The next folding Moto Razr may smooth out any screen crease

By Prakhar Khanna May 24, 2022

More rumors about the next Motorola Razr folding smartphone are spreading, and they’re very intriguing. While we have already reported how the next Razr could move away from the offbeat design by ditching the chin, a new leak reveals it could also ditch the crease. Take a look at this GIF, which supposedly shows the “Maven,” a codename associated with the third and currently unofficial Motorola Razr phone, being folded up.

Hello, Maven. pic.twitter.com/xV7SbQYzrx

— Ev (@evleaks) May 24, 2022

The leak was posted to Twitter by Evan Blass, who is well-known for accurate leaks of future devices, and even when you look closely it’s hard to spot much of a crease on the screen. To recall, earlier Motorola Razr phones adopted a dew-drop hinge design to minimize the crease, but it wasn’t very effective. However, it looks like this could change on the new model. This is similar to the Oppo Find N, which has a minimal crease on its foldable display.

When unfolded, we can see a big outer display on the smartphone. It is similar to the previously leaked images of the foldable, and also shows two cameras sitting in a horizontal module. If the leaks are to be believed, the next Motorola Razr will feature a triple-camera setup led by a 50-megapixel, f/1.8 primary shooter alongside a combination of 13MP wide-angle and macro sensor. It will get a 32MP selfie shooter.

Unlike the previous Razr foldables, the upcoming version looks set to be powered by the latest Qualcomm flagship chipset, the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1. It is said to be supported by 8GB or 12GB of RAM and 256GB or 512GB internal storage options. However, you will have to wait to get your hands on the device as it is expected to launch in China first, with a global rollout to follow. As per a past report, it could come in two color options; Quartz Black and Tranquil Blue.

With the flagship processor and potentially a larger external screen, the next Razr is shaping up to rival the existing top clamshell-style folding phone, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3.

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Prakhar writes news, reviews and features for Digital Trends. He is an independent tech journalist who has been a part of the…

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5 ways the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 beats the Motorola Razr Plus

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 next to the Motorola Razr Plus.

The Motorola Razr Plus instantly became the best flip phone when it launched a few weeks ago because it was competing with the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4. Its biggest advantage was the big cover display compared to the tiny widgets-only screen on Samsung’s clamshell foldable phone. The cover screen software remains superior to that of the new Galaxy Z Flip 5, but the Razr Plus starts falling behind when you unfold it.

I’ve been using the Motorola Razr Plus on and off for the past month and got the Galaxy Z Flip 5 a couple of days after its launch. I’ve spent a lot of time with both phones to have a good idea of which one is better, and it seems like the Z Flip 5 is winning this battle.
The Galaxy Z Flip 5 has a nicer design and hinge

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I used Motorola and Samsung folding phones. Only one gets this feature right

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Motorola Razr Plus folded in hand.

Software plays a crucial role in any device, but it becomes even more important when you have a limited amount of screen space to interact with the user interface. The Motorola Razr series has always been better than the Galaxy Z Flip lineup in terms of usability when folded. This year, Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 5 closes the gap between the two clamshell foldables by offering a big cover screen.

But sporting a big outer display doesn’t immediately make a flip phone foldable a whole lot more useful; case in point – the Oppo Find N2 Flip, where Oppo gave us six widgets (and added a couple more later) to play around with and called it a day. While Samsung brings 13 widgets to the table, the cover screen software is still not on par with the Motorola Razr Plus.

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Motorola’s folding phone just had a durability test — and it’s painful to watch

Motorola Razr 40 Ultra broken cover screen.

Motorola’s latest clamshell foldable, the Motorola Razr Plus, has won well-deserved praise for its design and the functionally rewarding cover screen that occupies almost one-half of the rear panel. In my brief time with the phone, I felt that Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy Z Flip 5 will have a hard time beating this one.
Praise aside, it looks like the Razr Plus' top selling point could also be its undoing. Zack Nelson of JerryRigEverything put the phone through his customarily brutal stress and bend test, and the Razr Plus failed at an unexpected point.
This has NEVER happened before...
While applying pressure on the rear side of the phone to check the hinge strength, the lower edge of the cover display breaks rather awkwardly. First, the screen shatters, and then, the glass assembly can be seen caving inside.
“Never have we ever been able to break a screen with a single finger,” says Nelson. However, it appears that the cover screen’s fragility has more to do with the gap underneath than the structural integrity of the glass itself.
It seems the area right above the hinge is hollow, which means putting pressure on the cover display could damage the screen, as there is no solid support underneath. Simply put, don’t put the phone in the back pocket of your denim jeans, and take care about putting heavy objects over the phone.
What’s really surprising is that unlike the Google Pixel Fold’s fragile frame and hinge mechanism, the Motorola Razr Plus didn’t show any such signs of damage. There was no permanent damage recorded due to the phone bending in the reverse direction, and the flexible OLED screen also remained intact.

It’s quite paradoxical that the cover display — which Motorola markets as the Razr Plus's standout feature — is also the part that is uncannily fragile. But the rest of the package seems solid.
Motorola told Digital Trends in an emailed interview that the Razr Plus ships “with an optimized inner structure stacking and stronger housing design” and that it also features “the industry’s first dual-axis tracking in the teardrop hinge.”
Compared to the previous-generation Razr foldable phones, this one can survive 400,000 folding cycles, twice that of its predecessors. It’s a great phone, and if you want to see how it stands out, Digital Trends Prakhar Khanna had some fun with its cover screen to see everything that it can accomplish. And it's great! So long as you don't accidentally shatter it like this.