Moto Razr Plus vs Galaxy Z Flip 6

 All and sundry loves an underdog story. Names like Rudy, Rocky, and Bilbo get us to root for the undersized, underpowered hero within the face of unthinkable odds every time. For a long time, my favourite underdog story became the one where Motorola, the customary king of the flip phone, tried to reclaim its crown from Samsung. It pitted the Razr in opposition t the Galaxy Z Flip, hoping that nostalgia, a a little bit greater cover reveal, and a cleaner Android skin would take it lower back to the exact.

at first, it didn't work. Samsung grabbed all the headlines for its Galaxy Z Flip sequence, drawing me into the world of flip telephones. Then, Motorola skipped a 12 months or two, practising and developing the training montage that each first rate underdog flick wants. Now, Motorola is lower back with its 2nd Razr Plus, and i don't feel it's an underdog anymore. The Motorola Razr Plus (2024) vs Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 is finally a flip telephone title suit.

Little monitors, big expectations

 Falling in love with a flip telephone is all about the way you use the large screen — or fairly, the no longer-so-large reveal. And when it comes to the Motorola Razr Plus vs Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6, the cover screens are about as distinctive as can also be. where Samsung's journey is locked down and measured, Motorola's is open and flexible. The Galaxy Z Flip 6 forces apps into a smaller, square window inside its folder-shaped panel, whereas the Razr Plus allows them to stretch throughout its entire reveal, despite the fact that the digicam cutouts are in the manner. by some means, the acceptance of imperfection is what wins me over.

 I remember why Samsung didn't trade its newest Flex Window from the three.four-inch super AMOLED panel it delivered on the Galaxy Z Flip 5 — most people nevertheless haven't tried a flip phone, let alone bought one. alas, that additionally potential it hasn't fastened what individuals (or at least I) didn't like concerning the complicated software event, both. respectable Lock remains a requirement if you need to put greater than Maps, YouTube, and Google Messages (now not Samsung Messages) on your app drawer. I, of course, jumped during the hoops to get the relaxation of my apps on the Flex Window, but I needed to reference the ebook I wrote a 12 months in the past explaining how to do it. It seems like an over-engineered answer to an issue that Motorola just ignored — the indisputable fact that apps optimized for tall, skinny mobilephone shows won't run perfectly on brief, rectangular cover monitors.

Sorry, Samsung, but one app drawer is at all times greater than two.

To its credit score, Samsung has a brilliant set of widgets on the Galaxy Z Flip 6. They're set up so so that you can combine distinct widgets on each panel of the Flex Window, making it nearly believe like a giant Galaxy Watch or a small Nest display. One or two — like Spotify — need a layout all their personal, however i will be able to appreciate having my calendar, weather forecast, and easy entry to a voice recorder all on one page, even though they don't offer as a lot information right up front.

And yet, I nevertheless feel i like Motorola's adventure enhanced. The Razr Plus won some extra real property for 2024, stretching from three.6 inches to an even four-inch AMOLED panel that covers almost the whole exact of the mobile. It's an overpowered display, combining a variable 165Hz refresh price with up to 2,four hundred nits of peak brightness and packing in pretty much 100 extra pixels per inch than its Samsung rival. Motorola's cameras are less intrusive, too, sitting in reduce, rounded housings as a substitute of Samsung's fantastically tall, colour-matched rings.

Design and specs apart, I opt for Motorola's cover monitor on account of the software adventure and its willingness to embrace imperfection. yes, it sounds backward, nonetheless it's actual. I simply entire saying how tall, skinny apps don't work as smartly on brief, rectangular displays, however Motorola at the least lets them are trying with as a good deal of its monitor as feasible. you can add any app to your cover screen drawer with an easy flip of a toggle, and Motorola programmed a button to push apps above the digicam cutouts should they block elements of the interface. It lets me doom scroll via Instagram, trap up on condo of the Dragon on a reveal it became not ever meant to be seen on, and try to outscore fellow tech journalists in Freekick soccer devoid of opening my cellphone.

