Motorola does not want to stay in the race it started. After presenting to the world the first foldable “flip phone” at the end of 2019, the Lenovo sub-brand does not want to lag behind Oppo’s recent Find N2 Flip and the current monarch of the category: the Z Flip4 from Samsung. After three generations and a slow international rollout, Motorola is preparing a bigger surprise for the next version. A surprise so big, it could cover the entire front.
It has been the leaker Evan Blass who has shared on Twitter three photos of a new device developed by Motorola for the Razr series. According to the leak, the front display extends to all edges, going beyond the limit of the cameras added on the top cover.
So far, screen extension has been a slow-growing element in the flip category, with Oppo pushing the boundaries to a vertical panel on the Find N2 Flip, while Samsung keeps the horizontal arrangement at the bottom of the folded front.
This render presented by Blass shows up to three circular cutouts on the panel, two of them for the cameras and the third for the flash. Surely it will not have the most charming design, but it would be a tremendous achievement for the firm to integrate such a large screen and allow more interaction without opening the phone.
Razr software changes
Forced by this redesign, the software of the possible Moto Razr 4 will have the navigation bar justified to the left of the cameras in folded mode, just below the app notifications.
The new panel dimensions, larger than the current 2.7 inches of the current razr model, will allow to run full applications without the need to deploy the internal panel. For the moment, there are no details on performance and autonomy characteristics.
However, there is pressure piling up on Motorola’s shoulders in this market. Both Oppo and Samsung have bet on high-end processors – while Samsung is betting on Snapdragon 8 series, Oppo’s integrated MariSilicon works in tandem with MediaTek’s Dimensity 9000+ – they are also looking for improvements in design, adding IP certification and other storage and RAM conditions to the proposal.
For now, this product has not been confirmed by Motorola. The brand is about to announce news at MWC 2023, and will integrate an exhibition area in the Lenovo booth within Hall 3 at Fira Gran Via Barcelona.
What we do expect is the renewal of the Edge series at this show, as it coincides in timing with the launch of the Edge 30 Pro in 2022. This new high-end device would be the current X40 announced in December 2022, but under a new name. In addition to incorporating the Snapdragon 8 gen 2, it will carry a 165 hertz panel in refresh rate and the 125W load that we tested in the Moto Edge 30 ultra.
