Motorola Razr Fold vs Samsung Galaxy S25 | TechTalkTown
Motorola Razr Fold vs Samsung Galaxy S25
Motorola Razr Fold
Motorola
8.3
Best US book foldable, big battery
Samsung Galaxy S25
Samsung
7.8
Safe small-Android pick
Motorola Razr Fold
What Reviewers Agree On
Best battery life of any notebook-style foldable — roughly 14h31m (16h10m optimized), far ahead of the Galaxy Z Fold 7's ~10h44m
DxOMark's #1 foldable camera (≈164 points, ~8th overall), with a triple 50MP system Motorola made a genuine strength
Standout software — multitasking, laptop mode and a Pixel-meets-Samsung balance reviewers repeatedly praise
Excellent, very bright displays — an 8.1-inch ~6,200-nit inner panel and a 165Hz ~6,000-nit outer screen
Active stylus support (Moto Pen Ultra) that works even on the cover screen, a Z Fold limitation
Pros & Cons
Motorola Razr Fold
Pros
Best battery life of any notebook-style foldable — roughly 14h31m (16h10m optimized), far ahead of the Galaxy Z Fold 7's ~10h44m
DxOMark's #1 foldable camera (≈164 points, ~8th overall), with a triple 50MP system Motorola made a genuine strength
Standout software — multitasking, laptop mode and a Pixel-meets-Samsung balance reviewers repeatedly praise
Excellent, very bright displays — an 8.1-inch ~6,200-nit inner panel and a 165Hz ~6,000-nit outer screen
Active stylus support (Moto Pen Ultra) that works even on the cover screen, a Z Fold limitation
Detailed Comparison
Design & Build
Motorola Razr Fold
Motorola's first book-style foldable trades the iconic flip for a Samsung-like book form, with a Material Expressive look, a flat-folding hinge and a notably heavy body.
Motorola's first book-style folding phone is a premium option, not the budget-friendlier alternative the category could use, with a 6,000mAh battery, top-tier chipset and serious camera hardware.
At 243g it's about 28g heavier than the Galaxy Z Fold 7, largely because of the camera array, though it feels balanced and not heavy in the hand.
The design is Google Material Expressive instead of a misguided attempt to match Apple.
Motorola leveraged decades of hinge engineering to pull the screen taut, resulting in a surface that is startlingly flat and masks the crease.
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Undercuts the Galaxy Z Fold 7 by about $100 ($1,899 / £1,799) and includes a case plus a 90W charger in the box
Best book foldable you can actually buy in the US, since the Oppo Find N6 and Honor Magic V6 aren't sold there
Deal Breakers
Uses the non-Elite Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 in a $1,899 flagship — a clear cost-down some reviewers find disappointing
Heavy at 243g (≈28g more than the Galaxy Z Fold 7) and only IP48/IP49 rated, not full IP68
Motorola's poor track record for timely updates, plus a genuine source conflict over whether it gets 7 years or only 3 years of OS updates
Foldable repair costs and Motorola's screen-peeling warranty history are recurring trust concerns
Samsung Galaxy S25
What Reviewers Agree On
The 6.2-inch form factor makes the S25 the last 'reasonably sized' Android flagship you can buy in the US — a real selling point in 2025.
The Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy delivers a legitimate generational jump (Engadget measured multi-core 8,950 vs 7,049 on the S24; Trusted Reviews logged Geekbench 6 multi 9,450) and the phone stays cool in normal use.
Battery life is meaningfully better than the S24 despite the unchanged 4,000 mAh cell — Engadget measured 28+ hours of video playback, roughly four hours longer than its predecessor, thanks to the more efficient 3nm chip.
The 6.2-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display is bright (2,600-nit peak), sharp at 1080p / 416 ppi, and pleasant to use day to day.
Seven years of OS and security updates match Google and Apple and remain one of the strongest reasons to buy a Samsung flagship.
One UI 7 on Android 15 is a genuinely big software step — the Now Bar, redesigned Quick Settings, smoother animations and deeper Gemini integration are reviewer favorites.
Build quality is high — IP68 dust/water resistance, Gorilla Glass Victus 2 front and back, Armor Aluminum 2 frame, and a 5g weight reduction over the S24.
Deal Breakers
Hardware is virtually unchanged from the S24 — the same camera trio, same 4,000 mAh battery, same display, same 1080p resolution and same $799 price tag make the upgrade case very weak.
The 12MP ultrawide is now lackluster — the S25 Ultra got the new 50MP ultrawide and the base S25 / S25+ did not, so reviewers like Wired call out that an $800 Pixel 9 has a 48MP ultrawide for the same money.
