Motorola Razr 40 Ultra phone review. Checking the price, technical specifications, camera, hardware, software, battery, charging speed, and other features of the Motorola Razr 40 Ultra phone.
Motorola Razr 40 Ultra phone review, price and specifications
Introduction and specifications
Motorola is re-examining foldable products, and at first glance, it looks like the company is on the right track. Motorola is launching two foldable Razr phones this year – the Razr 40 and the 40 Ultra (also known as the Razr+ in North America). The subject of this review is the more expensive Ultra, which offers significant changes compared to the Razr 2022.
It’s the design that’s changed the most, and that’s an important aspect because today’s foldables appeal more to a design-conscious audience. And it is worth noting that the hardware changes deserve attention. Motorola has updated the hinge and reduces the gap between the two parts of the chassis when closed. They have also shortened the bezels of the main display and made the wrinkles somewhat less visible. Finally, they’ve added a really usable exterior screen.
The 3.6-inch external screen isn’t just for looking at notifications or other text information. Motorola has worked closely with app developers, so quite a few apps have been optimized to run on the screen, including Netflix, Disney+, and Spotify. It also serves as a great viewfinder for the main camera. Although, you will also find a selfie camera inside.
Motorola Razr 40 Ultra specifications at a glance:
Body: 170.83×73.95×6.99mm, 188.6g; Plastic front (open), glass front 88.42 x 73.95 x 15.1 mm (closed, Gorilla Glass Victus), glass back (Gorilla Glass Victus) or vegetable leather, aluminum frame (7000 series), hinge (stainless steel). Waterproof cover.
Screen: 6.90 inches LTPO AMOLED folding, 1B color, 165 Hz, HDR10+, 1400 nits (peak), resolution 1080x2640px, aspect ratio 22:9, 413ppi; Second external pOLED, 1B color 3. nits, 114Hz, 110Hz 1056 x 1066 pixels, 413 ppi, Gorilla Glass Victus.
Chipset: Qualcomm SM8475 Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 (4nm): Octa-core (1x 3.19 GHz Cortex-X2 and 3x 2.75 GHz Cortex-A710 and 4x 1.80 GHz Cortex-A510). Adreno 730.
Connectivity: 5G; Electronic SIM card with two SIM cards; Wi-Fi 6e; BT 5.3, EDR; NFC.
Other specifications: Fingerprint reader (mounted on the side). Stereo speakers
Inside, the Razr 40 Ultra is a mix of old and new hardware. While still rocking the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 SoC, the device swaps its old display for a faster and larger one. The main 6.9-inch display can now run at 165Hz, while the secondary display runs at 144Hz. The battery capacity has also been increased, now at 3800 mAh, but there is no upgrade in charging speed. This year’s 40 Ultra gets wireless charging, but it’s a must-have feature in the premium segment.
The camera department has also seen a small upgrade, especially the main camera. No longer Quad-Bayer, it uses a standard 12-megapixel sensor with large pixels, paired with a wide-aperture f/1.5 lens.
The updated spec sheet looks promising enough. After all, Samsung’s Galaxy Flip series has been the default choice for people looking for a foldable phone for some time now, so we’d be happy to see a worthy challenger to Samsung’s hegemony this year.
Unboxing Motorola Razr 40 Ultra
The phone opens in a standard box containing the usual user manual and a 30W TurboPower wall charger with USB-A along with a USB-C to USB-A cable for charging and data transfer. However, the charger is not included in the box for North American buyers.
There is also a two-piece protective case with a clear hard shell.
Design and ergonomics
The Motorola Razr 40 Ultra has a familiar but heavily revised design compared to its predecessor, the Razr 2022. And depending on the color you choose, you get different materials. The Infinity Black and Glacier Blue colors use a sheet of Victus Gorilla Glass for the bottom half of the phone, while the Viva Magenta color we have in our hands has plant-based leather. However, all versions use the 7000 series aluminum frame.
The vegan leather in Viva Magenta feels beautiful to the touch and is incredibly smooth. It also helps to catch. The Victus Gorilla Glass sheet protects the external screen.
Thanks to the new teardrop hinge design, the two halves come closer together when the device is folded, with virtually no gap between them. For reference, last year’s Razr 2022 is 17mm thick, while the Razr 40 Ultra is 15.1mm. To be fair, the new Razr is also thinner when unfolded – just 6.99mm compared to 7.6mm on the Razr 2022. Additionally, the new Razr is significantly lighter, weighing in at 184.5g for the Viva Magenta color, while the optional glass is slightly heavier and weighs 188.5 grams.
Motorola Razr 40 Ultra
Despite the hinge, the Razr 40 Ultra offers IP52 certification against water and dust. It’s worth noting that the device isn’t fully waterproof, but it can withstand splashes, spills, sweat, or light rain, which should be more than adequate in most casual situations.
Motorola Razr 40 Ultra
Speaking of the hinge, it feels solid and solid, sometimes even too much so. Opening the phone with one hand is difficult, almost impossible. But you can still close it with one hand, and it supports a wide range of positions and closes at a 120-degree angle. After this step, it will open completely. We noticed that the phone does not fully open and remains slightly bent.
The display is now larger, measuring 6.9 inches in diameter, with slim bezels. The wrinkle is a bit more annoying than last year, so extra points for that. With flexible OLED available, it doesn’t get much better than this. Technology.
We like that the phone is slimmer than before and sits comfortably in the hand. However, it’s certainly a tall device, so one-handed operation will still be a challenge. This means that reaching the top half buttons is also a problem. It would have been better if the power button (which also acts as a fingerprint) was placed at the bottom, while the volume buttons were closer to the hinge.
The rest of the side frame is as usual. The lower half houses the speaker grill and the USB-C connector, while the top half houses the earphones, which act as a second speaker. Motorola moved it up so you can make calls with the phone folded up.
The external screen is now 3.2 inches and is a nice touch. It fills almost the entire top half of the Razr 40 Ultra, while the two camera sensors along with the LED flash appear to float above the screen. The two camera sensors are almost perfectly flush, so they don’t obstruct the display as much.
Motorola Razr 40 Ultra external screen
The “wow” effect of foldable smartphones is long gone, which is understandable, but the Razr 40 Ultra has a beautiful, functional, and solid build. The color options are cool, especially the Viva Magenta that we have with vegetable leather. Nothing to complain about and we can’t find any deal-breaking issues. We just wished the buttons were better placed as they are difficult to reach when the device is open.
6.9-inch flexible OLED display and 3.2-inch external display
The Razr 40 Ultra now has a larger 6.9-inch LTPO foldable OLED panel. It has an unusual resolution of 1080 x 2640 pixels, which equals an aspect ratio of 22:9. This panel supports HDR10+, 10-bit color depth, and refresh rate up to 165 Hz, and is one of the fastest displays on the market. During gaming, the screen supports a touch response rate of up to 360Hz for a more responsive gaming experience.
It has a film screen protector pre-applied for added protection and may also be necessary for the display to function. The center crease is somewhat subtle at first glance, but you can definitely feel it when you run your finger across the screen.
Motorola did not cut any corners with the external display. The 3.2-inch OLED panel has a resolution of 1066 x 1056 pixels and basically supports a bunch of features – HDR10+, 10-bit color depth, and 360Hz touch response rate. However, it runs at 144Hz instead of 165Hz, which is enough for a smooth viewing experience anyway.
We couldn’t confirm this for sure, but we suspect that Motorola uses one of the camera’s sensors to detect ambient light and adjust the brightness of the external display. On the other hand, the main display has a full ambient light sensor.
Both displays perform well in our tests. The folding screen reached 1050 nits in auto mode, while it reached 506 nits in manual mode. Despite its protective layer on top, we found the maximum brightness to be good enough for comfortable outdoor use. The external display has similar readings – 505 nits in manual mode and 932 nits in auto mode.
Color accuracy on an external display is not great and tends to show white and bluish-gray. The same goes for the home screen in the default saturated color mode. Switching to the Natural color preset lowers the average dE2000 to 2.2. Solid result
HRR control
Since this phone uses an LTPO OLED panel, it can adjust the granular refresh rate. When the screen is idle, the refresh rate drops to 1Hz, regardless of the brightness level. It can also accommodate a variety of videos, including 24 frames per second varieties. And while we like these implementations, there are more that we don’t like. For example, we couldn’t boost the display to 165Hz. It was always stuck at 120Hz and Chrome would even switch between 120 and 90Hz without any apparent logic.
The only time the screen saturated the full 165Hz was in certain benchmarks or when we enabled the extreme refresh rate mode via the game’s sidebar. However, we can’t confirm if games can actually run at 165fps, as the refresh rate doesn’t always match the frame rate. We’ve tried titles that are known to be limited to 60Hz, and the counter shows a refresh rate of 165Hz, so we’re skeptical.
In any case, the refresh rate is general and you won’t be using the full potential of 165Hz most of the time.
