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Nov 14, 2023

Why Motorola's RAZR+ Is the First Cool Folding Phone

When did phones stop being fun? Motorola Fact checked by Jerri Ledford The

When did phones stop being fun?

Motorola

Fact checked by Jerri Ledford

The 2023 RAZR has a faster chip, and a way bigger screen front screen than the 2020 model.

The original 2004 RAZR flip phone was hot, hot, hot. And also cool.

Despite the usual folding-phone flaws, this might be the first folding phone people love.

Motorola

Folding phones might finally be about to have their moment, thanks to a reboot of a flip-phone reboot.

If any folding smartphone can tempt the masses, it's Motorola's new RAZR+. No, it doesn't solve the biggest problems of folding phones and remains impractical and awkward. But awkward impracticality never stopped the 2004 original because it was—like this new model—cool, which used to be reason enough to buy a phone.

"Unlike other folding phones currently available, the RAZR 2023 offers a nostalgic appeal to users who are seeking a blend of classic design and cutting-edge technology," technology reviewer and journalist Md Mehedi Hasan told Lifewire via email.

The original RAZR V3 (yes, that was the confusing name for the v1 model) looked like nothing else. It was super-thin, had an electroluminescent keypad cut from a single metal sheet, and had—in a prescient nod to the future—an extra mini screen that you could see while the phone was closed.

Early flip phones didn't have this screen, which meant that when your phone rang, you just had to open it up and answer it, even if it was your stalky ex on the line or your boss calling on your day off. The RAZR also used a mini USB port instead of a proprietary charger. But its appeal wasn't about these practicalities. When this thing first came out, people saw it and wanted one immediately. It was the kind of techno-lust not seen since the iPod launched or Sony's portable music gear from the 1980s.

When thinking about the original RAZR flip phone, you get a reminder that phones used to be interesting. Now, they're all almost-identical slabs of metal and glass, Android and iPhone alike. Back in the 1990s and early 2000s, phones looked different. You could opt for a super-practical Nokia candy bar, a small, stylish Sony Ericsson, or even a phone designed to (kinda) look like a lipstick.

You could also get phones designed to play games, look like a makeup compact, or to star in a movie while also looking like a banana.

In short, a phone was a lot more than just a monolithic computer. We bought based on looks because the features were identical, and nobody had ever heard of an app. Wouldn't it be cool if we could do that again?

Moto rebooted its RAZR line in 2019/2020, but the new $999 2023 RAZR+ has two important differences. One is that it runs on a Qualcomm Snapdragon + Gen 1 chip. The other is that the auxiliary screen on the front is big enough to make it useful.

Like early flip phones, much of a folding smartphone's utility is lost when it is folded shut. You cannot easily glance at the screen to check the time or read that incoming message or alert. The answer is to either make it so that the phone folds inside-out, which leaves the soft screen open to the elements, or to put a third, tougher screen on the outside cover. This is what the RAZR+ does, with a relatively huge 3.6-inch, 144Hz pOLED screen.

Motorola

This screen appears to reach the phone's edges, which makes the whole front panel usable, aside from the camera and flashlight holes that perforate its bottom-right corner. And because the RAZR+ flips open like a clamshell, and not a book, it is both tiny and cute when closed and a sensible regular-phone shape when opened, instead of being too tall and narrow when folded, and a weird almost-square when opened.

This new RAZR+ still has the technical drawbacks of every other folding phone: the uncertain longevity of a folding screen, the extra thickness when folded, and the weight of that third screen. But it wears these limitations with some style. Just like the 2004 original made a virtue of the fact that its hinge was too thick for the slim body, by making the hinge a beautifully-overengineered feature, the new RAZR+ embraces its limits.

"The transition to foldables needs to be viewed as a real chance for another manufacturer to break into the Samsung/Apple-dominated ecosystem, and so far, Motorola seems to be the only company to realize it. These phones look like they might […] do it," said Android phone fan Omnimater in a Reddit thread about the new RAZR+.

To be clear, this thing isn't nearly as hot as the original, which still looks beautiful today. But it brings something to folding phones—to all phones, really—that we haven't seen in a while: a genuinely cool vibe that feels new, fun, different, and cool.