The launch of the Motorola Razr was slightly overshadowed by a test showing the Android Foldable’s hinge not properly closing after just 27,000 folds. On Friday, the company countered that the robot conducting yesterday’s test was not representative of actual usage.
As we start off 2020, more foldable smartphones are hitting the market, and the latest is from Motorola. To see just how durable it is, CNET has tasked a robot with folding the Motorola Razr until it dies, and you can watch live.
More foldable smartphones are coming in 2020, and the Motorola Razr has finally arrived after a brief delay. This week, just ahead of the phone’s shipping date, a few first impressions videos and articles have hit the web, and unfortunately, they don’t paint a great picture for the device.
The Motorola Razr was rumored for quite some time, but the quality of this foldable device caught everyone by surprise. However, a delay halted pre-orders and pushed back its release date.
Now, Motorola has confirmed pre-orders for the Razr’s return on January 26, while shipping begins early next month.
The original unveiling of the Motorola Razr was expected sometime during the summer, but the Lenovo-owned company finally announced it last month. Motorola today revealed that it’s delaying Razr pre-orders and the launch.
The Motorola Razr is likely the most iconic flip phone ever released. In 2011, Motorola and Verizon tried to revive the brand with a series of thin — for their time — Android phones. The Lenovo-owned company is now bringing back the Razr as an Android Foldable.
Motorola is hosting an event later today to unveil its first foldable smartphone following a collection of leaks earlier this month. Now, Motorola has confirmed the design on Twitter with a Razr teaser right as FCC images show off the live design again.
With just two weeks left until its full unveiling, the secret is out on Motorola’s folding phone. The Motorola Razr leaked in several renders this week, and now it’s shown up in the wild.
When it rains, it pours. Just minutes after the first official-looking image of the folding Motorola Razr phone hit the web, another leak reveals more images of the device, as well as some of its key specs.
Folding phones have struggled a bit so far with delays and disastrous design flaws, but there’s another big name in the pipeline. Motorola is set to reveal its folding Razr phone in just a few weeks, and today a leaked image is showing off the design.
This year has seen Android Foldable unveils from Samsung, Huawei, and most recently Microsoft. Motorola has also been rumored to be working on a device, and the Lenovo-owned company today announced an event set for November 13th.
Foldable phones are off to a rough start with Samsung’s durability troubles and Huawei’s… other problems. According to a report, Motorola’s Razr foldable phone could be a bright spot when it debuts sometime later this year.
The upcoming Motorola RAZR V4 has appeared in some seriously sketchy renders and showcases much of what we have expected based upon previous leaks. Expand Expanding Close
The original RAZR V3 flip phone was a phenomenal success. So seeing the company seemingly file and then obtain patents for a foldable Motorola RAZR 2019 smartphone is bound to attract attention. Expand Expanding Close
For the past couple of years, Motorola has become less and less of a big name in mobile phones, but that wasn’t always the case. Before smartphones were widely available, Motorola was one of the biggest names thanks to its popular RAZR lineup. According to a new report, that brand is coming back with a new foldable RAZR smartphone.
Google CEO Larry Page just wrapped up his opening comments during the company’s Q4 2013 earnings call taking place right now. While noting that “managing our supply better” is a priority (see Nexus 4 supply constraints), Page also hinted at some possible upcoming Motorola smartphone features. Page said Motorola is working on the following two areas: better batteries and impact-resistant designs.
I am excited about the business. In today’s multi screen world, the opportunities are endless. Think about your device. Battery life is a huge issue. You shouldn’t have to worry about constantly recharging your phone. When you drop your phone, it shouldn’t go splat. Everything should be a ton faster and easier. There’s real potential to invent new and better experiences.
Page also said Motorola’s new CEO, Dennis Woodside, has a built a “world-class team” that is currently exploring these new opportunities: Expand Expanding Close
Motorola just published a new television commercial for the Droid Razr M on its YouTube channel. The 30-second ad depicts everything from the animated film “Rango” to Google Maps projected onto everyday hands just to show how Verizon’s 4G LTE Droid Razr M has a “big screen that’s fit for your hand.” It is pretty cute, actually. Check it out above.
Motorola made things official today for two new Droid RAZR’s hitting the United States. Following the introduction of the Droid RAZR M, Verizon announced today that it would get the Droid RAZR HD and RAZR Maxx HD starting Oct. 18. The 4.7-inch devices were unveiled in September at Motorola’s New York City launch event and landed in Canada yesterday, but today we get confirmation on pricing and availability for the U.S. market.
In case you forgot: both devices pack a 4.7-inch HD display, 1.5 GHz dual-core processor, 8-megapixel camera, NFC, and 4G LTE. The Razr Maxx HD is identical to the Razr HD—apart from a bigger battery and double the internal storage (32GB). Both will ship with Android 4.0, but a Jelly Bean update is expected in the future. We have all the details in our coverage of the launch event.
