As promised before, we bring you a comparison of two compact foldable phones – the Motorola Razr 2022 and the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4. To make this honest-review video, we paid quite a lot of money on these two foldable models. So if you like this comparison video we’ve made, please let us know that it was worth it by watching the video here, subscribing to our channel, and hitting the like button.
Pricing
Well, since we are on the topic of money, that’s also one major complaint we have about these foldable phones. At this point, the Z flip 4 officially starts at around 999 US Dollars, while the starting price of the Razr 2022 is about 860 US dollars. And since the Razr now is only officially available in China, you may be able to buy it from a third-party retailer outside of the country for a higher price, which could be even higher than the new flip’s price. So for most users, the high price tags will deter them from experiencing these special phones.
On the other hand, when compared to regular flagship phones, it’s really hard to ignore their drawbacks, like shorter battery life, more conservative performance, and average camera modules. But at the same time, there’re some unique and fascinating features that you can only experience on such models.
Compact foldable design
For example, when folded up, these two models are really compact and fit well in your hand. Especially for the new Z flip, it’s undoubtedly the most compact foldable phone among all the new form factors in the market. I prefer the grip it offers, whether in folded or unfolded forms.
And I believe that most female users will not hesitate to go for the Samsung z flip series, since it’s more friendly for small-handed users. And it also offers more energetic color versions, in contrast to Motorola Razr, where the only option we have is a black color model.
But unfortunately, the new Z Flip model looks a lot like its predecessor, the Z Flip 3. Even though it has an excellent design with good built quality, we still didn’t have a lot of fun with the new model. The differences come in the form of squarer and flatter edges, more prominent buttons, a more significant cameras-lens bump, a flat cover with a matte finish, and a slimmer hinge too. As for the new Razr model, we’ve talked a lot in the quick-review video last month. It does change a lot compared to the Razr 2020, but it seems that many users still cannot accept the loss of the classic Razr design. And we found some comments that said it looks much closer to the Flip series. But now putting them together, actually you can see that they are still very different.
The new Razr 2022 is noticeably larger in my hand, and also brings a larger secondary display with wider edges that are not as flat as the Flip 4. This makes Flip 4‘s design look more elegant, which I believe is why it’s so popular among female users. And the color stitching design is also visually more impactful and stylish.
In the folded form, the Flip 4 still closes with a visible gap. This may be to avoid grit staying on the screen and causing the screen to be scratched when closed. But you don’t need to worry about it on the Razr either. Although there’s no visible gap on the Razr, the prominent edges would protect the screen from direct contact and scratches.
Cover screen: 2.7″ vs 1.9″
Well, the larger secondary screen on the Razr no doubt is much more helpful. You can operate most apps on the phone via the 2.7-inch display. You can have all kinds of activities like watching videos, navigating, turning it into a camera viewfinder, or even playing games without opening the phone. But as we said in the last video, this screen is not exactly suitable for some apps that show complex content and require complicated operations.
While on the Flip 4, there’s not much you can do on the informative cover screen. There are multiple clock styles for options, including one with customized characters. You can make your own emoji image, and every time when you light up the screen, you can see your character trying hard to get your attention with different movements.
In addition, the phone offers a few informative widgets, such as music, an alarm clock, weather, and so on. And you can also turn it into a camera viewfinder. But the preview window doesn’t show the full image, so from the tiny display, you can only see the facial state of your selfie and cannot check the composition of the whole picture and even the other person who is not at the center. It’s not even as good an experience as unfolding the phone and shooting on the selfie camera on the inner screen.
For daily use, of course, I like the Razr’s Quick-view screen more, not just for the better functionality but also for the quick-view experience. It’s so convenient that you can gently shake the phone to wake up the screen. On the new Galaxy Flip, you have to double-click the screen to wake it up. Though it’s not bad, I still prefer the former way.
