It’s been almost a year since Motorola introduced it Razr 2025 series and its flagship Razr Ultra 2025. It’s easily Motorola’s best and most popular flagship phone ever, even with its sleek design and specs, Galaxy S25 Ultra jealous However, with a likely new Razr Ultra model on the horizon, I’m taking a look back at my experience with the Razr Ultra 2025 and my biggest takeaways from the phone since last April.
Although I’ve reviewed many phones since the Razr Ultra 2025 launched, I’ve used it as my primary device, always switching between reviews or at least carrying it around as a secondary device. That’s because despite using a lot of impressive phones lately, I’ve become a flip phone kind of guy, and it’s all thanks to Motorola.
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Razr experience
Despite loving the previous Razr models, the Ultra 2025 is the first Razr flagship I’ve used that I haven’t felt the need to carry around a secondary phone to access. A big reason for this is the camera system; Motorola has really improved it on the Ultra 2025, especially slimmed down Razr Plus 2023. And unlike Razr Plus 2024the Razr Ultra, which ships with a second telephoto camera, has replaced it with an ultra-wide camera, which in my opinion is more useful, especially when 2x optical quality zoom is enough.
While it doesn’t compete with flagships from Chinese OEMs like Vivo and Oppo, it does the job and I have no complaints.
But aside from the cameras, the overall Razr experience was very good, and it really feels like Motorola is aiming to deliver an “Ultra” experience. The Snapdragon 8 Elite The chip paired with 16GB of RAM makes the phone feel incredibly fast and handles heavy games surprisingly well.
The 1224p Super HD OLED display looks and feels great, even after a year of use. The Razr Plus 2023 hinge started to fail after a year and I noticed small cracks in the internal Razr Plus 2024 screen protector. The Razr Ultra 2025 display still looks like the day I bought it vegan leather and wood materials on the back of the phone (depending on the model you buy) give it a fresh look, although I’ve noticed some peeling of the “skin”.
Android 16… finally!
Part of the Razr experience is software, a category where Motorola doesn’t excel. Don’t get me wrong, Hello UX is… good, and there’s a lot going on, too, like the quick settings menu and notification shade (optional), Motorola’s use of Google apps and services. Google Photosand useful gestures like pinching or double-twisting to activate the flashlight or turn on the camera, respectively.
That said, the overall app experience is pretty boring. The basics are there, but Motorola doesn’t go out of its way to stand out with things like crazy animations and the latest Samsung phones. Galaxy S26 Plusalways reminds me how much I prefer Samsung A UI for its consistency, support and the feeling of excitement when I use it.
I really hoped so Android 16 will change things, especially after the introduction of Google Material 3 Expressive about Pixel phones. However, despite the update coming to the Razr Ultra 2025 faster than previous models (thanks, Motorola), it came and went with little visible change.
The software definitely feels smoother and more responsive, and like Motorola has added features Modes and Notification waiting period. Otherwise, it doesn’t feel too different from the update Android 15and the security patch is somehow still stuck in December 2025, which highlights Motorola’s rather inconsistent bi-monthly update schedule.
Motorola also doesn’t get the latest Android features as quickly as Samsung. For example, the latest Quick Share updateAdding support for AirDrop, first on the latest Pixel phones and Galaxy S26 seriesother Android devices have to wait. Frankly, it’s annoying that Motorola continues to play second fiddle to Samsung despite this recent gains in the market.
Moto AI: Awesome, but weak
Motorola’s software is a bit of a mess, but the AI situation isn’t much better. Moto AI is the company’s attempt to have its own AI suite, Like Samsungand while there are some good ideas, the execution feels a bit lacking.
The chatbot itself is decent and lets you connect to Microsoft Copilot and Perplexity, but even with access to multiple AI models, the overall experience pales in comparison. Twins. Needless to say, Motorola Great Action ModelAllowing AI to perform tasks like ordering an Uber on your behalf is yet to be seen, while Google already is Enables this feature in Geminii.
Most of the Moto AI features feel like either glorified versions of existing apps (Pay attention it’s just an AI recorder) or not very useful in its current form. Remember this stores memories of photos, notes or screenshots and analyzes them so you can recall them later. However, you need to enable the feature for it to be useful; it’s not integrated into the camera or screenshot functionality, which feels wasteful.
Catch Me luckily, it’s more useful because you can get an AI summary of your notifications with the click of a button.
One area that Motorola doesn’t seem to have quite figured out is integration. While Samsung can naturally integrate features like the Gallery app into the UI, Motorola stuffs most of them into the Moto AI app, including Image Studio.
Motorola needs to figure out how to better integrate AI into the UI, because as it is now, you’d be better off. Twins and other Google AI features like Circle to Search. It should also take a cue from Samsung by ditching Bixby and letting the Moto AI chatbot take a back seat in favor of Gemini. Now, if only Motorola would let us Change the AI Key to work with Gemini…
Accessory problem
The Razr Ultra 2025 is seriously a great phone, but one of the main problems I have with Motorola’s smartphones is the lack of accessory options. Finding a good one is incredibly difficult Razr Ultra 2025 box (or screen saverfor that matter) from any of the top job producers. Go to Spigen, Thinborn, Otterbox, Casetify, etc., and almost none of them have a Motorola-specific section, and a few only offer a few options for older phones.
Everything I’ve found online has been from companies I’ve never heard of, and I often have to scroll through a ton of reviews to find others who have bought bags for this model. That’s not to say they’re all bad, and I’ve found one or two that I like, but the options are few and far between. Sure, you can get the official case from Motorola’s web store, but even those are lacking, and Motorola could really take a page from Samsung here.
The lack of a Thinborn case is particularly unfortunate, as I love their ultra-thin Aramid Fiber cases, and they would be perfect for a phone like the Razr Ultra, which doubles in thickness when folded. Most other cases are quite thick, which makes the phone feel a little unwieldy, and having a thin case would make me feel better than wearing it in the first place.
Cover screen though!
I’m not exaggerating when I say that I use the Razr Ultra 2025’s cover screen about 80% of the time. It’s just that good. Apps are available out of the box, they transition seamlessly between the main display and cover screen, and they scale pretty well for the most part. Unlike Galaxy Z Flip on devices, the cover screen supports multitasking and notifications are better managed.
There are many ways to do this make better use of cameras with cover screen.
The only reasons I don’t do it use the cover screen to play games, adjust settings, or use Google Photos (it’s a bit limited here). I’ll also use the main display for more important emails or apps that require a bigger screen (it’s possible to watch videos on the flip screen, but the main display is better suited for that).
Admittedly, Android 16 the update brought some confusion to the cover screen, with strange UI glitches, especially in text fields. Still, the experience is largely the same and remains my favorite way to use the Razr.
I also started using it Clicks Keyboardit serves as a rather nice case (finally) and a full Blackberry-style keyboard. So you don’t have to worry about the on-screen keyboard taking up the precious cover screen while protecting your phone. Typing on a physical smartphone keyboard can take some getting used to, but if you have a Razr, it’s probably the best way to use the phone!
