Moto Razr 40 Ultra experience a small folding screen that lives up to the name of the main external display, starting at 5699

The Moto Razr 40 Ultra has a small folding screen and starts at 5699 with a main external display

In the past two years, foldable screens have become a black horse in the sluggish mobile phone market, showing a counter-trend growth. However, up to now, manufacturers have not yet established a unified standard for the innovation of foldable screens. Therefore, from the perspective of product form alone, the current foldable screen phones can be basically divided into two factions: horizontal folding and vertical folding.

Compared with the larger screen and lighter office experience brought by horizontal folding products, users seem to have some prejudice against vertical folding products. For example, currently, almost all vertical folding phones are still based on the internal screen for most of their usage scenarios, but the screen size compared to traditional straight-screen phones does not have much advantage. In addition, although the folded product is folded in length, its thickness has also increased a lot, so it is not very convenient to carry even if it is said to be portable. Moreover, the folding design also compromises the battery capacity, which is not very friendly for people who are worried about battery life.

From this perspective, vertical folding seems to be really losing in comparison with horizontal folding. But is it really the case?

Recently, moto, which has always insisted on releasing foldable screens in a vertical folding way, released its new product, the moto razr 40 Ultra. As moto’s first product named Ultra, it does not disappoint its name, and even changes our previous prejudice against vertical folding phones. Its breakthrough is not only in performance and practicality, but also in price. The starting prices of the 40 series and Ultra version are 3,999 yuan and 5,699 yuan, respectively, which is very attractive!

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moto razr 40 Ultra

For foldable screens, hinge technology has always been a concern for users. The moto razr 40 Ultra uses the fourth-generation star track pivot and the pioneering double-track compound wing hinge structure. It is reported that there are 85 ultra-small and ultra-high-strength steel components inside the pivot, which support multi-angle hovering. In actual experience, hovering is very accurate, and regarding the issue of folding creases that users are more concerned about, after several days of use, the screen folding area is almost the same as when it was first received, and it is difficult to discern the existence of creases with the naked eye.

moto razr 40 Ultra

Weight is also another major concern for users when choosing a foldable screen phone. The moto razr 40 Ultra (PU version) weighs only 184.5g, making it the lightest foldable screen phone currently available. Thanks to the reduction in the volume of the axis body, it also has a thinner and lighter appearance. When unfolded, it has a thickness of 6.99mm, and when closed, a thickness of 15.1mm. It does not appear bulky when held in the hand in the closed state.

moto razr 40 Ultra

Compared to the folding design, the biggest highlight of this product, in my personal opinion, is its external screen. Most other brands add fun attributes to the external screen, while practicality is the biggest feeling that moto brings me. Through experience, it can even be considered as another main screen of the phone.

The external screen of the moto razr 40 Ultra has a size of 3.63 inches, and the large size design provides it with a broader range of usage scenarios. For example, basic tasks such as receiving and sending messages, watching short videos, and WeChat video chats. Taking Little Red Book as an example, it can display the user’s homepage content in its entirety. After activating the automatic rotation of the external screen, it can be viewed in full in horizontal screen mode, making it more convenient to reply messages in vertical screen mode.

Little Red Book video flipping and adapting to horizontal and vertical screens

In addition, when using full-featured WeChat, whether it is receiving or replying to messages, there is no need to switch back to the large screen, especially with the design of the full keyboard, making it more convenient to type and reply messages.

Full keyboard WeChat reply

And this optimization is not only aimed at individual apps. Over 160 mainstream apps on the market, such as shopping, video, and maps, have been fine-tuned by moto to ensure that key information is not missed, and horizontal and vertical screens can be switched at will. It can also achieve the transition of content between the internal and external screens, and automatically synchronize the content being watched when opening or closing.

Mainstream apps are all available

For some daily applications, such as scanning payment codes and transportation cards, they can be used directly on the external screen. For users who prefer small-screen phones or single-handed operation of phones, the versatile external screen covers almost all of their daily needs, so it is not an exaggeration to call it the main screen.

Besides its practicality, it also has fun attributes. When Moo Moment is turned on, the external screen will display various dynamics such as work, transportation, eating, and sleeping in different time periods when the lock screen is on. It also supports personalized settings, allowing users to choose their favorite themes in the theme store and support dynamic wallpaper display. For users who do not have a need for personalization, it can also play the role of a pocket watch, and Moto provides 11 kinds of external screen clock dials, which can almost satisfy users of various needs.

Moo Moment small window display

In addition, Moto has provided a new way of using the external screen, the tent mode. When half-opened and placed on a table, the external screen can display custom text content constantly, serving as a large screen desk sign or reminder note, or as a scorecard during small breaks and activities.

