Introduction

The long-rumored Motorola Razr may just be the foldable phone we all want simply because it's not a new concept at all. The Razr V3 wasn't just a phone, it was a landmark that defined the lifestyle of an entire generation of movies, TV shows, ads, and whatnot. But back in 2004, it was called a flip-phone.

The Motorola Razr 2019 is a cutting-edge foldable phone that’s also a throwback to one of the most iconic phone designs of all time: the original Razr V3 that launched in 2004… it's the future wrapped in the past. But is this synthesis novel enough to make an impact on the market? It makes sense that Motorola would drape its most ambitious experiment in its most historically popular design: the company’s mid-range and budget smartphones are lauded for their utility and value, but not their flash. The Moto Z4 looks largely unchanged from the original Moto Z, while the Moto G7 line is effectively a pared-down version of the Z line for the shallow-pocketed. Even the new Motorola One line barely strays from the rest of the company’s designs. The Razr 2019 is a chance to break the mold, and at the same time challenge the industry’s assumptions about what the smartphone future could look like. We assumed that foldables would bridge the gap between phones and tablets by unfolding horizontally into a wider display; Motorola’s take has other ideas, and flips open to reveal an elongated touchscreen, one that’s just a bit longer than the iPhone 11 display. So no, you don’t get much more screen real estate. The novelty lies in what you can do with it closed, as there’s a smaller display on the outside for checking texts, calls, music, emails, and such – much like the preview you’d get on a smartwatch. Below that quick-look screen is the rear camera, which when the Razr is closed becomes a selfie camera, while the small display shows what it’s looking at.

Fifteen years later and the true successor is here and it may as well define the next generation of smartphones, the one with the foldable screens at least. While the Mate X and Galaxy Fold folded a tablet into a phone, the Razr folds a regular phone into this small peculiar blast from the past. And it seems to have worked out great.