On the back of the Motorola Razr Ultra is a dual-camera system, consisting of a 50-megapixel main camera and a 50-megapixel ultra-wide camera. At this price, it would be nice to have a telephoto lens, but perhaps that’s a limitation of the flip phone form factor. Frankly, I’d rather have a telephoto lens than a big cover screen – or frankly any cover screen. But that’s a personal preference.
The main change on the main camera is the new LOFIC sensor (Lateral Overflow Integration Capacitor, if you want the full name), which Motorola claims offers up to 6x greater dynamic range. That’s a big claim, and while “6x” is more marketing than anything you’ll measure in the real world, the dynamic range is a real highlight here. The main camera preserved highlights and shadows in high-contrast scenes better than most flip phones I tested – clearly better than the Z Flip 7 – so the bright sky behind a shadowy subject held together instead of fading out.
The main camera is sharp and detailed, and holds up well in low-light conditions, where many phones fall apart. The ultrawide is softer, especially towards the edges and in dark conditions, which isn’t surprising for a small ultrawide sensor. I’d like to see flip phones start getting better ultra-wide cameras, even if it means taking up a little more room on the back of a device.
The front camera is 50 megapixels, and it’s pretty good: sharp, precise, and with high dynamic range, so selfies hold up well whether the light cooperates or not.
If you’re used to a phone with a telephoto lens, you’ll miss it here. I really wish flip phones would start shipping with telephoto lenses, especially those in this price range. That’s a pretty big trade-off for the flip form factor, and I think a lot of people would forgo the cover screen altogether in favor of a significantly better camera. If the phone were still able to fold in half, I’d be perfectly happy with a much smaller cover screen that really only serves as a camera viewfinder if the camera was much better, since I don’t really use the cover screen for much more than checking notifications.
But I digress. Is the camera new? Yes. There’s no telephoto lens, but the main LOFIC sensor is a real change, and the jump in dynamic range is something you’ll actually notice. It deserves the label.
