Oh man, I remember the days where the Motorola Razr was the smartphone everyone lusted after. It was definitely one of the sexiest devices of its day and I for one can’t wait to see its rumoured return. ESPECIALLY IF IT’S ANOTHER FOLDING SMARTPHONE.
Now, you probably already know that I’m a big fan of the idea of a folding future. My time with the Huawei Mate X and Samsung Galaxy Fold (review coming soon, I promise) has only reinforced my belief that the future of smartphones is one that folds. The concept just has so much potential that I simply cannot wait for more people to try their hand at it. And that, brings us to the Motorola Razr.
Yes, the phone isn’t out yet, but when has that stopped us from fawning over leaked images, especially super legit-looking ones from people like Evan Blass (@evleaks). And if we’re talking about the Razr, evleaks just dropped a brand new set of images of this highly anticipated smartphone.
This first set of images shows the phone in both its folded and unfolded state. It looks hella tiny especially when you look at how it looks in relation to what looks like a fairly average-sized human hand. In fact, it looks a lot like a Sony Xperia 1 that has been…well, folded in half. I suppose that shouldn’t be surprising as the handset is rumoured to feature a 6.2″ 22:9 aspect ratio display–which isn’t far off the Xperia 1’s measurements.
This should mean that the phone will be relatively easy to handle despite being super tall. But, folded in half, the phone should be quite the chonky boi if the Galaxy Fold’s body is anything to go by. Speaking of Galaxy Fold, the phone appears to also have a fully functional tiny screen on the lid, sitting just above what looks like the only camera on this phone, so you can use the phone even while its closed.
But, here’s what I find interesting when we look at both the front and side profile photos: there doesn’t appear to be a crease on the screen, nor is there any gap by the hinge when the smartphone is folded. If this turns out to be true, that could be an amazing development in the in-folding foldable smartphone. It’s hard to say at this point whether there actually is a crease or a gap–because it’s a render–but one can hope, right?
I’m not, however, a fan of the Razr’s camera placement, if that really ends up being the only camera on this phone. Not only will it mean that you will have to flip open the phone every time you want to take a photo, but it also seems really difficult to take selfies with unless you want to hold the phone upside down. And what orientation will that sensor be in since both screens are perpendicular to each other? Doesn’t seem super practical, if ya ask me.
But really, as impractical as it all seems, I’m super excited for it. I’m glad they’re not just copying the existing folding phone ideas in the market, and they’re actually trying to do things their own way this time. Plus, if Motorola were to make a comeback with a radical new smartphone, what better device to revive than the legendary Razr?
I mean, they even kept the big chin at the bottom that was so iconic to the Razr’s design. Oh, and since we’re on the topic of that chin, it looks like there’ll be a fingerprint scanner there too. What I wonder is whether there will be like a release mechanism (ala-Mate X) that you can activate from the fingerprint scanner, that would unfold the phone–or at least help it out– so you don’t have to faff about too much with the flip.
On top of these sexy pictures, Mishaal Rahman also tweeted a purported summary of the Motorola Razr’s specs:
According to him, it will likely be powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 710 processor–which is honestly a bit of a shame. I would have loved to see a flagship processor. Besides that, the tiny closed display is rumoured to be 2.69 inches with an 800×600 pixel resolution. There will also be 4GB to 6GB of RAM with either 64GB or 128GB of internal storage. There will also apparently be a tiny 2,510 mAh battery, which is probably the worst news.
One interesting thing to note is that the smartphone will apparently have its displays made by BOE, which is the company behind the Huawei Mate X’s folding screens. Either way, I’m stoked for this phone and I can’t wait to see whether Motorola has gotten it right or if the search for the perfect folding phone will continue. What do you guys think?