The Galaxy Z Flip 7 must learn from the Razr Ultra to win our hearts

For the past few weeks, the Motorola Razr Ultra (2025) has been my Android phone of choice, and I haven’t wanted to give it up. The combination of high-end performance, excellent software, convenient hardware, and sheer crowd-stopping style make it hard to replace, but my head is being turned by the incoming Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 and its promised improvements over the lackluster Galaxy Z Flip 6.

While I don’t doubt Samsung will compete on performance, software, and convenience, I would be surprised if it could match the Razr Ultra for style. That is, unless it resurrects the Galaxy Bespoke Edition, a service which could help it win back those who have been beguiled by Motorola’s superb color schemes and designs.

The colorful, tactile world of Moto

We hold phones all the time, so they should look and feel good

The Motorola Razr Ultra comes in four different finishes. I hesitate to use the word colors, because at least one of them is all about the texture rather than the hue. I’ve been using the Razr Ultra in its Pantone Mountain Trail finish, which has been inspired by the texture and shade of wood. It’s glorious.

There’s a genuine tactility to the back of the clamshell, with a warmth you don’t get from glass or polycarbonate, and it’s not only fantastic to look at but equally delightful to hold. I also love how it references Motorola’s past and the old Moto X, which could be custom-made with a wood rear panel.

Mountain Trail is joined by three other finishes, with the most intriguing being Pantone Scarab. The back of the flip phone is covered in Alcantara, a material often found in performance cars where it covers everything from the seats to the steering wheel. It’s soft yet hard-wearing, sporty yet luxurious, and has a grain that’s just as tactile as leather.

Motorola could have used black Alcantara and still made the phone desirable, but instead it went for a lush, and very on-trend, green. It’s this daring approach to color and material that sets Motorola apart from almost every other phone company at the moment.

The other two models may not be quite as unusual looking, but the focus continues to be on the way it feels as much as the color itself. The Pantone Cabaret Razr Ultra has a satin finish, while the Pantone Rio has a more traditional leather-like rear panel. The red and pink colors are bold and eye-catching.

What makes me love the Razr Ultra line-up more is that there’s no basic black model to appease buyers (or company management). Motorola is ordering you to have fun and express yourself with your phone. If that causes your inner introvert to recoil in horror, then perhaps the Razr just isn’t for you.

Samsung needs to catch up

A handful of colors just isn’t personal enough

It’s not just the expensive Razr Ultra that gets a great selection of colors and textures. The standard Razr 2025 comes in the stunning nylon Pantone Gibraltar Sea, leather Pantone Parfait Pink, and Pantone Spring Bud, and the unusual Pantone Lightest Sky with its acetate finish.

With eight unique and individual finishes across two phones, each unlike any other in the range, matched to excellent hardware and software, Motorola is the brand to beat when it comes to desirable compact folding phones so far in 2025.

Up against this level of competition, Samsung’s otherwise varied and pretty range of colors it offered for the Galaxy Z Flip 6 look like they were carefully chosen by a very dull committee. They’re pleasant, especially the clean white and summery yellow models, but let’s face it, none of them come close to the beautiful array of choices offered by Motorola for the Razr family.

I’m fully aware Motorola is doing what it can to compete with the brand behemoth that is Samsung here, but it’s doing so well in this particular area, and Samsung needs to pay attention.

For the Galaxy Z Flip 7, Samsung is unlikely to push boundaries with color or texture in the same way as Motorola has, but it should think about giving its loyal buyers the chance to make its top, design-led models unique, and that’s why the long-discontinued Bespoke Edition service needs to be brought back.

Available on the Galaxy Z Flip 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 4, buyers could choose a different color for the front panel, rear panel, and the frame, and create a device uniquely theirs.

There were 49 combinations available using the Bespoke Edition service. Each came with matching wallpaper installed, and you could even send the phone back to give it a new look at a later date if you got bored.

Bring back Bespoke

More colors this time, please

The service was special-order only for the Z Flip 3 and Z Flip 4, making your Bespoke Edition phone even more likely to be unique, as normal Samsung buyers would settle for one of the standard colors.

To compete with the wonderful choice of colors and finishes offered by Motorola for the Razr this year, Samsung needs to bring back the Bespoke Edition for the Galaxy Z Flip 7. It needs to increase the number of colors available, and ideally, extend the service to the Galaxy Z Fold 7, too.

Providing customization like this fits in well with Samsung’s brand image, and no other phone maker offers such personalization. Carmakers like Porsche and Ferrari both offer extensive personalization services for their customers, where the depth of your pocket is usually the only limiting factor.

There are only so many ways to customize a phone, but providing more color options in a revived Bespoke Edition service would be a way to make the undeniably fashion-forward Z Flip 7 even more attractive.

It only works if there’s demand

More choice from the competition may make a return worthwhile

Unfortunately, I’m not hopeful we’ll see such a service return. Samsung’s a business, and if the Bespoke Edition was popular, it would have continued providing it. The fact that it disappeared after the Galaxy Z Flip 4 suggests few opted for a custom color when it was available.

However, times have changed, and more companies are putting more emphasis on colors, materials, and design, as more people look to make a fashion statement with the devices they carry around every day.

After the Galaxy Z Flip 6 disappointed due to its similarity to the Galaxy Z Flip 5, Samsung needs to impress with the Galaxy Z Flip 7, especially when Motorola’s flip phones are so highly desirable.

It can win our heads over with the bigger cover screen, larger battery capacity, and One UI 8 software, but it won’t win our hearts with the rumored and terribly ordinary black, blue, and red colors. Not when the Mountain Trail and Scarab Motorola Razr Ultra exist.