Everyone becomes captivated by large foldables due to the extra screen real estate and expansive productivity features. However, small foldables like the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 or the Motorola Razr Ultra 2025 have advantages of their own.
The clamshell form factor offers a minimalist cover-screen experience, and its smaller size makes it easy to pocket. You might be skeptical of the practicality of a folding phone without a larger screen than traditional flagships, but flip phones have more tricks up their sleeve than you probably expect.
It’s a video recording tool with utility, nostalgia, and a bit of fun — that’s a winning combination. You can learn to use it on your Samsung Galaxy or Motorola Razr flip phone in this guide.
Everything you can do with Camcorder mode
Motorola and Samsung both offer their own Camcorder mode feature on the Razr and Galaxy flip phones, respectively. It’s uniquely built for the flip phone form factor, so you won’t find it on larger book-style foldables. The two features basically work the same — with the display half-opened, you can rotate your flip phone horizontally to activate Camcorder mode. It shows a live video preview on one half of the main display while leaving the other half for thumb controls.
It’s designed to mimic the feel of using a vintage camcorder, which had flip-out displays for monitoring your recording. Using a foldable, you can choose to show the viewfinder on only the inner display or on both displays. It’s a more ergonomic way to record horizontal video than trying to grip the phone fully opened without blocking the camera lenses.
Motorola offers settings that determine what happens when you activate Camcorder mode. By default, launching Camcorder mode automatically starts a recording. You can alternatively set Camcorder mode to start recording a few seconds after you fold the phone halfway, or only when you start manually. When active, Camcorder mode launches a touchpad that can be used to zoom in and out or start and stop recordings.
Samsung’s version doesn’t start recording automatically, but it leaves every video control active when Camcorder mode is in use. This makes it easier to change settings while recording, although you have to pay more attention to where your thumb is pressing or swiping compared to the Motorola version.
How to use Camcorder mode on a flip phone
The process for activating Camcorder mode is simple regardless of whether you own a Samsung Galaxy Z Flip or a Motorola Razr. However, the feature set available on each foldable brand differs slightly, so we’ve listed instructions for using it on each device:
How to use Samsung’s Camcorder mode
1. Open the Camera app.
2. Tap the Video mode.
3. Fold your display halfway towards you. This is called Flex mode.
4. Rotate your device to landscape orientation while keeping it halfway folded.
5. Camcorder mode is now active. You can now start or stop recording, take photos, zoom in or out, or change camera settings with your thumb on one half of the screen — while seeing a live preview on the other half.
6. Optionally, you can press the cover screen icon to show a live preview on the external display simultaneously.
How to use Motorola’s Camcorder mode
1. Open the Camera app.
2. Tap the Video mode.
3. Fold your display halfway towards you.
4. Rotate your device to landscape orientation while keeping it halfway folded.
5. This will automatically start recording in Camcorder mode. You can use the touchpad on one half of the screen to start or stop recording or zoom in or out with your thumb while seeing a live preview on the other half.
6. Unlike on a Samsung Galaxy phone, you need to flip a Motorola Razr back to vertical orientation to change camera settings. You can’t do anything other than zoom or flip the camera while in Camcorder mode.
Camcorder mode puts video controls right where you need them
The ergonomics of Camcorder mode is what makes the feature shine. You can comfortably grip the bottom part of a flip phone while recording without worrying about obstructing the camera lenses. Since the top part of the foldable is half-opened and facing outwards, it’s completely out of the way, ensuring the cameras have a clear view of your subject.
Another benefit is that you can start or stop a recording with a simple tap using your thumb. Swiping adjust the zoom levels on both Motorola and Samsung phones, while Galaxy Z Flip models get extra toggles. I can change the megapixel mode, aspect ratio, photo timer setting, flash mode, and color profile straight from the Camcorder mode screen. Despite the controls being concentrated in one half of the foldable, they don’t feel cluttered.
It’s just one of many flip phone camera features I love
To me, compact foldable phones are as much about nostalgia as they are about functionality. The snap of shutting the phone or the joy of feeling an entire phone sit in the palm of your hand remind us of old-school flip phones. What better way to invoke flip phone nostalgia than to incorporate more retro tech — camcorders — into the experience.
I’ve long said that flip phones are excellent for people who want a smartphone with great cameras. The sensors aren’t the biggest or the most powerful, but the camera software features make a real impact. The cover screen turns flip phones into a selfie machine, as you can easily use the rear lenses for better-quality selfies. The folding mechanism also converts your phone into a camera tripod for stationary recording or timed photos.
Those features are excellent, but nothing beats Camcorder mode for me. It’s everything flip phones are about, and it might change the way you record videos with your Galaxy Z Flip or Razr device.
