Motorola Razr – flip or flop (update – now with Android 10)

Motorola REAL DEALS FOR SEPTEMBER

The Motorola Razr flip due here 24 February has generated masses of publicity. The problem is that the publicity is in almost equal parts – good and bad – flip or flop.

I am a glass-half-full person, so I see that the main feature of the Motorola Razr 6.2-inch screen is that it folds to a reasonably small 94 (h) x 72 (w) x 14mm x 205g. Razr lovers will simply fall in love with the concept and part with A$2699 – “Shut up and take my money.”

Motorola Razr buyers will be a select few because more than 90% of us will not pay more than $1000 for a phone (85% pay less than $500). So, for those with a lazy $2699, let’s see what you get.

Remember this is a phone where detailed specifications don’t mean a hill of beans. You either love it or not.

Motorola Razr XT2000-2

Motorola Razr

What is it? (Simple version)

A vertical flip phone based on the original iconic Motorola Razr V3 that dominated handset sales in the ‘noughties”. It folds out to reveal a 6.2-inch screen. It has a smaller 2.7” screen on the front.

Motorola says the foldable screen will go the distance and should you damage it replacements are easy without disassembling the entire phone first.

It does everything a standard Google Android smartphone does with a few added Moto Actions – gestures that do things. It supports Google Pay (fingerprint security). Telstra, Optus and Vodafone support the eSim (no physical sim). Oh and if you want the old Razr ‘big-button’ dialler its there too!

It has a front camera and flash (great for selfies) that should take better than average shots in day/office/night light. The battery will last a day or more and fast charges.

What is it? (deeper dive)

Inside screen

6.2” P-OLED, 2124×876, 373ppi, 21:9, 70.2% STBR, notch inside houses earpiece speaker and 5MP camera suitable for video calls.

At first look, it seems to be a good screen with reasonable colours and brightness (not tested). The screen folds flat and supported at the fold by two geared stainless-steel plates that give it the same feel as a single pane of glass. If you look very closely, you can see a minor crease around the 2° radius fold.

Motorola Razr hinge
Inside the hinge

While you may get the hang of single-hand opening the magnets do hold it closed quite well. It is not spring-operated, flip-out like the Star Trek communicator. And the fingerprint sensor is on the chin so it is more a two-handed approach.

Motorola Razr fold

The bottom half of the screen (chin-side) floats to accommodate the fold and the area near the chin has haptic feedback. It should be more durable than a typical folding screen.

Outside screen

2.7” G-OLED 800×600, 370ppi, 4:3. Motorola calls it a quick view screen for notifications etc. But it can also be used for video calls and a cute ‘smile’ feature when taking a photo.

Processor, ram and storage

Qualcomm Snapdragon 710, eight-core, 2.2 GHz, 10nm

It is an older Snapdragon released in mid-2018, but that reflects two things – the gestation period for this phone (about four years) and that it is fast enough to drive the device while being energy and heat efficient. Motorola has used a standard Qualcomm reference design including its X15 modem (that has 800/150Mbps DL/UL, VoLTE, VoWifi and GPS), Hexagon 685 DSP, Spectra 250 ISP, Wi-Fi 5, BT 5.0, NFC and QC 4.0 (although Motorola has modified this for its  15 Turbo-charge technology).

In the future, you will see more devices with SD7XX series chips as much of its AI has come down from the flagship SD8XX series.

It has 6GB of ram and 128GB storage (unspecified type). As a USB-C device supporting OTG, it should be easy to plug in a flash drive or dongle if you need more space (no micro-SD).

Primary Camera (like a rear camera on a smartphone)

It is 16 MP, f/1.7, 1.22um, Dual Pixel PDAF with a ToF depth sensor. It should be pretty good at portrait and bokeh. Motorola claims it has Night Vision AI processing software.

But the camera is front-facing so you get a 16MP selfie with HDR, a dual flash and gyro-EIS – very useful. It will take 2160@30fps video in MPEG4, H.263, H.264, H.265, VP8 and VP9.

The internal camera is 5MP, f.2.0, 1.12um and shoots 1080@30fps.

I doubt that the camera will beat the magic 100 DXOMARK but its fine for most use.

Battery

2150mAh split over two batteries (to balance the weight on two halves). It has a 15W (5V/3A) Motorola Turbo Charger that apparently has a battery ‘levelling’ charge pattern to ensure all individual cells receive the same use/charge factor. It also supports QC 4.0 (or earlier). No Qi wireless charge.

eSim

This is one phone you will not want to buy overseas as the Australian version IMEI numbers are locked to the three Telcos here. You can use it OS where eSim is accepted.

Bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 13, 20, 28, 38 and 66 are enabled.

Size/build

  • Flat: 72 x 172 x 6.9mm
  • Folded: 72 x 94 x 14mm x 205g
  • Splash-proof with water-resistant nanocoating (similar to IP54)
  • Metal frame, resin textured back, polyamide ‘shatter shield’ screen coating
  • Noir Black
  • 2-year warranty and easy screen replacement (Cost TBA)
Motorola Razr box

Price and availability

$2699 from Telstra, JB Hi-Fi and Motorola Australia – pre-orders advised for 24 February retail release.

GadgetGuy’s take – Motorola Razr – old style, new tech

You buy this because of the style – pure and simple. It makes a statement!

The ‘floppers’ are LOL at the price, no microSD, no higher IP rating, older SoC, no QI, no 3.5mm audio, and fear, uncertainty and doubt about the foldable plastic OLED screen durability.

Frankly, neither the naysayers nor fanboys have had enough time with this innovative, yet iconic device to really tell. Unlike Motorola that spent 4-years developing it and goodness knows how many millions of dollars to bring us something old, yet new.

We can only wish Motorola well and hope it upsets a few fat, complacent pigeons.

If you are nostalgic GadgetGuy has a few older Razr reviews here.

Motorola Razr
https://youtu.be/FC5FcfZf7xw