Early in 2018 we reported on how Lenovo’s CEO had hinted to TechRadar that there would be a Motorola Razr reboot, and now we have our first details on what the phone will look like.
Unlike the Nokia 3310 reboot we saw a couple of years ago, this will be an expensive top-end handset with modern specs. A new The Wall Street Journal report says the phone will cost $1,500 (about £1,170, AU$2,010) and come with a foldable display.
Rather than a refreshed version of the original Motorola Razr, it looks like the company will be opting to make a foldable phone to rival the Samsung Galaxy X or the Royole FlexPai and reuse the Razr name to drum up further interest.
Although there aren’t any firm details on the phone yet, this latest report matches what Lenovo CEO Yang Yuanqing said to us at MWC 2018. Lenovo now owns the Motorola brand and is responsible for handsets like the Moto G6 and Moto Z3.
Yuanqing told a select group of journalists at MWC 2018, "With the new technology, particularly foldable screens, I think you will see more and more innovation on our smartphone design.
"So hopefully what you just described [the Motorola Razr brand] will be developed or realized very soon."
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This latest report from The Wall Street Journal suggests the phone will be exclusive to Verizon in the US, and you may even be able to buy it as soon as February. Whether it’ll be available in any other countries remains to be seen, but we'd hope for a worldwide release like most of Motorola's handsets.
That launch time may mean we’re set to hear details of the new phone at MWC 2019 as it's set to kick off on February 25.
If this all turns out to be true, Motorola is taking a different tack on the revamping its iconic phone brand.
The retro handsets we’ve seen from Nokia feature the names of older devices, and have mostly been exercises in nostalgia, with almost the same hardware as the original device and repackaging it in a similar design.
With foldable displays set to be one of the most exciting innovations in smartphones this year, we're excited to see what Motorola comes up with.
The new report suggests the company aims for a relatively limited production run of 200,000 units of the new handset, and with that expected $1,500 (about £1,170, AU$2,010) price tag, it'll probably not be for everyone.
Via The Verge
