Lenovo-owned mobile technology veteran Motorola has decided to once again slice into the foldable phone market with a new version of the once iconic Razr flip-phone, which has all the hallmarks of a tastier, cheaper option than the Galaxy Z Flip4 announced yesterday but is so far only launched in China.
Back in the early-to-mid noughties – when the handsets in our pockets were used to actually speak to people while we were out and about and not serve as our entertainment hubs, personal assistants, virtual meeting places, lifestyle coaches and digital lifelines – Motorola released a killer clamshell communicator that screamed high fashion and sold by the millions.
The company brought the flip phone form factor into the smartphone age in 2019, and improved on the recipe the following year. And now a new Razr has been revealed, albeit as a China-only release at this stage.
The stylish flipper comes with a Samsung-matching 6.7-inch OLED main display but a Samsung-beating 144-Hz refresh rate. The handset boasts support for HDR10+ dynamic content, the onscreen image can be split into two display areas across the fold, and there's a 32-megapixel selfiecam hole-punched in there too.
The Quick View cover screen is the same size as before, at 2.7-inches, but that's quite an improvement on Samsung's Flip4 1.9-inch effort, and there are numerous widgets, backgrounds and watch faces to choose from.
Unlike previous Razr designs, the 2022 model doesn't sport a chin on the lower wing, so it's pretty much all screen when unfolded. It's also reported to benefit from an improved hinge for a gapless fold, and has the ability to stand partially opened in the hand or on a flat surface "giving you new ways to interact, capture, and create".
Inside, the new Razr is powered by Qualcomm's flagship Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 mobile chipset, with up to 12 GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 512 GB of UFS 3.1 storage on offer. It runs Android 12 overlaid with MyUI 4.0, and includes a 3,500-mAh battery supporting 30-W TurboPower charging over USB-C. Wireless connectivity shapes up as 5G, Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2.
Where the Razr2 only had a single camera to the rear, the 2022 model sports a dual camera array comprising a 50-MP main with a 1/1.55-inch sensor and optical image stabilization, plus a 13-MP ultra-wide. The main camera is capable of recording 8K video at 30 frames per second, while the ultra-wide can grab 4K UHD at 30 fps. It also rocks twin speakers with support for Dolby Atmos audio.
And that's about all we can tell you for now. Prices at launch earlier today started at CNY 5,999, which converts to around US$890 – though that's unlikely to be what it will cost if or when it reaches the US (given that the second generation initially came in at $1,399.99).
Source: Motorola
