If you’ve been reading up about folding phones at any time in the past 12 months, you’ll know that the flexible displays that give them their signature ability are neither perfect nor sturdy. And yet, this official video warning future users of the Motorola Razr about that has people raising eyebrows.
The resurrected clamshell, which went up for pre-orders on Jan. 26, has had a special series of how-to videos made to accompany the release, instructing users on how to make the most of it. In the “Caring for Razr” video (via The Verge), which you can watch below, there’s a moment at which it says on-screen “screen is made to bend, bumps and lumps are normal”.
Most of the tips Motorola gives are fairly inane: wipe water droplets off the screen, avoid sharp objects, don’t use a screen protector and keep the phone closed when keeping it in a pocket, but essentially saying “don’t worry about the bumps” is a new one on us.
With the first version of the Samsung Galaxy Fold, and also the revised version, any imperfections in the display were an eventual death sentence for the ground-breaking but flawed smartphone. But apparently the Razr may come with these included, even if they are apparently nothing to worry about. In our hands-on of the Razr, we couldn’t easily find the crease where the phone folds in half, nor did we see any of these bumps, but Moto obviously thinks they’re common enough to feel the need to warn people.
We could look on this news positively: Motorola’s being honest with its users about what they can expect when they get their new phone, which is preferable to the company trying to ignore the problem until users start reporting it. However, this is still a $1,500 phone, and users may be expecting something without these kinds of easily noticeable mechanical problems.
I guess we’ll have to hope that early Razr adopters are forgiving, and that these lumps don’t spoil the experience too much. But when we look at the Razr again for our full review, you can be sure we’ll be paying a lot of attention to how these screen issues affect the experience.
