Motorola Razr Fold vs Samsung Galaxy S23

Motorola Razr Fold

Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 with 16GB RAM — fast for everyday use and surprisingly good in long sessions, but the choice of the non-Elite chip in a $1,899 phone is the headline criticism.

• Motorola stuck Qualcomm's excellent Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 (16GB RAM, 512GB) inside its first full-fold flagship.
• With a phone this expensive it is a bit disappointing Motorola couldn't go all the way with the Elite chip.
• In a 20-minute stress test the Z Fold 7's 8 Elite was ~10% better on the first loop, but the Razr Fold ran better through the 20 minutes and ended ~20% ahead on sustained performance with similar thermals.
• Recording 4K120 for a long time makes the Snapdragon CPU run quite hot, though it cools down fairly fast.
• The non-Elite chip, 243g weight and IP49 dust rating could be causes for concern, even if the experience is smooth.

Samsung Galaxy S23

Same bespoke Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy (3.36GHz) chip as the Plus and Ultra — no compromise. 40% faster than the S22 Ultra and meaningfully cooler. 8GB RAM keeps multitasking smooth even 3 years on.

• Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy at 3.36GHz with 8GB RAM and 128GB UFS 3.1 base — same chip as the Plus and Ultra, no Exynos split.
• Bespoke 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy is up to 40% faster than the S22 Ultra and adds Ray Tracing support for certain games.
• Cool under normal use — even at 38-39°C ambient temps, no overheating issues; long-term performance holds up.
• Three years in (2026): app opening, multitasking and Call of Duty still smooth — chip plus 8GB RAM has aged well.
• Ars Technica caught a 60GB Samsung Android system partition out of the box — 4x the size of a Pixel 7 Pro's 15GB, and only one OS copy means ~30 min downtime during updates.

Motorola Razr Fold

The standout: the largest battery in the book-foldable space delivering class-leading endurance, plus 80W wired charging — three times faster than the Galaxy Z Fold 7.

• Lasting an impressive 14 hours 31 minutes, the Razr Fold is officially the best notebook-style foldable for battery life (16h10m with refresh-rate optimized).
• The Galaxy Z Fold 7 managed only 10h44m in the same test, with a 4,400mAh battery versus the Razr Fold's 6,000mAh cell.
• I found the battery basically impossible to kill in a single day, even with the Fold's hotspot supplying an entire office internet connection over 12 days.
• It charges at 80W wired — over three times as fast as the Galaxy Z Fold 7's 25W — plus 50W wireless and 5W reverse, with a 90W charger and a case included in the box.
• The 6,000mAh cell is colossal — about 20% larger than the Pixel 10 Pro Fold's — though there's also more display to power.
• If you use the camera a lot or run games, the battery does drain quite quickly and you may need an afternoon top-up.

Samsung Galaxy S23

3,900mAh — the family's weakest point. Real-world ~5-6 hours of SOT typical (worsened by One UI 6/7), and only 25W charging means ~1h12m to full. The compact form factor's main cost.

• 3,900mAh battery — only 200mAh more than the S22, no 4,500mAh+ like the Plus. The smallest cell in the family.
• Real-world: ~5-6 hours of SOT typical, comfortably a full day of moderate use, 1-1.5 days possible.
• Battery life noticeably dropped after One UI 6 update — owner went from 5-6h SOT on 5G to barely 2h, recommends staying on Android 13 for best results.
• Feb 2026 update real-world: ~4h SOT on Wi-Fi, drops to <2h on 5G — battery efficiency has gotten worse with time.
• Charging caps at 25W (the Plus and Ultra get 45W): 0-100% takes ~1h12m on Samsung's 25W charger.

Motorola Razr Fold

At $1,899 it undercuts the Z Fold 7 and is the only premium book foldable many US buyers can actually purchase — value hinges on whether the non-Elite chip and update questions matter to you.

• At $1,899.99 / £1,799.99 it undercuts the Galaxy Z Fold 7 by about $100/£100, and the pre-order Moto Pen Ultra bundle adds real value — the sum of its parts is the best foldable on the market.
• If you're tired of Samsung-only or have no interest in the Pixel Fold, this may be the best folding phone you can get in the US right now — the Oppo Find N6 and Honor Magic V6 aren't available there.
• It could be called a disappointment, especially compared to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold and Honor Magic V5 — it should have offered something more compelling to stand out.
• If Motorola drops the price by even two or three hundred dollars within the first few weeks, this phone suddenly becomes a much stronger contender.
• It competes fairly well with the Oppo Find N6, which is amazing to see.

Samsung Galaxy S23

$799 launch with the same chip as the $1,199 Ultra — strong value despite the 25W charging and smaller battery. Now $300-400 used, often the best compact-flagship option versus Pixel 7/8 and OnePlus 11.

• Launched at $799 with the same Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chip as the $1,199 Ultra — outstanding flagship value at the base tier.
• Engadget verdict: 'A solid phone that's probably not worth the upgrade' from a recent S22 or S21 — Samsung's iterative cadence.
• Notebookcheck calls it 'the small S23 that makes the biggest leap' — the S23 family's largest year-over-year improvement is on the standard tier.
• Best compact Android flagship at ₹45k in 2024 — still recommended for buyers who want a one-handed phone with good cameras.
• vs Pixel 7 — Pixel wins on haptics, one-handed design and software smarts; S23 wins on chip speed, battery life and update commitment.