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[Voost Kain]

Motorola has confirmed it is launching a foldable phone and all the rumours point to the device being a redesigned version of its Razr flip phone, which launched way back in 2004.
This is everything we know about the Motorola Razr foldable phone so far.

The Motorola Razr foldable is expected to be released at some point in 2019. It looks like the device will be a redesign of the 2004 Motorola Razr flip phone but switch the numerical keyboard and top display for a full OLED display that folds in half.
A secondary display is expected on the outside of the device that will deliver notifications when the device is closed. This could be a trackpad for basic functions when the device is open.

These are the rumoured specifications for the Motorola Razr foldable phone so far.

• 6.2-inch internal OLED display
• 2142 x 876 resolution
• Secondary external display
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 710
• 4GB or 6GB RAM
• 64GB or 128GB storage
• 2730mAh battery

Specs might not be what you'd hoped for
XDA Developers have reported that sources have claimed the Motorola Razr foldable will feature mid-range specifications. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 with 4GB or 6GB of RAM and 64GB or 128GB of storage have been reported.
The battery capacity is said to be 2730mAh and the internal display is claimed to be 6.2-inches with a 2142 x 876 pixel resolution. It is expected to come in white, black and gold variants.

So this seems to be Motorola not going all in and seeing if it can put out a cheap variation of the foldable phone and seeing if that will be popular. They seem to be going for a fad approach.

I do have some concern here though, a 2730MAH battery for a even modestly powered phone that can become a tablet is a battery draining disaster if true. It wouldn't even make it to till the end of the day with everyday use. Might barely make it past half-way through the day. The resolution is also very strange, but it does give you a good amount of storage so they at least got that right.

But my major issue is the design. If it's designed like the razr, it'll be something like the Moto G or Z design at the front, and then flip vertically to become a tablet. The problem is that unless the phone when closed is shaped like a Square, you're gong to end up with a very thin mostly vertical tablet, which when you flip it on its side, will be wide but not very tall, making it more of a RECTANGLE which is possibly one of the dumbest decisions I've ever heard.

If Motorola is smart they will go for a square shape so you get the basic tablet dimensions, or forget the old razer vertical flip style and go for a horizontal flip. No one's going to use a rectangular tablet. That thing would be dead on arrival even if it was $400.

Update: This is more like a fake edit since I realized this before even pressing the post button, but I just realized this plan is genius.

Sure the battery and resolution, if true, are still slight issues, but the form factor I may be wrong about. While a thing rectangular phone may seem like a dumb idea, it won't be if Motorola goes for a 21:9 display like what the Xperia one is doing.

So it would flip like a razr to a movie style display which could also be great for games, and it will be cheaper at an affordable price! This could actually propel Motorola back to the big leagues if it's executed competently. Which, since it's owned by Lenovo, likely won't but here's hoping.

 

[Red Crayon Aristocrat]

The 2000s LIVES!

 

[StreetsofBeige]

What a fad that old Razr was. Back in the mid 2000s, everyone at the office wanted one. Then it was fuck Razrs, I want a Blackberry. Then it was fuck Blackberries, I want an iPhone.

 

[mckmas8808]

I love that Android allows smartphones the ability to do stuff like this.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

Is that design more-or-less what we're getting?

Because heck yeah. I have no interest in an overly-expensive smartphone that expands into a small tablet. However, I'll take a normal-sized smartphone that folds down into a smaller form-factor. That's a brilliant design choice, IMO.

 

[Breakage]

The original RAZR in black was the phone you had if you wanted to look like a government agent.

 

[Voost Kain]

What a fad that old Razr was. Back in the mid 2000s, everyone at the office wanted one. Then it was fuck Razrs, I want a Blackberry. Then it was fuck Blackberries, I want an iPhone.

It actually took until the IPhone 4 before companies started gradually droppimg BB for Iphones. BB had a good near 10 year run being the #1 business product. It's funny because before IPhone 5 Windows was expected to take that crown.

 

[daveonezero]

I like this idea. I'm all about battery though and a hi res screen never helps that. I think these QHD screens one phones are stupid. I liked how OnePlus stuck to 1080p for so long.

What a fad that old Razr was. Back in the mid 2000s, everyone at the office wanted one. Then it was fuck Razrs, I want a Blackberry. Then it was fuck Blackberries, I want an iPhone.

Or they are just good devices. Phones are fads. I don't understand the point.

 

[IzukuMidoriya]

I'm on the edge about this, mainly due to owning a Moto G4 for 3 years and how downright trash that phone was. Lenovo's let Motorola go down the shitter pretty much.

