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May 29, 2023

Motorola Razr 40

The Motorola Razr 40 is the economy version of the iconic Razr 40 Ultra flip. It has a smaller external screen and a slightly lower-powered processor, and in most other respects, suffers from no

The Motorola Razr 40 is the economy version of the iconic Razr 40 Ultra flip. It has a smaller external screen and a slightly lower-powered processor, and in most other respects, suffers from no compromises.

Motorola may have hit on the right formula with this version. What is more important? The biggest external screen, or a Flip that looks and works well for $500 less. I have shown both Razr’s my consumer panel; they all prefer price over features.

I still have issues with the Flip format – be it the Samsung Galaxy Flip4 (and Flip5 on 26 July), OPPO’s Find N2 Flip or any of the older models. I need things that only a glass slab can provide – longer battery life; USB-C 3.2 Alt DP audio/video/data/charge; pro-level cameras; more SoC power; a harder screen; and an IP68 rating. If you don’t need that, Flip is for you.

It is now in two parts – a summary (the first) and a separate 300+ line database-driven spec, including over 70 tests to back up the findings. It also helps us compare different phones and features.

We use Fail (below expectations), Pass (meets expectations) and Exceed (surpasses expectations or is the class leader) against many of the items below. We occasionally give a Pass(able) rating that is not as good as it should be and a Pass ‘+’ rating to show it is good but does not quite make it to Exceed. You can click on most images for an enlargement.

We strongly advise you to buy a genuine model with Australian firmware. It is easy to identify the Australian version – under Settings, About Phone, and Regulatory Labels, there is an Australian R-NZ C-tick mark. There is also an R-NZ C-Tick on the box. They use unique Australian 5G sub-6Ghz and 5G low-band frequencies, requiring local activation first. Read Don’t Buy a grey market phone (guide).

I like the vanilla cream faux leather (See What is vegan leather seen on some smartphones?) and can only assume Motorola uses a fit-for-purpose grade.

As I am not a Flip User, the almost imperceptible internal screen crease and the fold-flat design catch my eye.

It is similar to the Razr – 10-bit/1.07B colours, 100%+ DCI-P3 gamut and 1400nits peak. Its maximum adaptive stepping refresh rate is 144z. For all intents, it is the same as the Ultra screen.

This means it has a Mohs hardness scale of about 2 (a fingernail is 2.5), which precludes enthusiastic gaming.

Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) was evident around 100Hz (flicker) and is most apparent at about 25% brightness. There is a flicker reduction switch, but we are unsure if or how it works.

Summary: It and the Motorola Razr 40 Ultra have the best internal screens.

The 1.5” external screen with Corning Gorilla Glass Victus protection is intuitive. It changes colour, has various clockfaces, swipe panels (recorder, calendar, contacts, media, timer, and weather) and more.

Summary: The 1.5” screen is surprisingly useful and offers a lower price point to get into a Flip.

The Qualcomm SD7 Gen 1 is its new breed of 4nm SoC replacing the similar performance 6nm Qualcomm SD788+ 5G.

It has the X62 modem (Qualcomm modems have the strongest phone reception strength of all brands) and plenty of AI Power to post-process photos and videos.

Like the Motorola Razr 40 Ultra, it only has a USB-C 2.0 480Mbps port, which means slow but mountable external storage but no USB-C to HDMI Alt DP 1.4 audio/video streams to a monitor.

It throttles 22% over 15 minutes, which is fine for the device’s intended use. The Motorola Razr 40 Ultra performance (SD8+ Gen 1) is 354,135 GIPS and this at 272,924 GIPS.

Motorola Ready For is great. It is like Samsung DeX (Desktop Experience) and allows you to cast your phone screen (mirror) and use it as a mouse/trackpad, webcam, and Android desktop. It is a real benefit for road warriors.

It fails because the USB-C 2.0 interface does not support audio/video streams (Alt DP found in USB-C 3.1 like the Razr 2022) over a USB-C to HDMI cable. That means you cannot cable connect to a dumb monitor or TV.

It is a Pass because it will connect over Wi-Fi to a Windows (Ready For App needs to be installed) or a TV that BOTH has Miracast and is connected to the same home network Wi-Fi (not via Ethernet).

The problems include:

Wi-Fi 6E AXE works well if you have a 6E router. It has a powerful signal achieving 2401Mbps full-duplex (maximum) near the router and 2161Mbps out to 10m. If you have a Wi-Fi 5 or 6 router, it is equally strong on 5Ghz achieving 866Mbps (maximum) and 1200Mbps, respectively.

We have already bemoaned the choice of USB-C 2.0. It will likely not impact most users besides cabled Ready For and external SSD data transfer rates.