Samsung doesn't get the entire credit score for the most desirable widgets, either. besides the fact that children Motorola's aren't fairly as flexible — that you may't put a number of on one web page — they present much more guidance upfront. after I set up my Razr Plus, it came with video games, entry to my contacts, my calendar, and the weather correct out of the field — oh, and just one app drawer to be troubled about. The Galaxy Z Flip 6, even so, gave me a weather widget within the corner of 1 panel, leaving me to do the rest on my own. Some people could love that flexibility, but it might create a steep getting to know curve for those that've never used a flip phone.

Opposing viewpoints

 However I don't consider the Razr Plus is an underdog anymore, a part of that mentality still exists in the telephone. peculiarly, the proven fact that underdogs constantly need to be suave and try new things to outsmart their opponent, be it Chick Hicks, Davy Jones, or the Globo health club red Cobras. To its credit score, Motorola determined to feel differently concerning the cameras on its latest Razr Plus. I'm just not certain if this is a successful approach.

 In its place of sticking with the large and ultrawide aggregate that we're used to on flip telephones — neatly, and some other twin-digital camera gadget — Motorola decided to double down on portrait mode. It upgraded its 12MP simple digital camera to a sharper 50MP sensor, then ditched the legit 13MP ultrawide digicam for a 50MP telephoto with 2x optical zoom. at all times, I'd be overjoyed when you consider that I'm not the greatest believer in the ultrawide box of view, however there's whatever a couple of telephoto sensor during this kind ingredient that doesn't feel reasonably correct.

Motorola went all-in on portrait mode... best to limit its cowl monitor to 1x zoom.

Don't get me incorrect, it's awesome that a dual-digital camera flip telephone can zoom in so far as the triple-digital camera Galaxy S24, but that's now not the place telephones like this are at their strongest. I opt to use the Razr Plus and the Galaxy Z Flip 6 closed, treating their giant simple sensors like tremendous-powered selfie cameras. however when I try this, I rarely exceed 0.5x or 1x zoom — neither of which needs a telephoto sensor. in all probability greater confusingly, the Razr Plus won't let you zoom past 1x on its cowl screen, saving all of its portrait energy for when the telephone is open.

Samsung, nonetheless, follows the underdog vs rival story perfectly (as a minimum in Hollywood terms). It is aware of what works, and it caught with it. The Galaxy Z Flip 6 packs the vast and ultrawide digital camera pairing that it's had for the reason that the starting, this time with a more robust-resolution 50MP fundamental sensor for the majority of your shooting. bound, it has smaller individual pixels and boxes by means of default (Motorola does, too), however the swap potential that Samsung can crop its sensor for 2x optical zoom. Oh, and the Galaxy Z Flip 6 allows you to zoom in on the cowl display, no telephoto sensor required.

Samsung's flip mobilephone eventually helps knowledgeable raw now, too, if you need even more handle over your camera settings. although, as soon as once more, it's extra enjoyable to drag up the front cameras and snap away. And, if you're going to do that, Samsung's Auto Zoom makes it tons more convenient to frame your shot and instantly zoom earlier than you utilize a gesture to take your photo. It's not lightning fast — the digicam takes a second or two to determine you — but it's made lifestyles greatly more convenient when lining up pictures with chums.

here are just a few pictures and some of my ideas from both cameras:

Motorola Razr Plus

It feels somewhat unfair to the Galaxy Z Flip 6 that I've spent more time with the Motorola Razr Plus, but that's the way it goes on occasion. The Razr Plus has include me for several adventures, together with its own launch experience in Brooklyn, a trip to the Guinness Open Gate Brewery here in Baltimore, and a stop at an Orioles online game. I've put it via its paces in any respect of my stops, and that i've picked up on a few things. For starters, I'm nonetheless not satisfied that it needs a telephoto digicam. sure, it's able to 2x optical zoom, but every little thing past 4x is relatively much digital, and all of it looks relatively rough. The 30x image of a player at domestic plate appears closer to a portray, which isn't an outstanding factor.

