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Bendable Motorola RAZR Android smartphone announced

Motorola is returning to their iconic Razr flip phone brand as a smart phone, but will nostalgia and aesthetic be enough to cover its flaws?
TJ Denzer
TJ Denzer
3

It’s long past the era when Motorola ruled the land of mobile devices with its iconic Razr flip phone brand. Since then, Apple has risen to power, Samsung has flourished with Android, and Motorola’s ownership has changed hands more than a few times to land where it is with Lenovo. Motorola isn’t what it used to be, but it’s aiming to capture a little bit of its previous magic with a new foldable smartphone returning to the Razr brand line. It’s not packing the power and tech of some of its competitors, but will style and durability be enough to win old fans over?

On November 13, 2019, Motorola formally announced the return of the Razr brand via Twitter and the Motorola website. Exclusively on the Verizon Wireless carrier at launch, the new Razr smartphone is expected to be available at Wal-Mart and Verizon Wireless stores in January 2020 with pre-orders opening in mid-December. The phone will retail for $1,499 at launch.

As should be obvious, the phone’s main draw is meant to be its nostalgic design. At 6.2 inches, the phone folds down to around 3 inches in a little square package, complete with a 2.7 external screen that you can use for notifications or texting.

As reported by Bloomberg, the tech is where the Razr falls short of other contemporary devices.

“It has a small battery at 2,510mAh and runs the older Android 9 Pie operating system on Qualcomm’s sub-flagship Snapdragon 710 chip,” Bloomberg's Mark Gurman wrote.

It also lacks a 5G option and runs short on memory. Bloomberg also found the camera to be underwhelming. Despite this, the new Razr is said to utilize various tech advancements that should keep users from experiencing the malfunctions and durability issues of other bendable smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy Fold. The Razr utilizes a new “zero-gap design,” which is meant to keep sand and other particles from getting into the electronics or under the screen, hopefully resulting in a more durable and reliable folding smartphone.

So the Razr is coming back. At a $1,500 price tag and lacking the under-the-hood tech of its competitors, it might be a tough sell. That said, those pining for the nostalgic style and aesthetic of the old school at the cost of some performance might be happy to have a fresh flip phone in their pocket come 2020.

Senior News Editor
Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.

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