Motorola razr 5G experience: not perfect, wonderful enough

When Motorola released Blade V3 (hereinafter referred to as V3) in 2004, I was still in elementary school.

I still remember that when my mother bought this phone home, the exquisite metal texture and gorgeous display made me deeply fascinated. Especially when the lid is closed, the crisp sound of "pop" makes me think this is the most beautiful sound in the world. At that time, I secretly vowed that I would buy a V3 when I grow up.

But after growing up, the folding style of mobile phones declined. When I was a child, the ugliest candy bar phone became the mainstream under the trend of big screen. The flip and slider phones that I once regarded as technology wedding dresses are gradually lost in the torrent of history.

Perhaps everything is in reincarnation. Since 2019, with the efforts of Samsung, Huawei, and Lenovo in the folding screen market, folding phones have returned to our vision and once again represent the trend of new technologies.

Among these folding screen phones, the one that makes me feel most cordial and excited is naturally Motorola razr. However, the first generation has many regrets, the most prominent is undoubtedly not supporting 5G.

Soon after Samsung’s Z Flip series was updated, razr also ushered in a replacement. On September 10th, Lenovo released the motorola razr 5G mobile phone (hereinafter referred to as razr 5G) at the Summer Palace. Compared with the previous generation, its biggest change can be seen from the name-it supports 5G.

After getting the phone, I briefly experienced it for a few days. If you can summarize this phone in one sentence, it is " not perfect, but exciting enough ."

From outside to inside, full of feelings

Looking at the razr 5G box, what do you think of?

If you have used or know Motorola A1200E (Ming) , then you must be familiar with the elements on the top of the box. Ink color transparent cover plate and metal logo, this is the "Ming" flavor of a generation of magic machine Motorola.

Open the exquisite leather-wrapped shell, you can see this V3-like razr 5G. There is also a "glasses case" at the back of the fuselage, which contains instructions, 18W charger, charging cable, and a pair of HiFi headphones customized by Denon.

I have to mention that the sound quality of this pair of headphones is top-notch in the headphone camp that was given away. And the included three sizes of shark fin ear supports can ensure maximum comfort and firmness.

The design language of razr 5G is exactly the same as that of V3, such as the classic small chin and window-style external screen. It is not too much to call it a "reissue" of V3.

The surface of the fuselage is covered by a large area of ​​Gorilla 3D glass. The feeling of this material is watery and crystal clear . Compared with the tough texture of V3 metal, razr 5G is less sharp and more sleek . This may also imply our path of growth from youth to maturity.

Due to changes in hinge technology, razr 5G cannot reproduce the pleasure of using V3 to "snap". The opening and closing has become gentle and gentle, unlike the sharp and straightforward V3 back then. Correspondingly, the sound of the lid changed from a crisp "pop" to a soft "click" .

If the above changes make you feel disappointed, then the "retro razr" theme built into your phone may arouse your feelings and make you exclaim "I'm fine."

This interface perfectly restores the operation page of V3, and even the front hinge is simulated. You can open the browser, address book, information, Bluetooth, etc. on this page. Even the dial-up interface is the taste of the year.

But when you enter a deeper level of operation, it will automatically switch to the normal system interface. In other words, you can only "experience" the surface page.

In addition, razr 5G also inherits Motorola's classic gesture operations. For example, you can automatically switch the flashlight when you switch the phone twice, and you can turn on the camera with two quick swings, which are all the moto flavors in memory.

It can be seen that Lenovo's psychological grasp of V3 users at that time was very accurate. Whether it is the packaging box, the design language of the mobile phone, or the built-in dessert function, they all pay tribute to Motorola's past star models and pay tribute to the feelings of users in those years.

Beyond feelings, is it practical?

Talking about feelings aside from price is a hooligan.

razr 5G up to 12,499 yuan offer price, it can only be doomed to a small public plaything, to meet the needs of a small part of the human feelings.

From the perspective of product positioning, razr 5G also focuses on ultra-high-end products. It has cooperated with China Telecom to join the "Heart to the World" series. It is enough to see that its main positioning is business people. Perhaps Motorola believes that those users who were able to buy V3 phones for 8,000 yuan in those years do not have to worry about their spending power now.

However, this also involves a question. Is razr 5G a "leek" product? How practical is it?

For a mobile phone, we first pay attention to its hardware configuration, because this will directly affect the fluency of daily use.

razr 5G comes standard with 8+256GB memory and is equipped with Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G processor . Some people may have consciously "persuaded to retire" after seeing the processor starting with the letter 7.

Indeed, compared to the price of more than 10,000 yuan, this configuration always feels like "virtue does not match." Although the size of the 865 chip is larger than the 765G, the Samsung Z Flip 5G, which is sold at a similar price next door, is inserted, which may make razr users feel psychologically imbalanced.

We are not unfamiliar with this 765G processor. It was first released in Redmi K30 5G and is currently the best mid-range processor in mobile phones. For business people , this chip is naturally enough. The opening time and fluency of lightweight applications are not obvious from the 865 processor.

In larger games, the performance of the 765G is naturally not as good as the 8 series. Fortunately, the "G" series is a high-performance version specially designed for gaming . It is not a problem to play a medium-sized game such as Honor of Kings. The frame rate of the game can be stabilized at around 60FPS, and the performance is acceptable.

In actual use, if you don't use large games to squeeze it, you don't need to worry about performance. The more prominent problem is that mobile phones are prone to heat . Of course, this is not all a problem with the 765G chip, and part of the reason is that the internal structure of the phone is too tight , resulting in poor heat dissipation, even if there is a large heat dissipation film inside the fuselage.