The external display follows a similar pattern, only going to 120Hz instead of 144Hz when needed. And since it’s not LTPO, it defaults to 60Hz instead of 1Hz.
Battery life
The Motorola Razr 40 Ultra has a larger 3800 mAh battery along with a more efficient 1st Gen Snapdragon 8+ chipset. And our test results show a significant improvement over the Motorola Razr 2022 in all scenarios. Screen-off and screen-on tests all show measurable improvements, with an overall score of up to 83 hours. We’re especially happy to see web browsing and video playback runtimes improve, as they were pretty bad last generation.
The video test was performed in 60 Hz refresh rate mode. The web browsing test is performed with the highest display refresh rate if possible. See the relevant reviews for more details. To adjust the endurance rating formula to match your usage patterns, check out our all-time battery test results chart, where you can find all the phones we’ve tested.
On the one hand, the Razr 40 Ultra’s placement suggests that battery life isn’t all that impressive overall. Many standard flagship phones have longer battery life. On the other hand, the Razr 40 Ultra’s battery life isn’t too bad compared to other flip smartphones – it outlasts the Galaxy Z Flip4, for example, though the Oppo Find N2 Flip still does better.
Charging speed
The new Razr 40 Ultra appears to have borrowed the 30W TurboPower charger from its predecessor, but surprisingly, the phone came with a USB-A to USB-C cable instead of USB-C to USB-C. A suitable USB-A charger was also included in the box. In any case, the Razr 40 Ultra charges faster than the Razr 2022 despite having a larger battery.
However, this device is not very impressive when placed in context. The relatively small 3,800 mAh battery is fully charged in 1 hour and 27 minutes, while a 30-minute charge cycle will fill 45 percent of the battery. Not nearly enough to be considered competitive.
Speakers
Although the Razr 40 Ultra uses a hybrid stereo setup, with the left channel acting as the headphone, the sound is very balanced. In terms of loudness, the speakers received a “Very Good” rating of -25.4 LUFS, matching last year’s Razr 2022 speakers.
After a subjective assessment, the Razr 40 Ultra appears to have borrowed speakers from its predecessor, which is mostly a good thing. We like how clean the sound is, with good mids, loud and clear vocals, and plenty of bass.
Use the playback controls to listen to phone recordings (best with headphones). We measure the average loudness of the speakers in LUFS. A lower absolute value means a louder sound. A look at the frequency response graph tells you how far the reproduction of bass, treble, and midrange frequencies is from the ideal flat “0db” line. You can add more phones to compare their differences. Scores and ratings are not comparable to our old speaker test.
Vanilla Android 13 is decorated with Moto features
Motorola has always been keen on the vanilla Android experience and this has been one of the main appeals of Motorola. However, in the context of a foldable smartphone, some might think that’s more of a downside. After all, foldable smartphones need a little extra touch to make all the apps work properly on the relatively new form factor. The good news is that Android hasn’t aged and has evolved enough to accommodate the new foldable form factor, and Motorola has worked closely with developers to improve the user experience. Additionally, the OEM has promised three major firmware updates for the Razr 40 Ultra.
If you’ve ever used a Motorola smartphone or any other pure Android phone, you’ll feel comfortable. There is nothing out of the ordinary when it comes to the aesthetics, navigation, and internal features of Android.
In typical Motorola fashion, there are a handful of extra features that come with almost every Motorola smartphone, along with some exclusive features, thanks to the new 3.2-inch external display. Almost all of the extra features can be found in the Moto System app, along with some helpful tips on how to get the most out of the Razr 40 Ultra.
Home screen, recent apps, notification shade, settings menu
Let’s start with personalization. Motorola offers a wealth of dynamic wallpapers that can be applied to the home and external screens. There’s no Always-on display, though, at least not in the general sense. You can’t set the external display to always be on, but Motorola offers the so-called Peek Display, which is second best. You can wake up the external display by tapping on it or just tapping the phone. The software checks the changes in the accelerometer and wakes the screen. Shows notifications and a customizable clock face.
Engine features and customization
There are a few other Moto gestures too, like launching the flashlight with two hand gestures or rotating the phone to launch the camera.
Motor movements
A relatively new sidebar has been added to Moto Features. You can access your favorite apps from the sidebar and launch them in small windows. Unfortunately, you can only run one app in the background and one in a small window, so multitasking capabilities are somewhat limited.
Sidebar and multitasking
Motorola also added a double-tap gesture on the back so you can launch an app or perform an action on the fly. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen this gesture implemented, but it’s definitely the first time we’ve seen it work properly without lag or errors. Maybe because your finger rests naturally on the secondary screen, which in turn is more touch-capable than your typical metal/leather/glass/plastic back.
Quick launch with two taps on the back
Now go to an external screen. Motorola has done a great job and we can see why. The secondary screen may not be as big, but it’s more functional than ever. You can run standalone apps on it, reply to messages, use it as a viewfinder, attend to or dismiss notifications, and even watch Netflix videos. Motorola has worked closely with developers to optimize some of the most used apps to work properly on the 3.2-inch screen. However, there are still some issues that need to be addressed. For example, the Google Maps experience wasn’t great, and some buttons and UI elements were often blocked by the camera sensors. It’s important to note that we had an engineering sample to work with, so Motorola may fix them at launch or shortly thereafter.
External screen customization
As we mentioned earlier, you can set your favorite clock style, arrange apps on the home screen, rearrange panels on the home screen, and adjust the font and size. This system allows you to switch between home and external screens by tapping a button when you close the phone or by automatically moving the said app as soon as you close the flip. Keep in mind that some apps aren’t allowed in the external panel, but the vast majority of apps we tried worked fine.
External screen customization
The external screen also has its own recent apps menu and you can access quick settings and notification shade as well. In short, it allows you to do almost everything without having to unlock the device.
External screen home screen, recent apps, notification shade
Introduced in 2021, Motorola’s Ready-For platform allows for multiple cases that put the phone at the center of a big-screen experience. Connecting a TV or monitor allows you to have a Windows desktop-like environment, play a game on your phone, display it on an external display, or even have a video chat on a larger screen.
Moves in ready mode for
And while this feature previously only worked with a proper USB-C to USB-C cable, you can now connect using Miracast, which most modern TVs, monitors, and PCs today support. establish If you don’t have a handheld mouse and/or keyboard, the phone’s screen can be used as a touchpad and/or keyboard.
You can also use “ready for” on Windows-based PCs – it runs in a window on your desktop. This is useful when you want to run an Android app from your computer or multitask between devices on just one screen.
Ready for a desktop-like experience
Another use of Ready for on a Windows PC is for video calls, where you can use the phone’s camera to take a picture of yourself and an external display to see the other participants.
The latest Ready For Use case is for gaming on a bigger screen – be it a TV or a laptop/monitor. You plug in an external controller and run the game on the phone, which has the obvious advantage of a larger screen for gameplay.
It works exactly like Samsung’s DeX, bringing a desktop-friendly experience to Android and its apps.
Ready for a desktop-like experience
All in all, Motorola’s vision for a clean Android is somewhat different from Google’s, as it offers several unique features and can improve the foldable experience beyond the scope of vanilla Android. The best part is that the software doesn’t look unfinished at all, quite the opposite in fact. Our experience was flawless (except for very rare UI issues with external displays in some apps) and the system ran smoothly without any lag or stuttering.
Performance and benchmarks
The Razr 40 Ultra has last year’s Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 (4nm) chipset, which is a powerful, modern, flagship SoC, but not the latest. Still, it’s powerful enough to handle anything you throw at it, and it’s the full silicon version, not the underclocking kind that some other phones use. This means that the octa-core CPU has the usual 1+3+4 clusters with the following clock speeds: 1x 3.19 GHz Cortex-X2, 3x 2.75 GHz Cortex-A710, and 4x 1.80 GHz Cortex-A510. The Adreno 730 GPU handles graphics-intensive tasks.
The standard memory configuration is 8GB/256GB while the 12GB/512GB variant can be found exclusively in select markets.
As you can see, the Razr 40 Ultra performs as expected most of the time, making good use of the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 SoC. There are a few GPU-intensive scenarios where the device falls behind your typical SD8+ Gen 1 smartphone. However, it’s hard to get past the fact that the Razr 40 Ultra costs the same as other 2023 flagship devices and yet performs poorly. All true flagships this year are rocking the much-improved Snapdragon 8 2nd generation.
Stable performance
The Razr 40 Ultra doesn’t surprise with good sustained performance, and that’s partly due to the form factor. Splitting the chassis into two halves results in reduced heat dissipation, making it increasingly difficult for the cooling design to match the demands of the SoC.
CPU stress test: 30 minutes • 60 minutes
No sign of improvement was observed throughout the entire test, and the SoC maintained about 50% of its theoretical performance during the 1-hour-stress scenario.
