It’s been about a year since Motorola launched the Razr 2025 Series and its flagship Razr Ultra 2025. It’s easily Motorola’s best and most popular flagship phone yet, with a refined design and specs that would make even the Galaxy S25 Ultra jealous. However, with a new Razr Ultra model likely on the horizon, I’m looking back on my experience with the Razr Ultra 2025 and my biggest takeaways since the phone launched last April.
Although I’ve reviewed many phones since the release of the Razr Ultra 2025, I’ve used it as my primary device, always switching between reviews or at least carrying it as a secondary device. This is because, despite using a lot of awesome phones lately, I’ve become a bit of a flip phone guy, and it’s all thanks to Motorola.
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The Razr experience
Despite loving the previous Razr models, the Ultra 2025 is the first Razr flagship I’ve used that I didn’t feel like I needed to carry a secondary phone with me to survive. A big reason for this is the camera system; Motorola really improved it on the Ultra 2025, especially compared to the disappointing Razr Plus 2023. And unlike the Razr Plus 2024which came with a secondary telephoto camera, the Razr Ultra swapped it for an ultra-wide camera, which in my opinion is much more useful, especially when 2x optical quality zoom is sufficient.
While it may not compete with flagships from Chinese OEMs like Vivo and Oppo, it gets the job done and I have no complaints.
But beyond the cameras, the overall experience of the Razr has been very good, and it really feels like Motorola was aiming to deliver an “Ultra” experience. He Snapdragon 8 Elite The chip combined with 16GB of RAM makes the phone feel incredibly snappy 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’s hinge started to fail after a year and I noticed small cracks in the Razr Plus 2024’s built-in screen protector. The Razr Ultra 2025’s screen still looks like the day I bought it, while the wood and vegan leather materials on the back of the phone (depending on the model you buy) give it a new look, although I have noticed some peeling of the “leather”.
Android 16…finally!
Part of the Razr experience is software, a category in which Motorola doesn’t quite excel. Don’t get me wrong, Hello UX is… okay, and there are a lot of things to like, like the separate quick settings menu and notification shade (which is optional), Motorola’s use of Google apps and services like Google Photosand useful gestures like snip or twist twice to turn on the flashlight or turn on the camera, respectively.
That being said, the overall software experience is pretty boring. The basics are here, but Motorola doesn’t make an effort to stand out with things like flashy animations and after using recent Samsung phones like the Galaxy S26 Plusalways reminds me how much I prefer Samsung A user interface for its consistency, support and feeling of excitement every time I use it.
I was really hoping Android 16 would change things, especially after Google introduced Material 3 Expressive in pixel phones. However, even though the update arrives at the Razr Ultra 2025 faster than previous models (thanks, Motorola), came and went with seemingly little change.
Admittedly, the software feels smoother and more responsive, and Motorola added features like Modes and Notification cooling. Otherwise, the update doesn’t feel much different from Android 15and the security patch is still locked to December 2025 for some reason, highlighting Motorola’s rather inconsistent bi-monthly update schedule.
Motorola also doesn’t get the latest Android features as quickly as Samsung. For example, the last Quick Share Updatewhich adds support for AirDrop, was first released on the latest Pixel phones and Galaxy S26 serieswhile other Android devices will have to wait. It’s downright annoying that Motorola continues to play second fiddle to Samsung, despite its recent market gains.
Moto AI: solid but disappointing
Motorola’s software is a bit of a mixed bag, 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 seems somewhat lacking.
The chatbot itself is decent and allows you to connect to Microsoft Copilot and Perplexity, but even with access to multiple AI models, the overall experience still pales in comparison. Gemini. Not to mention that Motorola Large action modelthat allows AI to complete tasks like ordering an Uber on your behalf remains to be seen, while Google is already enabling this feature in GeminYo.
Most of Moto AI’s features look like glorified versions of existing apps (Pay attention it’s just an AI recorder) or they’re just not that useful in their current form. Remember this save memories of photos, notes or screenshots and analyze them so you can recover them later. However, you must activate the feature for it to be useful; It’s not built into the camera or screenshot feature, which seems like a waste.
catch me is, fortunately, more useful, as you can have an AI summary of your notifications with the press of a button.
One area that it seems Motorola hasn’t quite figured out yet is integration. While Samsung may naturally integrate features into its UI, such as the Gallery app, Motorola is left integrating most of them into the Moto AI app, including Image Studio.
Motorola needs to figure out how to better integrate its AI into the UI, because as it stands now, it’s best to stick with Gemini and other Google AI features, such as Circle to Search. It should also follow Samsung’s lead by ditching Bixby and letting the Moto AI chatbot take a back seat in favor of Gemini. Now if only Motorola would allow us reassign your AI key to work with Gemini…
The accessory problem
The Razr Ultra 2025 is a really great phone, but a major problem I keep encountering with Motorola smartphones is the lack of accessory options. It is incredibly difficult to find a good Razr Ultra 2025 Case (either screen protectorin fact) from any of the major box manufacturers. Go to Spigen, Thinborn, Otterbox, Casetify, etc., and almost none of them have a dedicated Motorola section, and the few that do offer only a handful of options for older phones.
Everything I found online came from companies I had never heard of and I often have to go through a ton of reviews to find other people who bought cases 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 an official case on Motorola’s web store, but even those are missing, and Motorola could really follow Samsung’s page here.
The lack of a Thinborn case is especially unfortunate, because I love their ultra-thin aramid fiber cases and they would be perfect for a phone like the Razr Ultra, which becomes twice as thick when folded. Most other cases are quite thick, making the phone feel a little unwieldy, and having a thin case would make me feel better about putting one on in the first place.
But that cover screen!
I’m not exaggerating when I say that I use the Razr Ultra 2025’s cover screen about 80% of the time. It’s that good. The apps are available out of the box, transition seamlessly between the main screen and cover screen, and, for the most part, scale quite well. Unlike the Galaxy Z Flip devices, the cover screen supports multitasking and notifications are handled much better.
There are also many ways to make better use of cameras with the cover screen.
The only reasons why No using the cover screen is for gaming, adjusting settings, or using Google Photos (which is somewhat limited here). I’ll also use the home screen for more important emails or for apps that require a larger screen (it’s possible to watch videos on the cover screen, but the home screen is better suited for this).
It is true that the Android 16 The update seemed to introduce some instability to the cover screen, with strange glitches in the user interface, particularly with text fields. Still, the experience is largely the same and remains my favorite way to use the Razr.
I also started using the Click keyboardwhich also doubles as a pretty nice case (finally) and a full Blackberry-style keyboard. That way, you won’t have to worry about the on-screen keyboard taking up valuable real estate on your cover screen, while still protecting your phone. It may take a while to get used to typing on a smartphone’s physical keyboard, but if you have a Razr, this is probably the best way to use the phone!
