What happens when you send tech reviewers to the World Cup? They end up juggling multiple phones and comparing the cameras. At least, that was the case when Motorola invited me and Patrick Holland, CNET’s director of content, to a FIFA World Cup game in Santa Clara, California. Even off the clock, we’re insufferable.
We attended the Australia vs. Paraguay game on June 25 at Levi’s Stadium — or rather, because of FIFA’s strict branding rules, San Francisco Bay Area Stadium. We totally couldn’t tell which brand’s distinctive logo had been obscured around the venue.
Because Motorola is the World Cup’s official smartphone partner — and its parent, Lenovo, is the official tech sponsor — it was only natural to want to bring some of the company’s latest foldables to the game. I snapped some photos on the Motorola Razr Ultra (2026) and Razr Fold, and compared how they handled direct sunlight, selfies and nighttime shots (albeit with the blinding lights of the stadium still illuminating the field). Some differences were more noticeable than others.
Here’s how the Motorola Razr Fold and Razr Ultra (2026) captured moments from soccer’s biggest stage.
Watch this: Motorola’s Razr Fold Makes a Strong Debut — With a Few Catches
Camera comparison
The Razr Ultra (2026) packs 50-megapixel wide-angle and ultrawide cameras. It also has a 50-megapixel selfie camera on the inside screen. The Razr Ultra starts at $1,500 for 512GB.
The Razr Fold — Motorola’s first book-style foldable — has 50-megapixel wide, ultrawide and telephoto cameras. There’s a 20-megapixel selfie camera on the cover screen and a 32-megapixel selfie camera on the inside screen. The Razr Fold starts at $1,900 for 512GB.
As the game kicked off and the massive flags for Australia and Paraguay were unfurled, the Razr Ultra and Fold were put to work. Both of these images have a similar sharpness, but notice the less prominent shadows and more even tone in the Razr Fold image.
The differences aren’t always as apparent. Because the two phones share some camera specs, shots like these look pretty similar.
Both phones have a 2x zoom option for punching in with clarity. Again, the Fold image is brighter and the green of the field is more vibrant.
But only the Razr Fold has a preset 6x zoom option, which is achieved by combining optical 3x zoom with sensor cropping to get a clean close-up shot.
Razr Fold at 6x zoom.
Turning to the front-facing cameras, we snapped some selfies with CNET senior editor Corinne Reichert. The most apparent difference between the two photos is the brighter overtone on the Razr Fold image. But the Razr Ultra adds a little more warmth, given the slightly darker hues it tends to serve up.
With the Razr Fold, I used the external selfie camera because it feels a lot more natural to snap photos when the phone is closed. Also, people’s gazes look more natural when taking an image using the external camera, rather than the one on the massive inside display because it’s harder to know where to look.
Once the sun had set and the stadium lights took over, I snapped a couple more images. These shots are very comparable. Everything from the field to the beaming lights to the night sky look similar, demonstrating that the main cameras on both phones tend to be in the same playing field.
There are some slight variations; I like the richness of the Ultra image and the slightly punchier colors. But ultimately, the Fold serves up a cleaner and more even-toned overall look.
Which camera is “best” depends on your preferences. If you want to be able to punch in closer, the Razr Fold is the clear winner. It also might be your top choice if you like brighter overall images. The Ultra can serve up more saturated colors, which sometimes veer into harsher shadows. But oftentimes, pictures taken on both phones look pretty similar.
We had a great time and managed to focus on the game itself, rather than just how it looked through a camera — even if we had a few tech-centric goals of our own.
Shot on the Razr UItra.
Stephan is the sports journalist for the Maple Grove Report.