Old dual camera setup
Surprisingly, Motorola opted for a non-Quad-Bayer sensor for its main camera – 12MP with large 1.4µm pixels. The sensor is paired with an optically stabilized lens with a large f/1.5 aperture. That’s a bit larger than what we’re used to seeing at around f/1.7-1.9. Either way, the aperture gives the sensor an advantage at night by capturing more light, but close shots will have a very limited focus distance.
The ultra-wide camera, on the other hand, is pretty standard and essentially the same as last year’s Razr – 13MP f/2.2, 1.12µm with 108° FoV. And it supports autofocus and enables macro-level photos.
The selfie camera also comes with a 32MP 0.7µm sensor with an f/2.4 aperture from last year. And since it’s a Quad-Bayer sensor, the camera produces 8-megapixel images.
Camera menus
The camera app on the Razr 2022 Ultra is custom, despite the fairly stock software package. When it comes to running it on the unlocked phone, it’s basically the same as what you get on the regular, bar-style Moto.
The basics are as usual – the camera modes are arranged in a customizable carousel shape, with the “More” tab at the far right end of the carousel holding rarely used shooting modes.
Pro mode gives you full control over camera settings such as white balance, ISO, focus, shutter speed, and exposure compensation, and works on both rear cameras but not the front camera. A small live histogram is provided.
Camera modes and settings
Additional settings for each camera mode can be found by swiping down in the viewfinder. There’s a small bar at the bottom that shows, but if you miss it, you might wonder where some of the controls are, like the flash and self-timer settings in photo mode and the frame rate in video mode.
The gear icon for the general settings menu holds more settings.
The only thing that sets the Razr’s viewfinder apart from your average viewfinder is a small icon in the top left corner of the screen that activates the external display when you open the phone. The button toggles between three modes – outer screen off, outer screen on with a live view, and outer screen on with a colorful animation to replace the “say cheese” command.
Since the outer screen has half the UI capabilities, it also gets its own camera app – for when you want to take photos (or videos) with the phone closed. You get a zoom level key and a mode selector (which you have to tap and then choose between modes), plus an arrow button for more settings.
There are limitations that apply when using an external display, the most notable of which is that you cannot receive the entire output of the camera sensor. You can choose between two crops – the default 1:1 crop or the 4:3 crop on the shorter side of the illustrator.
The display is oriented at a 90-degree angle to the sensor, and getting full coverage means sending a live preview to the mailbox – so Motorola just decided to forgo that option.
The resulting crop and orientation mismatch also affects video recording. All of these seemingly arbitrary limitations could very well be fixed with a software update, but as it stands at the time of review, some things just can’t.
Photos of the day
Main camera
Daylight camera performance is decent enough, though perhaps not stunning in the context of a flagship phone. The level of detail resolved in these photos is excellent, but the software does resort to extra (over)sharpening which can be distracting in certain scenes.
Main camera daylight samples
Color reproduction is vibrant. The dynamic range is pretty good, but we’ve seen better – you can see sharp cuts in challenging scenes.
Noise is otherwise well controlled, even indoors. However, clarity and detail suffer in adverse lighting conditions.
Main camera daylight samples
However, the very wide f/1.5 aperture is a double-edged sword. When shooting objects that are really close, the bokeh is beautiful and natural, but some parts of the subject may be blurred due to the limited depth of field.
2x zoom
Motorola hasn’t used a 2x zoom button because the 12MP camera isn’t meant for zooming only. However, zooming in allows you to take zoomed photos and the results are not great. Post-processing is the same as 1x photo mode, but the resolution is significantly reduced.
Daylight samples with 2x zoom
Ultra-wide camera
The ultrawide camera is very solid in good light. The dynamic range is good. Color reproduction and exposure are in line with the original camera. And more importantly, the level of resolved detail is very good, especially for an ultra-wide shooter.
Spectacular daylight
Surprisingly, the ultra-wide camera is more consistent in all scenarios than the main camera, and we liked the ultra-wide samples taken indoors just as much.
Macro examples
Since the ultra-wide camera supports autofocus, the Razr 40 Ultra uses it for close-up macro photography. The samples below look solid, with plenty of detail and adequate resolution. Performance in low-light environments is also good.
Macro examples
Portraits
Portrait mode produces photos with beautiful bokeh, natural colors, and, as long as the lighting conditions allow, decent detail and sharpness. Even the smallest drop in ambient light causes the skin to become smoother and significantly reduces its quality. Edge detection works very well even with complex backgrounds, failing only on stray hairs.
Portraits: Normal • Portrait mode
We’ve also included some non-portrait samples, and the software seems to add just a dash over the desired resolution. Everything else looks pretty much the same.
Selfie photos
We’re providing samples from the default selfie camera and samples taken with the primary camera using the secondary display as a viewfinder. Surprisingly, the two methods produce samples of similar quality, which is excellent in most cases. However, we prefer the standard selfie camera simply because it works for more natural skin tones and tones. The dynamic range, level of detail, and resolution are all excellent. Even in not-so-great lighting conditions, the selfie camera remains stable.
Selfie with the default selfie camera
Selfie with main camera (closed phone)
Low light photos
Main camera
Low-light shots in Standard Photo mode have a wide dynamic range – light sources look good, and the balance of highlights and highlights is very good.
However, the resolution leaves a lot to be desired. Aggressive noise suppression tends to smear finer details, and on closer inspection images look quite soft. There is a way around that and that is Motorola’s night vision mode.
Examples of the main camera in low light
Night vision mode fixes most resolution problems. The rendering of fine details is improved, and light sources and highlights look better. A dedicated night vision mode also introduces additional contrast and more vivid colors overall. However, we’ve seen better low-light photos from competitors, including the Galaxy Z Flip4.
Examples of the original night vision camera
Ultra-wide camera
The ultra-wide camera without night vision mode is completely dark and soft. The noise reduction algorithm kicks in again, erasing all the fine details the camera might have had a chance to capture. The dynamic range and colors look good, and you can see a lot in the shadows. Things get better when you turn on night vision mode.
The night vision mode improves the overall quality somewhat. It brightens shadows, cleans up noise without messing up detail in the process, and enhances light sources like street lights and neon signs. However, colors are softer with night vision mode for some reason.
Ultra Wide Low Light: Normal • Night Vision
Here’s how the Motorola Razr 40 Ultra’s main camera stacks up against the rest of the competition in the moderated environment of our photo comparison tool.
Motorola Razr 40 Ultra vs Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 and Oppo N2 Flip in our photo comparison tool
Video recording
The phone can shoot up to 4K@60fps using its main and selfie cameras, while the ultra-wide camera is set at 4K@30fps. There’s an option to disable stabilization if you need extra FoV while using a tripod, as well as recording using night vision mode after dusk. However, the second video mode is limited to 1080p resolution.
Standard 2160p@30fps videos captured with the main camera are solid – dynamic range is impressive, colors are good and detail levels are excellent. However, the resolution could be better.
The ultra-wide video quality is understandably lower, but still very good. It’s noticeably smoother and the colors look somewhat more natural. On the other hand, the dynamic range is excellent, the detail is excellent and there is no visible noise.
Stabilized 4K footage looks good, and EIS is able to smooth out most vibrations, but there’s a jelly effect that’s more noticeable in the background.
The default low-light video isn’t all that impressive, as it seems softer and darker than we’d like. However, noise is well controlled and the dynamic range is wide enough.
The dedicated night vision video matches the standard in terms of clarity and takes care of noise, which wasn’t too bothersome at first, so we struggled to find a good reason to use night vision mode. The camera records at a lower resolution and all it does is increase the exposure, resulting in a brighter scene with clipped highlights and exploded street lamps and neon signs.
Once you’re done with the real-world scenarios, take a look at our video comparison tool to see how the Motorola Razr 40 Ultra stacks up against the other phones we’ve reviewed.
Motorola Razr 40 Ultra vs Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 and Oppo N2 Flip in our video comparison tool
Check Competitors
Although the folding market is developing at a rapid pace, it is still far from being mature enough to offer a wide range of choices. So if you’re looking for a fully foldable smartphone, the Motorola Razr 40 Ultra should definitely be on your list. It’s a big improvement over the Razr 2022 and matches the feature set of most modern flip phones, which aren’t many to begin with.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 and Motorola Razr 40 Ultra
The starting price of the Razr 40 Ultra is around 1,200 euros (8/256 GB), which puts it in the category of regular 2023 flagships such as Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, iPhone 14 Pro/Pro Max, Xiaomi 13 Ultra, etc. In the context of “I just need a flagship phone,” the Razr 40 Ultra is far from the ideal choice because the standard form factor offers superior hardware in every way. However, in the field of vertically foldable flagships, the Razr 40 Ultra makes a good case for itself.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 and Motorola Razr 40 Ultra
Compared to the recently released Oppo Find N2 Flip, the Razr 40 Ultra has the edge with a better chipset and a larger external display that can run full apps. Oppo’s rival, on the other hand, has a superior camera experience, longer battery life, and faster charging — features that are hard to ignore when the asking price is nearly the same.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 • Oppo Find N2 Flip
On the other hand, Samsung’s Galaxy Flip4 from last year asks about half of what the Razr 40 Ultra does and offers a similar experience except for its smaller bezel screen. However, you might want to wait for the upcoming Galaxy Z Flip5, which is rumored to feature a secondary display similar to the flagship Razr 40 Ultra.
