Motorola has teased a new Razr foldable that looks quite different from the clamshell phones traditionally associated with the lineup. The brief teaser ends with the silhouette of a short, wide, book-style device that looks closer in shape to Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 8 and Apple’s newly announced iPhone Duo.
Motorola hasn’t revealed any details or a launch timeline in the teaser, but the shape is enough to make it interesting. Samsung, Apple, and now Motorola appear to be moving toward a similar type of foldable.
Short and wide foldables are catching on
Samsung took a big swing with the Galaxy Z Fold 8 this year. Its shorter and wider body opens into a 4:3 main display, which gives apps, games, videos, and multitasking more room to breathe compared to the taller inner screens found on many earlier Fold models.
Buyers appear to like the new direction. Samsung recently said combined U.S. purchases of the Galaxy Z Fold 8 and Fold 8 Ultra were 30% ahead of the Galaxy Z Fold 7. The two models also accounted for roughly 80% of current Galaxy Z-series purchases.
Apple has now entered the foldable race with the iPhone Duo. It also uses a compact, passport-like shape when closed. The phone opens into a 7.6-inch display designed for content, gaming, and multitasking.
Motorola already knows foldables
Motorola isn’t new to this category. The company has spent several generations refining its clamshell Razr phones and introduced the Razr Fold this year as its first full-sized book-style foldable. We reviewed that phone in May and found it to be a strong new rival to established foldables from Samsung and Google.
If this trend of short and wide foldables continues, the tall candy-bar shape may stop being the default for book-style foldables. Shorter and wider designs make the unfolded screen feel closer to a compact tablet, which was one of the original promises of foldable phones in the first place.
