Motorola Razr 70 Ultra or Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 – which should I buy and why?

Motorola has now officially unveiled the Moto 70 series of phones, with updates – albeit minor – to the Razr 70, Razr 70 Plus and Razr 70 Ultra.

I've already spent some time with the new phones, sharing my thoughts on the Razr 70 Ultra and highlighting some of the changes and considerations if you're thinking about buying it.

Many people think that Samsung is the top dog in the world of the best folding phones, but a recent IDC report highlighted that Motorola has over 50% of the folding phone market share in the US – and that was before the incoming Razr Fold was launched.

With the Razr 70 Ultra and Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 – the premium flip phones of choice – how do they actually compare? I put them side-by-side in the real world to find out.

Price

The Motorola Razr 70 Ultra has just been announced, with a price of £1199, although we don't have full pricing for all the variants – and aren't sure exactly when it's going to be on sale in the UK. But it is coming to Motorola.com, Argos, JLP, Amazon, Littlewoods, AO, EE, Vodafone, Three, GiffGaff, Selfridges and Currys.

In the USA it will cost $1499.99 (and is called the Razr Ultra (2026)), but is essentially the very same device.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 was announced in July 2025 and is widely available, with prices from £1049 / $1099. It's cheaper in all forms, therefore, the Moto seeing a price bump over its 2025 equivalent.

Design

• Motorola: Unique colours and materials
• Samsung: Slimmer and lighter

Motorola's focus with the Razr 70 Ultra is design led. For a number of years, Motorola has been working with Pantone to produce unique and interesting colours for its phones. More recently it has turned to different materials.

The Razr 70 Ultra is available in Pantone Orient Blue, which has an Alcantara finish, or Pantone Cocoa, which has a wood veneer. I'm expecting more colours to appear in the future, but for now that's it.

These finishes make the Razr Ultra unique: it feels special, especially with the soft touch of the Alcantara – making it undeniably premium.

Samsung's approach is different: it's all metal and glass, and although Samsung offers a full range of colours, they're all flat and rather conservative. Motorola feels like it's taking a risk to create something unique, while Samsung has taken a safer route.

But Samsung is pursuing something else: slimness. Samsung has been shedding bloat from the design of the Z Flip models, with the most recent some 6.5mm thick when unfolded, compared to 7.19mm for the Razr 70 Ultra.

Samsung is also lighter, at 188g compared to 199g for the Razr Ultra, and this makes a difference when you grip the phone or slip it into a pocket.

Ultimately, Samsung offers a more industrial design, it's about precision and technical expertise: it looks like a more advanced folding device, the two halves meeting with precision. Motorola offers a more expressive design, with a unique personality.

Displays

• Main:
  • Motorola: 6.96in, 165Hz, 2992 x 1224 pixels, 5000 nits
  • Samsung: 6.9in, 120Hz, 2520 x 1080 pixels, 2600 nits
• Cover:
  • Motorola: 4.0in, 165Hz, 1080 x 1272 pixels, 3000 nits
  • Samsung: 4.1in, 120Hz, 1048 x 948 pixels, 2600 nits

Both the Razr 70 Ultra and the Galaxy Z Flip 7 sit in the same territory: both have similar-sized displays, but Motorola is pushing much harder on the spec sheet.

Motorola offers higher resolution, higher refresh rates and higher brightness, which perhaps gives it the lead. I'd question whether the 165Hz refresh rate makes any material difference, considering that top-end gaming isn't something you'll be doing on a folding phone.

I examined the crease on both devices and while they are both visible, there isn't a huge difference between them – it's slightly more noticeable on the Motorola screen.

Although Samsung's external display is larger, it has a lower resolution and Motorola offers more functionality. It's easier to use, just like a small Android device, letting you open apps in full.

Motorola also offers a brightness bump on both displays and under bright sunlight and when viewing high dynamic range (HDR) content, they have more to give. I thought the Motorola was a little more impactful from the time I spent with both devices.