When it comes to internal structure, razr's use of airframe space has reached its extreme. It is no exaggeration to say that it is one of the top mobile phones in industrial design on the market . Technology blogger XYZONE once disassembled razr 5G, and it can be seen that the inside of its fuselage has been filled with "full dangdang". The disassembly and restoration process is very cumbersome.

As for the previous-generation razr (2019 model), which has a similar structure, iFixit stated that it was "the most complicated mobile phone that has been disassembled so far ." The 360-degree X-ray view shows the degree of "crowding" inside the fuselage.

The ultimate utilization of internal space brings a thinner and lighter body . The razr 5G is only 7.9mm thick when unfolded and weighs 192g. Whether it is held with one hand or in the pocket, there will be no obvious burden.

Unlike Samsung Galaxy Fold and Huawei Mate X, razr uses a dual dynamic bracket structure to support the opening and closing of the screen, and the hollow part of the hinge axis retains the screen bending space. This may be the innovation that razr is most proud of. Ai Faner has analyzed this technology in previous articles .

The biggest benefit of this innovation is that the screen crease problem has been improved . As far as I know, razr 5G should be the shallowest screen crease among the current folding screen phones, and it will not be bothered by creases in daily use.

In addition to creases, we will consider the durability of its hinges before buying a folding screen mobile phone. According to the official introduction, the "star-orbit shaft" of razr 5G has a life span of up to 200,000 times . Even if a heavy user turns over 200 times a day, it can theoretically be used for two to three years.

In addition, the "Star Trail" shaft allows the razr 5G to fold seamlessly in half, which can be tightly closed when the lid is closed, preventing foreign objects such as sand from entering the inner screen.

The high price of razr 5G is not entirely for feelings and extreme industrial design . The pOLED folding screen it uses also takes up a lot of cost.

This 6.2-inch "fish screen" has a ratio of 21:9, a resolution of 2142×876, ​​and supports P3 wide color gamut. In the previous article , we have introduced to you the difference between ordinary OLED and pOLED. Although the latter is stronger than OLED in terms of drop resistance and foldability, it has a lower yield and higher cost, so it has not yet Can be applied to mobile products on a large scale.

This "skinny" screen is very friendly to one-handed holding and can be typed effortlessly with one hand. It is worth mentioning that razr 5G is equipped with an X-axis linear motor . The vibration feedback during typing is very good, gentle and crisp.

What's more interesting than the internal screen is the external screen. This 2.7-inch screen is not just for you to watch the time. The external screen permissions of razr 5G are open to users , which means that almost all the software you download can be opened on the external screen, and you can even play games on the external screen.

But in terms of experience, it's not as good as it looks. At present, there are few applications specifically adapted to its external screen. For example, when you scan Weibo, you will have to slide down several times to read a Weibo, and WeChat chat is only barely available.

In some scenarios, the external screen is very convenient. For example, I use the internal screen to open AutoNavi Maps, set the route and turn on the navigation, and then I can view the real-time route on the external screen; for example, switch songs and check notifications on the external screen. Although it is not a strong demand, it can undoubtedly add points to the experience.

Limited by the compact body, the razr 5G battery is divided into two upper and lower parts, with a total capacity of only 2800mAh . When you see this capacity, you may be full of question marks, "Such a small battery really works?"

In the actual test, after I used it for nearly 28 hours with a full charge, the battery was still 15%. Among them, the screen bright time is about 4.5 hours, including about 2 hours of Weibo, WeChat, 26 minutes of station B video, 14 minutes of games and so on. The remaining 23 hours are standby.

It can be said that if it is not for heavy mobile phone control, the power of razr 5G is enough for one day. If you are more dependent on mobile phones, it is safer to put a power bank in your bag.

Also compromised by size is the camera. In 2020, new single-camera machines are rare, and razr 5G is one of them.

This 48-megapixel camera has good imaging effects, but not outstanding. In bright light, thanks to the high pixels, the details are better preserved. The camera's color adjustment is relatively strong, and it looks very pleasing.

However, in the low light environment, the performance of this lens is not satisfactory. If you zoom in, the smearing is a bit obvious.

Fortunately, in the super night scene mode, the details will be optimized, and the performance of the dark scene will be improved, but it seems to be a bit too sharp.

The presence of the external screen also allows this camera to be transformed into a selfie lens. The quality of selfie photos is comparable to that of the main selfie cell phone.

So back to the question of this Part, is razr 5G a "leek" product?

The answer is obviously no . Whether it is the "no crease" brought by the innovative hinge, or the beauty brought by the ultimate industrial design, it has given this mobile phone value beyond the sentiment.

Not perfect, but wonderful enough

Although the configuration of razr 5G is not the current mainstream, it is undoubtedly one of the most exquisite and complex mobile phones . It can be said that it is not perfect, but it is exciting and unique enough.

From a design perspective, the current folding screen mobile phone has two directions. One is to move towards larger screens through folding , such as Samsung's Z Fold series and Huawei Mate X series. The second is to move towards a smaller volume through folding . Representative products include Samsung's Z Flip series and today's protagonist razr 5G.

Which direction is better? There is no standard answer to this question. In terms of performance, the current products in the first direction are generally stronger and may be more suitable for main engines. The products in the second direction seem to be more refined and worthy of being a spare machine or a collection.

And razr 5G, as a masterpiece of the second direction, may not be used by ordinary users as the main machine. If you want to experience the novelty of a folding screen and pursue portability, or have a strong feeling for Motorola, then razr 5G can be your primary consideration.

If you want to ask practical value, I think this question is difficult to answer. After all, " users like it is practical value ."

As a product whose function is subject to design, razr 5G will definitely face criticism from those who are practical. For V3's more than 100 million users, razr 5G must be one of the most valuable mobile phones this year.

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