The Motorola razr is now available in a new color from Verizon
There was plenty of excitement in February when the foldable Motorola razr smartphone launched on Verizon. But that excitement dissipated quickly because of two things: the $1,499.99 price tag and the release of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip. The latter out-specs the razr, is powered by last year's Snapdragon 855+ chipset, and even costs less than Motorola's foldable.
The razr is more of a mid-range phone with a huge amount of nostalgia behind it. The current razr is powered by the Snapdragon 710 SoC. The original Motorola Razr V3 sold 130 million units between 2004 and 2008 making it one of the most popular cellphones of all time and the best-selling clamshell of all time. Once the smartphone era got into full gear, the Razr V3 was phased out. In May 2016, Motorola's current owner, Lenovo, released a short video showing a fictional high-school hallway circa 2005 when everyone who was anyone had a Razr. And as phone manufacturers started working on foldable displays, a smartphone version of the device became possible.
The Motorola razr is now available in Blush Gold
When Motorola launched the new razr as a Verizon exclusive, it was available only in Noir Black. But just before the device was released, images of the phone in a new black and gold color combination were leaked. And today, you can now order the razr in Noir Black or the new color combo dubbed Blush Gold. When fully opened, only the chin will appear in gold as you look at the screen. From the back, the top half of the phone will appear black (this includes the 2.7-inch Quick View display) while the bottom half will be gold. When closed, the chin, which includes the fingerprint scanner, will be in gold with the rest in black.
All of the specs remain the same which includes the 6.2-inch P-OLED display with a resolution of 876 x 2142. The 21:9 aspect ratio means that the display in thin and tall, and when used in landscape mode it should be the perfect size for streaming video content. The phone carries 6GB of memory and 128GB of storage and has a 12MP camera that is used for selfies when the phone is closed. There is also a 5MP camera on top of the display that handles video calls. It features a 2510mAh battery and comes out of the box with Android 9 Pie although it will be updated later to Android 10.
Perhaps the coolest feature on the razr is the Retro mode which is activated via the Quick Settings menu. With this mode turned on, the top half of the screen uses the old 8-bit graphics seen on the original model and the bottom half of the screen shows the old T9 dialer which will work to dial out or send texts. The illusion sells itself thanks to the virtual hinge that appears on the display helping to turn the new razr into the old one.
The Galaxy Z Flip, which is available in Mirror Black or Mirror Purple, opens up to a large 6.7-inch Dynamic AMOLED screen with a 1080 x 2636 resolution and an aspect ratio of 21.9:9. The phone has 8GB of memory and 256GB of storage and a dual-camera setup (12MP primary, 12MP ultra-wide) and there is a 10MP punch-hole selfie snapper.
One feature where the razr outshines the Galaxy Flip Z is with the external screen. Called Quick View by Motorola, this is a 2.7-inch display with a resolution of 600 x 800 and doubles as the viewfinder when taking a selfie when it isn't sending notifications and helping you control your streaming music. On the Galaxy Z Flip, the external display is a small and thin Super AMOLED screen measuring only 1.1 inches with a 300 x 112 resolution. The display is so small that notifications are scrolled from right to left like a ticker tape.
Does the Blush Gold version of the razr inspire you to order one right away, or are you waiting for a serious price cut before scratching that nostalgia itch you have?
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