Motorola Razr Plus vs. Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4: which is the best flip phone?

Foldable phones are making a huge splash right now as more and more smartphone manufacturers start trying their hands at making foldable tech. There are currently two main foldable camps: tablet-like folding phones and flip phone foldables. While larger folding smartphones bring a lot to the table as half-steps of sorts between regular smartphones and tablets, one of the main selling points for flip phone foldables is their portability — especially in the current market, which seems to be constantly moving to larger and larger devices.

The Galaxy Z Flip 4 and the Motorola Razr Plus are arguably the two best flip phones on the market right now. Because both phones are so excellent, it can be tough to know which one to buy when looking at them at face value. The Razr Plus, since it’s a newer device with a larger cover screen? The Z Flip 4 since Samsung has a much better reputation for quality? No matter what questions you’re asking, here’s everything you need to know about how the Galaxy Z Flip 4 compares to the Motorola Razr Plus.

Razr Plus vs. Galaxy Z Flip 4: specs

Razr Plus vs. Galaxy Z Flip 4: design, display, and durability

While the Razr Plus and the Galaxy Z Flip 4 are relatively similar smartphones in terms of their overall design, they greatly differ when it comes to their cover displays. The Razr Plus has a 3.8-inch AMOLED screen that covers nearly its entire front, allowing the phone to be used without even having to unfold it. The cover display on the Flip 4, however, is a different story.

The Flip 4’s cover screen is essentially a small 1.9-inch window that’s really only used as a notification center and clock. While those features are certainly nice, they pail in comparison to what’s possible with the Razr Plus’ cover screen. Rumor has it that the Galaxy Z Flip 5 will have a cover display that’s reminiscent of the Razr Plus’ screen, but for now, we have to rely on the much smaller screen that the Flip 4 is outfitted with.

When it comes to the inner displays, the Razr Plus features a slightly larger 6.9-inch AMOLED screen when compared to the 6.7-inch AMOLED screen of the Galaxy Z Flip 4. The Razr Plus’s inner display also has a 165Hz refresh rate, while the Flip 4’s screen has a 120Hz one. The screens on both devices are certainly impressive, but the Razr Plus is a little bit more cutting-edge on account of it being nearly a year newer than the Flip 4.

In terms of design, both phones are offered in a handful of different striking colors, but the Flip 4 has more options as it’s available in nine colors. Other than the much larger cover screen, however, there’s really only one other thing that sets the two phones apart with their designs: the hinge. The Razr Plus’ hinge allows it to fold onto itself completely without any gaps between its two displays. The Flip 4, on the other hand, has a small gap near its hinge when folded which can be irritating and make the phone feel bulkier than the Razr Plus as a result.

As far as durability goes, neither phone is particularly robust, but that’s part of the territory of using a foldable. The Razr Plus has an ingress protection rating of IP52, which essentially means that it’s safe from dust and other solid particles like sand and can survive water splashes or a few raindrops. The Galaxy Z Flip 4 has an IP rating of IPX8, which means that it isn’t rated for dust protection but is much safe against water. We wouldn’t recommend taking either swimming for a dip in the pool, but the Flip 4 is better in that regard.

Although the Flip 4 has an arguably better IP rating, the cover screen of the Razr Plus and its improved hinge simply makes it a much better phone when compared to the Flip 4. That’s not to say that the Flip 4 isn’t impressive — it is — but rather that the Razr Plus outshines it in a few key areas.

Winner: Motorola Razr Plus

Razr Plus vs. Galaxy Z Flip 4: performance, battery life, and charging

Both the Motorola Razr Plus and the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 are outfitted with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor, a chipset that, up until Qualcomm released its successor this year, was one of the very best on the market. Both phones offer similar experiences in terms of performance. However, the Razr Plus edges out the Flip 4 just barely since it’s offered with two RAM options: 8GB and 12GB. Both phones also offer similar storage options, with the Razr Plus having 256GB and 512GB options while the Flip 4 offers 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB.

Similarly, both phones offer comparable battery life since they feature battery cells that are nearly identical in terms of capacity — the Razr Plus has a 3,800mAh cell, and the Flip 4 has a 3,700mAh cell. Both phones will be able to last you through your entire day without needing to recharge, but don’t expect either of them to last you much more than that, as they’ll both need a charging session at night.

When it comes to charging, the Razr Plus offers a slightly better wired charging speed at 30W compared to the Flip 4’s 25W speeds. That said, the Galaxy Z Flip 4 charges much faster when using wireless charging, offering 15W speeds compared to the Razr Plus’ 5W wireless charging speeds. Additionally, the Flip 4 is able to reverse charge other devices with a 4.5W speed, which is a feature not even offered with the Razr Plus, so the Flip 4 is overall the better option — even if just by the skin of its teeth.