Performance

• Motorola: Snapdragon 8 Elite, 12/16GB, up to 1TB, 5000mAh
• Samsung: Exynos 2500, 12GB, 512GB, 4300mAh

When it comes to the hardware powering these phones, Motorola makes a big hit with the Snapdragon 8 Elite. Although this hardware is a year old, it's more powerful than the Exynos 2500 in the Samsung – as well as carrying the prestige value of the Qualcomm name.

Samsung will have the chance to eclipse Motorola with the Z Flip 8 if it moves to Exynos 2600, but for the time being, Motorola has more appeal.

That perhaps explains some of the price difference too: Motorola is also offering more RAM and storage options, while it has much higher battery capacities too.

That battery advantage is cemented with 68W wired and 30W wireless charging, while Samsung sits on 25W wired and 10W wireless charging – so it's not really in the same league.

Cameras

• Motorola: 50MP (f/1.8) LOFIC main; 50MP (f/2.0) ultrawide; 50MP (f/2.0) selfie
• Samsung: 50MP (f/1.8) main; 12MP (f/2.2) ultrawide; 10MP (f/2.2) selfie

One glance at the specs will tell you that the Motorola Razr 70 Ultra has better cameras, offering higher resolution sensors and in most cases, wider apertures for improved low-light capture.

But the specs don't tell us everything: the Motorola 60 Ultra was generally better than the Samsung in most scenarios, but you can't discount Samsung's cameras, given the wealth of experience that Samsung pours into them.

Motorola has a new main sensor, offering LOFIC technology, designed to boost the dynamic range it offers. I've not fully tested it, but it's promising hardware, something we saw recently on the Xiaomi 17 Ultra.

This could really change the game, but until we review the Razr 70 Ultra fully, we don't know how it will perform in all conditions.

But both of these phones offer great features: Motorola has camcorder mode for video, with tilt to zoom, as well as Frame Match, while Samsung offers AI Auto Zoom and FlexCam gestures for really simple selfies.

Both have their merits, but Motorola's new main camera should be a game-changer.

Software and support

• Motorola: Android 16 with Hello UI, 3 OS updates, 5 years security
• Samsung: Android 16 with One UI 8.0, 7 years OS and security updates

For all the positive points that the Motorola phone offers in hardware and performance, Samsung takes the fight back with software and the experience that it offers.

So what's wrong with Motorola? Hello UI has dragged Motorola away from the clean Android experience it used to offer, shoehorning in Moto AI, adding bloatware, adverts and other intrusions across the experience.

We've encountered that on other Motorola phones – and although I've not fully reviewed the Razr 70 Ultra, I expect it to be blighted by the same problems. Even worse, Motorola's support offering of three OS updates is woeful on a phone this expensive.

Samsung has a 7-year support commitment for both OS and security updates, far outstripping Motorola's offering. If nothing else, it means that buying a cheaper, older Samsung foldable will mean you still have software support – Motorola isn't in that position.

Although One UI makes a lot of changes to Android – and actively pushes Galaxy AI – it's not as intrusive as Motorola's approach to software. That means the daily user experience is potentially more refined.

Which should you buy: Motorola or Samsung?

Motorola has a clear hardware advantage: its phone is newer, more powerful and it trounces Samsung when it comes to battery and charging. With a new camera, it could offer a better package all round for photography.

Motorola also has a more unique design with finishes that are much more exciting than Samsung – especially that lovely Alcantara.

But Samsung is thinner and lighter, feeling more like a technical expression, while still offering the same size of display in and out. Samsung is also cheaper, with a software experience that's easier to live with and much longer support, too.

I'd take the Motorola, however, because of its uniqueness in design. What it gives up in thinness it more than makes up for in opulence. I'd also want the power and those punchy displays – and I'd uninstall and turn off all the options in the software to avoid Hello UI's intrusion.

The lack of software support remains a nagging doubt though – Motorola should definitely be doing better here.