Motorola Razr Fold vs Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5

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 Z Flip 5

Bespoke Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy (3.36GHz) — same chip as the S23 family and Fold 5. Flagship-grade for everyday use and noticeably more efficient than the Flip 4's 8+ Gen 1.

• Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy at 3.36GHz + 8GB RAM + 256GB UFS 4.0 base — same chip as the S23 family in a Flip form factor.
• New chip is faster AND more efficient than the Flip 4's 8+ Gen 1 — battery life improvement comes from chip + 10% larger cell combined.
• Two years in (2025), still smooth for everyday use — chip + 8GB RAM have aged well thanks to Samsung's update cadence.

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 Z Flip 5

3,700mAh — only 10% more than the Flip 4 and the lineup's weakest. GSMArena measured ~15h video / 12h Wi-Fi web. 25W charging is slow, and oddly the Flip 5 takes longer to reach 100% than the Flip 4.

• 3,700mAh battery — only ~10% larger than the Flip 4. The lineup's weak spot, especially next to slab flagships with 4,500-5,000mAh.
• GSMArena testing: just over 15 hours of video playback and 12 hours of Wi-Fi web browsing — 'not amazing, not half bad either'.
• Real-world: about 1 hour more SOT per day than the Flip 4 thanks to chip + cell improvements — meaningful but still behind comparable slab phones.
• 25W charging matches the Flip 4 in the first 30 minutes — but oddly takes longer to reach 100% than the Flip 4 did.
• 15W Qi wireless charging supported and 4.5W reverse wireless — top up Galaxy Buds while traveling.