Motorola Razr 40 and 40 Ultra
Last but not least, if you’re a fan of the form factor but on a budget, the regular Razer 40 remains an audio option. The 1st Gen Snapdragon 7 chipset isn’t the best option of 2023 as it’s just a rebranded Snapdragon 778G chipset, but we believe the Razr 40 offers a similar overall user experience. It has the same main screen, a bigger battery, and almost the same camera hardware. You get a much smaller external display but its €900 price tag will be a lot easier on your wallet too.
Summary
The Motorola Razr 40 Ultra runs on flagship hardware and charges flagship money. Both displays are great, and we like the folding screen implementation. They are vivid and bright enough, while the external display offers near-perfect performance. It might not be the latest chipset, but it can run anything you find on the Play Store. However, there are several pitfalls that are hard to ignore, even in the context of a folding device.
Photos and videos crop up when the device is closed, charging speeds are spotty, and battery life is about average. Stable performance may also be an issue for some of you who like to play hard games every now and then. And while it’s powerful enough, the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 isn’t as energy efficient as its successor, the SD8 Gen 2.
All in all, the Razr 40 Ultra is a big improvement over its predecessor. It’s competitive in the foldable category (for now) and its asking price might get you any 2023 flagship smartphone with fast charging, longer battery life, and great camera performance. That’s the price—both literally and metaphorically—for getting this unique form factor.
Why should we buy the Motorola Razr 40 Ultra phone?
Nice design with some intrusion protection.
Great main display with a fairly unobtrusive crease.
A great external display that offers a wow factor and supports full apps.
Polished software with 3 years of major updates.
Exceptional selfie performance, good ultrawide camera.
Why we should avoid buying the Motorola Razr 40 Ultra phone
The main display is limited to 120Hz in most scenarios despite the 165Hz rating.
Aggressive thermal throttle under load.
Average battery life, slow wired and wireless charging.
The MacBook Air M3, with all its performance improvements, adds to the value and economic justification of the MacBook Air M1, rather than being an ideal purchase.
MacBook Air M3 review; Lovely, powerful and economical
If you are looking for a compact, well-made and high-quality laptop that can be used in daily and light use, the MacBook Air M3 review is not for you; So close the preceding article, visit the Zomit products section and choose one of the stores to buy MacBook Air M1 ; But if you, like me, are excited to read about the developments in the world of hardware and are curious to know about the performance of the M3 chip in the Dell MacBook Air 2024 , then stay with Zoomit.
The design is a copy of the original from the last generation
Almost two years have passed since Apple said goodbye to the familiar and wedge-shaped MacBook Air design; A different design that accompanied this ultrabook from the first day of its birth in 2008; But finally in 2022, with the aim of harmonizing the design language of the Apple laptop family, it was abandoned so that the MacBook Air 2022 will have a similar appearance to the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro.
The new MacBook Air is uniform in thickness; But it was slimmer, the screen was bigger, the edges were narrower and the corners were rounded, and a relatively large notch was added to it, whose only existence was to host the device’s 1080p webcam. MacBook Air 2022 also marked the return of the MagSafe magnetic charging port to Apple’s popular Ultrabook.
Previously, in the review of the MacBook Air 2022 with the M2 chip, we have talked comprehensively and deeply about its design and its positive and negative points. I suggest that if you haven’t read the article, you must visit it; Because the MacBook Air M3 is no different from the MacBook Air M2 in terms of appearance, display, or ports.
We also see the same incredibly well-made and metal body of MacBook Air 2022 in the new generation of Apple Ultrabooks; A body that, like the rest of Apple laptops, is carved from an aluminum block instead of the usual method of using aluminum sheets, and for this reason, it has a strong and dense structure so that we do not see the body sinking when pressing the keyboard area or the screen frame swinging.
All the parts of the MacBook Air 2024 are assembled with the utmost care; So that there is no gap between them. As expected, the hinge of the laptop is also well-adjusted so that you don’t need to use two hands to open the laptop door. All in all, the combination of the quality of components and Apple’s exemplary engineering precision, brings an extremely enjoyable and unique feeling to the user while using the MacBook Air.
Just like the previous generation, the new MacBook Air is sold in four colors: gray, silver, dark blue, and cream. One of the flaws that could be found in the design of the MacBook Air 2022 was that fingerprints and grease remained on the body; The item that was more noticeable in dark blue color. Apple says this year it has used a new coating that reduces the severity of this problem. We did not have the 2022 model available for comparison at the time of writing the following review, But traces of fat and finger still remain on the body of the MacBook Air 2024.
Grease and fingerprints on the laptop body
MacBook Air keyboard is among the best examples in the market in terms of arrangement and dimensions, feedback, and key stability; But the matte coating on the keys absorbs the fat of the fingers very quickly, and on the other hand, like other MacBooks, there is a possibility that the matte coating will disappear and the keys will become shiny. Depending on your usage, this can happen very quickly or over time; For example, for me, who is constantly writing, the keys on my MacBook Pro M1 burned out in less than a year.
Apparently, the buyers of used laptops are very sensitive about the keys being electrocuted; Therefore, if you plan to replace your Macbook with another laptop after one or two years, be sure to keep this in mind and use an external keyboard for long typing.
As always, the trackpad is one of the main strengths of any MacBook, and the MacBook Air M3 follows the same rule. The glass trackpad of the device is large in size and has little friction on its surface, it offers flawless, accurate, and smooth performance, and its Fortouch mechanism, which makes it possible to click on the entire surface of the trackpad, is so efficient that after the MacBook, it is impossible to work with the trackpad of any laptop. Another enjoyed.
MacBook Air 2022
The set of MacBook Air 2024 ports is limited and has not changed; On the right side of the device, there is a headphone jack, and the left side of the device hosts two USB4 ports and a MagSafe magnetic charging port. Along with the basic model, Apple provides a relatively small 30-watt adapter with a cloth cable of the same color as the device’s body; But you can also get the laptop with a more powerful 35 or 70-watt adapter, which charges the battery up to 50% within half an hour.
USB4 ports support Thunderbolt 3 standard with a bandwidth of 40 Gbps, But it is not possible to connect external graphics. Both ports also transmit the image signal with the DisplayPort standard. In the new MacBook, if you close the laptop door, you can connect a 6K monitor and a 5K monitor (both 60Hz) to the device at the same time; But with the laptop’s screen on, just like the MacBook Air M2, the image output is limited to a 6K monitor; It is interesting that the Intel version of MacBook Air could output images to two 4K monitors at the same time as its own screen is on!
As in the previous generation, Apple uses Bluetooth version 5.3 in its Ultrabook; But the Wi-Fi module has upgraded the device from Wi-Fi 6 to Wi-Fi 6E, which incompatible networks can increase the communication bandwidth of MacBook Air 2024 with the router and the rest of the devices in the network from 1.2 to 2.4 Gbps.
Attractive display with more attractive competitors
Like most parts of the device, the screen of the new MacBook Air does not change; Of course, in this field, you can’t criticize Apple much, since 2018, when the MacBook Air screen became Retina, it has always been among the best; However, today, with OLED competitors with stunning colors and infinite contrast, Apple’s Retina display no longer has its former glory.
MacBook Air M3 can be purchased just like the previous generation in two 13.6-inch and 15.3-inch models. The pixel density of both versions is a very good number of 224 pixels. With this density, the MacBook Air screen produces a very clear image. So that it is difficult to distinguish the pixels from each other. We have the 13.6-inch MacBook Air M3 with a resolution of 2560 x 1664 pixels available for review.
Unfortunately, unlike the expensive models of MacBook Pro or even Windows Ultrabooks with the same price as Zenbook, the panel of the MacBook Air is 60 Hz and it does not have amazing technologies such as OLED and MiniLED to produce 1000 nits of brightness and extraordinary colors. MacBook Air uses an 8-bit IPS LCD panel with back exposure, which, by using FRC technology, can give the user the feeling of 10-bit panels with a billion colors.
MacBook Air covers the wide DCI P3 color space with high accuracy. The Apple Ultrabook covers 98.4% of this space with an error of 1.9 (an error of less than 3 is ideal), perhaps the only color weakness of the panel can be considered a slight tendency to be cold; However, thanks to the True Tone feature, the device evaluates the ambient light temperature with high accuracy and adjusts the color temperature accordingly to give you a satisfying visual experience.
In our measurements, with a 50% raster standard, we reached a maximum brightness of 443 nits, which in itself is a very good number, and thanks to the anti-reflective coating on the panel surface, in environments with different light conditions, it brings a satisfactory experience of working with a laptop. Without the appearance of the shadow of the environment on the panel, the user will not be bothered.