Tent mode

With its oversized external screen, it can be used directly as a makeup mirror. Because it calls the main camera for framing, after starting the mirror mode, it specifically cancels the beauty feature and focuses on natural and realistic effects. It is a makeup mirror that can be held in one hand by girls and supports multiple magnifications to examine details closely.

Aside from its functionality, the properties of this screen have not been discounted. It not only has the same 413 PPI as the internal screen, but also has the same level of color tuning. It supports DC dimming, is HDR10+ certified, has SGS eye protection certification, and can refresh at up to 144Hz.

Moto Razr 40 Ultra

This design means that the external screen has only been reduced in size, while the materials used have not been compromised. Especially in the current trend of high refresh rate screens in smartphones, the 144Hz refresh rate of the external screen avoids the problem of being unable to adapt to low refresh rate screens after seeing high refresh rate screens. Based on Moto’s design in this aspect, even if users open some unadjusted apps, it can still present high-quality display effects. In terms of operation, it uses the same interaction method as the internal screen, such as swiping left or right to go back, or swiping up to exit.

Overall, the Moto Razr 40 Ultra has made many upgrades to the external screen, realizing the use of many functions, and the larger external screen also brings it more advantages compared to its competitors.

The excellent experience of the external screen cannot underestimate its hardware capabilities. Moto did not choose the second generation Snapdragon 8+ processor, but instead used the 8+Gen1, which ensures performance while reducing overall product power consumption. In terms of storage, Moto thoughtfully provides 8+256GB and 12+512GB storage versions for users to choose from.

As for actual performance, it scored 1.19 million points in AnTuTu, which is enough to deal with various daily use scenarios. In actual use, there is no pressure to occasionally play a few games like “King of Glory” or “PUBG”.

Moto Razr 40 Ultra benchmark score

In order to change users’ prejudices about the insufficient battery life of foldable screens, Moto not only chooses low-power consumption in hardware, but also adopts the MAXE system scheduling engine 2.0. It can recognize 7 common scenarios such as video, gaming, reading, navigation, and photography, and improve product battery life through intelligent management. Moreover, because the external screen can meet users’ daily needs in most cases, the 3800mAh battery has a more durable performance.

MAXE system scheduling engine 2.0

In terms of charging power, the Moto Razr 40 Ultra supports 30W fast charging and wireless charging. Considering the existence of the intelligent scheduling system and the actual experience during this period, the overall battery life performance far exceeds the pass line and can even be called excellent.

In addition to the comprehensive external screen, the Moto Razr 40 Ultra also has some small designs that shine in the photography aspect.

First, let’s look at the hardware configuration. The Moto Razr 40 Ultra internal screen is a 32 million pixel main camera, and the external screen adopts a dual camera combination of a 12 million pixel OIS main camera and a 13 million pixel ultra-wide-angle lens. The advantages cannot be seen from the parameters alone.

Moto Razr 40 Ultra dual camera

Thanks to the foldable design, the Moto Razr 40 Ultra can achieve multi-angle hovering, which allows the phone to not only be used as a tripod, but also provide richer photography angles. At the same time, the design of the internal and external screens allows for clear preview images during selfies or when others take photos, so users can adjust their posture and composition at any time, reducing the probability of wasted shots due to poor angles or postures.

Gesture Selfie

In addition, Moto also provides users with some small functions. For example, it supports smile capture and gesture selfie. During the shooting process, the lens will capture the photo without clicking the shutter when it detects a smile; when facing the lens, the camera will also count down for 3 seconds to take a photo when the user extends their hand, even if they are far away from the phone. These small and practical functions are very user-friendly for users with high-frequency photography needs.

Of course, the main camera’s ability cannot be ignored. Based on the sample photos, whether it is the richness of color or the restoration of details, the Moto Razr 40 Ultra performs well. Even in situations where the lighting is not particularly sufficient at night, it still performs well. The overall style of the photos is quite pleasing to the eye.

(Some sample photos)

Overall, in the current mobile phone market where pixel counts easily exceed 100 million, the Moto Razr 40 Ultra’s camera hardware parameters are not outstanding. However, with the optimization of algorithms, its own body structure, and the design of some small functions, its camera experience can still be considered top-notch among foldable screen phones.

Moto Razr 40 Ultra

Summary: In the past, whether in terms of price or usage scenarios, vertically-foldable foldable screen phones did not seem to be the best choice. However, Moto Razr 40 Ultra breaks most users’ prejudices against vertically-foldable phones, with its larger and more practical external screen, stronger performance, longer battery life, and more comfortable hand feel, etc. If you are still hesitant about vertically-foldable foldable screen phones, Moto Razr 40 Ultra is worth a try.

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