It is turning into a banner week for foldable phones with two new iterations being announced by Samsung earlier and now the Lenovo-owned Motorola brand has revealed its latest Razr 2022 model.
Before we get too excited about the prospect of a new age Razr, there are some significant caveats to this latest device, much like there was with the foldable we encountered in 2019.
Along with not being available locally as Motorola has no mobile device presence in South Africa anymore, the Razr 2022 is only being released in China as an exclusive foldable for that specific market.
No official reason has been provided as to why the brand has only chosen China to launch the device, but given that its parent company Lenovo is Chinese and has headquarters in Beijing, that may have a fairly large role to play. Added to this is the fact that foldables still remain a rather niche market.
While we wait to hear any news of the Razr 2022 being launched outside of China, let’s look at the specifications and improvements on this latest offering.
Here the foldable 6.7″ main display supports 10bit colour, HDR10+ video playback and a 144Hz refresh rate, which are all notable upgrades from past iterations. Motorola says it has also tackled the folding crease that plagues all foldable phones, as the hinge folds it into a more forgiving teardrop shape.
It is also getting a few Galaxy Z Flip-inspired features, such as being able to open at 90 degrees and used as a stationary photo/video camera. There are also Dolby Atmos-tuned speakers built-in, if you are worried about sound.
Sticking with the internals, the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor is present, along with 8GB or 12GB RAM options and up to 512GB onboard storage. There’s a 3 500mAh battery powering things as well, with a 50MP main camera supported by a 13MP ultra wide-angle option on the rear and a 32MP selfie camera up front.
Looking at the above then, it looks like the Razr 2022 is on par with the Galaxy Z Flip4 in terms of specifications, which makes it all the more puzzling as to why Lenovo has chosen to limit its release to China only for around $750 (~R12 183). Hopefully that changes.
