Moto Razr Unboxing and First Impressions

Back in my college days I would have given an arm and a leg for the Moto Razr, but couldn’t afford one. Now, A decade or so later, Moto Razr is back in a foldable Avatar — and I probably still can’t afford one.

Motorola is yet to announce the India price for this slick foldable, but we did get to spend some quality time with the handset at Motorola’s India office. Let’s now talk about our Moto Razr first impressions and what comes in the cool Razr box.

Motorola Razr specs

Moto Razr Box Content

As Motorola puts it, the Razr experience begins right from the moment you unbox, or rather ‘unfold’ the box.

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And this is no ordinary box. The curious cuboid packaging has a transparent lid and once you are done sliding it open, you will be greeted with the phone standing upright. There is cushioning to protect the screen while the Razr is in transit.

The case doubles as a stand and a boombox. Which is to say that the chamber can amplify music playing on the Moto Razr and output it via tiny holes along the base. There’s no passage to plug in your charger, and if you already have your DIY hat on, moto cautions that poking any hole should desecrate the audio amplifying champer.

Moto Razr Unboxing Video [Hindi]

The box is diagonally split in two and a premium-finish, triangular prism-shaped case is tucked right behind the Razr. And this one has all cool accessories and essentials stuffed inside.

The mini-box contents include 18W Turbo charging adaptor, braided Type-C cable for charging and data transfer, a 3.5mm audio jack to Type-C dongle, premium looking Type-C headphones, different size ear tips, and documentation.

There is no SIM ejector PIN, the otherwise mandatory box ingredient, and that’s because the Motor Razr has an eSIM.

Motorola has definitely made the box special and that’s definitely a good start for a device as distinctive as the Razr.

Moto Razr First Impressions: What’s special?

Now, we know that Moto Razr is no longer the only foldable or even flip phone out there. The spotlight is currently on the Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip that flips and snaps in a similar fashion but holds more powerful hardware underneath.

However, there are two things that help Moto Razr stand apart. 

First and foremost is its unique hinge. Motorola has been perfecting the Razr hinge for a while and holds around a hundred related patents. Razr’s hinge soft-folds the screen into a due drop shape, which is to say that it doesn’t hard press the crease.

This is possible because the hinge has a hollow where the folding porting of the display can balloon. When you snap open the phone, metal plates slide behind in the hollow, forming a more rigid structure.

Zack Nelson from JerryRigsEverything took the phone apart to get all the way to the hinge. His findings revealed a oversimplistic, but smart hinge design.

All said and done, the Moto Razr display is not crease-less. Yes, the crease is gentler and a lot less jarring, but the hint of fold is pretty much there.

Also, the Razr makes a noise when folding and unfolding, but Motorola assures that it will go away with time. In fact, they did have an 8-month old Razr handy and it didn’t have wierd folding-unfolding noise.

The other thing Moto Razr does differently is the 2.7-inch secondary cover display. I’d say if I have a foldable phone, I wouldn’t want to unfold it every time I need to check stuff. Definitely not once the novelty wears off (which it will).

Isn’t that the reason why we have biometric unlock in the first place? Unlocking our phones by keying in PIN/ Pattern several times through the day is a hazel, and to have to unfold it every single time using both hands sounds like an even bigger nightmare.

Motorola has a bigger front display than the Galaxy Z Flip and puts it to good use. You may directly view and respond to notifications from the ‘quick view display’, control music playback, use Google Assistant, or use it as a selfie view finder.

Moto Razr First Impressions: Hardware

The specs on the Moto Razr aren’t all that impressive. Motorola says that it chose to go with Snapdragon 7-series chip for the Razr as these chips have better thermal efficiency than Snapdragon 8-seires. For a device as thin as Razr, which consumers won’t use for gaming, the choice makes sense.

But the measely 2500mAh battery and Android 9 (soon to be ugraded to Android 10) running on the phone were definitely offputting.

You could argue that the original Moto Razr wasn’t about the specs either and it cost a premium back then. But I guess times have changed and a cool device in 2020 can’t afford to start off with dated hardware or software.

There’s a 16MP camera on the rear and a selfie snapper on the front, but based on our limited usage, we are not yet in a position to comment on the quality.

Moto Razr First Impressions: Our First Take

Moto is banking on the cool factor of foldable, nostalgia and its unique hinge that has been designed to keep the evil crease in check. Our initial take is kind of a mixed bag. The Razr is conceptually cool, is thoughtfully designed, and I can see why people will be drawn to it.

We are still not sure how much the Moto Razr will cost in India, but we know it would flaunt an exorbitant price. The practically of vertical flip phones in 2020 also needs to be tested.

At the same time, we would need to live with the phone and put it through its paces to have a clearer understanding if we’d recommend it.