Motorola Razr Fold vs Sony Xperia 1 V

Motorola Razr Fold

Historically the foldable Achilles heel — but Motorola invested in hardware and software here, and DxOMark ranks it the best camera in any foldable.

• DxOMark rates the Razr Fold the #1 camera among foldables — roughly 8th overall across all phones — with a Gold Label.
• A 50MP main (f/1.6, OIS), a 50MP ultrawide (12mm, 122° FOV, f/2.0) and a third 50MP camera — all selfies can use the best 50MP main.
• This is without question the best Motorola camera I've ever used.
• Comes up just short of modern flagships like the iPhone 17 Pro, Find X9 Pro and Xiaomi 17 Ultra, with a DxOMark score of 164 points.
• Took it for a street-photography spin and came away genuinely impressed — the camera hardware was what caught attention.
• Highest-quality camera in a folding phone in the US — better than the Pixel 10 Pro Fold and Galaxy Z Fold 7, which use older sensors.

Sony Xperia 1 V

Sony makes the best camera sensors but Sony's smartphone processing still doesn't fully exploit them — the Xperia 1 V is the closest the company has come, with the new Exmor T sensor and continuous 3.5-5.2× zoom remaining unique selling points, but auto-mode HDR trails iPhone/Pixel processing.

• New 24mm f/1.9 52MP main with Type 1/1.35" Exmor T sensor — 1.7× larger than the Xperia 1 IV's, the headline hardware upgrade.
• 85-125mm telephoto offers continuous optical zoom 3.5×-5.2× — versatility that needs multiple cameras on rivals to match.
• Real-time eye AF + 30fps continuous shooting with autofocus — Sony Alpha DNA carried over from mirrorless cameras.
• Low-light performance still trails Samsung and Google — lights look blown out in completely dark conditions.
• Camera comparison vs iPhone 14 Pro is 'embarrassing' — despite better hardware, processing still trails Apple.

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.

Sony Xperia 1 V

Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 + 12GB RAM delivers flagship-class performance; thermal management improved over the Xperia 1 IV but still throttles under sustained load.

• Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 + 12GB RAM — flagship-tier benchmarks aligned with Galaxy S23 family.
• Thermal management improved vs the IV but still observes 'significant thermal throttling' in prolonged stress tests.
• Real-world performance is better than the synthetic stress tests suggest — display refresh rate never throttled.

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.

Sony Xperia 1 V

5,000mAh + Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 efficiency delivers strong real-world endurance — but Sony's 30W wired charging is now firmly behind OnePlus's 80W and Samsung's 45W flagship peers.

• 5,000mAh battery delivers up to 20 hours of continuous 4K playback per Sony's claim.
• Real-world: ~50% remaining after average day of web browsing, messaging, calls, and gaming — strong endurance.
• 30W wired + PD3.0/PPS — 50% in ~30 min. Slow vs OnePlus 11's 80W and S23 Ultra's 45W.
• Wireless + reverse wireless charging supported — feature parity with S23 family for the basics.

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.

Sony Xperia 1 V

The $1,399 price is the make-or-break factor — meaningfully above Galaxy S23 Ultra ($1,199) and iPhone 15 Pro Max ($1,199), and limited US distribution shrinks the addressable market further.

• $1,400 price tag is a true flagship spend going up against Apple iPhone 14, Galaxy S23 Ultra, Z Fold 4, Pixel Fold.
• Notebookcheck verdict: 'more camera replacement and DSLR companion than smartphone' — niche positioning explicit.
• Most-cited fan critique: 'too expensive for what it offers, especially in camera department' — value debate is the central tension.
• If long battery life is the priority, Galaxy S23 Ultra or Xiaomi 13 Ultra offer more endurance at lower prices.