Category: Technologies

From Samsung to Motorola and Google, just about every major Android phone maker has released a foldable phone. But there’s one big, non-Android outlier: Apple. And according to Motorola, that’s prompting some iPhone users to make the switch.

Specifically, Motorola has seen 20% of new Razr users coming from Apple products. That data point is from 2021 following the launch of the previous-generation Razr.

“This is definitely the family that we have the most amount of iPhone users switching to us,” Allison Yi, Motorola’s head of North America product operations, said to CNET ahead of the company’s Razr Plus launch.

Foldable phones still account for a fragment of the global smartphone market, but the category is growing quickly as tech giants search for the next major evolution of the mobile phone. Market research firm International Data Corporation estimates that worldwide shipments of foldables will increase more than 50% in 2023 compared to 2022. Motorola’s Razr line faces the most competition from Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip series, although Samsung hasn’t broken out its sales numbers to specify its percentage of iPhone converts.

This year is shaping up to be a milestone moment for foldables with the arrival of newcomers including Google and OnePlus, giving Motorola and other early entrants like Samsung more competition. Apple, however, is still noticeably absent from the foldable phone race, and that isn’t likely to change anytime too soon.

Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst with TF International Securities known for his Apple product predictions, tweeted in April 2022 that he doesn’t expect Apple to release its first foldable gadget until 2025. A study from Counterpoint Research suggests there’s certainly demand for a foldable iPhone, at least in the US. Among the respondents, 39% named Apple as their preferred brand for a foldable phone, while 46% named Samsung — one of the earliest and most dominant players in foldable phones. Only 6% said Motorola.

The new Razr Plus and 2023 Razr are the company’s latest attempts to change that. The $1,000 Razr Plus, announced on Thursday and launching on June 23, has a giant cover screen that the company is betting will set it apart from rivals like the Galaxy Z Flip 4. Motorola is also launching a cheaper version of the Razr later this year for an undisclosed price that will be less expensive than the Plus model.

But whether it’s competition from Samsung or eventually the long-rumored iPhone Flip, Motorola isn’t fixated on its rivals.

“It’s not about what our competition is doing,” Yi said. “It’s more of what the consumer needs are, what consumers are wanting, rather than really focusing on competition.”

As first-timers like Google are just getting into foldable phones in 2023, companies like Motorola and Samsung are already brainstorming what could be next. Both companies earlier this year showcased concept devices with rollable or slidable screens that can expand as needed earlier. Motorola’s take involves a smartphone-sized device that can unroll to extend its display with the press of a button. It’s still a concept, and Motorola hasn’t said when or if this rollable phone will graduate to becoming a real product.

But Jeff Snow, Motorola’s product manager for premium and flagship devices, said he could eventually see it becoming an “offshoot” of the Razr we know today. While both the Razr and the rollable concept aim to make phones more portable, they execute that goal through different means. The Razr’s clamshell shape enables it to fold shut, function as a regular phone when opened or serve as something in between when propped open halfway. The rollable concept changes its shape in a different way by expanding and contracting its screen.

“It’s a little bit of a different experience,” said Snow. “But we see it becoming part of the same category.”

Motorola is also evaluating larger book-style foldables like the Galaxy Z Fold, although Yi said she couldn’t comment on future products. Snow also said there’s “merit to that form factor,” but the company would have to make sure it’s not compromising the regular phone experience while also providing improved productivity and content consumption.

“That space is taking off,” he said. “It’s something we’ll pay attention to.”

For now, the Razr Plus is Motorola’s biggest attempt at standing out in a crowded market, especially as Samsung and Apple continue to command the global smartphone market. The combination of technology improving and broader awareness around foldables makes now the right time for a new Razr, according to Yi.

“Sometimes you see the technology is ready, but the market is not ready to accept it,” she said. “And consumers are not willing to adapt or adopt. But in this case, we really feel that this is the right time.”

Motorola has just introduced two new additions to its well-known Razr lineup: the Motorola Razr 2023 and the Motorola Razr Plus 2023, aimed at rivaling Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 4.

Out of the two phones, the higher-end Razr Plus is the one that’ll draw double takes. Its signature feature is virtually unmissable: a front cover that’s basically all screen. In fact, it’s probably the largest cover screen on any commercially available flip phone right now, even bigger than the one on Oppo’s Find N2 Flip, which has a vertical orientation.

The cover screen on the Razr Plus is “meant for much more than just checking the time or reading notifications,” according to CNET’s Lisa Eadicicco, who nabbed hands-on time with the Razr Plus ahead of the launch. “You can interact with apps and even type using a full keyboard.”

By comparison, the cover screen on the Galaxy Z Fold, located on the lower half of the phone, is distinctly smaller. It’s closer in size to the display on the regular Razr. For specific numbers, scroll down to the bottom of the page for a side-by-side specs chart.

As for the camera, the regular Razr seems to have a more advanced setup than its pricier sibling, the Razr Plus, as well as the Galaxy Z Flip 4, at least on paper. The regular Razr’s trio of cameras is headlined by a 64-megapixel main shooter, which is accompanied by a 13-megapixel wide-angle camera and a 13-megapixel front-facing camera.

Under the hood, the Razr Plus is powered by a Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 Mobile chipset that’s backed up by 8GB of RAM and 256GB storage. The Galaxy Z Flip 4 comes equipped with that same chipset, paired with 8GB of RAM and storage options ranging from 128GB to 512GB.

Both Razrs support 30W wired charging and 5W wireless charging, although the regular Razr has a larger 4,200 mAh battery compared to the 3,800 mAh battery inside the Razr Plus. You also get three years of operating system upgrades with both Razrs, which is one year less than what you get with Samsung.

The Razr Plus launches on June 23 for $1,000, while the regular Razr is set to arrive later this year for an undisclosed price. The standard Razr will cost significantly less than the Razr Plus, according to Motorola executives.

For more details on how Motorola’s Razr Plus and regular Razr compare with the Galaxy Z Flip 4, check out our specs chart below.

The best current VR headset, the Quest 2, is getting a price drop down to $299 on June 4. But its replacement, the Quest 3, is arriving in the fall.

Meta announced the news this morning alongside details of the company’s upcoming improved Quest 3 VR headset, which will start at $499 and have a smaller size, a faster processor, improved controllers, and added color cameras that can add better mixed reality experiences to VR games and apps.

The new $299 price is for the version with 128GB of storage, while the 256GB storage option is getting a price drop to $349.

All indications suggest the Quest 3 will be worth waiting for, but Meta also announced an interesting performance update coming to the Quest 2 and Quest Pro that will add up to a 26% CPU speed improvement and 19% GPU improvement to the Quest 2, and an 11% improvement to the Quest Pro. The Quest 2 already has a lot of great games and apps, all of which are expected to also run on the Quest 3.

It’s surprising that Meta would find a way to unlock more performance out of the Quest 2 this late in its life cycle, but Meta has had Quest 2 updates in the past that have improved a number of hardware and software features.