Motorola Razr 60 Ultra review: Finally, a flip phone that isn't a flop

Telegraph

23-05-2025

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What is the Motorola Razr 60 Ultra?
The Razr 60 Ultra is Motorola's sixth generation of compact foldable phones, but you can trace the Razr lineage back even further. During the pre-smartphone days of the mid-2000s, Razr flip phones represented a hip alternative to Nokia's robust candy bar devices.
Whereas full-sized foldable phones such as the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold offer a regular smartphone that unfolds into a mini-tablet, compact foldables such as the Razr 60 Ultra give you a regular smartphone that folds down into an instantly more portable package. It's intended for those who resent carrying a large device in a pocket or bag, but who don't wish to compromise on the benefits that modern smartphones bring.
This latest Razr 60 Ultra sits at the top of Motorola's extended smartphone range and at £1,099, it is the brand's most expensive device by quite some margin. However, its price is roughly in line with high-end clamshell smartphones from other brands.
Its foldable design facilitates a large 7-inch internal display, as well as a 4-inch cover screen that can be used when the phone is closed. It runs on the latest and fastest mobile chip on the market and includes a dual 50-megapixel camera system.
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How we test smartphones
Each smartphone review is based on five key metrics: design and features, display, performance and battery life, software and AI and camera capabilities. However, the approach is slightly different when reviewing a foldable phone.
The design aspect warrants an even stronger focus here, as these phones incorporate moving mechanical components and flexible materials, such as the hinge and fragile folding display. The foldable design makes the phones inherently more complex and vulnerable.
Otherwise, the testing procedure is the same as for a typical smartphone, involving a number of popular benchmark test appsto compare how the device performs against its competitors. More importantly, we test how a phone handles everyday tasks, from making basic calls and texts to using Google Maps and streaming video. I spent a week using the Razr 60 Ultra as my main phone, allowing me to get a feel for how it works in the real world.
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Design and features
Score: 8/10
The Motorola Razr 60 Ultra's design is its defining feature, with a mechanical hinge at the halfway point that lets you fold a 7.2mm-thick smartphone down completely in half, leaving you holding a small, almost square phone in the palm of your hand.
Motorola has refined this clamshell design significantly over the years with each release of its foldable smartphones. The result is a phone that folds completely flat and shows only the merest of bumps on the internal display when you open it back up. The hinge itself is a beautiful piece of engineering, with a smooth yet sturdy movement that allows you to keep the phone open at any angle beyond 45 degrees.
My review model comes with a tactile wood finish on the lower half, which is where the phone sits in your hand when held. This material is reassuringly resistant to scuffs and scrapes, and the curved glass cover display is covered in a toughened Gorilla Glass Ceramic layer, which should help to mitigate the impact of drops and scratches.
One of the key weaknesses with any foldable device is a lower level of dust resistance compared to standard phones, and sure enough, the Motorola Razr 60 Ultra has to make do with a mereIP48 rating. This is an improvement on its predecessor, the Razr 50 Ultra, but it still means that while it's as waterproof as almost any non-foldable phone, it is prone to letting in solid particles smaller than 1 millimetre. This doesn't bode well for longevity, as over time, dirt and other detritus may clog up the phone's hinge.
Displays
Score: 8/10
Motorola maximises space better than any other compact foldable phone maker. The main event with the Razr 60 Ultra is a huge 7-inch display, which is bigger than your average iPhone or Samsung device.
I say technically, because it has an unusual, taller-than-average 22:9 aspect ratio, which means that this display is a lot taller and narrower than you may be used to. When video content on Netflix or Prime Video supports the cinematic 21:9 aspect ratio, it looks phenomenal with no black bars above or below the screen, but many social media and YouTube videos play with distractingly large side borders when held in landscape view.
There's no disputing the quality of this main display, however. It's nice and sharp at 1,224 x 2,912 resolution, while an exceptionally high peak brightness of 4,500 nits helps when using the screen outdoors in direct sunlight. A faster-than-usual refresh rate of 165Hz means that scrolling feels particularly smooth, too.
The inner plastic screen cover is found on all foldable smartphones and this does cheapen the overall experience, especially as soon as it picks up greasy fingerprints. This can't be removed, since the fragile display would be damaged if you did try to peel this off.
The external screen is a smaller and squarer 4-inch 1,272 x 1,080 resolution display, and this also has a 165Hz refresh rate. You will likely find yourself using this outer screen more often, since it can still be used for the majority of the phone's actions, including replying to messages and navigating via Google Maps. The design also places the NFC chip reader for making mobile payments and tapping in and out of stations in the bottom half of the phone, which almost forces you to keep it closed to do this on the go.
Performance and battery life
Score: 9/10
Last year's Motorola Razr 50 Ultra was a bit of a disappointment from a performance perspective, offering a cut-down version of 2024's leading processor. I have no such concerns here, running on the same top-end chip – the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite – as the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra and OnePlus 13 flagship handsets.
Indeed, when you factor in a fixed 16GB of RAM, together with a minimum of 512GB of internal storage (scaling up to 1TB depending on how much money you want to spend), the Motorola Razr 60 Ultra is one of the best-equipped phones on the market. By comparison, that's double the base storage of the iPhone 16 Pro.
It doesn't quite reach the speeds of the fastest phones on the market, but it doesn't fall too short either. This remains an elite performer and is considerably faster than our favourite foldable phone, the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold.
I had no issue with performance in day-to-day use, and it's capable of running the most advanced games such as Genshin Impact on the highest graphical settings, though a constrained internal arrangement means that it will grow a little hot after a while. Indeed, towards the end of running my usual suite of gaming tests, I was issued with a worrying overheating warning. It's not the best gaming phone, with the Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro retaining that title, but it will put in a good showing over shorter bouts.
