Motorola's new $1,500 Razr flip phone hasn't even launched yet, but it's already sold out

Motorola Razr official
Motorola Razr official

Motorola/YouTube

  • Motorola's new Razr is already backordered until February 18, according to the company's website and Verizon, its exclusive launch carrier.

  • Motorola unveiled the foldable Razr back in November, and the phone was initially supposed to be available for preorder on December 26.

  • But the company delayed the preorder date to January 26 due to high interest from consumers. The official launch is February 6.

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Motorola's revival of the classic Razr doesn't launch until February 6, but the phone is already backordered until February 18, according to the phone maker's website and Verizon, which The Verge first spotted.

Motorola unveiled its new take on the Razr back in November with an original preorder date set for December 26. But the company pushed back preorders to January 26 due to popular demand, while the device will be launching in stores and online on February 6.

The new $1,500 Razr has a look and feel that's similar to the iconic flip phone from the early 2000s, but with a screen that bends in half. The phone has a 6.2-inch foldable main screen, making its display just slightly larger than that of the iPhone 11, and a 2.7-inch screen on its cover for viewing notifications. There's also a fingerprint sensor embedded in the thicker portion of the phone near its base for unlocking the device, and a 16-megapixel main camera.

The Razr is one of several foldable phones that were unveiled in 2019, joining Samsung's Galaxy Fold and Huawei's Mate X. Both of those phones also experienced delayed launches, but for different reasons.

Samsung's Galaxy Fold, which launched in the United States in September, was initially supposed to be released in April. But after a few reviewers reported that the phone's display had malfunctioned after a couple of days, the company pushed back the launch and made tweaks to the design. Huawei also delayed the June launch for its foldable Mate X shortly after the company was blacklisted by the United States government, citing carrier certification tests for the setback. It eventually launched in November in China.

With its bendable Razr, Motorola has taken a decidedly different approach than Samsung and Huawei. While those phones unfurl to reveal screens that are larger than the average smartphone, Motorola's snaps shut to make the phone more compact.

The Razr may not be the only flip phone-style foldable for long, however. Samsung's rumored Galaxy Z Flip looks very similar to the Razr, and TCL has a prototype of a foldable phone with a similar form factor.

Read the original article on Business Insider