As far as pricing goes…the HD will cost you $200 on a two-year contract, while the Maxx HD is $100 more.
The DROID RAZR HD will be available for $199.99 and the DROID RAZR MAXX HD will be $299.99, both with a new two-year contract. The DROID RAZR HD will be available in either Black or White and have 16 GB internal storage. The DROID RAZR MAXX HD will be available in Black and have 32 GB internal storage. The new smartphones will be available in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores and online on Oct. 18. Expand Expanding Close
Motorola is set to make a “big reveal” this Friday, according to its Facebook post from late last evening. The details of the reveal are scant, but Motorola shared that the device being unveiled rocks 4G LTE. Putting two-and-two together, we think it is more than likely Motorola will reveal the sequel to its Droid Razr (announced at a media event last fall)—the Droid Razr HD. The device is expected to feature Ice Cream Sandwich (sadly, no Jelly Bean), Verizon radios, a badass Kevlar body, and a 2530mAH battery. We will have to wait until the end of the week for the rest of the details.
The Droid Razr HD is also expected to be unveiled overseas and in Canada, but we think a United States announcement is more likely to come first since Motorola teased 4G LTE. Stay tuned. [Facebook]
Verizon just confirmed on its Twitter that customers of the Motorola’s Droid Razr and Droid Razr Maxx finally have access to Ice Cream Sandwich through a manual update.
DROID RAZR and DROID RAZR MAXXX customers can now manually download the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system. Here’s how: on your RAZR smartphone, go to Settings, then select About Phone, then select System Updates.
William Blair analyst Anil Doradla (via Barron’s) wrote in his notes today that the iPhone is still the best-selling smartphone across the United States, but it is coming “under pressure, particularly at Verizon” due to the carrier’s aggressive marketing of 4G-capable devices. Citing his checks of sales for the current quarter as of June, Doradla claimed the Motorola Droid RAZR MAXX outsold the iPhone on Verizon:
Since Apple’s iPhone launch in North America, we believe this was the first quarter where the iPhone was not the best‐selling smartphone at a North American mobile operator (where it was available). While Apple continued to maintain its top position at AT&T and Sprint, Motorola’s Droid RAZR MAXX was the best‐ selling smartphone at Verizon. Our checks also indicate that at this stage consumers are not pausing in front of the iPhone launch as it is not influencing their purchasing decisions (but we expect it to start impacting over the next couple of months).
While the RAZR MAXX took the top spot, Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus grabbed third position behind the iPhone, according to Doradla. He backed his “outperform” rating on Apple by saying he is “not worried” given the next generation iPhone, which is likely due in October, is expected to include 4G LTE capabilities: Expand Expanding Close
Droid-Life posted the leaks (above), mentioned the smartphone’s upcoming arrival to Verizon’s 4G LTE network, and detailed its visualized design and rumored specs:
While it maintains a bit of the RAZR look of last year, the back plate is now full kevlar without the extra rim of plastic around it. The camera (likely 13MP) has been centered in the middle with flash and speaker on each side. From the picture below, you can see that there isn’t much of a hump left and that is thought to be because of the 3300mAh battery that Moto has included inside. Our source claims that the screen is “amazing” and that the phone also has the expected on-screen navigation keys. They were not able to confirm the processor, which is thought to be Qualcomm’s 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4, but we would be surprised if it was something else. What’s interesting is the move from Motorola to put the micro HDMI and USB ports on the bottom side of the device again, similarly to what we saw from multiple devices like the Bionic and DROID X/X2.
There are no official details on a release date for the newest Razr offering, but rumors indicate a late summer launch.
While many of the devices on the list have rumored or leaked release dates already, BGR claimed to have Verizon’s summer/fall roadmap that details flagship smartphones being launched later this year.
According to the report, Verizon Wireless will offer Samsung’s highly anticipated and much rumored Galaxy S3, which the company confirmed yesterday will pack its new 1.4GHz Exynos 4 quad-core processor. The report does not give a release date, but it speculated a summer release based on the roadmap.
Also apparently on the roadmap are multiple Motorola RAZR devices and a new 5-inch HTC device that appears to be a Galaxy Note competitor…
What you see on the right is called the Droid RAZR “Fighter,” and it has a 4.6-inch 720P display much like HTC’s 4.7-inch One and the 4.65-inch Galaxy Nexus.
You will note that it does not have physical capacitive buttons, instead opting for the ICS-y soft buttons. That allows Motorola to push the screen further toward the edges, which is something we complained about in our review.
The smaller bezel and lack of physical buttons allows Motorola to break out a much bigger screen without increasing the footprint…much.
Other probabilities: LTE on board, lots more graphics power, and Ice Cream Sandwich.
Hopefully the Google buyout of Motorola cuts through the blur, but as with all Verizon phones, you will expect that Verizon will have its way with ICS.