Winner: Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4

Razr Plus vs. Galaxy Z Flip 4: cameras

Neither the Razr Plus nor the Galaxy Z Flip 4 have camera arrays that are as impressive as other smartphones in their price range. While they may seem solid on paper, in practice, the phones don’t perform as well as other, similarly priced devices. The Razr Plus has a dual-camera array on its cover screen: a 12MP main lens and a 13MP ultrawide shooter. On the inside, the Razr is outfitted with a 32MP selfie camera, but as outlined in our review of the foldable, the cameras were decent but not anything that stood out among its peers.

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Similarly, the Galaxy Z Flip 4 has a dual-camera setup on its cover screen: a 12MP main lens and another 12MP ultrawide lens. Unlike the Razr Plus’ high 32MP selfie lens, the Z Flip 4 has a 10MP selfie camera. Similar to the Razr Plus, the cameras on the Flip 4 are good but not excellent. They’ll certainly get the job done for most people, but they don’t produce images that are as stunning as other, similarly priced smartphones that have nicer cameras.

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You can compare the image quality yourself using the photos above, but if you ask us, we give the Galaxy Z Flip 4 the upper hand. Although it’s not an amazing camera, it produces better-looking images more consistently than the Razr Plus.

Winner: Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4

Razr Plus vs. Galaxy Z Flip 4: software and features

The Razr Plus and the Galaxy Z Flip 4 are two sides of the current Android 13 lineup, with the Flip 4 using the Samsung exclusive One UI 5 while the Razr Plus is more of a standard Android experience — not unlike what you’d get when using the Google Pixel 7. As far as longevity goes, the Razr Plus will be getting three Android OS updates and four years of security support. Samsung promises that Flip 4 will get four Android OS updates and five years of security support. However, the Flip 4 has already been out for nearly a year now, so it’ll be getting support for the same amount of time as the Razr Plus.

One of the best features of the Flip 4 is its Flex Mode mode, which allows its screen to be split in half in order to run an app on the top section of the screen and offer additional controls on the bottom half. The Razr Plus doesn’t really offer anything like that to make use of the fact that it essentially has two displays when unfolded. That said, the Razr Plus does a lot with its cover screen that simply isn’t possible with the Flip 4’s much smaller cover screen.

As nice as the features exclusive to the Z Flip 4 are, they just aren’t as convenient as the ability to use the Razr Plus’ cover screen the same as if it were fully unfolded. The convenience of being able to send texts, use Google Maps, watch videos, and more with a palm-sized screen is a revolutionary feature that seems to be influencing the design of the Galaxy Z Flip 5. When it comes to the Flip 4, however, it’s simply outdone by the cover screen of the Razr Plus.

Winner: Motorola Razr Plus

Razr Plus vs. Galaxy Z Flip 4: price and availability

The Motorola Razr Plus is available for purchase now and retails starting at $999. It’s supported by most major carriers and can be found in most major electronics retailers or purchased directly through Motorola.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 is also available globally and retails starting at $999, but is often on sale at various retailers since it’s nearly a year old. The Flip 4 will also likely get a price drop later this year when the Galaxy Z Flip 5 launches. It’s supported by most major carriers and can be found in most major electronics retailers or purchased directly through Samsung.

Overall winner: Motorola Razr Plus

While the Galaxy Z Flip 4 and Motorola Razr Plus are technically tied with two wins each, we’re still giving this one to the Razr Plus. The Z Flip 4 is certainly an impressive foldable. However, the Motorola Razr Plus has a critical feature that makes it much more appealing — and that’s the 3.6-inch cover screen that’s far more versatile and useful than the one featured on the Flip 4. While the Razr Plus isn’t exactly leagues above the Flip 4 when it comes to its technical specs or cameras, its user experience is far better-designed thanks to the cover screen.

There’s something to be said, however, that if this were a comparison between the Razr Plus and the rumored features and specs of the upcoming Galaxy Z Flip 5 — which, like the Razr, is also said to have a sizable cover screen — the results of this head-to-head comparison might be different. With the current specs and features of the Z Flip 4, though, the Razr Plus is simply a better phone.

Take note that some of that is due to the fact that the Galaxy Z Flip 4 is nearly a year old at this point, meaning that the Razr Plus had a lot more time to get more right. As mentioned above, given the same time to make another version of the Flip, Samsung might be able to outdo Motorola. But, at least for now, Motorola has Samsung beat in the flip phone foldable battle.