After a 1-month delay, the new Moto Razr will be out February 6
The new Moto Razr. [credit: Motorola ]
The Moto Razr has a new release date. After announcing a delay just a few days before it was planned to go on sale in December, Verizon now says the new-school flip phone will go up for pre-order January 26, with an in-store date of February 6. It's still $1,499.99.
The new Moto Razr quickly became one of the most interesting upcoming devices when it was unveiled in November. It has a nostalgic flip phone design with a folding, flexible OLED display, a trick hinge mechanism that won't crease the display, and even a mode that replicates the old Razr UI. Just six days before the December 26 pre-order date, Motorola pumped the brakes on its smartphone project, saying it needed to "adjust Razr's presale and launch timing to better meet consumer demand."
Several companies have released foldable smartphones now, but so far, every foldable device has seen significant delays and a limited release. The new flexible display technology is impressive, but it comes with a host of issues related to durability. First, folding glass is not a thing yet (though Corning is working on it) so these displays are all covered in a scratchable, pierceable plastic. Second, folding an OLED display in half puts stress on it, and it's unclear how much folding and unfolding these displays can take without failing. Finally, these devices need hinges that are bigger and stronger than anything that was fitted to a flip phone in the past, and that introduces a host of moving parts. Balancing all of these issues, working out the details of a new form factor, and doing this all for a reasonable price has proven difficult for the entire industry so far.
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