Motorola flips back to old-school folding phone
Motorola is rebooting the iconic Razr flip phone as a 6.2-inch smartphone with a foldable display that gives the Lenovo-owned brand a unique selling point against Apple and Samsung Electronics’ finest.
The new device reprises the Motorola Razr name and looks like a modernised version of the original. It costs US$1499 (NZ$2349) and will be available for pre-order in December in Europe and as a Verizon exclusive in the United States, ahead of its retail arrival in January.
For Lenovo, which has a tiny fraction of the global smartphone market, it’s an effort to build brand awareness in the US via a halo device. Launched in late 2004, the first Razr became a cultural icon in the US, sold 130 million units and was the face of the phone industry before Apple launched the iPhone in 2007.
Motorola’s new model has a shot at some fame as well, as it’s set to become the first true foldable phone on the market – every other device so far could more properly be described as a foldable tablet – and company executives have said they are confident that their design won’t succumb to the durability issues that pushed back Samsung’s Galaxy Fold launch.
The 2019 Razr is no bargain, but compared to the US$1980 Galaxy Fold or Huawei’s US$2600 Mate X, it’s the most affordable member of the most expensive modern phone category.
The compromise that users will have to accept with the Razr is in some of its specifications: it has a small battery at 2510mAh and runs the older Android 9 Pie operating system on Qualcomm’s subflagship Snapdragon 710 chip. It lacks the 5G option and bountiful memory of its rivals.
Aside from the US and Europe, it’ll also be on sale in Latin America, Asia and Australia.
Motorola president Sergio Buniac said he doesn’t see the launch as a ‘‘silver bullet’’ for rocketing Motorola’s sales up to Apple and Samsung numbers.
Motorola’s take on foldable phone design is markedly different to the first batch of foldable devices.
Instead of a vertical hinge that makes it open like a book, the new Razr opens and closes like a classic flip phone. Closed shut, the phone is a square that’s about half the size of an iPhone 11 Pro Max, and Motorola has used the foldable technology to make one of the most portable phones on the market.
Samsung is planning to introduce its own square-shaped foldable phone as its second Galaxy Fold device early next year. Until that time, Motorola looks set to be all alone in offering a regular smartphone capable of collapsing into a pocket-friendly clamshell.
‘‘We wouldn’t be bringing the product to market if we didn’t think it was ready,’’ said Buniac, underlining Motorola’s belief in the reliability of its particular hinge and fold design.
Samsung’s Galaxy Fold had issues with air bubbles popping up beneath the display and tiny particles getting trapped under the screen.
In a brief hands-on test with the Razr, the handset felt and looked impressive. Its screen felt fragile, but the device’s design chief Ruben
Castano said: ‘‘We feel like we’ve really developed a robust solution,’’ pointing to stainless steel structural plates between the bottom of the inner screen and the device’s internals.
He says that layer will help prevent particles like sand from going into the device’s electronics and breaking the display. There’s also a 2.7-inch exterior touchscreen for quick access to commonly used functions and checking notifications.
Similar to Samsung, Motorola will offer 24-hour turnaround replacements under a standard warranty for display failures, and it will charge US$299 if the issue falls out of warranty in the US.
The Razr’s inner display appeared impressive with a highresolution panel whose crease was more subtle than the one on the Galaxy Fold. When unfolded, the
Razr operates like most other Android phones, running a full touchscreen version of Google’s operating system.
The external screen is designed for light interactions like answering calls and texts, but like the front screen on the Galaxy Fold, it’s not something most consumers are likely to use much. The new Razr is a flip phone at heart and that’s how most people will want to use it.
Castano said Motorola started working on a foldable design around 2015, and that its biggest challenge was being able to match the first Razr’s ability for the phone to be fully shut with no gap.
Like the original Razr, the 2019 model has a chin at the bottom that houses electronics such as the LTE antenna. it also has a notch at the top of the main display, lacks a headphone jack, and will be available only in black and with 128GB of storage without further upgrade options. Its camera and battery specs are underwhelming, though Motorola promises ‘‘all-day battery life’’ without quoting an exact number of hours.