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A couple of days ago, a report surfaced, claiming that Motorola is planning to revive its Razr brand of smartphones, and that the upcoming Razr smartphone will actually be a foldable device. Well, some new info regarding all that just surfaced, as the company’s foldable smartphone patent surfaced on WIPO.
As part of this patent filing, Motorola included some sketches, which give us some insight into what the company is planning. These sketches show off both the phone’s front and back sides, and the hinges on the sides are clearly visible, hinges that will let this phone be folded right down the middle.
Another thing you will notice in these sketches, is the fact that the phone will sport a rather thick “chin” below the display (same as the original Razr), that bezel will be three times as thick as the phone’s top bezel. Bezels on this phone will not be the thinnest in general, though that was kind of to be expected considering this is a foldable device.
The back side sketch reveals that the device will include a capacitive fingerprint scanner, a single camera, and a secondary display which will be noticeably smaller than the main one. The design of this phone’s back is reminiscent of the Motorola Razr, mainly due to that display on it. You will also notice similarities with the original Razr when you check out the phone from the side, as you will see just how thick that “chin” is, and how the top part of the phone will sit next to that chin, not over it.
What Do We Know Thus Far
The all-new Motorola Razr is actually expected to launch next month, so it’s even possible that it may become official during the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona. The device is also expected to be quite expensive, as its price tag is expected to be around $1,500, which is not that surprising as Samsung’s foldable device is expected to be in a similar price tag territory. That price tag will probably be more than enough to scare away the vast majority of consumers, including me, so it will be interesting to see how well will these foldable devices sell at first.
Motorola’s upcoming Razr foldable smartphone will probably be exclusive to Verizon in the US, at least if the previous report is to be believed. This smartphone will almost certainly run Android 9 Pie out of the box, though it remains to be seen what will Motorola’s implementation look like, considering the size of the phone’s main display.
The Competition
Motorola is not the only company that is bringing its foldable smartphone to the market this year, not even close. Royole had already announced its foldable smartphone, while Samsung showed it off at its developer’s conference, and will probably officially announce it on February 20, along with the Galaxy S10 series of smartphones.
Huawei is expected to bring its foldable smartphone in H1 2019 as well, though the company will probably announce it during the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona. OPPO said that it is working on a foldable smartphone as well, same goes for LG, while HTC’s foldable handset will arrive in the second half of this year, probably. A number of other companies are working on foldable devices, and we’re expected to see at least a couple of them, for better or worse, before H2 2019 comes knocking.