Cameras still lag the Pixel 9 and iPhone 16 in stills for most reviewers — Wired and Trusted Reviews both say the competition has pulled ahead while Samsung stood still.
Charging is slow versus rivals — 25W wired and 15W wireless trail the OnePlus 13R (80W) and many Chinese flagships; full charge takes around 90 minutes (Trusted Reviews), and Qi2 'Ready' only works through a separately purchased magnetic case.
Galaxy AI is a mixed bag — Gemini cross-app actions help, but Now Brief is openly described as useless by Digital Trends and 9to5Google, and Samsung will not commit to whether Galaxy AI stays free after the end of 2025.
Undercuts the Galaxy Z Fold 7 by about $100 ($1,899 / £1,799) and includes a case plus a 90W charger in the box
Best book foldable you can actually buy in the US, since the Oppo Find N6 and Honor Magic V6 aren't sold there
Cons
Uses the non-Elite Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 in a $1,899 flagship — a clear cost-down some reviewers find disappointing
Heavy at 243g (≈28g more than the Galaxy Z Fold 7) and only IP48/IP49 rated, not full IP68
Motorola's poor track record for timely updates, plus a genuine source conflict over whether it gets 7 years or only 3 years of OS updates
Foldable repair costs and Motorola's screen-peeling warranty history are recurring trust concerns
Samsung Galaxy S25
Pros
The 6.2-inch form factor makes the S25 the last 'reasonably sized' Android flagship you can buy in the US — a real selling point in 2025.
The Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy delivers a legitimate generational jump (Engadget measured multi-core 8,950 vs 7,049 on the S24; Trusted Reviews logged Geekbench 6 multi 9,450) and the phone stays cool in normal use.
Battery life is meaningfully better than the S24 despite the unchanged 4,000 mAh cell — Engadget measured 28+ hours of video playback, roughly four hours longer than its predecessor, thanks to the more efficient 3nm chip.
The 6.2-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display is bright (2,600-nit peak), sharp at 1080p / 416 ppi, and pleasant to use day to day.
Seven years of OS and security updates match Google and Apple and remain one of the strongest reasons to buy a Samsung flagship.
One UI 7 on Android 15 is a genuinely big software step — the Now Bar, redesigned Quick Settings, smoother animations and deeper Gemini integration are reviewer favorites.
Build quality is high — IP68 dust/water resistance, Gorilla Glass Victus 2 front and back, Armor Aluminum 2 frame, and a 5g weight reduction over the S24.
Cons
Hardware is virtually unchanged from the S24 — the same camera trio, same 4,000 mAh battery, same display, same 1080p resolution and same $799 price tag make the upgrade case very weak.
The 12MP ultrawide is now lackluster — the S25 Ultra got the new 50MP ultrawide and the base S25 / S25+ did not, so reviewers like Wired call out that an $800 Pixel 9 has a 48MP ultrawide for the same money.
Cameras still lag the Pixel 9 and iPhone 16 in stills for most reviewers — Wired and Trusted Reviews both say the competition has pulled ahead while Samsung stood still.
Charging is slow versus rivals — 25W wired and 15W wireless trail the OnePlus 13R (80W) and many Chinese flagships; full charge takes around 90 minutes (Trusted Reviews), and Qi2 'Ready' only works through a separately purchased magnetic case.
Galaxy AI is a mixed bag — Gemini cross-app actions help, but Now Brief is openly described as useless by Digital Trends and 9to5Google, and Samsung will not commit to whether Galaxy AI stays free after the end of 2025.
The build feels relatively sturdy with a zero-gap hinge and flush closure, though the soft inner screen still makes dust and dirt a concern.
Samsung Galaxy S25
The S25 keeps the S24's flat-edge aluminum chassis nearly intact — 0.4 mm thinner, 5 g lighter, and visually distinguishable only by slightly more prominent camera rings. Reviewers unanimously call out that this is now the last 'small' Android flagship you can buy in the US, which has become a feature in its own right. Build quality is high: Gorilla Glass Victus 2 front and back, Armor Aluminum 2 frame, IP68 rating.
The Galaxy S25 is secretly the best small Android phone you can buy in the US — almost more by attrition than by design, since Google's Pixel only comes in big and bigger.
After several years of testing 6.5-inch-plus phones, having the 6.2-inch S25 around is refreshing — small enough to use one-handed but still big enough for everything but extended video.
The S25 is a 'pocket powerhouse' — its lightweight, compact build delivers a refreshing change from larger devices while still offering a big enough display for everything you need.
Aside from the camera lens hubcaps and the new chip inside, the S25 is essentially the same boxy, sharp-cornered phone we've seen for the past three years.