But cool concept, anyway. It'll be neat to see how it goes.

 

[EverydayBeast]

Look at that beaut, I agree that recapturing a fad could work, the original RAZR had a NASTY assault on the phone industry

 

[Shifty]

Super neat. Bring it on.

 

[IzukuMidoriya]

Look at that beaut, I agree that recapturing a fad could work, the original RAZR had a NASTY assault on the phone industry

Just don't let Linus drop your product at the next CES.

 

[Woo-Fu]

Is that design more-or-less what we're getting?

Because heck yeah. I have no interest in an overly-expensive smartphone that expands into a small tablet. However, I'll take a normal-sized smartphone that folds down into a smaller form-factor. That's a brilliant design choice, IMO.

Exactly. Think there are probably a lot of us out there who'd be more pleased with a practical application of the folding screen tech like a new razr flip with similar form factor to the old flips.

I don't want a phone that is too big already that unfolds into a screen still too small for me to enjoy using for entertainment purposes, but a phone that is more convenient to shove in a front pocket, while still delivering everything I want out of a smartphone? Yes, please.

 

[Chittagong]

I think it’s a great idea and the only viable use of a foldable screen I can think off.

They need a success, my supply chain contacts told me that Motorola laid off a lot of engineers this month in China.

 

[coopermidnight]

That's cool. I was just talking to my coworkers yesterday about how great T9 keypads were for texting. Unfortunately I want Google out of my life, so no Android for me.

 

[cryptoadam]

This is probably the best implementation of foldable phone.

Folding a phone to a tablet doesn't really make much sense to me, my phablet note is big enough and I never think to myself I need more screen.

The whole design actually makes sense since you aren't stuck with an awkward screen on the outside.

Specs wise this isn't a premium phone so the price may be more affordable. This is more of a midrange phone with a neat gimmick. If I was apple I would actually be looking at copying something like this rather than what Huwaie or samsung are doing.

 

[Voost Kain]

That's cool. I was just talking to my coworkers yesterday about how great T9 keypads were for texting. Unfortunately I want Google out of my life, so no Android for me.

Android itself isn't really Google but the store and services in the background that can be removed like they do with many Chinese and some West African phones.

I would suggest doing that to make your phone open source android and Google free, but still have a good phone

 

[Freedom Gate Co.]

I think it’s a great idea and the only viable use of a foldable screen I can think off.

They need a success, my supply chain contacts told me that Motorola laid off a lot of engineers this month in China.

Motorola or the parent company Lenovo?

Because Motorola is the American arm.

 

[IbizaPocholo]

Thanks mods for the title change

 

[Slings and Arrows]

Shit aint meant to bend.

I'll wait 24 months for the early beta-testers adopters to deal with the issues.

 

[EverydayBeast]

I'm more optimistic that they can capitalize off of nostalgia which I think is very important.

 

[Breakage]

-

 

[Fbh]

Looks ok. The part where it folds continues to look ugly and durability is still a big concern. Good thing that there's enough people with a lot of disposable income to beta test these devices.
Maybe in some years they can offer a phone like this for decent prices, Motorla has been great at offering fairly good devices for low prices.

 

[DeepEnigma]

So white screen of death in about 18 months in?

 

[LegendOfKage]

This doesn't seem large enough when unfolded to justify a fold in the first place. It's not as if my phone is too big when "not folded," so this really seems less convenient, if anything. Also, you're getting a less durable screen, and no headphone jack.

 

[TGO]

To me this makes sense, this is where phones should be heading, want a large screen?
Cool but let me fold that shit so I'm not carrying a brick around with me

 

[Nymphae]

Flip phones always make me think of the Canadian consumer report show Street Cents. It was a cool show back in the day, I remember one where they were testing Tim Horton's claim that they refresh their coffee every 20 minutes and found they were not doing that at many locations.

Anyway, it had narrative sections between segments. One of the hosts was named Ken Pompadour in the show:

Ken was a weak-willed lackey for the "evil" corporation BuyCo, which always sold inferior, overpriced and shoddy products, and marketed how great their products were in a stereotypical parody fashion. Every week, Ken would try to sell the viewers and hosts BuyCo products and every week the hosts would foil his scheme. Eventually, Ken's boss (whose face was never seen but was secretly played by host Jamie Bradley) died over Aruba, and Ken got promoted to the head of BuyCo. As boss, Ken's image changed completely, as he was cool, wore all black leather (including pants), had a goatee, and always was able to snap his hand to reveal an item for dramatic effect.

