from samsung to google and now motorola, flip phones are back and smarter than ever

Motorola razr+ returns in the same hot pink fashion

Flip phones are getting their second wind from Samsung and Google to Motorola (and even Apple?). Long-standing smartphone brands are circling back to the bygone eras of phones, reinventing them to tailor to the social media and feature demands of their present fans. One of the iconic models making its comeback is Motorola Razr+, instantly stealing the spotlight with its lush magenta color, Pantone’s Color of the Year for 2023.

With the new razr, users are able to stand the device on its own at multiple angles, allowing them to easily view recipes while cooking, follow an exercise coach online, video chat with friends, hold it as a camcorder, and use the device as a tripod to capture images and videos with hands-free recording. It boasts a 6.9-inch screen when folded out and has a 3.6-inch flexible pOLED outside screen designed to flash notifications and even enable users to fire off replies without flipping the phone.

Motorola’s Razr history pivots back to 1996 when the brand launched Motorola StarTAC, one of the first-ever flip phones and the foundational design of the first Razr model that would follow. Years later, the thumb-sized screen of StarTAC could no longer whet the appetite of the users, nudging Motorola to reconceptualize its design. In 2004, the Motorola Razr V3 floored the market with its super-slim built, color external screen and 1.3-megapixel camera, swiftly becoming a covetable phone model at the time. Almost two decades later, Motorola steps in again to bring back an iconoclast with a bigger screen and more advanced tech and features.

images courtesy of Motorola (unless stated)

Samsung galaxy fold and Z flip renew the flip

Motorola has caught onto the game that Samsung and Google have already played with the release of Samsung Galaxy Flip in 2020 and Pixel Fold in 2023. Samsung first unveiled Galaxy Fold, its modern interpretation of a flip phone by making the screen fold sideways rather than the traditional vertical form. However, reports on its faulty breaking screens worried the users, prodding Samsung to look into its hinge system and repair it.

Soon after, it went back to the traditional flip phone design through Galaxy Z Flip, a compact device that opens out to a large 6.7-inch display made from ultra-thin glass and features an improved hinge. The revamped model was Samsung’s response to mitigate issues with its previous fold device, which was reinforced with fibers that wrap around the hinge mechanism to prevent catching dirt and dust. Its release may have signaled the gradual return of flip phones with Google following in the footsteps years later.

Galaxy Z Flip | image courtesy of Samsung (read more here)

Google pixel fold from samsung’s flip design

Google seems to have standby first, an onlooker studying how the public’s reception on flip phones would turn out. With smartphone screens getting bigger and wider every year (or every release in other brands’ case), the brand kept this in mind and fused it with the concept of flip phones. In May 2023, it unveiled its first phone-tablet Pixel Fold, picking up the design from Samsung’s Galaxy Fold. Rather than going for the traditional flip phone design, it opts for a sideway opening, a fearless approach amidst the issues on hinge systems that might cause problems to the screens.

Pixel Fold’s external screen spans 5.8 inches before it opens up to a 7.6-inch tablet inside with an OLED display and 120hz refresh rate. Its pencil-thin size means its hinge is just as thin, and Google also claims it exudes a thinner profile than any other foldable phone on the market. The brand states that Pixel Fold is durable enough to survive a meter tumble and drop based on the tests it carried out using phones from its competitors and pre-production Pixel Fold phones.

Google Pixel Fold | images courtesy of Google (read more here)

Will apple create its own flip phone?

Apple has been mum about adding a flip phone design under its belt. Its screens keep getting bigger and bezels narrower, but the brand may not have any future plans stored for folding its large-screen phones. While the brand is geared toward improving the series it already has, some fans still can’t help and wonder what an Apple flip phone would look like. In fact, a Hong Kong-based YouTuber known as KJMX took the matter into his own hands and modified an iPhone into a foldable model. The unveiled ‘iPhone V’ uses the hinge of the Motorola Razr flip smartphone to incorporate a bendy display and shaft, turning curious wonder into a transient reality.

All screen and no keypads, flip phones are attempting to captivate the current smartphone users with features they might be looking for. Handy to lug around, it helps that these all-screen flip phones cut back on their size when folded and make it easier to fit in pockets (and hands when needed). Their variety of advanced technologies caters more to what people need these days from taking short-form video to quickly replying to messages without needing to access apps. With the renewed advent of flip phones, these offerings, and more, are refashioned and back in style with more to come in no time.