Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 vs. Motorola Razr Plus (2024): How the flip phones compare
A Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 vs. Motorola Razr Plus (2024) showdown figures to be one of the most significant foldable phone face-offs this year. Last year's models were evenly matched in the battle to be the best foldable phone, so we're excited to see what Samsung and Motorola have planned for an encore.
Now that the Galaxy Z Flip 6 has arrived, we can see how Samsung's latest flip phone measures up. We're still working on our full review, but after some Galaxy Z Flip 6 hands-on time, we've had a chance to see the upgraded main camera, new chipset and additional Galaxy AI features in action.
Meanwhile, Motorola has stolen some of the Galaxy Z Flip's thunder by already announcing its latest foldable Razr phones. The Motorola Razr Plus (2024) is the higher-end of the two new models and it gets a processor bump, a larger cover display and some AI capabilities of its own. Our Motorola Razr Plus (2024) review hailed the brighter display, longer battery life and larger external screen. So this figures to be a battle between two evenly matched phones.
A full Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 vs. Motorola Razr Plus (2024) face-off will have to wait until we finish testing the new Samsung phone. But here's how the two phones compare, given what we know about their respective specs.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 vs. Motorola Razr Plus (2024): specs
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 vs. Motorola Razr Plus (2024): price
Give the edge to the Motorola Razr Plus (2024) here. It costs the same $999 that Motorola charged for last year's Plus. That price gets you a phone with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage.
The Galaxy Z Flip 5 matched that $999 starting price, but things are changing with Samsung's newer phone. It now costs $1,099 — a $100 price hike.
Even with the difference in prices, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 and Motorola Razr Plus have one thing in common — they both ship on July 24.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 vs. Motorola Razr Plus (2024): design
Don't look for sweeping changes to either phone, as they retain the same basic flip phone-style look you've become accustomed to.The Galaxy Z Flip 6 does leverage a dual rail hinge that bolsters durability and makes opening and closing the phone feel a little more solid, but it has little impact on the look of Samsung's foldable.
Likewise, the Motorola Razr Plus (2024) looks a lot like the 2023 version, though Motorola did adjust the hinge to make the phone open and close with more snap. The Razr Plus now features IPX8 water-resistance so it can take a dunk in shallow water and live to tell the tale. However, the Razr Plus doesn't have a dust-resistance rating — something the Galaxy Z Flip 6 and its IP48 rating can claim.
You can pick up the Motorola Razr Plus in midnight blue, spring green, peach fuzz and hot pink. Color options for the Galaxy Z Flip 6 include silver, yellow, blue and mint; three additional options are available exclusively when you order your phone from Samsung.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 vs. Motorola Razr Plus (2024): display
Rumors that Samsung was going to increase the size of the cover display on the Galaxy Z Flip 6 didn't pan out, so the new phone has the same sized displays as before — 3.4-inches on the outside and 6.7 inches on the interior.
The Galaxy Z Flip 6's biggest display change features a boost to brightness — that main screen now offers a max brightness of 2,600 nits. If the Galaxy Z Flip 6 gets close to that number in our testing, it could outshine the Motorola Razr Plus. We measured that phone's screen at an impressive 2,158 nits.
Motorola did make a change to the size of its phone's cover display. The 2024 Razr Plus features a 4-inch display, a slight increase from the 3.9-inch panel on last year's version. The outer screen supports an always-on display feature, and when you tent the Motorola Razr, it can display widgets of your choosing.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 vs. Motorola Razr Plus (2024): cameras
Both phones are looking to improve on their cameras, with upgraded main cameras. And Motorola is adding another twist by turning to a dedicated telephoto lens.
Specifically, the Razr Plus (2024) drops the ultrawide lens from the previous version, replacing it with a 50MP telephoto lens supporting a 2x zoom. That's good news if you like to zoom in on shots, but not so good if you prefer the wider field of view an ultrawide lens affords.
The other big camera upgrade on the Motorola Razr Plus involves its main camera, which gets a boost to 50MP. That compares to a 12MP sensor on the Motorola Razr Plus (2023).