He did this a lot with a cell phone, and it really stuck in my brain lol. Very hard to find clips of that, but here is one of him producing a film canister out of thin air, he would do this exact same thing with a flip phone, one snap out to bring the phone out, another to bring it to his ear. The motion is right at the start of the video.

 

[Torrent of Pork]

Who the hell is asking for foldable phones? I can understand the desirability of a tv that can wrap up into a tube for transport, but I want my phone to be rock solid.

 

[Fbh]

Who the hell is asking for foldable phones? I can understand the desirability of a tv that can wrap up into a tube for transport, but I want my phone to be rock solid.

I think a part of it is that IMO, beyond maybe the cameras, phones have reached the point of diminishing returns for a while now.
For the average user that does some social media, emailing, light web browsing and uses the standard apps (Uber, maps, maybe some games, etc) that 20% faster CPU or even higher res screen are getting increasingly less appealing. Take some flagship (or even mid range) phone from 2-3 years ago and while it's not as good as the current ones you probably still have a nice sharp screen, responsive performance, a decent camera, etc.

So manufacturers have to start coming up with other stuff to try and make their new devices appealing. First it was the reduction of bezels, then they started adding more and more cameras (how many are we at now?....4?), and now some companies have made it all about folding.

 

[triplestation]

who thought this was a good idea?

bro motorola this is a baaaaad look

spin it as a joke and move on

this shit will make a dick shrivel up and blink out of existence

 

[nbcjr]

That seems to be an excellent foldable, even better than the Huawei one.

 

[DESTROYA]

$1500 .........
Unless it had better specs and battery life, I don’t think so.

 

[KorbinDallas]

Apple had their iPhone bend long before 2019.

Also, anyone downgraded from a smart phone to a flip phone? Thinking of doing it myself. Don't really need internet all the time but it's nice to have a camera handy. Definitely would miss the maps function.

 

[IbizaPocholo]

 

[Phunkydiabetic]

Fucks sake he's irritating.

 

[Rat Rage]

Yooo, look how small it is! AWESOME! I fucking hate huge phones. This is really up my alley. Hopefully it's not too expensive.

 

[Phunkydiabetic]

Yooo, look how small it is! AWESOME! I fucking hate huge phones. This is really up my alley. Hopefully it's not too expensive.

It costs like $2500 cad....

 

[Caffeine]

if it was like $200 i would be with it. these mobile distributers really want to hike prices huh ?

 

[Rest]

Apple had their iPhone bend long before 2019.

Also, anyone downgraded from a smart phone to a flip phone? Thinking of doing it myself. Don't really need internet all the time but it's nice to have a camera handy. Definitely would miss the maps function.

Every time I've looked for a flip phone, they've all be garbage quality for the last 7 or 8 years. Take a look at Republic Wireless, they're doing what Metro PCS was doing 15 years ago, service by the feature for low prices. You can find a balance between a cheap phone and one with good build quality, and not pay for internet if you don't want it.

 

[GAMETA]

I find the idea of foldable phones pretty stupid. The fold area looks terrible and fragile.

I think they don't know what to do next now that the screens are as borderless as can be, so they throw us whatever in the hopes we grab it.

I don't like the old designs.

 

[cryptoadam]

I think its cool and actually practicle for a foldable.

In a few gens the tech will be more affordable so these phones will be the regular cheap price of only 1000$ lol

 

[Jooxed]

This screen scares me so much, there is no way that there won't be a crease in there or something eventually.

 

[belmarduk]

I would definitely consider getting one of these if not for the $1,499 price tag.

 

[EverydayBeast]

Phone companies are searching for the next thing to sell to you the thread.

 

[IbizaPocholo]

Motorola’s foldable Razr will launch on February 6th after delay

But it could face big competition from Samsung soon, too.

www.theverge.com

 

[lock2k]

It actually took until the IPhone 4 before companies started gradually droppimg BB for Iphones. BB had a good near 10 year run being the #1 business product. It's funny because before IPhone 5 Windows was expected to take that crown.

Are you excited to play Stadia on this phone?

 

[V4skunk]

How durable is the screen though?
I reckon after a year it'll have visible creases where it folds.

 

[IbizaPocholo]

 

[xrnzaaas]

This is a very expensive gimmick, with other foldable phones you at least do it to have two large screens.

 

[mcjmetroid]

Is there a reason people really want foldable phones? I'm looking at them and nah?