There are various thing you can pick the new Razr 5G apart on, but I don’t care and still want one more than any other phone at the moment. Here’s why.
Maybe it’s partly tech journalist fatigue – constantly analysing the minute details of phone specs, comparing them with rivals and the previous version year after year – but it’s not the specs of the Razr 5G that I care about at all.
I’m fed up of the smartphone Top Trumps war that never ends and no one will ever properly win. There is no perfect phone for everyone and technology has been incredible for many years. After countless phones that are barely any better than their predecessors, I want the Razr 2020 for completely different reasons.
You might love the Galaxy Z Flip design, but there’s something about the way Motorola has blended a retro design into a modern device that makes for something special.
You might also be thinking “what about the Galaxy Z Fold 2?” and to answer that, it’s too big for me and I don’t think I’d really make the most of the larger inside display often enough anyway.
I haven’t seen one in the flesh yet – nor did we ever get sent the original model – but buying this phone is (preemptively) more about a feeling than anything else. And I didn’t even have the classic Razr V3 back in the day, either.
Still, I feel very nostalgic about that era which I guess helps a lot with the desire to own this new Razr 5G. As the name suggests, one of the main upgrades this year is 5G but I’m not bothered about that at all.
Granted, the original has some serious issues around display durability much like the original Galaxy Fold – almost certainly why we were never sent one for review – and, of course, I don’t want it to break but Motorola says it’s good for 200,000 flips or over 5 years based on 100 per day. thanks to a new hinge.
If you compare this improved version to rivals or even just much cheaper non-folding phones you can get much more impressive specs. But I’m actually not a demanding phone user at all and couldn’t care less if my phone has some ridiculous 100x zoom lens on it or otherwise.
The original Razr was damned for its combination of price and mid-range processor so many may be disappointed at the continued lack of a flagship chip. But the faster Snapdragon 765G in the new model should be perfectly capable of running this new model smoothly.
I had no issues with the same chip in the LG Velvet and that was powering two displays when using the DualScreen case.
Display tech has been crisp enough since, really, the original Sony Xperia Z (bringing us Full HD in 2013) and it looks like Motorola has done a great job of getting this folding screen to, well, fold while keeping flat once it’s open.
The other thing I need is a decent camera and on paper the Razr 5G ticks that box with its 48Mp sensor which, when closed can easily be used for selfies (not that I take many) or there’s a 20Mp secondary camera when the phone is open.
Granted, those are spec upgrades from the previous version (previously 16- and 5Mp), but I still don’t really care as long as the performance is good. I’m used to using Pixel phones with a humble 12Mp single rear camera.
So keep your Top Trump cards for someone else. It feels like I’ve made arrangements to meet up with an old friend and I can’t wait to see them.