Hinges & creases
The folding hinge feels quite different in these two models. For the new Flip model, the hinge offers more stable standing with wider angles, but at the same time, you can obviously feel its resistance more. And the new Flip’s hinge looks more refined with a smaller size. In contrast, I get the feeling that Razr’s hinge is rougher, and I can even see the edges of the exposed screen there. This also made me think of the issue of water resistance. The new Flip still passed IPX8-rated certification, while we don’t see any official description of the Razr’s water resistance.
But the Razr still has better crease control, while as you can see, the Flip 4’s screen crease is much more visible and you can even feel it when touching the screen.
Inner displays: 20:9 vs 22:9
Both of them come with a 6.7-inch FHD+ display with a high refresh rate. But the ratio is a bit different, as the Flip’s is a bit slimmer with much narrower edges. They both look great over colors and details with great response, support HDR10+ content, and have a centralized punch-hole camera as well. So it’s hard to tell which is better or worse. What’s slightly different is that the Z Flip has a variable refresh rate between 1Hz and 120Hz, while the Razr can run certain games at a maximum refresh rate of 144Hz.
Performance & Gaming comparison
As for performance, since they are both powered by the most powerful Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chip, actually there’s no need to argue about which phone has better performance. You can check out the comparison of benchmark and gaming results here.
Both have good heating control in daily use. But the Z flip could maintain a more stable and continuous high performance under heavy loads.
Software for Semi-folding forms
As for their software. No doubt there’s been a good accumulation of experience for the Flip series and the new model supports a feature called Flex mode Panel for more apps when the phone is folded upright, though in some apps it’s not so practical.
Cameras
Now let’s look at their cameras. Both of them feature a dual-camera setup at the back, one main camera, and another wide-angle lens. The combination of 50MP and 32MP sensors made the Razr look more promising to win this round. However, we were wrong.
The samples show that the Flip 4 has better HDR recognition and processing, which made the images look greater with vivid colors and excellent contrast. While for the Razr cameras, when the images got correct processing, they looked good with more natural reproduction and stable white balance. Sometimes Samsung phones will have inaccurate white-balance recognition.
Under high-contrast conditions, the Razr’s samples sometimes might have a reddish issue in dark corners, while the Flip’s images might have an unwanted hazy effect. But overall, the Flip’s main camera performed better and more stably over image pureness, and the 50MP resolution of the Razr camera didn’t play to its strengths on clarity. Even when we turned on high-resolution mode, there’s no obvious gap between the two.
The situation is the same over their wide-angle lenses. The Flip model has better HDR, better contrast details, and even better clarity. But the two have a very similar fringing issue.
A good thing for the new Razr is its close shot feature. It can shoot much closer under the macro mode, and the samples are also sharper with excellent detail.
Both of them do not have an optical zoom lens, but the digital zoom-in samples shot on the Flip model look a bit better with better HDR and processing, though the sensor only features a 12MP original resolution.
Well for night shooting, things changed. The larger sensor of the new Razr finally came into play. The images shot on the Razr have and more accurate colors and better noise control for darkness. And even under the auto mode, the bright detail also got well-processed with correct exposure. Although we could have a better image under the Flip’s night mode with less noise, the Razr’s sample still looks better.
Things got similar for the wide-angle lenses. The Razr still got slightly better images, but what’s different is that the Flip’s sample got significantly improved under the night mode. Especially under extremely low lighting, it might catch up and reverse the result.
Battery & charging
Both phones bring improvements in battery life. The new Razr is equipped with a 3500mAh battery, while the new Z Flip was upgraded to a 3700mAh capacity. But they still don’t compare to almost all the regular phones. The Razr 2022 supports a slightly faster-charging speed, but it still took us around 63 mins in the charging test. Oddly enough, the new Razr model consumed much more power in our latest battery-life test, while the new Flip’s result is much more acceptable.
Now let’s check out their sound performance via this Video. You can judge for yourself.
Conclusion
So that’s all for the comparison. So we think the Z Flip 4 is still dominating the market of compact foldable phones with a better overall experience. But we’re also impressed by the new Razr to some extent, such as the practical cover screen and the optimized camera experience.