Interestingly, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 also upgrades its main camera to 50MP. Samsung's phone lacks a dedicated telephoto lens, but it can use pixel binning with the main camera to provide an optic-quality zoom of 2x, matching what the Motorola Razr Plus (2024) can do with its zoom lens. This also allows the Galaxy Z Flip 6 to retain its 12MP ultrawide shooter.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 vs. Motorola Razr Plus (2024): performance
Call it a tale of two chipsets, as both the Galaxy Z Flip 6 and Motorola Razr Plus (2024) uses silicon from Qualcomm, though one system-on-chip figures to be more powerful than the other.
The Galaxy Z Flip 6 runs on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, Qualcomm's top-of-the-line silicon, and a chipset already found in many of the best Android flagships, including Samsung's own Galaxy S24 Ultra. That gives us a pretty good idea of how the Galaxy Z Flip 6 is going to perform, even though we'll confirm it with benchmark testing. But other phones running on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 have turned in stellar speed and graphics numbers, and we expect that to continue with the Flip.
The Motorola Razr Plus also features a system-on-chip from Qualcomm's 8 series, but it's not the fastest chip of the bunch. The Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 is a lower-cost variation on the regular Gen 3. It's got the neural engine to support AI features, but it's not as fast as the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3.
To that end, the Motorola Razr Plus turned in solid numbers when we ran the Geekbench 6 general performance test and the 3DMark Wild Life Unlimited graphics benchmark. But its results trailed the scores posted by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3-powered Galaxy S24 Ultra. That bodes well for the Galaxy Z Flip 6.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 vs. Motorola Razr Plus (2024): battery life and charging
Battery life has not always been a part of the Flip's appeal, though the Galaxy Z Flip 5 took steps to correct that, with a time on our battery test that more or less matched the average smartphone's result.
We're betting the Galaxy Z Flip 6 can improve upon that, partly because of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, which has proven to be a very efficient chipset. But Samsung also increased the size of the battery in the Galaxy Z Flip 6 to 4,000 mAh, so you'd imagine it's going to last longer on our test, even with the brighter display.
That said, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 will be hard pressed to match the Motorola Razr Plus (2024)'s battery test result. When we had the phone surf the web until it ran out of power, the Razr lasted a little more than 14 hours — a terrific result that landed it on our best phone battery life list. True, that result came with the phone's refresh rate set to 60Hz rather than its adaptive 165Hz rate, but it's still the best time we've ever recorded for a foldable phone in battery testing.
In addition to its bigger battery the Motorola Razr Plus (2024) also supports 40W charging, up from 30W on the 2023 version. The Galaxy Z Flip 6 charges at 25W wired just like its predecessor, so you'll be able to top off the Razr faster.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 vs. Motorola Razr Plus (2024): software
Much of the emphasis with the Galaxy Z Flip 6 is on Galaxy AI capabilities — both the features Samsung introduced in January that have found their way to other phones, plus some new features that are specifically designed for foldables.
Suggested Replies, for example, takes the Chat Assistant features Samsung already offered and optimizes them for the Galaxy Z Flip 6's cover screen, so that you can turn to AI to tailor your response to incoming messages. Similarly, the Interpreter Mode gets an update that lets you use both inner and outer screens of the Galaxy Z Flip 6 to show real-time translations, allowing you to carry on a conversation with someone who speaks another language.
Samsung may offer an overwhelming amount of AI-driven features, but Motorola has a few tricks of its own with the Razr Plus. Like the Flip, Motorola's phone has Google's Gemini Nano chatbot on-board, and you can even work with the chatbot from the Razr's cover display. A number of Moto AI features will also be available later on, allowing you to record meetings or get a summary of notification using voice commands.
On the software support front, Samsung has Motorola beat, as Samsung offers a full seven years of software and security protection. The Motorola Razr Plus (2024) provides a comparatively limited three years of Android updates with an extra year of security protection.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 vs. Motorola Razr Plus (2024): outlook
The Motorola Razr Plus (2024) has stormed out of the gate, with some very impressive changes to its chipset, cover display and main camera. The addition of AI tools should keep Motorola's foldable in the conversation with Samsung's Galaxy AI capabilities.
For a true comparison, though, we're going to need to put the newly unveiled Galaxy Z Flip 6 to the test, finding out just how substantial the new Galaxy AI features are and seeing how the Flip's camera perform relative to those on the Razr Plus. Stay tuned to get the definitive word on which foldable phone is worth your time.
