Lenovo keeps doing its best to push Motorola’s name forward as a relevant global brand. The company made significant efforts to push the brand into the market of flagships, and it had a good 2022 with the Motorola Edge series. Also, Lenovo decided to revamp the brand’s presence in the foldable segment. As a result, we had the Moto RAZR 2022 which is far superior to the previous clamshell foldable phones. Now, Lenovo wants to show that Motorola can also be a good house of ideas. The company presented a new rollable smartphone concept dubbed Moto Rizr.
The Moto Rizr series will return with a rollable phone
No, the Rizr is not a typo for the Razr name. Motorola actually launched a Rizr Z3 slider phone all the way back in 2006. It was an iconic device from the glorious days of the brand as one of the dominant forces in the mobile market. Just like the Motorola RAZR series paid a tribute to the iconic series, the Moto Rizr comes to pay a tribute to its ancestor. The phone explores the concept segment of rollable phones.
Rollable phones are set to come as one of the next big things for the mobile segment. However, we are yet to see the debut of a product in this category. In 2019, Oppo presented its Oppo X Rollable. The device was super exciting, but the brand quickly alerted users that it was still years from an actual release. Then, the lights of hope emerged when LG revealed it was working on a rollable phone. It would be the company’s all-or-nothing, in a desperate move to save its mobile business. As you may know, LG’s mobile division was hopeless. Thus the device never reached consumers. A few lucky LG employees involved in the project got some samples, and thanks to that we had a glimpse of this technology. Now, the Motorola Razr is here to confirm that Lenovo is also working on this tech.
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The Moto Rizr comes with a 5-inch display and a 15:9 aspect ratio. That’s tiny for 2023 right? Well, the user can expand it vertically to a 6.5-inch panel with a 22:9 aspect ratio. Thus, you can go from a mini smartphone to a regular one with the push of a button. It’s easy for one-hand usage, and at the same time, can become a large device for media. You just need to double-tap the power button and the device will roll out and roll back to its compact size. Worth noting, that this is just the concept. Motorola states that a final product might have different controls.
Can this display withstand a drop?
The Moto Rizr uses a pOLED display from BOE. Motorola’s implementation seems to rise certain durability concerns. After all, the panel wraps around the back of the device. So it’s always exposed. Just a drop and you can ruin your probable super-expensive dream. The brand explains that the tiny part of the display serves as a viewfinder for notifications and cameras. The selfie camera and the earpiece speaker are beneath the panel. So every time you receive a call, you’ll need to roll down the display. That’s not much convenient, thankfully this is just a concept.
The rollable mechanism will expand the Moto Rizr display in apps like YouTube to provide a better experience. The icons and wallpapers will also adapt automatically. Just like foldable, this phone will also have its own set of software features.
The battery capacity disappoints
Another problematic aspect of this device is the battery. It has just 3,000 mAh, and we all know that this is basically nothing by today’s standards. Processors have become efficient, but at the same time, the tasks are getting more power-hungry. Unfortunately, this is an issue that seems to plague Lenovo engineers. The first Moto RAZR phones had tiny batteries. Hopefully, the company will find a way to fill a bigger battery with the mass market product.
Right now, we have no idea when the Moto Rizr will reach the market. There are some challenges that these phones need to overcome. We are curious to see what the future has in tow for this range.