Bluetooth is 5.3 and supports SBC, AAC, apt X, aptX HD, aptX TWS, aptX Adaptive, LDAC, LHDCV1, LHDCV2 and LHDCV3 at up to 24-bit/96000Hz – perfect.

Dual Band GPS has an accuracy of <3m, which is excellent for fast in-car navigation.

It almost rated Exceed with ten antennas, but the maximum signal strength was slightly below the best performers. It gets a City, suburbs and regional city use tick – it may not quite have the legs for remote use. It covers all Australian (and most overseas) 4G and 5G sub 6Ghz bands – a world phone.

I like the dual ring tones (one each for the SIM and e-SIM). Calls are clear and loud.

Our review unit had a dual sim carrier but also seemed to support eSIM – let’s assume so.

It has a 4200mAh battery – larger than the Motorola Razr 40 Ultra at 3800mAh. It comes with a 33W charger and, oddly, a USB-A to USB-C 3W cable. It typically charges at 9V/3A/27W to start and then drops to 9V/2A/18W.

It also supports 5W Qi wireless charge 5V/1A/5W), and while slower than 10 to 15W Qi, it does a safe job in 5 hours (overnight).

Typical users will make it easily through a 24-hour day or more. Heavy users will need to recharge daily, but at 58 minutes and QI charge, who cares?

It has a forward/up-firing earpiece and a bottom-down-firing speaker. It uses the Dolby Atmos EQ (most will leave it in smart mode).

The maximum volume is 82dB, and the earpiece is louder than the average.

But it still has the odd sound signature of the Razr 2022. It is mostly Bright Vocal (bass recessed, mid/treble boosted) – for voice but meh for music.

The sound stage has a bias to the bottom speaker. It is only as wide as the phone. DA content does not widen the sound stage but adds some middle screen height. Left and right separation is adequate.

I can understand this signature as the phone can be used in landscape, portrait, L-Shape etc.

This is a very well-made device. Alloy 7000 frame, stainless steel hinge, no gap, minimal crease, Gorilla Glass Victus front and Vegan leather back. The colours are Sage Green, Summer Lilac and Vanilla Cream.

What is vegan leather? It’s a fancy, woke name for polyurethane, a polymer that can be made to look and feel like faux leather (pLeather or PU and PVC). Its durability is generally less than genuine leather – two to five years – and its porous surface can attract and absorb grease and dust more easily. You can gently clean it with mild soap and water. Regardless we recommend a clear protective case.

Size-wise, it is Open: 73.95 x 170.82 x 7.35mm and Closed: 73.95 x 88.24 x 15.8mm. It is very pocketable and lighter than the Razr 2022 and Samsung Flip4.

Warranty is 24 months ACL and will receive three major Android OS upgrades and four years of bi-monthly security updates (2+3+4). It is not quite as generous as Samsung’s 2+4+4.

Motorola uses pure Android overlaid with its My UX, which adds considerable value to Android. A list of these is in the Android segment of the table at the end. It also means it is clean apart from Facebook, TikTok and Bookings.com (all uninstallable).

Security is via a fingerprint sensor on the power button, and it supports 2D face recognition. Moto KeySafe (not tested) makes this a safe Android phone.

It has a 64MP Omnivision OV64B (binned to 16MP) primary sensor. Binning uses AI to take a bracket of images and combine them to give a better-finished shot. It uses Type‑2, 2×2 microlens phase detection autofocus (ML‑PDAF) to boost low-light accuracy. It also has Laser Autofocus for depth information to about three metres.

A 13MP Hynix HI336 sensor is for Ultra-wide and macro, and a 32MP (bins to 8MP) Omnivision OV32C40 selfie (same as Motorola Razr 40 Ultra).

In all a respectable setup. The Motorola Razr 40 Ultra takes slightly better images and video due to its SD8+ Gen 1 processor and more AI power which well compensates for its 12MP primary sensor.

This is a point-and-shoot camera that will produce decent daylight and low-light shots. It won’t win awards and is not a flagship camera. The only issue I have is that the 8X digital zoom is limiting. Note the photos were taken at 9 AM on a very bright but hazy day.

Remember that you buy this as a Flip – not a camera phone.

The 1.5″ screen is surprisingly useful; the internal screen is superb; it has decent battery life; a competent point-and-shoot camera; and great 2+3+4 warranty/OS/security upgrades. Those who want a value Flip with few compromises should look at this.

It occupies the lowest cost price-point – $500 below the Razr 40 Ultra. It has the latest tech, so it beats black slabs (on runout) like the:

With the Samsung Flip4 2022 now on runout at $1849/1099 for the 512GB version ($999 for the 128GB), you might be tempted, but frankly, the runout Motorola Razr 2022 runout at $1499/799 is the strongest competitor and an excellent Flip.

Read

Final Comment: Moto may have just hit the sweet spot for people that want the Flip format but don’t have deep pockets.