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Motorola Razr flip phone returns as a full-screen folding phone and I kinda want it

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Motorola razr 2019 version
Image: Motorola

Back in the day, folding phones were all the rage. I must have owned at least three Motorola Razr flip phones (which you can still buy). Now, Motorola has announced its new Razr phone that we knew was coming, a phone that keeps the form factor of the original but instead of a keypad, it’s entirely a folding screen running an Android OS. There’s both something terribly unsettling and entirely exciting about this.

Folding phones haven’t exactly been the harbinger of the future as some thought they would be. Aside from Samsung’s folding phone fiasco, Apple, LG, Huawei, and TCL are considering or working on folding phones. Yet, for as much as this folding screen tech speaks to a more accessible future, Motorola seems to have taken the right tact in its design choices.

Instead of trying to reinvent the wheel, Motorola took one look at its customer base (Millennials and Gen X’ers likely) and figured its best option for a folding phone was to give us one of the most popular flip phones from our youths. One that already folded. One we can still feel tight in our jeans’ pocket or clipped into our belt clips. One that regardless of price, we have an instant, nostalgic connection to. It’s not some new device we have to get used to, we already know this phone.

The Verge has a great hands-on review, but only because I didn’t get a review unit. A lot of work was put into the hinge of this thing, but the major draw for me is that it’s not more phone than we need, like a lot of folding phone designs. Rather, it’s the right amount of phone that can be contained in a smaller form factor that we’re familiar with.

To this point, I’ve been down on folding phones, often comparing them to flattened excrement. But I want this phone. I want to hang up on someone by snapping the phone closed, for those two times a week I actually use the phone feature. I want to flip open a phone again, I feel like it’s part of my soul that has been missing for well over a decade now.

The Motorola Razr snaps shut, keeping its screen protected. Notifications are shown on a smaller screen on the outside of the phone. It fits in any pocket or bra strap. It’s a folding phone. You’ve used this phone, just not like this. This is what folding phones should be, not tablets that fold into phones. This is the Razr from our youth, upgraded to current standards without compromising current screen specifications.

Yet, it’s still a folding phone so even though it’s a flip folding phone (wrap your head around that), it has a screen that folds in half

While the hinge seems competent, it’s still a first-generation device and will need some time to discover if it’s really sturdy enough to deal with our phone addictions. I’m still wary of folding screens, not believing they are ready for mass consumption just yet. That being said, it still appears that if Motorola put the thought, time, research and money into this phone to make it great whereas Samsung just fucking winged it.

For the time being, the new Motorola Razr will only be available on Verizon in the U.S. (which is some bullshit lemme tell ya) and will start shipping in January. It’s going to retail for $1,500, which is fucking ridiculous for a flip phone, folding screen or not. While with new devices I always wait until the second generation to even consider purchasing, that price point is enough for me to just sigh wistfully and buy a much cheaper phone instead.

What do you think? Interested in the new Motorola Razr flip folding phone? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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