The Razr Plus struggles slightly with shadows, too. in the second row of pictures, it's challenging to decide on the facilities of the steel vegetation around the archway, and the Razr Plus darkened my buddy Derrek's face notwithstanding we took a selfie within the middle of a bright warehouse. however hey, I used a Razr to take an image of Paris Hilton, the customary Razr influencer, in order that's something.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6

As mentioned, I haven't spent fairly as lengthy with the Galaxy Z Flip 6, but it surely's long adequate to notice a couple of things. For starters, I really ignored having an ultrawide perspective during my time with the Razr Plus. residing in a tall metropolis, there are a lot of times in the event you want to fit just a little bit extra on your shot. additionally, Samsung definitely skews to a darker colour profile. The mural of a jaguar is lighter in actual life, and the statue of two lacrosse gamers is as well. once in a while, the darker hues figure out for Samsung — its veggies are still extremely punchy, but I don't suppose I'd name it authentic to existence.

things like recording video from either aspect and taking selfies on the internal cameras commonly come out in the wash. The Razr Plus (2024) and Galaxy Z Flip 6 assist up to 4K video at 60fps, 1080p at 240fps, and HDR10 Plus from their basic cameras, each with optical picture stabilization. Motorola's 32MP punch hole selfie digital camera and Samsung's 10MP option are each high-quality, too, but I've hardly ever used either one because of how tons more advantageous the simple cameras are.

need for vigour, want for speed

 Our ex-underdog still has one essential trouble in its quest to dethrone the Galaxy Z Flip 6, although — its chipset can't rather sustain. whereas each the Razr Plus and Galaxy Z Flip 6 ship with the identical base RAM and storage (12GB and 256GB, respectively), the modified configuration of Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 is not any match for Samsung's overclocked Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy. In movie phrases, Anakin Skywalker's podracer doesn't get the equal thrust from its engines as Sebulba's.

As all of us comprehend, Anakin wins the Boonta Eve basic within the conclusion, but it surely's not all the way down to raw energy. If it were, he'd lose every time, similar to the Razr Plus does in most of our benchmarking tests against the Galaxy Z Flip 6. The change isn't at all times a huge one — the one-core Geekbench 6 and notebook Mark checks had been especially close — however Samsung's flip cell opens a plenty wider gap regarding pictures. Its performance within the Wild existence look at various all started at triple the ranking of the Razr Plus, and even after 20 runs, it remained greater than 50% bigger than its competitor. a lot of the hole in graphics efficiency comes back to the Snapdragon 8s Gen three using an older GPU, so every so often it will pay to seize the newest chipset.

Of route, it's now not all unhealthy news for the Razr Plus. It nonetheless places in a high-quality shift and feels able to making it via a mixed day of utilization — so long as you have confidence the cowl screen for lighter tasks. honestly, you're probably no longer going to word too lots of the gains from Samsung's extra powerful chipset anyway — it should be would becould very well be a hair quicker here and there, but each chipsets are perfectly able to cruising via every day projects like internet looking, answering emails, and a bit little bit of gaming anyway.

Ryan Haines / Android Authority

the place the Razr Plus does make up some big ground is in its battery life and charging setup. Like Anakin, it might now not be more potent, but it surely can run longer and return to full power faster. both the Razr Plus and the Galaxy Z Flip 6 pack 4,000mAh batteries, and in our battery drain test, Samsung's flip cellphone simplest ran away in one class: 4K video playback. It greater than doubled the Razr Plus' efficiency, which is fantastic information if you watch a lot of excessive-decision movies, however Motorola got here out at least a bit forward in Zoom calling, net browsing, digicam snapping, and even gaming battery lifestyles, a mixture of which you're greater prone to do all over the day.

