The big day has finally arrived for the 5G-enabled Galaxy Z Fold 2, but while it’s obviously hard not to be excited about the full announcement of arguably the most beautiful and technologically advanced foldable device to date, Motorola will try to divert at least a little bit of attention away from Samsung next week.
Still, compared to Samsung’s
Galaxy Z Flip 5G, which is essentially a carbon copy of its 4G LTE-only predecessor with an upgraded chipset under the hood, the Motorola Razr 5G has a large number of changes and improvements in the pipeline, some of which look pretty substantial on paper and many of which are virtually etched in stone already thanks to a series of recent reports and leaks.
A bigger battery squeezed in a lighter package
The latest in this series of trustworthy rumors
comes from Ishan Agarwal, who is in a position to prematurely “confirm” the overall dimensions of the impending Motorola Razr 5G. When unfolded, this bad boy is set to measure 168.5 x 72.5 x 8mm, exceeding the width and thickness of
the first reimagined Razr while actually reducing the latter handset’s 172mm height.
The most obvious cosmetic revision sees the fingerprint scanner move from the phone’s distinctive chin
to the back, which clearly explains why the Razr 5G will end up being slightly shorter than its predecessor, allowing Motorola to trim the size of said chin.
Previously leaked hands-on images of the purported Motorola Razr 5G
Meanwhile, the increase in overall thickness can be easily explained by a bump in battery capacity, from a modest 2,510mAh to a… slightly less modest 2,800mAh or so. Unfortunately, the actual battery life may not get much of an upgrade, as the Snapdragon 765 processor and 5G support tipped for the second-gen Razr are expected to consume a lot more power than the Snapdragon 710 SoC and 4G LTE connectivity of last year’s model.
What’s certainly nice (and somewhat surprising) to hear is that the Razr 5G will also reduce its forerunner’s 205-gram weight, which is no easy feat considering the aforementioned battery size hike and 5G modem integration. At 190 grams,
Motorola‘s next-gen foldable is still a little heavier than the 6.7-inch
Galaxy Z Flip 5G, despite most likely sporting a comparatively tiny
6.2-inch (primary) display.
Two improved cameras and an unknown price
There are a lot of things to
hate about the first-gen Razr, but one of the compromises that made the least sense in this day and age was the adoption of humble 16MP rear-facing and 5MP front-facing cameras. Unsurprisingly, Motorola is preparing a serious upgrade in that department, raising the main shooter bar to a 48MP count and the selfie sensor to 20 megapixels.
Of course, megapixels are not everything, and we’re pretty sure a number of prospective buyers would have appreciated more the inclusion of a secondary rear-facing camera with an ultra-wide-angle or even a telephoto lens.
The biggest question mark remains the recommended pricing, which was by far the greatest flaw of last year’s Razr. While it obviously seems highly unlikely that Motorola will be able to reduce the original $1,500 tag with 5G speeds and all the other upgrades in tow, the $1,450 Snapdragon 865 Plus-powered
Galaxy Z Flip 5G will make it impossible for the
Razr 5G to succeed if that doesn’t happen.
Keep in mind that we’re expecting official availability on both Verizon and
AT&T this time around, as well as memory and storage improvements from 6 and 128 gigs respectively to 8 and 256GB.