Spot-the-difference between the S25 and S24 is a tough game — the camera lenses sit slightly more prominent on the rear, the weight is 5g lower, and that is basically the entire visual delta.
Build quality is excellent — Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on both sides, an Armor Aluminum frame, IP68 water and dust resistance, and a high-quality feel in the hand.
The S25 series is so visually similar to the S24 that the new color palette is one of the few obvious ways to tell them apart — Black is now a Samsung.com-exclusive, leaving Navy, Mint, Icy Blue and Silver Shadow at most retailers.
Unbox Therapy noted the S25 design language is 'as minimal as you can get' — a familiar boxy phone with very little flair in the camera layout, branded with a small mirrored Samsung logo on the back.
Performance
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 S25
The Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy is the single substantive hardware change this year and reviewers agree it delivers — Engadget measured multi-core Geekbench jumping from 7,049 on the S24 to 8,950, Trusted Reviews logged 9,450 multi-core / 3,101 single-core. The base S25 lacks the Ultra's larger vapor chamber so it warms up under sustained load, but everyday performance is butter-smooth. RAM is now 12GB across all storage tiers — a real upgrade.
With the 3 nm Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy, CPU multi-core hit 8,950 (up from 7,049 on the S24) and GPU scored 19,158 (up from 15,082) — a meaningful generational jump.
Geekbench 6 multi-core landed at 9,450 and single-core at 3,101, putting the S25 at the top of the Android pile and roughly on par with the iPhone 16 in multi-core.
Everyday tasks and gaming run smoothly — the S25 got warm under stress tests and back-to-back generative AI plus 4K video uploads but never uncomfortably hot.
Back-to-back generative AI requests and shooting and uploading 4K video made the S25 heat up — it lacks the expanded vapor chamber that Samsung added to the S25 Ultra.
Battery & Charging
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 S25
The 4,000 mAh battery is unchanged from the S24, but the more efficient 3 nm chip pushes real-world endurance noticeably further — Engadget recorded 28+ hours of video playback (about 4 hours longer than the S24), Trusted Reviews ended most days with 30%+ remaining, 9to5Google occasionally killed it in a heavy day. Charging is the weakness — 25W wired, 15W wireless, with Qi2 'Ready' working only via a separately purchased magnetic case. The OnePlus 13R's 80W wired charging is a generation ahead.
The Galaxy S25 clocked in at over 28 hours of video playback — almost four hours more than the S24, and a real testament to processor efficiency gains since the battery itself didn't grow.
Battery life was decent overall — most days finished with over 30% remaining, comfortably getting through a day but not a full two-day phone.
A 4,000 mAh battery at $799 is not great — 9to5Google could kill the phone in a single heavy day, and a midday top-up may become routine as the battery ages.
The S25's 4,000 mAh got me through a full day of moderate use — a smaller battery is a concern in a tiny device but the new chip earns the phone enough efficiency to compensate.
The base S25 misses the S25 Ultra's anti-reflective Gorilla Armor 2 coating and the new 200MP / 50MP ultrawide cameras — reviewers say the gap between the S25 and the Ultra has widened, not narrowed.
The base S25 misses the S25 Ultra's anti-reflective Gorilla Armor 2 coating and the new 200MP / 50MP ultrawide cameras — reviewers say the gap between the S25 and the Ultra has widened, not narrowed.
The Snapdragon 8 Elite is the most powerful chip on Android to date, with a special enhanced 'for Galaxy' variant supporting Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 — the biggest upgrade in years.
Across all S25 devices the Snapdragon 8 Elite shows roughly 25–30 percent better real-world battery efficiency over the previous generation — and that is the change that matters most.
For now this is the most powerful small phone on the market — the Snapdragon 8 Elite makes the S25 feel slick and top-of-the-line, and dropping the Exynos chip globally is a big win for non-US buyers.
All three S25 models share the same Snapdragon 8 Elite chip and 12 GB of RAM — the biggest practical differences between them come down to battery size and screen size.
Charging speeds aren't the fastest — 25W wired and 15W wireless trail the OnePlus 13R's 80W, but Trusted Reviews considers it comparable to Apple and Google and not a deal-breaker.
Qi2 charging only works through a compatible third-party magnetic case — the phone itself has no built-in magnets, and Samsung's first-party magnetic case has 'weak magnets' that lose hold over potholes.
0–50% wired charging took 33 minutes and a full 0–100% charge took 90 minutes — Trusted Reviews benchmarks confirm Samsung is happy to stay conservative versus 80W-plus Chinese rivals.
Samsung has stuck to the same 4,000 mAh capacity, 25W wired, 15W wireless and 4.5W reverse wireless charging as the S24 — there's an upgrade to Qi2.1 Ready, but it can go easily unnoticed.