MacBook Air 2024 screen performance against other laptops
Laptop / test
White image
Black image
contrast ratio
AdobeRGB
sRGB
DCI-P3
Maximum brightness
Minimum brightness
Average brightness
Native
cover
Average error
cover
Average error
cover
Average error
MacBook Air 2024
443 intentions
0.00 nits
0.67 nits
661
87.9
—
100
2.4
98.4
1.9
Zenbook 14
512 intention
(788 nits HDR)
0.27 nits
0 intentions
∞
89.6
2.6
100
0.6
99.7
1.3
MacBook Pro 2022
437 intentions
0.00 nits
0.5 nits
874
86.3
—
99.8
2.7
97.5
—
MacBook Air 2022
447 intentions
0.1 nit
0.65 nits
693
87.5
—
100
2.5
98.1
—
Galaxy Book 3 Ultra
441 intentions
4 intentions
0 intentions
∞
97.3
3.7
99.6
1.9
99.8
2.3
MacBook Pro M1 Max
455 intentions
(1497 nits HDR)
0 intentions
0 intentions
∞
85
—
121.6
—
97.3
2.5
In addition to the reasonable maximum brightness of 442 nits in bright images, unlike most laptops with IPS LCD screens, the black color brightness is also very low in the MacBook Air display; So that the device achieves a very high contrast. On the other hand, the minimum brightness of the display was 0 nits even with the 0.01 nits accuracy of the Zoomit luminance meter; In the sense that while using the laptop, there will be a little pressure on your eyes.
The attractive screen of the MacBook Air is completed by a set of 4 speakers; Speakers that have a very large sound volume compared to the size of a laptop, produce clear sound, and at high volumes, they are confused and distorted. MacBook Air speakers support Dolby Atmos and are easily ahead of most Windows laptops.
M3 chip and championship called TSMC
The main changes of MacBook Air 2024 have happened in its heart; Where it hosts the M3 chip as the beating heart of the device. Next, before we put the performance of the M3 under the microscope, we take a look at the details of the technical specifications of this chip.
The M3 chip is manufactured using TSMC’s 3nm-based manufacturing process known as N3B, hosts 25 billion transistors on its surface, and uses the same layout and configuration as the M2 for the CPU and GPU cores. Apple says the processor and graphics used in the M3 are about 35 and 65 percent faster than the M1, respectively.
Technical specifications of M3 against M2 and M1
parameters/chip
Apple M3
Apple M2
Apple M1
manufacturing process
3 nanometer N3B
TSMC
TSMC’s second-generation 5nm
5 nm N5
TSMC
CPU
4 powerful cores with a maximum frequency of 4.05 GHz
4 low-power cores with a maximum frequency of 2.75 GHz
4 Avalanche cores with a maximum frequency of 3.5 GHz
4 Blizzard cores with a maximum frequency of 2.4 GHz
4 Firestorm cores with a maximum frequency of 3.2 GHz
4 Icestorm cores with a maximum frequency of 2.0 GHz
cache memory
16 MB shared L2 cache and 320 KB L1 cache for each of the powerful cores
4 megabytes of shared L2 cache and 192 kilobytes of L1 cache for each low-power core
8 MB system cache for the entire chip
16 MB shared L2 cache and 320 KB L1 cache for each of the powerful cores
4 megabytes of shared L2 cache and 192 kilobytes of L1 cache for each low-power core
8 MB system cache for the entire chip
12MB shared L2 cache and 320KB L1 cache for each Firestorm core
4 MB shared L2 cache and 192 KB L1 cache for each Icestorm core
8 MB system cache for the entire chip
memory bass
128 bits
128 bits
128 bits
DRAM
8 to 24 GB
LPDDR5-6400
8 to 24 GB
LPDDR5-6400
8 or 16 GB
LPDDR4x-4266
Memory bandwidth
100 GB per second
100 GB per second
68.2 gigabytes per second
GPU
8 or 10 cores with hardware support of ray tracing
8 or 10 cores
7 or 8 cores
Like the last two generations, the M3 chip uses a combination of 4 high-power cores and 4 low-power cores, respectively, with maximum frequencies of 4.05 and 2.75 GHz as CPU. Apple has made minor changes in the architecture of the cores, and the main difference of the cores is the 15% increase in frequency compared to the M2 cores.
Apple has not even changed the amount of cache memory of the M3 chip compared to the M2; Each of the high-power and low-power cores have access to 320 and 192 KB of ultra-fast L1 cache, respectively, the set of four high-power and low-power cores also have access to 16 and 4 MB of L2 cache, respectively, while the system cache is 8 MB for the set of chip processing blocks. GPU and CPU are included.
The M3 chip is used in Apple laptops in two versions with 8- and 10-core graphics processors. We had the MacBook Air with 8-core graphics available for review, which in total, just like the last generation, has 128 execution units with 1024 calculation and logic units in its heart, which operate at an almost identical frequency of 1.38 GHz.
The main difference between the M3 graphics compared to the previous generation is the addition of the Ray Tracing hardware accelerator, Mesh shading, and Dynamic Caching technology, the latter of which allows the chip to provide the memory required by the GPU in real-time and based on the type of processing. Thus, it optimizes the amount of memory consumption.
The M3 chip uses a 16-core neural processing unit (NPU) with a computing power of 18 trillion operations per second, and in addition to ProRes and ProRes Raw videos, it now has a separate engine for AV1 video codec decoding. Due to its two 64-bit channels and support for LPDDR5X-6400 RAM, this chip can achieve a bandwidth of 102 GB/s for data exchange with its integrated RAM.
Performance of the MacBook Air M3 in benchmarks while plugged in
Laptop/benchmark
Technical Specifications
Web browsing
Performance in graphics
CPU performance in rendering
CPU computing power
GPU computing power
3 Dark
CineBench R23
GeekBench 6
GeekBench 6
Speedometer 2.1
TimeSpy
Single
Multi
Single
Multi
OpenCL
Metal/Vulkan
DirectX 12
MacBook Air 2024
Apple M3
8 core GPU
680
—
1897
9872
3143
2008
25845
41671
Zenbook 14
Core Ultra 7 155H
Intel Arc GPU
396
3453
1637
13367
2290
12256
34889
38268
MacBook Pro 2022
Apple M2
10-core GPU
407
—
1579
8730
2581
9641
28852
42673
MacBook Air 2022
Apple M2
8 core GPU
405
—
1577
8476
2578
9655
27846
39735
MacBook Pro 2020
Apple M1
8 core GPU
209
—
1512
7778
2335
8315
21646
32743
MacBook Pro 14-inch 2021
M1 Max
24Core GPU
300
—
1549
12508
2378
12239
65432
101045
MacBook M3 appears about 20-25% faster than M2 in single-core and multi-core benchmarks, and in comparison with M1, it increases its superiority to about 35-45%; Therefore, considering the 15% increase in frequency and the improvement of TSMC’s manufacturing process, it seems that Apple has not changed much in the architecture; But in any case, CPU performance on par with the M1 Pro is a surprising result for the M3.
Compared to the new Asus ultrabook with the Core Ultra 7 155H chip, MacBook Air M3 leads by 15-35% in single-core benchmarks; But in multi-core benchmarks, it loses the field to the competitor with a single-digit difference of up to 25%. We will talk more about the difference between the two chips in productivity and power consumption.
Apple laptops have a stunning performance in terms of web surfing experience and M3 has taken this performance to a whole new level; MacBook Air 2024 outperforms Asus Ultrabook 2024 with a 65% difference in the Zoomit web browsing test. The stunning superiority of the MacBook Air shows that Apple’s laptop offers faster and smoother performance on the web.
Apple’s new ultrabook appears in almost the same level of computing processing as the last generation. It seems that M3 remains behind its Intel competitor by 25% in the processes that take place on the basis of the OpenCL framework; But instead, thanks to Apple’s exclusive Metal framework, it surpasses the performance of Core Ultra 7 in processes based on Vulkan, with a difference of 10%.
Let’s skip the benchmarks and talk about how the MacBook Air 2024 performs in professional software and games. For this, we considered Photoshop and Premiere Pro software, Python code execution, and the Rise of the Tomb Raider game.
The set of games available for macOS is much more limited than for Windows; However, thanks to the tool that Apple introduced at WWDC 2023 for porting Windows games (Game Porting Toolkit), some were able to run titles such as Medium and Cyberpunk 2077 on Macs with powerful graphics processors such as the M2 Max, and it is hoped that in the future, this same tool, pave the way for more games to be released.
We were able to run the old game Rise of the Tomb Raider at 1200p resolution, High graphics settings and an average frame rate of 50.5 fps, which shows an advantage of about 25 percent of the M3 compared to the M2.
MacBook Air M3 performance while playing Rise of the Tomb Raider game
MacBook Air M3 works about 10 to 20 percent faster than its two previous generations and ZenBook 14 while using Photoshop software for tasks such as resizing large photos and implementing the blur effect or lens correction.
