Motorola turned quite some heads when it announced the new Moto Razr last year. The smartphone features the retro Moto Razr flip design with a tall display inside that folds in the middle. While it is a true nostalgic trip, the company has been facing a lot of backlash on the durability of the handset.
Last week we reported about a test done by the good folks over at CNET where the Moto Razr’s hinge lasted 27000 fold cycles before giving up. Notably, the test was done after the Motorola released a video teaching potential buyers and the rest of the commoners how the Moto Razr foldable phone needs to be cared for.
In another bizarre turn of events, the folks at Input were in for a nightmare when the plastic OLED display on their $1,500 Moto Razr started to peel apart within a week of purchase. According to the publication, a giant horizontal air bubble appeared literally out of nowhere and started to separate the top lamination and the display panel.
Now the Moto Razr comes with a 6.2-inch plastic OLED display which is flexible and folds in the middle. The way it works is that when you close the phone, the display forms a teardrop shape in the middle, right where the hinge is. The panel itself moves a bit so it can fold easily. Now from what we can understand, the outer protective layer sitting on top of the flexible OLED panel started to come off at the same place where it folds into a teardrop. This is clearly visible in the images shared by Input which shows an air gap between the top layer and the display.
This could have happened due to many reasons. Bad pasting of the two layers, too much stress in the middle of the display, heat, and whatnot. According to Raymond Wong from Input, "The only reason I can think of is a change in temperature. I used the phone to snap eight photos yesterday. It was a freezing day with temperatures between around 28 to 30 degrees Fahrenheit when I was shooting with it." The main concern, however, is that if you are spending $1500 on a smartphone, you don’t expect it to start ‘peeling.’ This is similar to what Samsung faced when it first launched the Galaxy Fold in the first half of 2019. The protective plastic layer had started to peel off near the hinge.
Here is what Motorola has to say about the issue:
We have full confidence in razr’s display, and do not expect consumers to experience display peeling as a result of normal use. As part of its development process, razr underwent extreme temperature testing. As with any mobile phone, Motorola recommends not storing (e.g., in a car) your phone in temperatures below -4 degrees Fahrenheit and above 140 degrees Fahrenheit. If consumers experience device failure related to weather during normal use, and not as a result of abuse or misuse, it will be covered under our standard warranty. For more warranty information, please visit: www.motorola.com/device-legal.
Now it is true that we are in the early phases of foldable phones, and these issues are bound to happen. But this does give manufacturers the leverage to sell a defective product, that too at a really high price.
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