Just a little over six months after Motorola launched its Razr (2022) folding phone, the company has confirmed that another Razr foldable is in the works. But not only that, it sounds like Motorola’s next Razr will be here a lot sooner than we expected.
Speaking to CNBC, Lenovo CEO Yuanqing Yang said that a new version of the Motorola Razr will be released “very soon,” while also noting that reception to the Razr foldable lineup has been “good.” And compared to past versions of the Razr, Yang also went on to say that he thinks the new 2023 model is “much better.”
The Motorola Razr story so far
Motorola was one of the first big companies to enter the foldable niche, launching the original Razr in February 2020 after initially showing it off in November 2019. That first model did a great job of scratching the nostalgia itch, but with worrying durability issues, lacking performance, and a poor camera setup, it never amounted to much of anything.
Less than a year later, though, Motorola launched the Razr 5G — also known as the Razr (2020). Its design was much more refined, the cover screen could do more, performance saw a nice boost, and Motorola also upgraded the battery life and camera system. It still wasn’t a perfect phone, but it certainly felt like the foldable Razr Motorola wanted to launch in the first place.
But after two very quick releases, Motorola flat-out ignored the Razr lineup throughout all of 2021 and most of 2022. It wasn’t until mid-August last year that the Razr 2022 was released … but at the time, it was only available in China. Motorola eventually launched the Razr (2022) globally that October, though the phone never made its way to the U.S.
What we expect from the 2023 Razr
Now we have a fourth Motorola Razr coming for 2023. What will it be like? Although neither Motorola nor parent company Lenovo have offered any official details, leaked renders of the phone paint an exciting picture of what it might offer.
Earlier this month, leaker Evan Blass shared multiple photos of the supposed Razr (2023). The big takeaway is the cover screen, which appears to fill up almost the entire top portion of the phone. One render shows the cover screen with a custom wallpaper, app shortcuts, and a notification panel.
The Razr (2020) and Razr (2022) allow you to run virtually any app you want on the cover screen, and we expect the Razr (2023) will continue that tradition — just with a much larger canvas to use them on. Compared to the Galaxy Z Flip 4 and even the Oppo Find N2 Flip, the cover screen we see in these renders is mighty impressive.
It also looks like this new Motorola Razr will have a rounder body compared to past iterations, along with a dual rear camera system.
The Motorola Razr (2023) is coming soon
Will the 2023 version of the Razr actually look like this? It’s impossible to say for sure, but given Yang’s comment that it’s coming “very soon,” we shouldn’t have too long to wait.
Beyond the design and possible cover screen changes, the other big questions around the 2023 Razr regard its availability. Will Motorola go for another timed exclusive release in China? Will this new Razr actually come to the U.S.? And what kind of price can we expect?
A new Motorola Razr has the potential to be one of 2023’s most exciting folding smartphones, but there are a few boxes Motorola needs to check for that to happen. But if it looks anything like what the rumor mill suggests, we should be in for something special.
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