What happens when you send technical reviewers to World Cup? They end up chasing more phones again comparing cameras. At least, that was the case when Motorola invited me and Patrick Holland, CNET’s content director, to a FIFA World Cup game in Santa Clara, California. Even off the clock, we are insufferable.
We attended the Australia vs. Paraguay match on June 25 at Levi’s Stadium — or rather, due to FIFA’s strict sales rules, the San Francisco Bay Area Stadium. We completely I couldn’t tell which unique brand logo was hidden all over the place.
Because Motorola is the official smartphone partner of the World Cup — and its parent, Lenovo, is the official technology sponsor — it was natural to want to bring some of the company’s latest foldables to the game. I took pictures from Motorola Razr Ultra (2026) again The Razr Foldand compare how they handle direct sunlight, selfies and night shots (although blinding stadium lights still illuminate the stadium). Some differences were more noticeable than others.
Here’s how the Motorola Razr Fold and Razr Ultra (2026) captured moments from football’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 and ultrawide cameras. It also has a 50-megapixel selfie camera on the internal 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 is a 20-megapixel selfie camera on the cover screen and a 32-megapixel selfie camera on the inner screen. The Razr Fold starts at $1,900 for 512GB.
As the game begins and the giant flags of Australia and Paraguay are unveiled, the Razr Ultra and the Fold are put to work. Both images have similar sharpness, but notice the less bright shadows and stronger tone in the Razr Fold’s image.
The difference is not always obvious. Because both phones share some camera specs, photos like these look very similar.
Both phones have a 2x zoom option for sharper shots. Also, the Wrap image is bright and the green of the field is very bright.
But only the Razr Fold has a preset 6x zoom option, which is achieved by combining the optical 3x zoom with sensor cropping for a crisp close-up image.
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Razr Fold at 6x zoom.
Turning to the front-facing cameras, we took selfies with CNET senior editor Corinne Reichert. The most noticeable difference between the two images is the sharper brightness of the Razr Fold’s image. But the Razr Ultra adds more warmth, given the slightly darker hues it tends to offer.
With the Razr Fold, I used the external selfie camera because it feels more natural to take photos with the phone closed. Also, people’s gaze looks more natural when taking a photo using an outdoor camera, than a large indoor display because it’s hard to know where you’re looking.
Once the sun had set and the stadium lights came on, I snapped a few more photos. These images are very comparable. Everything from the field to the bright lights to the night sky looks the same, which shows that the main cameras on both phones are often on the same playing field.
There is little variation; I like the richness of the Ultra’s image and the slightly more vivid colors. But in the end, the Fold works for a clean look and perfect tone.
Which camera is “best” depends on your preferences. If you want to be able to get up close, the Razr Fold is the winner. It can also be your top choice if you like perfect light photos. Ultra can provide very saturated colors, sometimes turning into strong shadows. But most of the time, the photos taken on both phones look very similar.
We had a great time and were able to focus on the game itself, rather than just what it looked like on camera — even if we had a few tech-centric goals of our own.
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Shooting on the Razr UItra.