MacBook Air M3 performance in Photoshop software
In Premier Pro software, while performing tasks such as blur effect implementation, image sharpening, or 4K video output, the performance of the device is 20-30% better than the MacBook Air M2 and Zenbook 14.
Performance of MacBook Air M3 in Premier Pro software
Note that in software such as Premiere Pro, where we are dealing with heavy projects, the low RAM overshadows the performance level and you may even get stuck in scenarios like editing 4K videos. Next, we will talk about the MacBook Air M3 RAM.
The MacBook Air was able to run Zoomit’s Python code in about 45 seconds, which is about 13 seconds faster than the M2 and 33 percent faster than the M1.
MacBook Air M3 performance while running Python code
One of the most attractive features of MacBooks is that they work equally well, whether connected to electricity or relying on batteries; For example, when running Python code while plugged in, the MacBook Air M3 beats the ZenBook 14 by just 4 seconds; But by disconnecting the laptops from the electricity and Zenbook’s performance drop, the time difference reaches 11 seconds!
In addition to running Python code, the MacBook Air also displays similar performance in other software in both plugged-in and battery-powered states; In the table below, you can see the difference in performance of MacBook Air M3 in Plugged and UnPlugged modes in a number of users:
Performance of MacBook Air 2024 when connected to electricity and with battery
Test/Performance
Plugged result
Result UnPlugged
CineBench 2024 (MultiCore)
574
573
Speedometer 2.1
680
681
Photoshop
6488
6588
Premiere Pro
3868
3881
Python
44.6 seconds
44.7 seconds
In the MacBook Air 2022 review, we said that the lack of an active cooling system (fan) makes this ultrabook unable to provide stable performance under continuous processing loads. Now it’s time for MacBook Air 2024 with the same cooling system; But this time with a more optimized chip, it will be wider. Does the MacBook Air M3 offer stable performance?
To evaluate the cooling system, the performance stability level and measure the power consumption and other parameters of the MacBook Air M3, we first ran the CineBench R23 multi-core test on the device for 30 minutes consecutively in both power-connected and battery-based modes; Then we went to the 20-minute Wild Life Extreme test.
MacBook Air 2024 laptop performance under continuous processing load
Laptop status
CPU score at first
CPU score after 30 minutes
GPU score first
GPU score after 20 minutes
Connected to electricity
9872
7841
6989
5207
with battery
9833
8322
6996
5271
MacBook Air M3 shows more or less the same behavior whether in Plugged or UnPlugged mode; After 30 minutes, the CPU performance drops by about 15-20%, and in a 20-minute graphics processing load, the GPU drops by 25%.
Contrary to the numbers stated in the technical specifications of the M3 chip, the MacBook Air 2024, whether in multi-core or single-core processing, never reaches the frequency of 4.05 GHz in powerful cores; In my measurements, the frequency of the most powerful cores in the multi-core test remained at 3.7 GHz for a few seconds; But it immediately begins the gradual process of decline and reaches below 2.5 GHz from the 10th minute, which is lower than the stable 2.75 GHz frequency of low-power cores!
The frequency drop process starts when the temperature of the hottest point of the chip reaches 103 degrees Celsius; It seems that Apple has adopted a more conservative strategy this year; Because in MacBook Air M2, the maximum temperature of the chip reaches 109 degrees Celsius. The temperature of 103 degrees of the chip continues for 5-6 minutes and then, thanks to the frequency drop, it decreases to the range below 90 degrees Celsius.
CPU temperature on MacBook Air M3
The temperature of the laptop body rises to 46-47 degrees Celsius, especially in the upper area of the keyboard; But in general, the body heat is not such that you cannot continue working with the laptop.
CPU consumption in MacBook Air M3
As you can see in the power consumption graph, the CPU consumes about 21 watts in the first few seconds; But as the body heats up, the power consumption gradually decreases and after a few minutes it reaches below 10 watts and reaches the range of 7-8 watts.
As you can see from the graphs below, the M3 GPU also follows a similar path to performance degradation from overheating the device.
GPU consumption in MacBook Air M3
GPU temperature on MacBook Air M3
GPU frequency on MacBook Air M3
About 2-3 minutes after the start of graphic processing, in order to prevent the chip temperature from exceeding 103 degrees Celsius, the frequency of the GPU drops from about 1350 MHz and its power consumption from about 14 watts to 1000 MHz and below 8 watts. is approaching
My tests show that the MacBook Air M3 uses its powerful core stably with a frequency of about 3,750 MHz in single-core processing, this number is about 3,200 and 2,980 MHz in the MacBook Air M2 and MacBook Air M1 laptops, respectively.
In order to have a general outline and limits of architecture changes and IPC (the number of instructions executed per processing cycle), we can divide GeekBench’s single-core score by the chips’ single-core frequency; Note that this measure is not exact and only provides a general picture of the state of architectural changes. To accurately measure IPC, one should go to an expensive tool such as SPECView, which unfortunately is not available in Iran.
Ratio of performance to CPU frequency
To be more precise, what you see in the graph above is the ratio of single-core performance to CPU frequency in three generations of MacBook Air laptops with M1, M2, and M3 chips. In this chart, I have considered the MacBook Air M1 as a benchmark so that we can compare the other two chips relatively. The numbers say that the architectural changes in M3 have a 4 and 7 percent impact on the performance of this chip compared to M2 and M1, which is not a significant improvement.
In the graph below, you can see the ratio of M3’s performance to its power consumption compared to previous generations and the Core Ultra 7 155H chip. Note that the amount of power consumed by the chips is not stable and after a few seconds, it deviates from its maximum value; Therefore, the graph below was created by running CineBench R23 once and based on the average power consumption during the benchmark execution period, so that we can obtain the ratio of performance to power consumption in the best performance condition of the laptop.
The ratio of performance to CPU power consumption
My measurements show that the M3 consumes an average of 4.9 and 19.1 watts when running the CineBench R23 single-core and multi-core benchmarks, respectively; While these numbers are equal to 8 and 20.2 watts for the M2 and 23 and 37.8 watts for the Core Ultra 7 155H, respectively, this shows the stunning efficiency of the M3; But if you consider the numbers obtained in the previous chart, you will realize that TSMC’s optimized manufacturing process has more influence on this amazing productivity than IPC and Apple’s architecture improvements.
The M3’s incredible efficiency also contributes to the MacBook Air M3’s excellent charging performance. Apple uses the same 52.6-watt-hour battery as the MacBook Air M2 in its new ultrabook and says that this laptop can charge for about 18 hours, just like the previous generation.
MacBook Air 2024 battery life compared to other laptops
Laptop/Test
Functional profile
hardware
Display
Battery capacity
Play offline video
Everyday use
Processor and graphics
Dimensions, resolution, and refresh rate
watt-hours
720p Video
PCMark 10
minute: hour
minute: hour
MacBook Air 2024
—
Apple M3
8 core GPU
13.6 inches and 60 Hz
1664 x 2560 pixels
52.6
14:13
—
Zenbook 14
Performance
Core Ultra 7-155H
Intel Arc
14 inches and 120 Hz
1800 x 2880 pixels
75
17:25
9:09
Galaxy Book 3 Ultra
Performance
Core i7-13700H
RTX 4050
16 inches and 120 Hz
1880 x 2880 pixels
76
11:00
6:21
MacBook Pro 2022
—
Apple M2
10-core GPU
13.3 inches and 60 Hz
1600 x 2560 pixels
58.2
26:18
—
MacBook Air 2022
—
Apple M2
8 core GPU
13.6 inches and 60 Hz
1664 x 2560 pixels
52.6
14:11
—
MacBook Pro 2020
—
Apple M1
8 core GPU
13.3 inches and 60 Hz
1600 x 2560 pixels
58.2
16:47
—
MacBook Pro 14-inch 2021
—
M1 Max
24Core GPU
14.2 inches and 120 Hz
1964 x 3024 pixels
70
18:14
—
The MacBook Air 2024 was able to play our benchmark HD video for a little over 14 hours, just like the previous generation, in standard Zoomit conditions, which includes 200 nits brightness (about 70% brightness) and flight mode activation, which is an impressive result; But it is about 3 hours less than the Asus Zenbook 14 Ultrabook with a larger 75 watt-hour battery.
… and 8GB RAM for everyone
Unfortunately, this year Apple did not fall short either, and in 2024, it released the basic version of its $1,100 ultrabook with 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of SSD. If you buy from Apple’s website, you can order 16GB or 24GB of RAM and 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB of SSD; Of course, to go to each higher step, you have to pay 200 dollars more; For example, the MacBook Air 2024 with 16 GB RAM and 512 GB SSD will cost you about $1,500.
If the base version of the 8GB MacBook Air disappointed you, you can be glad that Apple has moved away from the cowardly strategy of using a NAND chip for the SSD of the base version of the MacBook Air, which ended up halving the read and write speeds, and this year all models with 2 sells NAND chips; The maximum speed of 4 and 3.5 GB/s for reading and writing is lower than Windows competitors; But it’s not bad either.
