Tech reviews

it’s the next big thing


Like the original Razr, the new one has two screens: a smaller one on the front, that can be used to display messages without opening the phone; and a larger one accessible when the phone is flipped open.

Unlike the original phone, the new Razr will run Google’s operating system, Android, though not the new version (10) to which Google has added extra functionality for folding phones, that’s expected to accelerate the release of folding phones this year. Surprisingly, it’s coming with Android 9, though Motorola executives have promised an update to Android 10 later in the year.

Like a number of the folding phones that are expected this year, the Razr is smaller and lighter than the Huawei and Samsung phones that launched last year: it flips open to reveal a 6.2-inch screen and weighs 205 grams, compared with 8-inches/295 grams and 7.3-inches/276 grams for the Mate X and Galaxy Fold, respectively.

Foldables don’t offer any genuinely new ways of working yet.

Angus Kidman, Finder

John Riga, a market analyst at the technology research outfit IDC, says that the new generation of smaller folding phones won’t be enough to get consumers buying into the concept in large numbers this year, however.

“The high price point, questions around durability and limited use cases of foldable phones will likely prevent these devices from carving out a significant share of the total smartphone market in the short term,” he told The Australian Financial Review.

“Currently we’re seeing experimentation by several vendors, resulting in different designs and offerings; it’s likely that once use cases become more firmly established and costs decline, foldables will play a greater role in the market,” he said.

Part of the problem, says Foad Fadaghi, managing director at the research outfit Telsyte, is that folding phones are more about mobile phone manufacturers trying to generate interest in “an otherwise stagnant market” than they are about genuine consumer interest.

Fewer than one in five Australians have any interest in folding phones, Telsyte’s own research had found, he said.

(That number may be higher in different regions, however. Huawei had been expected to make its Mate X phone available in Australia last December, but had to delay that due to in part to unexpectedly high demand for the folding phone in China, sources told the Financial Review. It’s still yet to officially go on sale here.)

And part of the problem, says Angus Kidman, tech expert at the mobile phone comparison site Finder.com.au, is that folding phones don’t actually do anything that regular phones can’t do, apart from fold.

“Only fools and Bill Gates predict the future of technology, but it’s hard to see foldables being mainstream quickly. Phone replacement cycles have already slowed, and foldables don’t offer any genuinely new ways of working yet,” Mr Kidman said.



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