Samsung has a foldable phone coming soon, a device the company is really excited for. This has been a long time coming, so it makes sense! But more than that, Samsung wants to be the first to launch a consumer-ready foldable smartphone, so when the rest of the market follows suit (and we can be sure it will) it can say "first!" any chance it gets.
We're not here to talk about the merits and pitfalls of being first, though.
Instead, let's talk about Motorola. The Lenovo-owned Motorola, which is apparently going to resurrect the RAZR brand soon. As soon as February, in fact. That's what the rumor mill offered up earlier today, with a report outlining another incoming foldable smartphone that will bear the brand into 2019.
The report itself is pretty light on details, unfortunately. We know the handset is going to be a foldable phone, and that it's probably going to cost somewhere around $1,500. Motorola is also planning on manufacturing just 200,000 of the handset, so this will be pretty limited. But, all things considered, 200,000 units seems like a pretty lofty goal anyway.
The question that immediately started rattling around in my head was how this phone is going to fold. This isn't the first time that Motorola has tried to resurrect the RAZR brand, so it has to come down to more than just putting the name on a phone and hoping for the best. Especially one that costs $1,500.
So far we've seen horizontally folding phones, which makes the most sense. You have the standard portrait format when the device is closed, and then a bigger, tablet-like experience when it's unfolded. But, what about the RAZR foldable phone? After all, this is a flip phone that was so recognizable because of its design, super thin and what not.
Could Motorola be planning something pretty crazy here? Would a vertically-folding phone even be worthwhile? That's a lot of touchscreen! But I can't help but think it would be pretty awesome, at least in theory. Just like with what will probably become the "traditional" horizontal design, it will come down to implementation.
So, what do you think? Would you buy a new RAZR phone if it folded vertically? Or is the horizontal design the right way to go? Let me know!