Foldable phones have a hard time competing with traditional format handsets on battery life thanks to their space-restricting designs. Having two distinct halves joined by a complex hinge mechanism invariably leaves less room for battery cells, and the Razr 60 Ultra's 4,700mAh battery falls short of what I would expect of a normal flagship.
However, I did find that it lasted longer than other foldable smartphones. The Razr 60 Ultra got me through a full day of moderate to heavy usage with more than 30 per cent remaining, which counts as a strong pass. By comparison, the Galaxy Z Flip 6, with its smaller 4,000mAh capacity battery, would struggle to make it through the day.
Software and AI
Motorola typically employs one of the lighter, less obnoxious Android interfaces. This means that it runs Android 15 in a form not quite as Google intended and what you will find on Pixel devices, but it isn't far off. There are some slight changes, but these modifications are generally well thought out. The Moto app, for instance, simply and plainly guides you through the setup process, highlighting particular features and how to make the most of them.
Motorola's hand-wiggling gestures are particularly useful, allowing you to jump into the camera app with a double twist of your wrist, or to activate the torch with a double chop of the palm. Both have proved to be extremely handy in my years using Motorola phones, and they don't require much physical effort, either.
One exceptionally helpful bit of software design is that the phone's external display can run all Android applications. Some work better than others due to the screen's smaller and squarer size, but applications such as WhatsApp and Google Maps worked incredibly well.
As you might expect, the Razr 60 Ultra's use of AI plays a central role, yet it is relatively easy to ignore if you wanted and in my experience, it proved to be quite inessential in day-to-day use.
If you did choose to dabble, however, Motorola has included a dedicated AI button on the left-hand edge of the phone. Press and hold it to bring up a menu where you can use the AI to summarise your messages, transcribe notes, create images from rough sketches or text descriptions, and perform other AI-enhanced tasks with varying degrees of usefulness.
Motorola has teamed up with a company called Perplexity to include its third-party AI assistant as standard, but you will need a paid subscription to use it. Thankfully, if you would rather not pay, then you can always switch to Google's Gemini assistant at no additional cost.
Motorola's software update promise is somewhat disappointing, with just three annual operating system upgrades planned for the future, as well as four years of security patches. This falls far short of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 and the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold with their seven-year support plans.
Cameras
Score: 7/10
Motorola's latest premium foldable phone does a decent job of taking photos, but it doesn't do anything extraordinary. You might expect more than that for your £1,100 outlay, but this is one of those key concessions you should anticipate if you opt for a foldable smartphone.
Leading the charge is a 50-megapixel main camera. The size of the sensor is slightly larger than last year's model, which means that it's better at capturing light, making for clearer images at night. In my tests, the Razr 60 Ultra captured detailed, vibrant shots in well-lit environments and respectable pictures in low-light using the Night Vision mode.
The main camera works side-by-side with a secondary ultrawide lens. This helps to capture more of the scene and is particularly useful for landscape photography. Like the main sensor, this ultrawide camera produced a reasonable amount of detail, with a similar stylistic look.
The lack of a proper zoom camera means that you will have to digitally crop the image. What this means is that you will lose quality if you decide to zoom into the frame. It performs well enough if you zoom between 2x and 4x, but anything beyond that introduces a level of graininess to your shots that is hard to ignore.
One of the major payoffs with foldable phones is their selfie prowess, with the cover display serving as an effective viewfinder that allows you to use the main camera for selfies when the phone is folded. You can also utilise that secondary ultrawide camera for impressive landscape and group selfies.
The camera app is capable of some clever software tricks centring around that folding system. Half close the phone when in the camera app, and the user interface will reconfigure to place the viewfinder in the top half of the main display, essentially serving as a built-in tripod. Set a timer or use a hand gesture and you can take photos hands-free. Meanwhile, in video mode, if you tilt the phone 90 degrees while half closing the phone, it will automatically start recording like you're holding a classic camcorder.
Technical specifications
While the true generational rival to the Motorola Edge 60 Ultra will be the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7, that phone isn't likely to hit the market until July. This means that the Razr's closest competitor is the older Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6. The latter falls short on specs, but it can now be found at a significantly cheaper price.
Here's how the Motorola Razr 60 Ultra and the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 compare on paper.
Should you buy the Motorola Razr 60 Ultra?
The Motorola Razr 60 Ultra is the best compact foldable phone on the market right now. Its performance is impressive, its two screens are vibrant, and the dual camera system is capable of taking respectable images. If you're a fan of taking selfies with friends, it's an absolute treat to use. Meanwhile, the battery life is long enough to get the Razr 60 Ultra through a full day on the go without issue.
Motorola's software remains as crisp and clean as ever, though it's a shame to see that the future update promise isn't up to the standard of some of its rivals, at only three years. If you're still on the fence about foldable phones, the Motorola Razr 60 Ultra is unlikely to make you a believer, but if you're already sold on the concept, then this is the best phone of its kind.
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Motorola Razr 60 Ultra FAQs
Is the Motorola Razr 60 Ultra waterproof?
Yes, the Motorola Razr 60 Ultra is IP48 water and dust resistant, meaning it can be immersed up to a depth of 1.5m for up to 30 minutes.
Does the Motorola Razr 60 Ultra have wireless charging?
Yes, it supports up to 30W wireless charging using an official charger.
Does the Motorola Razr 60 Ultra support Gemini AI?
Yes, Google's Gemini app is pre-installed and it can also be accessed with a long press of the power button.
What software does the Motorola Razr 60 Ultra run?
Android 15 comes installed out of the box, with three major OS upgrades promised.