Here’s what the Motorola Razr 2 might look like

A bigger QuickView display, better specs and the same clamshell design... all of these are possible

The future of the Motorola Razr rests heavily on the success of the Motorola Razr 2019 (Jhinuk Sen/HT)

We just got the Motorola Razr 2019 and saw Motorola sticking to the iconic clamshell design for its first foldable smartphone. Of course, it is not much of a leap in the design language, but the company hit the right notes for nostalgia.

Now, TechRadar spoke to the designers involved in the creation of the 2019 Razr to ask them what they'd like to see/include in the Motorola Razr 2020 or whatever foldable/flexible device Motorola comes up with next.

Vice President of Consumer Experience Design Ruben Castano and Director of Product Management Carl Steen dropped some deets about their wishlist. However, it would be good to point out that what they said should not be taken as confirmations.

All about the specs

For the next Motorola Razr, according to Steen, one of the focuses will be on "increasing the specs". The 2019 Razr came with mid-range specs and Steen also mentioned that high-end specs were not necessary for the current iteration. "The Snapdragon only brought to the table things like Quad-HD performance, we didn't have Quad-HD displays, so that would have been overkill," Steen explained.

The next Razr might come with a high-end screen which means high-end chipsets that will more adequately justify the $1,499 price tag.

Steen also told TechRadar that "things like 5G [...] are all items that we'd like to pursue on our next generation devices".

This basically implies that there is no certainty of a 5G Razr. Also, that Motorola is considering a 5G foldable while it does not have a native 5G phone hints towards the fact that Motorola might be getting ready to unleash a "slew of next-gen-connected smartphones".  

Sticking to form

The first thing Steen mentioned about the future of Motorola devices was that they "feel confident in the form factor". This ideally means that the clamshell design might turn up in some future Motorola devices. Motorola had said earlier that a "lot of work deciding what kind of foldable phone it wanted to make, and the team settled on the clamshell as a natural way to create a small device with".

"As we think about future devices, we're really looking at how to optimize that [form factor]… for example, the QuickView Display - we're looking at ways to make an even [richer] experience," Steen said.

The QuickView Display on the 2019 Razr is the mini screen on top of the phone when it is shut. It gives you access to quick notifications and also to the selfie camera.

"[H]aving that display on the front of the device was not only useful, giving me the right information I needed, but also could change my behaviour on my smartphone in a good way [as a result]," added Steen.

So, Motorola might add more features to the QuickView display in the future. Sketches provided by Motorola show all possible ways that could happen.

(Motorola )

(Motorola )

What might be different?

Interestingly, both Steen and Castano has mentioned in a previous interview with TechRadar that "it wasn't just the Razr phone that was considered for foldable tech - things like a flexible smartwatch were mooted, and we might still see new flexible device form factors from Motorola".

"We are fully committed to developing ideas and products that make sense for consumers in [the foldable display technology] space," Castano said, elaborating "there are other technologies also emerging and evolving, whether it's connectivity with 5G, or things you can start doing with the intersection of physical and digital interfaces."

So it seems Motorola isn't necessarily done with "having the device or the technology conform to the human body in the sense of a wearable".

There haven't been any popular examples of smart devices that flexibly conform to the human body yet, barring a few attempts like the Nubia Alpha. The Nubia Alpha came with a curved screen that meant you would have to rotate your wrist to see the display. It however fell short and that is also possibly why Motorola has not launched one yet.

A few 'flexible' Razr might be in the works but how it will look depends extensively on the success of the 2019 Razr.