Motorola may bring back Moto Razr in foldable smartphone avatar

Moto Razr Foldable Smartphone

Motorola is reviving the once-popular Moto Razr phone with a foldable screen. This new foldable smartphone might be called the Moto Razr V4 and is unlikely to be a feature phone. Motorola is planning to adopt the same flip design of their old Razr feature phone to create a new full-fledged foldable smartphone with a similar flip mechanism.

The Motorola Razr phone first made its debut in 2004, long before the days of the smartphone. The Moto Razr, then an ultra-thin flip phone with a futuristic design, was seen as a status symbol touted by celebrities. The Razr revived a failing Motorola and allowed them to once again compete with the likes of Nokia and Sony Ericsson. The Moto Razr marked the beginning of the ultra-thin, flip phone revolution; a revolution that ended in 2007 with the release of the first iPhone.

The Lenovo Group, which bought Motorola Mobility handset business from Google in 2014, has announced a partnership with Verizon Communications Inc. on an exclusive deal to begin the selling new Razr devices in the US. It is unclear if this new breed of smartphone will be sold outside the US; one can only hope and wait. Verizon is partnering with several smartphone manufacturers in the race to release smartphones compatible with faster 5G networks.

Pricing of the phone remains unclear, but reports put it at approximately $1500 that would mean it may very well cross the Rs 1 lakh mark if it reaches Indian market. According to a WSJ report, Lenovo hopes to manufacture over 200,000 units of the new Razr smartphones. Motorola’s share of the US smartphone market it once dominated continues to slump. Motorola’s motives with a foldable smartphone version of the Razr phone are still unclear, considering a phone priced at $1,500 will likely be seen as more of a luxury than a necessity. But one thing you can be sure about is Lenovo’s plan to douse every feature flip phone user in nostalgia by revamping the Moto Razr flip phone.