Motorola continues straight on its path. And it’s a road which doesn’t make a difference. Not only because the sign of the display closing halfway, on the new Razr 50 and Razr 50 Ultrait is less visible than the previous model, we dare say almost imperceptible.
The company controlled by Lenovo in fact, it insists on the strategy that has recently led it to conquer 12% of the smartphone market in Italy: tailoring hardware and software to the needs of the very young, focusing on a refined designon colors and materials out of the ordinary, and on partnerships that enrich the appearance and quality of the devices.
Collaboration with Pantone – an American company known for its color identification and cataloging system used in design and fashion – has also produced colors that do not go unnoticed in the case of the new Razr 50 and Razr 50 Ultra foldables.
The Razr 50 Ultra It is available in four colors: there is Peach Fuzz (Pantone color of the year 2024), then Midnight Blue, Hot Pink and Spring Green, a dark green shade that we really liked, and which looks much better in person than in photos.
They are all very particular colours, the result of a study that Motorola carried out together with Pantone to identify – on the catwalks, in fashion magazines and even on social media – the trending colours. The fact that Motorola is increasingly pushing colors is also demonstrated by the de facto absence of a “total black” version of the device, which for the old Razr 40 Ultra was one of the possible alternatives. The darkest color available on the 50 Ultra is Midnight Blue, a very elegant blue.
Also the Razr 50 it is available in more colors, but the shades are slightly less bold: there is Beach Sand, Koala Gray and Spritz Orange.
Both models feature a coating made with a premium vegan material which makes the devices pleasant to the touch. But in the case of the new Razr 50 and Razr 50 Ultra there is actually little to cover compared to the past. And this is excellent news.
One of the strong points of the new leaflets is in fact the external screenwhich grows in size in both models. The Razr 50’s grows to 3.6 inches – essentially the size of the old Razr 40 Ultra’s display – while the new Razr 50 Ultra’s screen takes up almost the entire external surface above the hingefor a total of 4 inches that wrap around the two cameras of the device.
There isn’t another device on the clamshell market with a larger external screen than the one offered by the new Razr 50 Ultra.
The display of Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5the main competitor of the new Motorola foldable, reaches 3.4 inches for example and according to rumors circulating on the web it will also retain these dimensions on the new model, the Z Flip 6, which will almost certainly be announced in mid-July.
On the external displays of the Razr 50 and Razr 50 Ultra there is more space, in short, to keep an eye on notificationsbut also to carry out more common operations: now, for example, you can manage the images on Google Photos directly on the external display, and furthermore – thanks to special “panels” – you can control the playback of songs on Spotify and any connection of Bose headphones.
Own Bose it is one of the brands that Motorola has recently linked to. A partnership that has led to Moto Buds+ presented last May: they are wireless in-ear headphones that offer excellent noise cancellation.
For theartificial intelligence of the new foldable Razr 50 and Razr 50 Ultra, Motorola has chosen Google as a partner. The capabilities of Gemini therefore land on the new foldables, i.e. the most advanced AI developed by the Mountain View company.
The effect of this partnership is evident right from the unboxing of the phone: for the first time the Gemini app is available, already installed, on an Android smartphone.
It is not an exclusive or an absolute novelty, because the possibility of replacing it already exists on many phones Android the traditional Google Assistant with Gemini.
Gemini is activated by pressing the power button of the Razr 50 for a long time and the AI can also be consulted on the external display, thanks to an optimization that Motorola studied together with Google.
Motorola also offers purchasers free access to Gemini Advanced – Google’s most capable AI model – valid for three months.
For the user all this translates into a saving of approximately 66 euros (the sum of the monthly subscription that Google asks for from those who want to use the “advanced” model). It is not a sum that makes a difference – on the purchase of a phone – but it is still an incentive for those who want to experiment with a more powerful AI than those that can be used for free (the “basic” version of Gemini itself is free and is sufficient a recording).
To Google’s AI, which allows users of the new Razrs to exploit the potential of generative AI capable of imitating human creativity, Motorola has supported its artificial intelligence, called AI Motorcyclewhich offers three new functions: the first, “Catch Me Up”, summarizes the notifications and personal communications received from the user; the second, “Pay attention”, transcribes – and if desired summarizes – the conversations recorded with the smartphone; the third, “Remember This“, hunts for the information that the user archives with a screenshot: the contents of the saved images can be recovered later by asking questions to the AI with natural language (this function vaguely resembles the very controversial one that Microsoft designed for Windows PCs and called it “Recall”).
Moto AI also allows you to create a custom background for the displays of the new Razr. Based on shots taken of your clothing, or individual garments, AI generates a digital texture that matches any look. By activating Always On Display, the AI-generated background transforms the Razr into an accessory that enriches your style.
From an aesthetic point of view, an extra edge is offered by new cover that can become a handbagsurprisingly included in the smartphone package and of the same Pantone color as the purchased phone.
Can design be enough for a smartphone?
by Pier Luigi Pisa
May 14, 2024
The internal pOLED screen of the new Razr 50 and Razr 50 Ultra is 6.9 inches and does not change dimensions compared to the previous series.
Instead they improve the zipper resistance (30% more reliable in the long term) and the waterproofness of the two foldables, thanks to the IPX8 certification which would protect the devices from staying in water for a maximum of 30 minutes (and up to 1.5 meters deep).
The processor of the Razr 50 Ultra is new, one Snapdragon 8S Gen 3 which runs – among other things – the Android 14 operating system. The cameras of the most powerful model of the Razr series are three: the main/wide-angle one is 50MP, the telephoto lens is 50MP and now offers a 2x optical zoomthe internal one is 32 MP.
Both Razr 50s feature glass Gorilla Glass Victus which protects the external display.
There is a small difference between the batteries of the two devices: that of the Razr 50 Ultra is 4,000 mAh, while that of the Razr 50 is 4,200 mAh.
The price is also different: if to put the Razr 50 Ultra in your pocket you need – on the list – 1,199 euros, to buy the Razr 50 899 euros are enough. There are quite a few, but it is worth remembering that this price range usually includes traditional mid-high range smartphones without a folding display.
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