The average SSD speed of the base model MacBook Air 2024 compared to other MacBooks
Models / Performance
Sequential reading rate
(UK gigabytes)
Sequential write rate
(UK gigabytes)
MacBook Air M3
2.63
2.58
MacBook Air M2
1.03
2.32
MacBook Pro M1
2.28
2.46
There is a lot of debate on social networks about whether 8GB of RAM is sufficient or not. A number of Apple fans, with the logic that “MacBook RAM has high speed and memory swap technology is available to help SSD as RAM”, say that in many applications, 8 GB of RAM is enough; But you should pay attention to several points:
1. The data is not just traveling between the chip and RAM, which can compensate for the low capacity of the RAM by just having a high data exchange rate; In some applications, such as modeling or graphic work, several gigabytes of data may be stored in RAM for a relatively long time. Let’s say that the data exchange rate between the RAM and the M3 or M2 chip is no longer the best, and some chips such as the Core Ultra 7 155H offer a higher rate.
2. Memory swap is not a magical and new technology; The rest of the operating systems, such as Windows, also have similar technology; But it should be noted that swap memory reduces the useful life of SSD and the speed of SSD is not at the level of RAM that can fully play its role; For example, in MacBook Air M3, the data exchange rate between RAM and chip also reaches 102 GB/s; While the Mac SSD read and write rate is maybe one twentieth of this number.
3. Software tools are constantly developing, and their need for hardware resources, including RAM, also increases day by day. On the other hand, the user also buys the MacBook for a few years of use; Therefore, due to the lack of ability to upgrade RAM, one may face problems over time.
Aside from all the talk about Rome, a number of domestic sellers are also taking advantage of the opportunity; For example, Apple charges the same amount for a MacBook Air with 16 GB of RAM and 256 GB of SSD as for an 8 | 512 GB considered; But in Iran, configuring MacBook with more RAM is much more expensive than configuring with more SSD.
MacBook Air M3; Attractive and not very valuable
The MacBook Air M3 is by no means a bad product; But what makes buying this ultrabook illogical is the great value of its predecessors, especially the MacBook Air M1, especially if we consider their significant price difference.
For a person who does not have a laptop and is looking for a compact and well-made ultrabook for daily and light use, the base model of MacBook Air M1, which is currently sold at a price of 47-48 million Tomans, is a very desirable option; A device with an integrated metal body, a high-quality display, a very good keyboard and trackpad, excellent charging and fast performance that meets all the needs of an individual with daily use, journalism or light content production; Without the need to take an irrational action, about 25 million Tomans more will be spent to buy M3.
A person who already has a MacBook Air M2 and uses it for daily use should not go for the MacBook Air M3; Because it will not experience any significant changes; Except for the faster SSD, which is hardly noticeable in everyday use. For a current Mac M1 user, it might make more sense to upgrade to the M3.
For people who use laptops for tasks such as programming or video editing, the 8GB version of the MacBook Air M3 is not really a rational choice. If these people prefer macOS, it is better to go for used models with a budget of 70-75 million tomans, such as M1 Pro with 16 GB RAM, or if they are comfortable with Windows, high-quality options such as HP Envy with Core i9-13900H processor. And 16 GB of RAM will be a reasonable option for them.
In the following article, you will learn how to connect the Samsung phone to the TV using practical methods.
How to connect to the TV with a Samsung phone?
It doesn’t matter if you have a Samsung TV or you are using a Sony TV or an Xvision TV, in this article we will teach you how to connect your Samsung phone to the TV so that you can view the contents of your phone on the TV.
Table of Contents
Connecting Samsung phone to Samsung TV
Connecting a Samsung phone to a Samsung TV with Screen Mirroring technology
Connecting a Samsung phone to a Samsung TV with an HDMI converter
Connecting Samsung phone to Samsung TV with Samsung DeX
Connecting Samsung phone to Samsung TV with Wi-Fi Direct
Connecting Samsung phone to LG TV
Connecting Samsung phone to LG TV with Smart View
Connecting Samsung phone to LG TV through USB-C to HDMI converter
Connecting a Samsung phone to a Sony TV
Connecting a Samsung phone to a Sony TV through Screen Mirroring
Connecting a Samsung phone to a Sony TV with a cable
Connecting Samsung phone to Android TV
Connecting Samsung phone to Samsung TV
Connecting a Samsung phone to a Samsung TV with Screen Mirroring technology
Screen Mirroring is a technology that allows the screen of your phone to be transferred to the TV screen as it is so that you can view the content on the big screen. The SmartThings app and Smart View feature allow you to quickly and easily connect to your Samsung Smart TV.
To wirelessly connect your phone screen to your TV, your TV needs a Wi-Fi connection. For non-smart TVs, connecting via cable will be an easy and practical method that we will explain below.
Connecting Samsung phone to Samsung TV with Smart View
With the Smart View feature, you can view your phone’s screen wirelessly on a large TV screen. Follow the steps below to use Smart View on your Samsung phone:
First of all, make sure your phone and TV are connected to a Wi-Fi network and VPN is not connected.
Now on your phone, swipe down twice to open the Quick Settings panel and select Smart View.
If you don’t see Smart View, please move it to the left or right or tap the edit button and then add Smart View.
Select the desired TV to connect to the phone and then click Start Now.
Finally, select Allow if displayed on the TV screen.
Note: If the TV refuses to connect to the phone, do the following steps to activate the connection:
Go to Settings, and click on All Settings.
Tap Connections and then External Device Manager.
Select Device Connect Manager.
Select the desired mobile device from the Device List and change the status to Allow.
To disable Smart View, disconnect from your phone or press the Return Button on the TV remote.
The device menus may be different depending on the model and software version. Please read the TV manual for more information.
Connecting Samsung phone to Samsung TV with SmartThings application
SmartThings is a remote control application for Samsung products that can be installed on Android phones and iPhone phones. SmartThings enables automatic connection to most Samsung TVs manufactured from 2016 onwards.
Connect your Samsung Smart TV and Samsung phone to a Wi-Fi network.
Download and install the SmartThings app on your phone. If you already have the SmartThings app installed, update it.
Open the SmartThings app.
Tap Add Device.
All devices in SmartThings will be displayed. If you can’t see your device, make sure it’s turned on. If it still doesn’t show up, try turning it off and on again and restarting the SmartThings app.
Select or scan your TV.
Tap on the TV name and connect to your phone.
Now your TV is connected to SmartThings and you can use your phone as a second remote control for your TV. You can also use Smart View to display photos, videos, and music from your phone.
To do this, tap on the name of your connected TV at the top of the application and select More Options or the three-dot icon.
Select Mirror Screens (Smart View). Make sure your phone is close to the TV to connect successfully.
Connecting a Samsung phone to a Samsung TV with an HDMI converter
If you have trouble connecting wirelessly, you can use an HDMI converter to connect your device to your TV. Original Samsung HDMI converters support devices with USB-C ports.
If you’re using an older device without a USB-C port, you may be able to find a compatible interface cable, but functionality cannot be guaranteed.
Connect an HDMI cable to the HDMI converter.
Connect the other end of the HDMI cable to the HDMI port of the TV.
Connect the HDMI converter to the USB port of your phone.
Turn on the TV and change the input to the HDMI port you are using.
Connecting Samsung phone to Samsung TV with Samsung DeX
Swipe your phone down twice to open the quick settings menu. Note that this feature may not be available on some phones.
Tap the DeX button to activate this feature.
Select DeX on the TV or monitor option.
Accept the connection request on the TV.
Then follow the instructions on the screen. Once completed, the Samsung DeX screen will appear on the target TV.
Note that the function of this function will be different depending on the type of TV for wireless connection. We recommend using Samsung Smart TVs 2019 or newer.
Connecting Samsung phone to Samsung TV with Wi-Fi Direct
With Wi-Fi Direct, you can directly connect your phone to the TV without an existing Wi-Fi network. With this, your favorite images and videos will be displayed on the TV screen. Note that both the TV and phone must have Wi-Fi direct capability for this feature to work.
To check whether the Wi-Fi direct feature is equipped on the TV, go to the settings. Now follow the steps below to use Wi-Fi Direct on Samsung TV:
First, open the TV menu to enable Wi-Fi Direct. Then go to Network and Wi-Fi Direct.
Now activate the phone’s Wi-Fi Direct. To enable Wi-Fi Direct on your Samsung phone, go to Settings, then Connections, enter the Wi-Fi section, tap the three-dot icon at the top, and enable the Wi-Fi Direct option. After scanning, the phone will display a list of available devices. The name of the phone also appears on the TV.
Select the device from the list to start the connection. If a connection request is made by the phone, a message will appear on the TV and vice versa. Accept the request to connect the phone to the TV.
