Is nostalgia enough to get you to pay $1,500 for the same phone you had in college?
Motorola thinks so. And in their defense, it’s not exactly the same phone … but it is a flip phone, and if you thought we moved away from that, remember: everything old is new again.
Late last year, Motorola announced the reboot of the Razr, the world’s most popular phone before the iPhone — back when flipping made sense, because people actually made phone calls, but I digress ...
Perhaps Motorola was emboldened to bring back the Razr because of the not-quite-market-proven foldable phone efforts from competitors like Samsung. The updated Razr is said to feature a new hinge that Motorola made in-house with zero gap, protecting the new “Flex View” display from dust. A “Quick View” display sits on the exterior of the device, so when it’s closed it still offers basic smartphone features, allowing the user to do things like read text messages or take selfies.
This week, the company announced it would begin taking pre-orders for the device on Jan. 24 and that the formal U.S. release date would be Feb. 6. If $1,500 is too much for you up front, Verizon, the phone’s exclusive carrier, is pitching two-year payment plans.
And there might just be some takers. When Motorola first announced the reboot in November, CNN Business Managing Editor David Goldman summed it up best when he said, “The camera isn't great. The battery life stinks. The screen is plastic. The processor is slow. It's super-duper, crazy expensive … But ... I kinda want the new Motorola Razr.”
