We’d always assumed we’d see a new Motorola Razr this year, but now the company has confirmed it, going so far as to say that the next version of the phone – likely to be called the Motorola Razr 2023 – will launch “very soon.”
This comes straight from Lenovo CEO Yuanqing Yang, speaking to CNBC during MWC 2023, so we’re inclined to believe it. That said, the Motorola Razr 2022 only landed back in August last year, so it seems a bit early for a new model.
Will Motorola launch the Razr 2023 less than a year after the Razr 2022 then, or is “very soon” further away than it sounds? We’re not sure.
Yang also said “I think it’s much better” compared to the Razr 2022, so it would appear that the Motorola Razr 2023 could play host to some significant upgrades. Details of those upgrades weren’t revealed, but apparently the improvements will focus on the hinge and apps.
Beyond that, Yang said that reception to the Razr line “is good”, and that “when the technology becomes mature, then the price could go down, then you can drive higher volume.”
In other words, foldable phones are likely to get more affordable over time, which could help make them more mainstream, a sentiment echoed by Oppo's President for Overseas Sales and Service, Billy Zhang, when we spoke to him at MWC about the possibility of more affordable foldables in the future. There’s no indication that the Razr 2023 itself will be cheaper than last year’s version, though.
Analysis: how could the Motorola Razr 2023 improve?
Yang’s mention of improving the hinge likely means we’ll see both durability improvements and a reduction in the crease across the display. That said, in our Motorola Razr 2022 review we noted that it had a barely-there display crease anyway, so there’s not much more work to do here.
As for the mention of applications, presumably that means a focus on making the most of the foldable form factor for apps. Coming up with bespoke features and modes that require a foldable screen to use.
There are other improvements we’d like to see too, though. We found that the cameras, and particularly the post processing of photos, needed work on the Razr 2022, and that the general performance wasn’t as smooth as we’d have expected given the high-end specs. Hopefully Motorola pays some attention to those areas as well; it'll need to if it wants its next clamshell to find its way onto our pick of the best foldables to buy, that's for sure.
If it does, then this could be a serious rival to the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5, which is expected to land in August and is likely to be the most popular foldable phone of the year.
