So Much With So Little

The gadget development cycle can be brutal. Manufacturers need to balance production costs while implementing new features and trying to mitigate unforeseen circumstances such as AI investments that absorb global RAM supply. Unfortunately the 2026 Motorola Razr Ultra, which carries a price tag of $200 more than its predecessor, puts a big damper on its overall marketing – even the improved main camera and improved cover screen. That’s a shame because when you factor in other features like excellent battery life, a solid chassis and a nice flexible screen, you get a quality phone, even if it doesn’t live up to its cost.

Like most smartphones, the Razr Ultra is part of a multi-year cadence that only sees a full redesign every 24 or 36 months. Instead of showing a new look for 2026, Motorola has kept the chassis exactly the same as the previous model. You still get a 4-inch external display that opens to reveal a larger 7-inch screen. Brightness is strong across the board with the small panel capable of reaching 3,000 nits while its internal display is very bright with a peak of up to 5,000 nits. And as you’d expect, color richness and contrast are excellent, resulting in richly saturated colors. However, Motorola still hasn’t removed the weak crease where the Razr’s hinge sits.

The one big change is a handful of new color options, including the Orient Blue model I reviewed here. It features attractive paint-matched buttons with a faded Alcantara background and an intricate diamond pattern. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention how well the Razr Ultra stacks up. When closed it’s 3.4 x 2.9 inches and 15.7mm thick, which is thicker than the Samsung Z Flip 7. It fits comfortably in the palm of your hand while opening to reveal a full-size display when you need it. It also has an IP48 rating for dust and water resistance, so there is no need to fear a little moisture.

Packing a Snapdragon 8 Elite processor with 16GB of RAM and up to 512GB of storage, there is absolutely no change when it comes to the performance of the Razr Ultra compared to its predecessor. But that doesn’t mean that this thing is slow, because even a year-old flagship chip makes fast work of all kinds of applications and games. In many ways, you’re severely limited by the Ultra’s smaller display compared to its larger sibling – the Razr Fold – and its lack of advanced multitasking features and stylus support.

That said, Motorola has added new capabilities to the Razr’s cover screen, including support for Live Updates, so you can easily track things like incoming food deliveries. You also get an updated Quick Settings menu with resizable tiles and support for video wallpapers. And as before, you can open almost any application on the small external display (except for games or programs that are hard-coded to use a certain resolution/feature ratio), which is perfect for gathering information quickly without having to fully open the phone.

While the Razr Ultra’s 50-megapixel ultra-wide cam and 50MP selfie shooter remain unchanged, Motorola has equipped the phone with a new 50MP LOFIC sensor for its main camera. This allows the phone to capture images with a high dynamic range and an improved signal-to-noise ratio, resulting in images with improved contrast and less grain. In general, this new sensor delivers, producing images with vibrant colors and clean details.

However, when I looked closely, I noticed small flaws like halos around certain objects, especially in bright light. And when I zoomed in at 100 percent, the composition captured by the Razr looked noisier than what I got from the Pixel 10 Pro. I’m not sure if this is due to the sensor or the Moto’s image processing. Finally, even though Motorola has improved its low-light capabilities over the years, the Razr Ultra still falls short of what Google’s Night Sight mode can do in the dark. Photos from the Pixel 10 Pro were always brighter and sharper than I could take with the Razr. There has always been a slight drop in image quality on foldable phones compared to traditional glass bricks, so none of this is too surprising.

Despite the change in device size, Motorola has managed to fit in a slightly higher capacity cell of 5,000mAh (up from 4,700mAh) which delivers excellent battery life. In our local video test, the Razr Ultra lasted 31 hours. That’s significantly better than long-lasting phones like the Pixel 10a (28:04) and the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra (30:03). In fact, the only phones we’ve tested with better battery life are the One Plus 15 and 15R, which have higher-end silicon-carbon power packs.

Meanwhile, when it comes to charging, the Razr Ultra also fares well. Wired speed is up to 68 watts and there is a 30-watt max for wireless charging. One caveat to this is that Motorola uses a proprietary TurboPower protocol to achieve those higher speeds. Since you don’t get a power adapter in the box, that means you’ll need to buy separate accessories if you want to recharge the phone at its full power.

The 2026 Razr Ultra ends up in the unfortunate position of not delivering enough for the money. It’s a great phone and one of the top contenders for anyone considering a flip-style compact device. It looks great, has responsive performance and excellent battery life, and a very sleek and compact design.

But last year’s model has all that too, and right now it’ll cost as little as $800 (direct from Motorola) instead of $1,500 like this year’s release. Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 7 also offers significant savings with prices starting at around $1,100. So even if you ignore the discounts on those older phones after they’ve been on the market for almost a year, the $200 premium for the new Ultra needs to feel pretty steep. The main improvements are a better sensor for its main camera and a bigger battery, after all. And with Samsung expected to announce a new Z Flip before the end of summer, buying the Razr Ultra right now at full price feels like a trap. Great phone, wish it was less expensive.