The Motorola Razr is making a comeback, Lenovo exec confirms

By Rahul Srinivas December 24, 2021

Even though it was among the first smartphone brands to launch a phone with a clamshell-style foldable display, Motorola has fallen behind its peers in the race to foldable glory. The company chose not to launch a successor to the Motorola Razr 5G, which was the last foldable phone it released, in September 2020. Reports, however, indicate that a rejuvenated Motorola may finally make a comeback to the world of foldable phones with its third-generation Razr.

Folks at Android Authority managed to dig out a Weibo post by senior Lenovo executive Chen Jin where he confirms that work is underway on the Moto Razr 3 (let’s just call it that for now). Chen confirms that the Razr 3 will be a significant upgrade over the existing Motorola Razr 5G and that it will be more powerful than its predecessors. So far, it’s been a pretty low bar.

Riley Young / Digital Trends

This, perhaps, is an indication that unlike the previous-gen Razr foldables — which featured a midrange Snapdragon 7 series system on a chip (SoC) — the Moto Razr 3 may finally get a top-end Snapdragon 8 series chip from Qualcomm.

Jin, general manager of the Lenovo Mobile Business Group in China, did not say when to expect this new phone. However, given that Motorola is already lagging behind the competition, there is a good chance that we won’t need to wait till 2023 for the Motorola Razr 3 to arrive. Like the recently announced Moto Edge X 30, the Razr 3 will first go on sale in China, Jin confirmed.

Motorola is likely to be extra cautious with the Razr 3 because its previous two foldable devices — while innovative — suffered from major drawbacks, including a subpar camera, multiple software issues, and terrible battery life. Given that Samsung has done a great job with its Galaxy Z Flip 3 and that it may release an even better Galaxy Z Flip 4 by the time the Motorola Razr 3 arrives, Motorola really needs to get this one right.

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Rahul is a smartphone buff turned tech journalist who has been tinkering with all things mobile since the early 2000s. He has…

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iPhone Flip: what we know about Apple’s first foldable phone

Folding iPhone concept from iOS Beta News.

In the past few years, Samsung has become one of the leading manufacturers of foldable devices, including the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5. Though it's not the only brand making foldable devices, it offers the most mainstream and available options, especially in the U.S. That leads to the question of whether Apple will follow suit with a foldable iPhone — or even an iPad.

There have been long-standing rumors that Apple could be working on such a device, including a foldable iPhone, which we'll call "iPhone Flip" for now. Apple's a secretive company, so there may very well be at least some research and development taking place on such a device. But, of course, this continues to just be all speculation for now. From the latest news, rumors, and reports, here's everything we know so far about Apple's folding iPhone.
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The Z Fold 5 being half folded.

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Foldable iPhone in hand.

It looks like Apple is finally shifting its foldable iPhone project into the next gear. “Apple is building prototypes of at least two iPhones that fold widthwise like a clamshell,” according to a report by The Information that cites an unnamed internal source.
But before you get your hopes up, do keep in mind that a clamshell-style foldable iPhone won’t arrive until 2025 based on the earliest estimates. Meanwhile, three other insiders confided to the publication that there's a bit of a snag when it comes to the price tag and allure for potential buyers.
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Maybe a foldable iPhone with two distinct halves on the screen will finally convince Apple to allow split-screen multitasking. But this is a project still in development, which means it could meet the same fate as the never-released AirPower charging mat. The insider source also hinted that Apple might just scrap the whole endeavor if it fails to live up to its sky-high quality standards.
The report suggests that Apple's industrial design squad aimed for the stars, envisioning a device so slim that it makes the current iPhone look almost chunky by comparison. They dreamt of a gadget that, even when folded, wouldn't feel like carrying a brick. They reportedly toyed with the idea of outward-facing screens for easy peeks without the hassle of opening the device.
Yet, the mundane reality of pesky components like batteries and screens has somewhat clipped the wings of these grand designs. On the positive side, Apple has reportedly approached at least one supply chain partner to source components for the foldable iPhone project.

Apple is apparently on a quest to conquer the infamous folding-screen crease, aspiring to a seamless display that doesn’t pucker up after a bit of bending. Apple is after that perfect, flat surface where users can scribble away with an Apple Pencil without navigating a mini valley in the middle of the screen.
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