Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 vs Motorola Razr 50 Ultra: What’s the difference?

Samsung has revealed the latest clamshell foldable in its ever-growing collection, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6. But how does it compare to the Motorola Razr 50 Ultra that launched just weeks ago?

While Samsung’s latest Z Flip has a lot going for it, from a long software promise to top-end performance, the Motorola Razr 50 Ultra could also be worthy of your consideration with a larger cover screen, higher-res cameras and, believe it or not, a cheaper price tag.

Here’s how the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 and Motorola Razr 50 Ultra compare on paper to help you decide which is best for your needs. 

The Galaxy Z Flip 6 has a more powerful processor

Look beneath the hood of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 and you’ll find the most powerful processor around. More specifically, you’ll find the custom Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy chipset that Samsung claims is more performant than the already-powerful Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 found in most of the flagship competition.

That’s paired with 12GB of RAM and a new vapour chamber that’s 150% larger than that found in the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra – a new feature for this year’s clamshell foldable.

That’s not to say that the Motorola Razr 50 Ultra is a slouch, sporting the capable Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chipset and 12GB RAM, but given that performance is closer to the 8 Gen 2 than the 8 Gen 3, Samsung has a clear win in this regard.

However, despite the differences in performance, it’s likely that you won’t notice any actual differences in day-to-day use – only when performing particularly demanding tasks like high-end 3D gaming and rendering edited video. 

The Razr 50 Ultra has a larger, more useful cover screen

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 has the same 3.4-inch 60Hz OLED cover screen as its predecessor, the Z Flip 5. The cover screen allows for access to a range of Samsung-designed widgets to get quick access to information like notifications, calendar events and music controls, and there’s limited support for Android app support, but only with apps that Samsung has approved. 

That’s all well and good, but the Razr 50 Ultra not only sports a 4-inch OLED cover screen that takes up most of the exterior panel, but it’s faster at 120Hz, and it offers extended functionality too. 

Thanks to the large cover screen, you can run any app installed on your smartphone without having to unfold the device, allowing you to do everything from accessing Google Maps to watching YouTube videos and even playing games on the cover screen if that’s what you desire. 

And, like Samsung, it also has a range of full-screen widgets accessible with a swipe, including a new widget that brings home screen widgets to the cover screen for even better usability.

The Galaxy Z Flip 6 has a much longer software promise

Long-term support is an important aspect when considering a new smartphone – you don’t want to miss out on new features from subsequent OS upgrades, right?

The Motorola Razr 50 Ultra offers three OS upgrades that’ll get you up to Android 17, with an additional year of bi-monthly security upgrades. That’s fine, but not amazing, especially for a smartphone at the upper end of the market.

That’s especially true when compared to the Galaxy Z Flip 6, which will get a whopping seven OS upgrades and security updates, taking the foldable all the way through to Android 21. That’s one of the longest software promises around, matched only by Google’s Pixel range – and that’s the company that develops the Android operating system. 

The Razr 50 Ultra has a higher-resolution camera setup

Both the Razr 50 Ultra and Galaxy Z Flip 6 have had an upgrade in the camera department this year, though it seems the Razr 50 Ultra wins – on megapixel count, anyway. 

You see, while both foldables sport a 50MP main sensor, the Razr 50 Ultra offers a matching 50MP 2x telephoto lens while the Galaxy Z Flip 6 boasts a 12MP ultrawide. It’s a new 12MP ultrawide with better low-light and HDR performance, granted, but it still caps out at 12MP. 

Of course, there’s much more to camera performance than just megapixel count and we’ll hold our final verdict on which is objectively better once we’ve spent more time with the Z Flip 6. However, we will say that a higher megapixel camera allows for pixel-binning tech to further boost light and image quality – something the Z Flip 6’s 12MP ultrawide can’t offer. 

The Galaxy Z Flip 6 is more expensive in the UK

It might surprise you, given the above, that the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 is the more expensive of the two foldables in the UK – and comes with less storage too.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 retails at £1049/$999 with 256GB of storage, while the Motorola Razr 50 Ultra goes for £999/$999 with 512GB of storage.