When did phones stop being fun?
If any folding smartphone can tempt the masses, it’sMotorola’s new RAZR+.
No, it doesn’t solve the biggest problems of folding phones and remains impractical and awkward.
The Motorola Razr+.Motorola
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.
The Motorola Razr+.Motorola
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.
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?
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.
This is what the RAZR+ does, with a relatively huge 3.6-inch, 144Hz pOLED screen.
But it wears these limitations with some style.
