Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Mobile

The Motorola Razr is making a comeback, Lenovo exec confirms

Rahul Srinivas
By

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.

Recommended Videos

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.

Related

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.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Rahul Srinivas
Rahul Srinivas
Rahul is a smartphone buff turned tech journalist who has been tinkering with all things mobile since the early 2000s. He has…
You’ve never seen a folding flip phone with a screen like this
The Tecno Phantom V Flip, with other folding phones.

Who says cover screens have to be square or oblong? Tecno has announced the Tecno Phantom V Flip folding phone, and we haven't seen a cover screen like it before — at least, not on a smartphone.

Tecno has put what looks like a smartwatch on the front of its flip phone, and it’s one of the most unusual designs we’ve seen on a foldable yet.
A cover screen unlike anything else

Read more
Motorola’s cheap Razr could change folding phones forever
A person opening the Motorola Razr 40.

In all the fuss over the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Galaxy Z Fold 5, you may have forgotten Motorola also recently released some foldable phones of its own. The Motorola Razr (2023) and Motorola Razr Plus (confusingly known as the Razr 40 and Razr 40 Ultra, respectively, in the U.K.) are two flip foldables well worth your attention. But there's something special about this duo. While the Razr Plus is a flagship phone with a lot in common with the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5, the Razr (2023) is rumored to be something we haven't seen in a foldable yet -- a true, honest-to-god midrange phone.

While U.S. pricing and availability haven't been confirmed for Motorola's new foldable, the odds are it'll fall somewhere around the $600 to $800 price range. While not exactly an affordable phone by most metrics, it's likely to have the cheapest MSRP of any foldable sold in the U.S. to date.

Read more
Have a Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5? Here are 10 things you need to do
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 cover screen dog wallpaper on a flat surface with purple Galaxy Buds 2 Pro on the side.

Samsung's fifth generation of foldable phones is already here, bringing structural improvements to the hinge and other parts tucked inside the body. Besides the improved internals, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 also gets attention from Samsung in the form of its new and significantly larger cover display.

This external display now occupies a large area on the Flip's top face and lets you accomplish significantly more without opening the phone than you could on any of the previous models. Along with improved hardware, the optimized software ensures the new and powerful specs are utilized to their maximum potential.

Read more