The leaks and the wait is over. The Moto Razr is back! Motorola has resurrected the widely popular and hands down their most successful device in form of the all new foldable display 2019 moto razr. Foldables are the future: there is little doubt in that. The slab design is now reaching the point where room for design have reached its limits. We have seen shrunk bezels to every type of notch imaginable, curved screens to waterfall displays; there is not much left to do with the slab form factor.
Good news is: Smartphones are exciting again! Enter the foldables! In the exciting growing lineup of phones with folding displays, motorola has just launched the 2019 Razr which in my opinion is the simplest and the most effective way of making a foldable phone.
Razr unlike Samsung fold has an advantage. It has the nostalgia factor at its side. Razr v3 at its time was the epitome of style, of latest technology, of engineering, of design done beautifully right. It was truly the style, the design icon of its time. Till today ask anyone who once owned a v3, they would want to own and use one again. This advantage also poses a challenge. The smartphone iteration of Razr has to fill some big shoes and huge expectations. Razr v3 was not just beautiful. It was strong, sturdy and even though was razr thin; was solidly built making it very reliable. Samsung Fold has shown how delicate and fragile foldables are. Fold's failure has somewhat done a dis-service to this category.
At launch, Motorola engineers seemed extremely confident of their implementation and reliability of the device. What gives their confidence credence and us hope is the fact that Motorola has already produced shatter proof Plastic smartphone screens. Will this device hold up and the screen as well as the hinge mechanism fail as it did with Samsung Fold? We will find out once the device starts shipping and is in hands of the consumers in the real world.
Let's talk about the design and specifications. Simply put: In design, this is a Razr V3 through and through with the only and the major difference being the small screen and shiny button layout replaced by this cohesive free flowing foldable display. This is a regular size smartphone when opened and a smaller limited interactive functional display when folded. When open, the display is 720p POLED 6.2 inches with the same original Razr design notch (yay to the nostalgia factor) housing the earpiece. When folded you can interact with a 2.7 inches display protected by Gorilla Glass 3. A single 16 MP shooter sits under the 2.7 inch display. The camera is decent enough. Let's just say that the main focus of this phone is not the camera. When closed, this camera acts as your selfie camera and when opened, becomes your main camera. There is a secondary 5 MP camera inside up-top which can be best left alone or only used for video calls.
Folded 2019 Razr has a major leg up on Samsung Fold. When folded, Samsung Fold has a gap between both screens which exposing the softish POLED (Plastic OLED display) to elements. Dirt, sand, or pocket lint can get stuck between the screens. Motorola engineers created a hollow hinge design. When the device is folded, the flexible display has room to curve back in the hollow space. This also ensure that the screen does not flatten while folded eliminating appearance of a crease and making sure that the device folds flat. No gap leaves no room for sand or dirt or pocket lint to get wedged between the displays. This implementation can work. At the very least, it is better than what Samsung came up with. Clever clever bit of innovative design!
There is a microphone up-top and at the bottom where the "chin" can be found. This phone has a chin and then some (going by today's design standards). The chin design is a throwback to the original razr adding to the nostalgia factor. I cannot begin to tell you how much I (having used the original Razr) appreciate what Motorola has done. This time around though: they have made clever use of the chin. It serves a purpose. It houses a finger print scanner, speaker at the bottom, USB C port, WIFI, GPS, various antennas and vibration module. There is no earphone jack but by now in 2019 that is somewhat expected. Besides housing essential internal hardware, this chin can double up as the perfect place to hold the phone while taking a picture or watching some media. The back of this device is made of plastic with a pattern design and Motorola logo in the middle.
When folded the device is around 3.3 inches making it very pocket-able and portable. The small size and thinness has a downside. The battery capacity takes a huge hit. The 2019 Razr boasts a 2510 mAh battery. This capacity is disappointing but not at all a deal breaker. This device is powered by Snapdragon 710 chip set which in terms of chip set horse power: puts it in the mid-range category. Currently it is running Android Pie (9.0) out of the box. Motorola has a history of faster OS updates compared to other device manufacturers so I am assuming upgrade to Android 10 is not far off. Motorola has added its popular android tweaking by adding the chop and twist gestures.
Talking about out of the "box", design innovation by Motorola is not just limited to the hinge design or functional use of the chin; they have a few tricks up their sleeve when it comes to the box in which the device comes. First off, the box itself is beautifully designed. In the box you will find a case with all the accessories. The case itself is made of a canvas like material with pattern design and razr branding. That is not the best part. The phone comes affixed on a stand within the box which doubles up as a speaker amplifying the sound. Simply play a song, place the phone back in the stand and hear the magic!
Now to the bad news: All this innovation does not come cheap. This is a $1500 device which computes to a heart break inducing (hold on to something) Rs.2,25000!!!!! Since Motorola does not officially sell devices in Pakistan, you are looking at a hefty tax on this premium luxury device. My estimation is that this device with taxes will run you around Rs.300,000. Once the device is here, it is currently eSIM only with no word on a physical SIM version. This limits your choice to Jazz being the only network offering eSIM functionality.
So what is the Razr 2019? It is an extremely expensive out of reach premium mid-range folding display smartphone. It will yet again be the design icon, the conversation starter and the head turner. With this price tag, will it make its way to millions of pocket like the original razr did back in 2004? Highly unlikely! More importantly; will this device be reliable or will the display hinge fail the way it did with Samsung fold? Remains to be seen! I know I cannot afford this phone but I am still really happy that it has made a come back!
