Motorola
- Motorola has announced that its new $1,500 Razr foldable smartphone will be available to pre-order starting on January 26, and will be fully released in the US on February 6.
- Motorola will announce the Razr's release outside the US separately.
- The new Razr was delayed from its original December 26 release date due to "high demand," the company told Business Insider in December.
- With its design, cutting-edge technology, and nostalgia factor, it's the most desirable smartphone to be announced in years. But its high price tag and comparatively middling specs and feature set may not suit smartphone enthusiasts.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Motorola's revival of the iconic Razr phone will be available to pre-order in the US starting on January 26, and it'll be available to buy online and in stores in the US starting on February 6, the company announced Wednesday.
The Motorola Razr, which starts at $1,500, will be a Verizon exclusive smartphone, and pre-orders can be made through Verizon, Motorola's website, and Walmart.
As for the Razr's launch in other markets outside the US, Motorola will make announcements "locally."
The modern foldable smartphone version of the Motorola Razr was delayed from its original December 26 release date due to "high demand," the company told Business Insider in December.
With its gorgeous design, cutting-edge foldable display technology, and a heavy sprinkling of nostalgia for owners of the original Razr in the 2000s, Motorola's upcoming Razr is arguably one of the most desirable smartphones in years. One of the new Razr's biggest alluring factors is that it can fold into a smaller package when you're not using it, therefore taking up less space in your pockets and bags than a traditional smartphone design.
With that said, the new Motorola Razr may not necessarily please smartphone enthusiasts who demand the highest specs and features, especially for a comparatively high $1,500 price tag.
Motorola/YouTube
Motorola's revisited Razr phone.
The new Razr comes with middling-yet-decent specs, including a Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 chip that was released in 2018 and 6 GB of RAM. For comparison, premium smartphones of 2020 will likely run on Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 865 chip. The new Razr is also missing features that many would expect in a $1,500 smartphone in 2020, such as 5G support, wireless charging, water resistance, and a large battery.
It's also worth noting that foldable smartphone display technology is in its infancy, and hasn't yet been fully proven for reliability.
It's safe to say, then, that the $1,500 Razr will be a fashion device designed for form rather than function. Still, its design and nostalgia factor are utterly undeniable, and it'll still function like a great smartphone. It'll run the apps that smartphones users want, make calls, and send messages. At the end of the day, that's all the majority of smartphone users really want.
