Motorola Delays Arrival Of Razr Folding Phone

Too much demand? Lenovo-owned Motorola delays launch of Razr folding flip smartphone, citing “high demand” as the main reason

Motorola has delayed the launch of its much anticipated folding flip phone, the Motorola Razr, which is a modern twist on its hugely popular flip phone of the 2000s.

Motorola, which ever since 2014 has been owned by China’s Lenovo, had been due to begin shipping the new handset in the United States on 26 December.

In the UK, the 2019 Motorola Razr is set to be exclusively available on EE, with pre-orders supposedly opening in December. A quick check of the EE website shows that interested buyers can register their interest only at the time of writing.

Images may be subject to copyright

Folding screen

Motorola had finally unveiled its new Razr smartphone to the world in November 2019.

When the retro clamshell is opened (or flipped open), instead of being presented with a screen and a physical keyboard as per the original device, the user is now confronted with a single foldable display.

This thrusts the Motorola unit into direct competition with the likes of the Huawei Mate X, the Samsung Galaxy Fold, and the dual-folding Xiaomi handset.

Specs wise, the main internal folding screen will offer a 21:9 aspect ratio, 2142 x 876 pixels, plus a 6.2-inch POLED (plastic OLED).

There is also a front screen that offers a 4:3 aspect ratio, 800 x 600 pixels, 2.7-inch GOLED (glass OLED).

Camera wise, there is nothing overwhelming, with a 16MB main camera, and likewise the rest of the specs seem to be pretty average.

It boasts a Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 processor; 6GB RAM; 128GB storage; and a 2510mAh battery capacity.

There is a fingerprint scanner located on the bottom halve of the device (there is no face unlock), and there is one USB-C slot, but no expandable storage slot.

The phone also do not contain a SIM slot (it uses eSIM), and there is no headphone jack either.

Handset delay

The phone itself is slated to cost $1,499 and will only be available in the United States via Verizon, supposedly from January.

But the firm told Bloomberg that it has delayed the device due to supply issues, namely that demand for the device has outstripped its supply predictions.

“Motorola has decided to adjust Razr’s presale and launch timing to better meet consumer demand,” the Lenovo Group unit was quoted as saying in a statement. “We are working to determine the appropriate quantity and schedule to ensure that more consumers have access to Razr at launch.”

The company reportedly declined to say when the handset will actually go on sale, but said it does not anticipate a “significant shift” from the original launch timeline.

Quiz: What do you know about Android?