Motorola will give foldables another try with a new Razr later this year
The phone is expected to make some dramatic changes to its design, as well as improve on the fundamentals.
Motorola hasn’t had much success in the foldable market, with all three of its flexible Razr smartphones failing to impress the masses the way Samsung’s Galaxy Z line has. Fortunately, Moto isn’t giving up yet, with Lenovo’s CEO confirming to CNBC that a new model is on the way and arriving later this year.
“I think it’s much better,” Yuanqing Yang said to describe the new Razr to the outlet. He said that reception to the Razr reboot has been “good,” adding that the next version is coming “very soon” (which makes it sound like we won’t have to wait until the end of 2023 for its arrival).
While the first couple of Razr phones were praised for their nostalgia and unique form factors, the massively different third generation seemed like it was designed to be as boring as possible. Gone was the charm of the original Razr phone, with it being replaced with a much more generic design and region exclusivity to China. It managed to beef up the specs of the previous generations which was nice to see, but it didn’t do much to stand out against the Z Flip 4 which is widely argued as the best foldable phone you can get.
The 2023 Razr phone might shift the narrative a bit given its rumored design updates that are said to be pretty dramatic. The cover display will reportedly extend over the entire area of the front of the phone – with a couple of cutouts for the dual camera system – giving you a lot more room to open apps, manage notifications, check widgets, and more. Rumors also point to an improved hinge on the device, as well as enhanced application support so they scale properly on the funky aspect ratios of the Razr.
The phone will also likely sport flagship specs and cost a pretty penny. Yang told CNBC that foldables remain expensive, but once the tech has matured, prices will begin to dip. We’ve already seen this to an effect, with Samsung regularly cranking out amazing deals on its Z lineup, while competitors like Oppo and Huawei are able to shave off a couple hundred dollars and still offer equally premium experiences with their foldables.
Motorola will have a tough road ahead if it wants to gain marketshare with this new foldable. The market has slowly started heating up, with more competitors in global regions than ever before. In the United States, both Google and OnePlus will be releasing folding phones this year, on top of Samsung’s rumored refresh of the Galaxy Z series late this summer. It’s going to be a big year for foldable phones, and it’ll be interesting to see the approach Moto takes to stand out.