The flippable phone of the early 2000s is back but the flip now comes in the form of a foldable screen.
At first glance, the folding screen of the new Motorola Razr appears a gimmick. Why have a phone with a foldable screen, you may ask?
There are reasons. The flip phone of old was popular. One fold and they fit neatly into a pocket.
There was also the sense of finality when you ended a conversation by snapping the phone shut. It literally felt like closure.
And there was the cult attraction. Flip phones were key to science-fiction culture decades ago — think Star Trek.
In the early 2000s, Motorola profits soared thanks to the popularity of the flip phone. The company sold a reported 130 million handsets of the Razr V3, the king of the flips.
Now it’s back. Motorola launched the new Razr in Sydney on Tuesday night.
While it might adorn your shallow pockets, you’ll need deeper pockets to afford it at a recommended $2699.
Motorola is promising that you won’t see a crease on the display when you unfold it. It says the “zero-gap” hinge on the back of the display ensures that both sides of the phone are “perfectly flush” when opened.
When unfolded, the Razr has a 6.2-inch display. It’s 0.1 inches larger than the iPhone 11 and Samsung Galaxy S10, which means it’s big, but not huge.
You can still use it when the phone is folded, as one of the back sections contains a 2.7-inch second screen, which Motorola calls a “quick view display”.
You can make calls, reply to messages, pay with a tap, control music, take selfies, use Google Assistant and access phone settings without flipping it open.
The logistics of being foldable hasn’t stopped Razr sporting cameras back and front.
It has a fingerprint reader, a relatively large Lithium ion battery, and 128 Gigabytes of internal storage.
Durability is unknown, given the screen is plastic and we don’t know how the hinges will hold out.
But there’s more good news. Motorola says you can still end calls and hang up on people by snapping the phone shut as we did in the 2000s.
Story Credit: theaustraliam.com.au
