Initially destined for China, the Motorola Razr finally arrives well in the rest of the world and in particular in France on October 25.
A historic folding phone from the American brand, it has been fine-tuning its achievements since its rebirth at the end of 2019. After a version with a design similar to the iconic folding phone of yesteryear and a slightly improved 5G version, and above all less expensive. Motorola continues its strong comeback with its third version. The Razr 2022 reviews its specimen and its specificities to walk through the flower beds of the Samsung Galaxy ZFlip 4market leader.
At €1,199 for 256GB of storage and 8GB of RAM, however, it sells for €30 more than its Samsung counterpart.
A redesigned design
If there is a point in which the two competitors will unquestionably face each other, it is in their pace. The Z Flip 4 ended up finding its recipe with a sleek and extremely stylish design and premium finishes. Motorola has tweaked its a bit to get rid of the iconic chin, but its lines are still less sleek.
The Razr 2022 offers a 6.7-inch FHD+ p-Oled display with an image refresh rate of 144 Hz. The newcomer’s panel is wider than its predecessor, but also that of the very slim Z Flip 4 for the same screen diagonal. This results in a larger screen print. The panel is extremely nice and usable in all light conditions, with beautiful colors and a real fluidity of the screen. And it has a trick of choice: the famous fold of the screen is not seen or almost not. In any case, much less than on his rival.
The hinge has also been modified to allow the Razr to actually fold, half by half. Unlike the Z Flip 4, there is no space where dust or anything else can get in and damage the screen. On the other hand, this same hinge seems less rigid than on Samsung, in particular to hold it at 90°, while holding the position perfectly. However, it’s flawless for taking selfies or displaying two apps in multitasking (YouTube video on top, writing document on bottom, for example). Sound is a nice asset with Dolby Atmos support added to an HDR10+ compatible display.
Like any folding smartphone, its strong point is also folding to fit in a pocket. It succeeds, but nevertheless takes up a bit more space than the Samsung model (91.6mm x 72.6mm x 16mm). This is also the price of a more comfortable screen once unfolded, especially for typing on the virtual keyboard.
A truly usable outdoor display
This is one of the nerves of war in this segment of smartphones. Putting an outside screen is good. Making it usable and useful is better. Motorola is betting big on it. With its 2.7-inch touch screen (50% larger than the Z Flip 4), this Oled screen is a true second screen, not just a notification screen.
Multiple apps (and not widgets!) can be selected to display up to nine of them in the same way as a smartphone home page (Google apps, Weather, Twitter, Facebook, Photos…). It allows you to open the smartphone less to consult your information, because many are shown on the small screen and it is displayed large if necessary.
The photo looks good too.
The Razr 2022 is not far behind in terms of photos with a dual sensor (50 Mpx wide angle, 13 Mpx ultra wide angle / macro) that allows you to take photos in all situations, with a fairly qualitative result, even at night. Motorola uses quad-pixel technology that captures more light and therefore provides more detail in photos. Added to this is an omnidirectional autofocus and quality optical image stabilization that prevent blurry shots (or prevent many).
At the front, the selfie camera housed in a single punch (32 Mpx) offers worthy photos. We especially appreciate being able to turn the wrist twice to open the camera more easily and also to use the external screen as a selfie mirror.
Energy
To make its Razr 2022 a beast of the competition, the Chicago manufacturer has equipped it with the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor, the most powerful Qualcomm offers for an Android smartphone. It’s also nice to use, because you don’t experience any slowdowns, easily support multitasking, greedy apps (especially games) and action sequencing without ever getting hot. In addition, its autonomy is perfectly optimized to last more than a day in normal use. It should be noted that its 30W adapter (60% autonomy recovered in 40 minutes) is supplied in the box.
Ready for
Little known, Motorola’s Ready For feature is, however, a big plus for users. Reminiscent of Samsung’s DeX that allows you to use your smartphone on a TV or PC screen, in a wireless connection (with Mirrorcast) or with a USB-C/HDMI cable.
This allows you to have a dedicated environment to check your content, watch videos, make video calls and even play the games available on your smartphone.
conclusion
On paper, the Motorola Razr has everything to seduce. It’s powerful, good for photos, has a quality screen, and folds up to fit in a pocket (although it’s still quite thick when folded), with a really useful outer screen. Sold slightly more expensive than the Galaxy Z Flip 4, it has nothing to be ashamed of. Handles flex better.
Its main flaw? It’s not called Samsung. The tenor of the foldable smartphone market keeps its aura intact. Overall, much better work has been done on its design, and the Razr’s is a bit more basic next to it (despite a sleek black glass and matte back). Its multiple gesture controls and user tips are interesting to customize. The proposal is above all functional compared to the Z Flip 4. A real Proust cupcake for those nostalgic for the first real folding phone looking for a 2022 version.
Source: BFM TV
