With the introduction of Apple’s Visio Pro glasses, competing phone makers have surely breathed after holding their breath. One of the most recurring rumors in recent years is that mixed reality glasses from Apple could end up replacing the current phones.
Nobody expected this for months now, nor is it expected that the future will change in the medium term. But the design of today’s mobile phones seems to be about to undergo a transformation. Motorola presented its folding phone Razr 40 Ultra a few days ago in Madrid.
Out of the box there’s nothing too exceptional about the design of this high-end foldable phone. The magic comes when you turn it on and check that with the phone folded, its front screen allows you to use many Android applications. Like Google Maps or WhatsApp.
It is not a minor matter to find something like this in the boring world of mobile phone design. This additional screen changes the way you use your phone completely. Motorola, for example, showed how the folded phone could show a route driving a motorcycle installed on the handlebars.
The applications of this almost square 3.6-inch screen can be very wide. But this design, which allows the same phone to be used in two very different ways, seems to still have some of the serious problems that many foldable phones have today.
Although this newspaper has not had the opportunity to test this Motorola phone, it seems quite likely that its battery is insufficient for what is expected in 2023 for a phone that costs 1,200 euros. Despite that, the success of the new design of this Motorola is undeniable.
In addition, both things, the price and the autonomy, are expected to improve in folding phones. And it is to be expected that other models incorporate secondary screens similar to those of this phone.
For example, there is talk that the Samsung Flip 5, which will probably be presented in July, will have a screen similar to that of this Motorola. Although there are many skeptics about this type of phone, it is true that there are also many who expect folding phones to mature on their weak points and lower their prices.
We are living in a moment that can be compared to the launch of the first Samsung Galaxy Note. A phone that when it was launched in 2011 caused both ridicule and fascination.
Its screen size was 5.3 inches. Much less than that of the screens of the vast majority that are currently sold. But in 2011 that size was so large that it was considered a small tablet.
Samsung imposed large screens in such a way that today there are very few phones that incorporate screens smaller than six inches. Despite this, many still long for phones that can be kept in a pocket.
But the folding revolution, which hasn’t just arrived, wouldn’t just put the phone back in the pocket. There are other factors in the design of foldable phones, especially if they have an additional large front screen, which makes them attractive.
Like being able to make a video call or watch a video by unfolding the phone and placing it on an L-shaped table. That’s not to mention the possibilities it opens up when recording first-person video or taking selfies.
But today the harsh reality is that second-hand internet sites are littered with foldable phones with screens that have suffered from folding and unfolding. That is not to mention that no one has yet achieved a flexible screen that manages not to be perceived in the center, which is that, folding.
