Moto Razr returns with a flipping cool design and Android inside 

Moto Razr is back. As expected, Motorola launched the long-rumoured 2019 edition of the Moto Razr at a keynote event in Los Angeles on November 13. And as expected, it doesn’t disappoint by simply knocking on nostalgia’s door. Even though it does do that in more ways than one, the Moto Razr 2019 is a fresh update on the original which was launched back in 2004 – making mobile phones, which frankly speaking, were not that smart back in the day, look cool once, after all. Everyone wanted to have one, everyone needed to have one. 

Moto Razr 2019 design

The design is a throwback to the iconic Moto Razr V3 which means that the Moto Razr 2019 is also a clamshell-style flip phone – but there’s a twist. The Moto Razr 2019 is a ‘flipping’ foldable. And, I can’t stress this enough, this thing is an actual smartphone running Android 9 Pie and not just a dumb old feature phone that’s capable of accessing the Internet. The Moto Razr 2019 isn’t designed to be a secondary phone for when you’re looking for a digital detox. If anything, this one gives you more reasons to stay connected all the time. 

But coming to the foldable bit which is the phone’s main USP. The Moto Razr 2019 may be a foldable phone, but it isn’t as drastic a foldable phone like the Samsung Galaxy Fold or the Huawei Mate X – it isn’t as expensive either. The new Razr has a plastic-OLED on the inside that simply passes through the hinge. Motorola calls it Flex View. There’s also an outer cover glass like in the original to serve as an area for quick notifications. Motorola calls it Quick View. 

There’s a notch at the top on the inside screen that houses the earpiece and sensors. There’s also a substantial chin which is also raised like in the original – this is home to a physical fingerprint scanner for biometric authentication. 

Motorola is particularly touting the phone’s ‘zero-gap’ hinge so there may be little chance for debris to enter – but that’s all that it is saying about the phone’s durability aspect. We will have to put it to test to be rest assured on that one. Especially after the Samsung Galaxy Fold issues. 

Motorola is also touting an app continuity-like feature and how “the two displays are made to work together. Whatever you see on Quick View magically moves to the larger Flex View display the moment you flip open.” This works like a charm on the Galaxy Fold. We will have to put the Moto Razr 2019 to its paces to find if it’s as good. 

Be that as it may, the Moto Razr 2019 doesn’t play it safe at least on the design front. It’s a phone straight out of the future and yet somehow, it would remind you of the past. Pulling something like that isn’t easy. So, Motorola deserves credit here. 

Moto Razr specs, price

As for the phone’s spec-sheet, that’s where Motorola seems to be playing it safe. The Moto Razr 2019 may ‘look’ like it is in the same league as the Samsung Galaxy Fold, but its hardware does leave you wanting – especially for the price.  

The Moto Razr 2019 has a 6.2-inch main display with 876x2142-pixel resolution (21:9 aspect ratio) and a 2.7-inch secondary cover display with a resolution of 600x800-pixel, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 processor paired with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage (non-expandable). The foldable Razr phone further packs a 2,510mAh battery with 15W fast charging. There’s a 16MP camera on the rear and a 5MP camera on the front. The phone is splash-proof with water resistant nanocoating. 

The Moto Razr 2019 is a Verizon-exclusive in the US for now and it will be available for buying sometime in January 2020 at a price of $1,500 (roughly Rs 1,08,122) - with pre-orders beginning December 26. It is yet to be seen if Motorola brings the Moto Razr 2019 to more markets outside of the US in the days to come. 

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