Good news is: Smartphones are exciting again! Enter the foldables! In the exciting growing lineup of phones with folding displays, motorola has just launched the 2019 Razr which in my opinion is the simplest and the most effective way of making a foldable phone.
Razr unlike Samsung fold has an advantage. It has the nostalgia factor at its side. Razr v3 at its time was the epitome of style, of latest technology, of engineering, of design done beautifully right. It was truly the style, the design icon of its time. Till today ask anyone who once owned a v3, they would want to own and use one again. This advantage also poses a challenge. The smartphone iteration of Razr has to fill some big shoes and huge expectations. Razr v3 was not just beautiful. It was strong, sturdy and even though was razr thin; was solidly built making it very reliable. Samsung Fold has shown how delicate and fragile foldables are. Fold's failure has somewhat done a dis-service to this category.
At launch, Motorola engineers seemed extremely confident of their implementation and reliability of the device. What gives their confidence credence and us hope is the fact that Motorola has already produced shatter proof Plastic smartphone screens. Will this device hold up and the screen as well as the hinge mechanism fail as it did with Samsung Fold? We will find out once the device starts shipping and is in hands of the consumers in the real world.
Let's talk about the design and specifications. Simply put: In design, this is a Razr V3 through and through with the only and the major difference being the small screen and shiny button layout replaced by this cohesive free flowing foldable display. This is a regular size smartphone when opened and a smaller limited interactive functional display when folded. When open, the display is 720p POLED 6.2 inches with the same original Razr design notch (yay to the nostalgia factor) housing the earpiece. When folded you can interact with a 2.7 inches display protected by Gorilla Glass 3. A single 16 MP shooter sits under the 2.7 inch display. The camera is decent enough. Let's just say that the main focus of this phone is not the camera. When closed, this camera acts as your selfie camera and when opened, becomes your main camera. There is a secondary 5 MP camera inside up-top which can be best left alone or only used for video calls.
Folded 2019 Razr has a major leg up on Samsung Fold. When folded, Samsung Fold has a gap between both screens which exposing the softish POLED (Plastic OLED display) to elements. Dirt, sand, or pocket lint can get stuck between the screens. Motorola engineers created a hollow hinge design. When the device is folded, the flexible display has room to curve back in the hollow space. This also ensure that the screen does not flatten while folded eliminating appearance of a crease and making sure that the device folds flat. No gap leaves no room for sand or dirt or pocket lint to get wedged between the displays. This implementation can work. At the very least, it is better than what Samsung came up with. Clever clever bit of innovative design!
There is a microphone up-top and at the bottom where the "chin" can be found. This phone has a chin and then some (going by today's design standards). The chin design is a throwback to the original razr adding to the nostalgia factor. I cannot begin to tell you how much I (having used the original Razr) appreciate what Motorola has done. This time around though: they have made clever use of the chin. It serves a purpose. It houses a finger print scanner, speaker at the bottom, USB C port, WIFI, GPS, various antennas and vibration module. There is no earphone jack but by now in 2019 that is somewhat expected. Besides housing essential internal hardware, this chin can double up as the perfect place to hold the phone while taking a picture or watching some media. The back of this device is made of plastic with a pattern design and Motorola logo in the middle.
When folded the device is around 3.3 inches making it very pocket-able and portable. The small size and thinness has a downside. The battery capacity takes a huge hit. The 2019 Razr boasts a 2510 mAh battery. This capacity is disappointing but not at all a deal breaker. This device is powered by Snapdragon 710 chip set which in terms of chip set horse power: puts it in the mid-range category. Currently it is running Android Pie (9.0) out of the box. Motorola has a history of faster OS updates compared to other device manufacturers so I am assuming upgrade to Android 10 is not far off. Motorola has added its popular android tweaking by adding the chop and twist gestures.
Talking about out of the "box", design innovation by Motorola is not just limited to the hinge design or functional use of the chin; they have a few tricks up their sleeve when it comes to the box in which the device comes. First off, the box itself is beautifully designed. In the box you will find a case with all the accessories. The case itself is made of a canvas like material with pattern design and razr branding. That is not the best part. The phone comes affixed on a stand within the box which doubles up as a speaker amplifying the sound. Simply play a song, place the phone back in the stand and hear the magic!
Now to the bad news: All this innovation does not come cheap. This is a $1500 device which computes to a heart break inducing (hold on to something) Rs.2,25000!!!!! Since Motorola does not officially sell devices in Pakistan, you are looking at a hefty tax on this premium luxury device. My estimation is that this device with taxes will run you around Rs.300,000. Once the device is here, it is currently eSIM only with no word on a physical SIM version. This limits your choice to Jazz being the only network offering eSIM functionality.
So what is the Razr 2019? It is an extremely expensive out of reach premium mid-range folding display smartphone. It will yet again be the design icon, the conversation starter and the head turner. With this price tag, will it make its way to millions of pocket like the original razr did back in 2004? Highly unlikely! More importantly; will this device be reliable or will the display hinge fail the way it did with Samsung fold? Remains to be seen! I know I cannot afford this phone but I am still really happy that it has made a come back!
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