We finally have a launch date for the latest foldable smartphone — but it’s the Motorola Razr 2022. In a post to its official Weibo (opens in new tab) account, the Chinese phone manufacturer announced that its latest foldable device will be unveiled on August 2. But that was not the only big announcement from Motorola. The post suggests that the Razr 2022 will be one of two flagship phones for Motorola. The Razr 2022 will be joined by the Motorola X30 Pro, which could be referred to as the Motorola Edge 30 Pro in the global market. These two flagships could provide Motorola with the firepower to take on Samsung. Or they could be drowned out by the Samsung Unpacked Event a week later.
Motorola Razr 2022: What we know so far
Right now everything we know besides this launch date is technically still a rumor. However, there are a couple of things that we think we know regarding Motorola’s new flagship. First, we expect the Motorola Razr 2022 to run on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1. The chip should provide greater performance and battery life than the first Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip. Plus, we saw a teaser ad posted to Weibo by a Motorola executive that suggests that the Razr 3 will run on the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1. Another thing we may have real insight into is the camera. A Motorola Razr 2022 leak from Evan Blass expects there to be a 50MP f/1.8 main sensor, backed up by a 13MP ultra-wide camera and macro sensor. This could be a key feature, as those rumored specs could make the Razr 2022 a better camera phone than the rumored Galaxy Z Flip 4.
Motorola Razr 2022: Can it beat the Galaxy Z Flip 4?
Motorola may need to hope that its camera for the flagship Razr 2022 beats out the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 because it is clearly coming for the king. The Galaxy Z Flip 4 has already been slated for an August 10 launch, so Motorola knows that it is trying to undercut its competition by releasing its phone a week earlier. This strategy is a bold one. Unless Motorola beats Samsung across the board, it is going to be really tough to dethrone a phone that Samsung is expecting to be a mainstream offering rather than a novelty. Samsung is very much trying to push foldables into the mainstream, so it is clearly taking the Flip 4 and Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 product lines seriously. Ultimately though, this may come down to price, and Motorola’s strategy may give it a clear disadvantage. Our friends at TechRadar (opens in new tab) expect that the Motorola 2022 will cost around $1,200. This puts it above the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4, which we expect to cost $1,000 to $1,100. If the prices remain that similar, Motorola may be able to win by simply having better specs. And the Razr 2022 does look like it will be competitive on that front. However, if it cannot justify being more expensive, or if Samsung takes advantage of its later release date and undercuts Motorola’s price point, the Razr 2022 may be dead on arrival. After all, if you come at the king, you best not miss.
