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The new Moto Razr.
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When open, you get a 6.2-inch foldable display.
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When closed, you get a smaller 2.7-inch display for notifications and music control.
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The display inside is big.
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In this live image from Verizon, you can see a bit of a ripple in the display.
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The display in real life. Still a bit ripple-y.
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There is a Retro Razr mode, which emulates the old Razr OS and keypad.
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Here is selfie mode, which actually uses the main camera, because it’s a flip phone.
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The front display in music mode.
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The inside. You can see the navigation bar is huge, since it needs to be a rectangle and avoid the bottom curve in the display.
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The bottom has a USB-C port and a speaker grill.
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When open, the non-chin part of the phone is 6.9mm thick.
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A 2018 Motorola patent showing the display inside a folded phone. Notice how the display is a big loop, and not a hard crease.
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There’s room for the display inside the phone because the hinge mechanism (502 and 506) lives on the left and right side of the display, rather than behind it.
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Motorola’s official shot of the closed display. It’s a loop!
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As it opens, the display supports swing into place.
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All flattened out.
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You can see how that translates to a real design here. The hinge mechanism is next to—not behind—the display, so it sticks out from the phone body a bit.
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The back of the phone also looks very simple, since it’s an empty shell holding the display.
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The FCC’s Moto Razr photos. Even on third-party images, this phone has no display crease. Be sure to zoom in!
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Another photo of the pristine display.
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A photo of the back.
The $1,500 foldable Moto Razr was announced in November and quickly became one of the most striking and talked-about smartphones in recent memory. Motorola combined the nostalgic design of one of the most iconic flip phones ever, with new-age foldable display technology and a wild new hinge design that didn’t crease the display. Frankly, it seemed like a real winner.
But now, six days before pre-orders were going to start, Motorola has suddenly delayed the device. The Verge has a copy of Motorola’s statement, which reads:
Since its announcement in November, the new Motorola razr has received unparalleled excitement and interest from consumers. Demand has been high, and as a result, has quickly outgrown supply predictions.
Motorola has decided to adjust razr’s presale and launch timing to better meet consumer demand. We are working to determine the appropriate quantity and schedule to ensure that more consumers have access to razr at launch.
We do not anticipate a significant shift from our original availability timeline.
Pre-orders for the new Razr were supposed to start December 26, with an official launch date of January 9, 2020. Motorola claims the delay won’t be “significant,” but now there is no official launch date at all. It’s hard to imagine how an “insignificant” delay would help the company with stock issues. Normally companies are fine with popular products selling out.
Between the Samsung Galaxy Fold, Huawei Mate X, and Moto Razr, we’re now three-for-three with foldable smartphone delays. Every other company trying to build these foldable devices has run into significant manufacturing and durability problems. Samsung sent the Galaxy Fold to reviewers and, after disastrous early impressions and several dead screens, was forced to delay the launch and spent the next five months reworking the device. In the wake of the Galaxy Fold delays and the US’ export ban, the Huawei Mate X was also delayed five months and reworked from the initial design. Motorola doesn’t come out and say it’s having issues manufacturing the new Razr, but given all the problems everyone else has had, it’s hard to not draw that conclusion from this delay.
Like we said, there is no longer a launch date or pre-order date for the Moto Razr, so we’ll keep you posted.
Listing image by Motorola
https://arstechnica.com/?p=1635847