Motorola resurrects the Razr as a foldy smartphone
It was inevitable really, wasn’t it? Motorola is hoping the Razr feature phone brand can be transplanted into the smartphone era.
November 14, 2019
It was inevitable really, wasn’t it? Motorola is hoping the Razr feature phone brand can be transplanted into the smartphone era.
The Razr was probably the last time Motorola achieved mass market success in the handset market, but that was 15 years ago. Things have moved on a bit since then but if the brand, design and form factor worked before, it can work again, right? That seems to be what Moto is counting on by launching a smartphone based on the original concept.
The defining industrial design tweak is that this one is the first to bring foldy screen technology to the clamshell form factor. The result is essentially a regular modern smartphone that can fold in half. This distinguishes the new Razr from earlier efforts from Samsung and Huawei, because they’re more of an attempt to go in the other direction and turn a phone into a tablet by unfolding it.
Moto doesn’t seem to have published a press release so you’re spared the generic-yet-hyperbolic canned quote about how this is the best thing since sliced bread. The site created to let you find out more does speak of ‘a design that shatters the status quo’, so that’s something. And there’s both a vid and a GIF, which you can see below.
Verizon seems to have the initial exclusive on the new Razr, and will start flogging it for $1,500 in the new year. A lot of that cost is down to the foldy screen, of course, but punters might have expected a better chip than the Snapdragon 710 for their grand-and-a-half. Maybe the form factor prohibits more powerful chips due to heat considerations and there is a generous 128GB of storage as consolation.
The original Razr sold well mainly because it looked cool and, at a time when handset design has stagnated, that may be all this one needs to take off too. The price will obviously scare most people off though, and having got used to carrying six inch devices around it remains to be seen how much of a USP being able to fold this one in half will be. Still, fair play to Moto for giving it a go.
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