Motorola also keeps its aspect (pun intended) when it involves charging. The Razr Plus (2024) offers Galaxy S24 extremely-stage 45W wired TurboPower charging, which comfortably beats the Galaxy Z Flip 6's 25W wired pace with a suitable charger. both tie in 15W wireless charging, even though Motorola has a moderate abilities in reverse wireless speeds, too, at 5W instead of 4.5W.

Galaxy AI nonetheless reigns supreme

Oh, and don't believe I've forgotten about 2024's buzzword of the yr — AI. one of the vital vital pieces of both Samsung's and Motorola's alternative in the chipset is that both Snapdragon fashions assist on-equipment AI elements. From there, it's up to both agencies to peer how without delay they can roll out their respective aspects.

up to now, like every underdog story value its salt, Samsung is successful. The Galaxy Z Flip 6 is further ahead in all method of Galaxy AI-powered facets, with things like Auto Zoom, Sketch to image, and Portrait Studio debuting in One UI 6.1.1. They're new additions on right of Circle to search, reside Translate, and photo aid, which Samsung introduced in old generations. I've best basically come to have faith Circle to search and Auto Zoom, as they consider essentially the most simple, notwithstanding I'll also generate a wallpaper here and there — in case you still want to classify that as interesting, on-machine AI.

On the Razr Plus, Moto AI must seize up. at this time, Motorola is only able to present a couple of of its generative facets, including two styles of wallpaper generation called trend Sync and Magic Canvas. It also has a couple of digital camera wrinkles — Adaptive Stabilization and motion Shot — but the better of its on-device power is coming… eventually. remember that it took Motorola over a 12 months to convey Android 14 to its outdated Razr Plus, so who is aware of when "finally" may be.

There are a variety of methods to end an underdog story. Rudy sacks the quarterback, Rocky wins the combat, and Luke Skywalker blows up the death star (or defeats the emperor, take your choose of megastar Wars film). No rely which one you opt for, there nevertheless must be a winner. And, despite its extra useful pair of cameras, extra powerful chipset, and longer update commitment, i will be able to't convey myself to prefer the Galaxy Z Flip 6. yes, it's a brilliant cell and easily Samsung's most finished Galaxy Z Flip thus far, nevertheless it also looks like a cell stuck spinning its wheels.

there are so many issues that Samsung's latest Galaxy Z Flip 6 has in its corner. It has a higher ecosystem of accessories, a virtually infinitely customizable utility adventure, and a construct best that's important of a museum monitor, and yet it feels too surgical and genuine for my liking. There are telephones I feel should still believe like smartly-oiled machines, like the Samsung Galaxy S24 extremely and Apple iPhone 15 seasoned Max, but they're the opposite of the Galaxy Z Flip 6. instead, this phone should still be leaning on its forte and embracing the incontrovertible fact that it's smaller and greater moveable than a Klondike Bar.

Samsung's flip mobile phone seems like a tool, however I select the imperfect flexibility of the Razr Plus.

Which is exactly what the Razr Plus does. Motorola's top-conclusion flip cell is much less effective, get seven years of updates, and has cameras that make basically no sense during this form component, and yet it's through a ways the more enjoyable to use. The Razr Plus' rounded body is comfortable to hold and use for hours on end, whereas its vegan leather (or suede) returned panel provides a softness and a pop of color that jogs my memory of the Motorola of ancient. I didn't have to soar via any hoops to add an app drawer to the cover display, nor did I should reorganize the preloaded widgets — I simply fired up the Razr Plus and obtained to exploring unless my battery died. Then, I charged it lower back up at a pace that Samsung reserves simplest for products named extremely.

Of direction, i will't communicate for everyone. i do know some Samsung die-hards will only believe the Galaxy Z Flip when they select up a flip phone. They'll happily spend the further money (Samsung bumped its price through $one hundred) to live inside the Galaxy ecosystem. although, i'll retain returning to the Razr Plus provided that Motorola continues to include the enjoyable aspect of Android.