The Motorola Razr 2023 could run full apps and a keyboard on its cover display
We’ve got more leaks of the upcoming Motorola Razr 2023 foldable to bring you – and it looks as though the smaller screen on the outside of the device is going to be capable of running full apps and even supporting a keyboard.
This comes from well-known tipster Evan Blass (via 9to5Google), who has posted a pile of images and videos of the flip phone ahead of its official unveiling. We can see apps and games running full screen on the cover display, and a keyboard popping up.
There’s what looks like a mapping app on show here, as well as an app that appears to be TikTok. One of the videos shows a user tapping away on the cover screen keyboard to respond to a contact in an instant message conversation.
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On the cover
These photos and videos look very much like official promotional materials designed by Motorola, so we’ll probably see something like them when the phone is unveiled. That’s rumored to be happening around August time, a year after the Razr 2022.
This sort of full app support for the cover display is a welcome feature: it matches what we’ve seen on previous Razr flip foldables, and it’s something that you don’t get on similar phones from other manufacturers (like the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4).
From what we’ve heard so far, it sounds as though the 2023 version of the Motorola Razr is going to be a significant upgrade over its predecessor, and we’ve already seen pictures of the handset showing off the larger cover screen this time around.
Analysis: what’s in a name?
Evan Blass is a leaker with a strong track record and we don’t have any reason to doubt the information and the media that he shares. In the same tweet thread as the images and video, Blass has also outlined how the branding of the Razr 2023 is going to work.
As has been hinted at previously, we’re apparently going to get two Razr models in 2023, differing in terms of specs and price, if not design. Blass says that the more premium phone will be the Razr Plus in the US and the Razr 40 Ultra everywhere else.
That Razr 40 Ultra name has come up before. Presumably the standard models will be the Razr in the US and the Razr 40 in other regions – we’ll have to wait and see which of the rumored specs apply to which of the handsets.
It’s a somewhat confusing approach, and we’re not entirely sure the reason for it – but it’s something Motorola has been doing for years. The recent Motorola Edge 40 Pro, for example, is known as the Edge Plus in the United States.