Samsung may rule the world of foldables right now, but it looked like Motorola was a real contender for a brief moment. Its Razr foldable hit all the right nostalgic notes and not much else. Now it seems like a sequel is on the way to hopefully right what once went wrong.
It may be hard to remember now, but Lenovo announced the original Motorola Razr foldable shortly before Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip. At the time, it was a step in a different direction for foldables. Instead of offering a phone that folded out to a tablet, the Razer proposed a smartphone that folded down to a closed flip phone factor. Something far more pocketable than any smartphone on the market.
It looked very much like the Motorola Razr of old from the early flip phone days, which helped it garner a lot of nostalgia love. At least before anyone got their hands on it. Unfortunately, not only were the cameras and processor lackluster (at best), the phone didn’t feel good to use. Opening and closing it produced creaks that did not lend confidence. Lenovo followed up with a second version, but it served more as an internal spec bump than anything else.
Over on Weibo, Lenovo’s IT Manager just hinted at the next Razr to come and promised a delivery date sometime in 2022. It sounds like more than a spec bump this time, although it’s hard to say. The post doesn’t translate well to English, even when trying multiple sources. Here’s the clearest version, courtesy of Bing translator:
Time back to November 14, 2019,
Motorola’s new razr was launched, as the industry’s first vertical folding screen smartphone, once again leading the industry innovation.
The star orbit hinge technology independently developed by Lenovo Research Institute was the only seamless crease-free hinge technology in the world that was put into mass production at that time.
I think innovation is always the driving force of the industry.
I hope that instead of salivating, we will act more, including silently preparing the third generation of razr folding screen mobile phones: more advanced chip computing power, better human-machine interface and, of course, a more atmospheric appearance.
This product, we will not let go of the first listing in the Chinese market!
It’s early days, of course, and anything could happen. But more choice is always good, and nostalgia is hard to ignore. Unfortunately, it also sounds like the next Razr might launch in China first. Here’s hoping for a U.S. release.