Connecting Samsung phone to LG TV
Connecting Samsung phone to LG TV with Smart View
You can also use the Smart View feature on LG TVs like Samsung TVs. Here is the step-by-step guide to enable this feature:
Swipe down on your phone screen and select Smart View.
Make sure your TV and phone are both connected to the same Wi-Fi network.
Select your TV from the list of available devices.
Thus, your phone screen should be reflected on the TV in a few moments.
Connecting Samsung phone to LG TV through USB-C to HDMI converter
You can connect your phone to the TV using a USB-C to HDMI converter. The steps are as follows:
Connect the USB-C end of the adapter to your phone.
Connect the HDMI end to the HDMI port on your TV.
Tap “Accept” when the connection request appears on your phone
After connecting, your phone screen will be mirrored on the TV screen.
This method is simple and hassle-free to use, especially when wireless options are not available.
Connecting a Samsung phone to a Sony TV
Connecting a Samsung phone to a Sony TV through Screen Mirroring
Fortunately, you can use the same Smart View feature of Samsung phones to connect to Sony TV. Thus, it becomes easy for you to seamlessly connect to any of the devices.
Swipe down twice to reveal the Quick Panel.
Select the Smart View icon.
From there, you should see a list of devices compatible with the display. Click on your Sony TV.
You should get a message asking if you are ready to connect. Select “Start Now”.
If your TV does not appear in the list of devices, you need to make sure that the TV is compatible. Note that only Sony Bravia TVs manufactured between 2013-2020 have Screen Mirroring capability.
Connecting a Samsung phone to a Sony TV with a cable
MHL technology provides the possibility of connecting the phone to the Sony TV with a cable. Phones and tablets compatible with this feature can be connected to the TV through an MHL to HDMI cable. If you can’t use wireless to connect your phone to the TV, then a wireless connection and HDMI conversion is another way you will have.
Connecting Samsung phone to Android TV
If you are looking for a wireless connection between your phone and TV, the Smart View feature on Samsung phones is the best way to share data on Android TVs, especially Iranian smart TVs. We have explained the activation method in the above sections.
On the other hand, if your TV is not smart, using cable will help you. As mentioned, you’ll need an HDMI cable and a USB-C to HDMI converter for this. Connect the USB-C end to your phone and then connect an HDMI cable between the converter and your TV. After connecting the converter and cable, the screen of your Samsung phone will appear on the TV.
Connecting a Samsung phone to a TV is not particularly complicated, especially when both devices are in the Android ecosystem. Earlier, we also checked the method of connecting the iPhone to Samsung TV; In addition, you can use the best programs to connect the iPhone to the TV so that more options are available to you.
Leaving the Earth’s atmosphere is not just the experience of floating in the environment. There are also other amazing and troublesome events that can only be experienced in space. In this article, we will talk about the strangest things that can happen to humans in space.
The strangest things that can happen to humans in space
When it comes to space and astronautics, we all remember very interesting movies in which strange things happen to astronauts. Movies with exciting stories, most of which are nothing but the authors’ imaginations; But there are other very amazing stories happening in space that are completely real and have nothing to do with human imagination. In this article, we try to discuss some examples of these events and introduce you to the wonders of space travel.
Strange things that happen to humans in space
The human heart changes shape in space
It may seem a bit strange and even unbelievable that traveling to space can change the shape of the heart, But such a thing happens in reality and scientific studies have proven it. Less work of the heart and less pumping of blood leads to a decrease in the volume of the muscles of this organ, and this ultimately causes the hearts of astronauts to become more spherical by about 9.4%.
Despite the temporary nature of these conditions, some doctors believe that the reduction in the volume of the human heart during space travel may have serious consequences. According to NASA, researchers are researching this issue, and the results of this study will not only help astronauts but will also affect ordinary people and the inhabitants of the planet.
There is a possibility of mental problems in space
Living in the extraterrestrial atmosphere is associated with many problems. Changing living conditions and experiencing a completely different environment with very specific conditions imposes many psychological pressures on astronauts. These issues cause astronauts to experience special psychological conditions and are susceptible to various problems such as anxiety and depression.
Being away from family, lack of simple facilities such as sunlight or even fresh food, and heavy work are among the reasons that expose astronauts to various mental illnesses.
Human vision decreases in space
Visual impairment caused by intracranial pressure or VIIP is another space travel wonder faced by astronauts. This problem was observed for the first time in 2005 and in an astronaut named John Phillips. The Washington Post investigates this issue in an article and states that Phillips experienced a significant loss of vision after returning from his space trip. This incident prepared the groundwork for the researchers’ research for further investigations.
Additional research showed the changes in the appearance of the astronauts’ eyes and the loss of their vision after returning from space travel. Currently, the only possible reason that has been proposed for the occurrence of such conditions is the lack of gravity and the creating double pressure on the astronauts’ skulls; Of course, the research in this field continues and it is still not possible to say with certainty a specific reason for the occurrence of these conditions.
Traveling to space, along with its excitement and surprises, also brings many problems for humans. One of these problems is the weakening of the body’s immune system in space, which was first discovered by astronauts during the Apollo mission. The story was that the astronauts in this mission experienced problems such as irregular heartbeat, dehydration, and inner ear disorder, and faced many problems after returning from the mission.
Studies conducted in this field have shown that after leaving the Earth’s atmosphere, the immune system of astronauts weakens, in part due to the abnormal activation of a type of immune cells called T-regulatory lymphocytes. This weakening is sometimes so severe that it causes astronauts to deal with latent viruses such as chicken pox in addition to simple infectious diseases such as colds after returning from space travel.
Astronauts can lose their fingernails
As you know, astronauts wear special clothes to carry out their missions in space, which includes astronaut gloves. These gloves are designed in such a way that they put a lot of pressure on the astronauts’ hands and nails; This will eventually lead to their nails falling off.
It is true that the fall of fingernails or their swelling is not a simple matter that can be easily passed over, But it seems that doing more research to design more suitable gloves can minimize the possibility of this problem and astronauts will not face such a problem in the future.
Human height grows taller in space
Another wonder of space travel, which makes it one of the favorite trips of ordinary people, is the increase in height that occurs during this trip. As soon as you leave the Earth’s atmosphere, the gravity is close to zero, and this causes the pressure on the spine to decrease significantly. The reduction of this pressure, in turn, causes the height of the astronauts to grow a few centimeters.
One of the studies that confirms the truth of this issue is the research that NASA scientists conducted on two twin brothers. In this study, one of the twins had a 342-day trip to space and the other brother was examined on Earth. The results of this and other research determined that the height of astronauts increases by 2 to 5 cm on average after space travel.
Mark Kelly (left) and Scott Kelly (right) made it possible for researchers to study the health effects of long-duration space travel by studying NASA twins.
Traveling to space leads to weakening of muscles
Another strange thing that happens to astronauts in space and affects their health is the weakening of muscles or atrophy. Long space travel causes muscle wasting in astronauts, so they are trained to exercise continuously during their journey.
NASA is working on this issue to find solutions to prevent the problem of muscle wasting. The reason for the importance of this issue is the need for astronauts to have strong muscles and a healthy body so that they can perform their difficult missions in space in the best possible way.
Space swells astronauts’ faces
A large volume of our body is made up of liquid. On Earth, gravity pulls this fluid down and collects some of it in the lower limbs; But in space, where microgravity prevails, our body fluids are more evenly distributed; As a result, astronauts’ faces look puffier than normal, and on the other hand, their legs appear thinner than when they are on Earth.
According to the Washington Post, “the phenomenon of puffy-faced bird’s legs” appears when blood and other body fluids accumulate on the side of the upper body due to low gravity and stay there; As a result, the heads swell and the legs shrink. In this situation, the appearance of the astronauts can change by swelling their faces. Astronauts may experience excessive blood pooling; As if their head is constantly cold. However, after a few weeks in space, your body will adjust to the change in gravity and some of the facial puff will fall asleep.
Space travel may increase the risk of cancer
Astronauts who spend 6 months in space are exposed to almost as much radiation as a thousand chest X-rays. Exposure to different types of radiation exposes the body to the risk of cancer, damage to the central nervous system, bone loss, and some cardiovascular diseases. However, it has been difficult to accurately calculate the level of risk so far. Also, scientists’ information about the impact of radiation in long-duration space missions to deep space destinations such as the Moon and Mars is still limited.
The more time a person spends in space, the more radiation they are exposed to and, theoretically, the more DNA damage they accumulate. It is not possible to say with certainty whether this DNA damage actually increases the risk of cancer; Because cancer is affected by many environmental and genetic factors. For example, it’s probably fair to say that today’s astronauts are probably some of the fittest people on the planet. They probably eat a healthy diet, exercise a lot, and don’t smoke or drink much alcohol. All these things reduce the possibility of getting cancer.
Strange events for astronauts during space travel have always been one of the most fascinating topics for ordinary people. The wonders of space travel are not limited to the things we have mentioned, and at the same time as science advances and the scope of research increases, we will definitely see more interesting news in this field in the near future.