/CNET/PCMag
Specs and battery
Specs are another area where the phones noticeably differ, most prominently in their chipset, and subsequent performance reveals why the Samsung phone costs $200 more. The Z Flip 7 FE packs a Samsung-built Exynos 2400, the same chip used in the Galaxy S24 FE, another lower-priced version of a flagship phone. In Geekbench 6 tests, the S24 FE performed slightly worse than the Galaxy S24 (which ran a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3) but better than the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL (powered by Google's Tensor G4 processor).
The Motorola Razr 2025, on the other hand, is powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 7400X chip, which performed noticeably worse than both the Galaxy S24 FE and the Google Pixel 9A in Geekbench 6 testing. Though CNET Senior Editor Mike Sorrentino found the Razr 2025 to be fine for everyday tasks like running apps and multitasking, he advised that the foldable wasn't the best option for gaming at high graphics settings.
Both devices have 8GB of RAM, which is the seeming baseline for AI features on smartphones. The Z Flip 7 FE comes with either 128GB or 256GB of storage, while the Razr 2025 is offered only with 256GB. The Flip 7 FE with 256GB costs $960, meaning it's actually $260 more than the Razr 2025.
Motorola's foldable has a 4,500-mAh battery, which is larger than the 4,000-mAh capacity battery in Samsung's clamshell. The Razr 2025's 30-watt wired charging, which we found recharged the device by 68% in 30 minutes, is also slightly faster than the 25-watt charging in the Z Flip 7 FE (we'll have to wait until we test the latter to see how much capacity it can recharge in the same period). Both phones support 15-watt wireless charging.
Text-based advice works best with Moto AI, including citing where the data comes from.
Mike Sorrentino/CNET
Software, support and AI
Both clamshell foldables are Android phones, but the Razr 2025 launched in May with Android 15, and the Z Flip 7 FE is scheduled to launch in several weeks with the new Android 16 (as well as Samsung's OneUI 8 software skin). Google released its newest update back in June, which is months earlier than it usually launches the year's new Android version.
Though Motorola's phone will get upgraded, that'll use up one of the phone's three years of major software updates (and four years of security) -- presumably, this means it'll be supported through 2028. Samsung, on the other hand, has promised seven years of software updates, so its device is good through 2032 -- a major advantage.
Otherwise, Samsung's foldable packs the company's bespoke Galaxy AI set of features, which include erasing unwanted photo-bombers from images and Google's Circle to Search functionality. Whether you find these AI features useful or illusory is up to you. Motorola's foldable has its Moto AI assistant to answer questions or organize data, though you can also summon Google's Gemini assistant if you prefer.