The king of clamshell phones is back!

motorola has just silently announced the newest razr 50 and razr 50 Ultra in China — the brand’s 5th Generation clamshell foldable ever since its introduction (or re-birth) five years ago.

razr sharp

Unlike its predecessor, the new razr 50 Ultra features a fully-maximized 4-inch 165Hz cover screen with a 95% StB (Screen-to-Body) ratio — directly punching the just-unveiled HONOR Magic V Flip and its 120Hz display of the same size in the core.

Graphics by Vincenz Lee | GadgetMatch

Meanwhile, the vanilla razr 50 shares the same 3.6-inch 90Hz external display as the razr 40 Ultra (or razr+ in the US) from last year.

Graphics by Vincenz Lee | GadgetMatch

On paper, HONOR’s Magic V Flip still is the slimmest at 14.89mm. That’s in contrast to razr 50 Ultra’s slightly thicker 15.3mm width and razr 50’s 15.9mm.

However, the base razr 50 is the lightest of the bunch at just 188.4 grams. The razr 50 Ultra weighs around 189 grams while the Magic V Flip is the heaviest at 193 grams.

Graphics by Vincenz Lee | GadgetMatch

Reason for being this light? Well, the middle frame is made from what motorola calls “Air Nano Skin 6000 series” based from aluminum widely used in the aviation industry.

Graphics by Vincenz Lee | GadgetMatch

And with the improved Star Track Shaft technology found on the latest hinge mechanism of the razr duo, it promises a flip cycle of more than 600,000 folds! A massive improvement over the 200,000 cycle during the early years of foldable razr.

Moreover, both phones feature IPX8 rating — not tested for dust-resistance but can be continuously immersed underwater below 1 meter. That is something HONOR doesn’t provide in its latest Flip.

Fast as an F1 razr

The differences don’t end there!

For the most obvious reasons, the razr 50 Ultra packs a speedy 4nm Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chipset compared to the razr 50’s recently-announced MediaTek Dimensity 7300X — also based on a 4nm process.

Internal memory on the razr 50 Ultra is limited to 12GB but with a speedy LPDDR5X standard. Meanwhile, the base variant either ships with 8GB or 12GB but in an older LPDDR4 standard.

While having the same set of storage options (256 or 512GB), the razr 50 Ultra features UFS 4.x protocol over razr 50’s slower UFS 2.x.

Moreover, the razr 50 Ultra has a smaller 4000mAh battery but with faster 45W charging speeds. On the other hand, the base razr 50 ships with the the larger 4200mAh battery yet has the slower 30W fast charging standard. Both of these razr flip phones support 15W wireless charging.

Graphics by Vincenz Lee | GadgetMatch

These “Xinghai” batteries use Lenovo’s self-developed Silicon-Carbon technology — pretty much like the same battery tech that HONOR has equipped in their latest flip.

HONOR Magic V Flip (2024)

And while on the topic, the Magic V Flip packs an older Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor yet has a bigger 16GB+1TB configuration option.

Ultimately, it still has the largest battery of any clamshell flip at 4800mAh — also with the fastest charging speeds at 66W, but without wireless charging support.

Crazy over razr

Apart from their very confusing hardware gaps, both vertical foldables share quite some similarities.

For one, both of them pack a 6.9-inch Full HD+ pOLED LTPO folding display with varying adaptive refresh rates — 1~165Hz for the Ultra while 10~120Hz on the non-Ultra.

They also have one of the best foldable displays in the biz: HDR10+ support, DCI-P3 wide color gamut, as well as DC Dimming and SGS Eye Protection Dual Certification. The razr 50 Ultra even supports Dolby Vision.

There are also dual stereo speakers and Dolby Atmos for an ultimate audiovisual experience. Snapdragon Sound feature is found on both razrs as well — despite the razr 50 rocking a MediaTek chipset.

Graphics by Vincenz Lee | GadgetMatch

Camera-wise, motorola upgrades the razr 50 Ultra’s rear camera system to a dual 50-megapixel module with an f/1.7 aperture on its main lens. Also, they’ve ditched the ultra-wide lens this time in favor of a 2x telephoto shooter with an f/2.0 lens opening.

Meanwhile, the razr 50 borrows the same 50-megapixel main camera from its Ultra sibling. Albeit, it keeps the 13-megapixel f/2.2 ultra-wide unit from the razr 40 Ultra last year but with a narrower 120-degree FoV (Field of View) in comparison to last year’s 108 degrees.

Internal cameras stay indifferent on both this year and last year: 32-megapixel f/2.4 to be very precise.

motorola doesn’t want to miss out on AI features as well in the latest Android 14-based moto MyUI 7.0 installed in these new flippables.

Pricing and Availability

The motorola razr 50 is available in these color choices: Moon Velvet Black, Elephant Gray, and Love Orange (12GB exclusive).

Graphics by Vincenz Lee | GadgetMatch

On the other hand, the razr 50 Ultra has three Pantone colorways: Modern Green, Vintage Denim, and the Limited Edition Soft Peach.

Graphics by Vincenz Lee | GadgetMatch

These two devices have two different configurations. Pricing are as follows:

razr 50

• 8GB+256GB = CNY 3699 (US$ 510 / EUR 475 / GBP 402 / SG$ 690 / PhP 29,950 / INR 42,543)
• 12+512GB = CNY 3999 (US$ 550 / EUR 513 / GBP 435 / SG$ 745 / PhP 32,379 / INR 45,953)

razr 50 Ultra

• 12+256GB = CNY 5699 (US$ 785 / EUR 732 / GBP 620 / SG$ 1062 / PhP 46,143 / INR 65,545)
• 12+512GB = CNY 6199 (US$ 854 / EUR 796 / GBP 674 / SG$ 1155 / PhP 50,191 / INR 71,295)

Graphics by Vincenz Lee | GadgetMatch

Whenever you purchase either the razr 50 or the razr 50 Ultra, you automatically get a corresponding bundled case depending on the color chosen.

Pre-ordering the exclusive motorola razr 50 Love Orange 12+512GB and paying CNY 4377 (US$ 603 / EUR 562 / GBP 476 / SG$ 816 / PhP 35,439 / INR 50,340) upfront gets you a moto Buds earbuds and a special orange phone case as well. That’s worth CNY 260 in savings.

Global Release

Right after the China announcement, motorola has also announced its international release.

To make it a lot more confusing, the razr 50 Ultra will simply be called “motorola razr+ (2024)”. On the flip side, the razr 50 is just “motorola razr (2024)”.

Graphics by Vincenz Lee | GadgetMatch

The razr+ (2024) has an additional Hot Pink color aside from the Midnight Blue, Spring Green, and Peach Fuzz options (renamed from Vintage Denim, Modern Green, and Soft Peach).

On the other hand, the motorola razr (2024) has these renamed colorways — Koala Gray, Beach Sand, and Spritz Orange.

Graphics by Vincenz Lee | GadgetMatch

The duo is priced at US$ 700 and US$ 999 respectively — a lot more expensive than the converted Chinese pricing. US buyers also need to wait as pre-orders will start on July 10 and phones will go on sale as late as July 24, 2024.

Europe and Canada can also pre-order the razr+ (2024) 12+512GB variant for EUR 1200 / CA$ 1300.

The base, non-plus model will also come to more markets including Europe, Latin America, Africa, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East. Pricing is yet to be announced.