Motorola's long-anticipated foldable Razr won't officially debut until Nov. 13. But you won't have to wait until then for a sneak peek, now that a batch of promotional images have leaked.
The photos, shared by well-known leakster Evan Blass and Dutch blog Mobielkopen, show the outside of the Razr from various angles. From what we can tell, there looks to be an outward-facing circular camera housing on the top panel, as well as a small display next to it that should provide glanceable information. This panel is reminiscent of the one on the original Razr flip phone, though one of the images Blass posted depicts a user interacting with it — indicating it's touch-sensitive as well.
The rather prominent chin on at the bottom appears to have either a button or fingerprint sensor embedded within it. If it is indeed a button, it may potentially be used to unlatch the display from its folded position; Huawei's Mate X employs a similar design.
There look to be volume and power keys along the side of the top half, which is unusual for a flip phone. There's also a circular divot on the back, which could also be a fingerprint sensor, or just a bit of Motorola branding.
The leaked photos are circulating right as Motorola's invites to its Nov. 13 event have begun to make the rounds. Tom's Guide received one such invite, and it features a GIF of the new Razr folding shut, while the phone's exterior display shows the time and a row of icons resembling either notifications or shortcuts.
MORE: All the Incoming Foldable Phones of 2019 and Beyond
Overall, what we're seeing looks encouraging thus far, though many questions still await answers. We've yet to have a clear shot of the inside of the device, and how that extra-long OLED display looks when unfolded. How has Motorola reorganized Android's interface to take advantage of the extra-tall form factor? And, of course, how durable will this foldable Razr be?
We may not gain much more insight into these aspects of the Razr until the official launch in two weeks' time. Still, the general aesthetic of the handset looks to fall very closely in line with that Yanko Design concept that inspired the public's imagination earlier this year.
As pretty as Motorola's first foldable looks, it will still have to perform well to justify the phone's rumored $1,500 price. Reports to date suggest that the company has selected Qualcomm's midrange Snapdragon 710 chipset to power the device, rather than the more premium 855 silicon, perhaps in the interest of boosting efficiency and keeping costs down.
With Samsung's Galaxy Fold commanding just shy of $2,000, that could work out to be a smart move. On the flip side, if the new Razr doesn't perform as well every day as an ordinary Android flagship, it'll have a tough time justifying its lofty cost — no matter how cool it looks.
