Take a close look at today’s mobile phone landscape and you’d never guess that Motorola was, at one point, a true pioneer. It’s crazy to think that a company that had been in the game since the 80s and dominated the 2000s with its Razr line (sales figures peaked at 130 million) ended up being relegated to the mid-ranger category. Yes, it is considered a solid alternative to Samsung and Apple in North America, but Motorola has a few drawbacks that prevent it from regaining its glory. Mainly, its software updates are poor, which is a known fact. Most owners agree that Motorola’s hardware is solid, but the software historically hasn’t offered much in the way of longevity. The camera system itself is often described as simple on different models, and if you want to challenge the big two, you need to bring your A game.
Even though Motorola is a shadow of its former self at this point, the brand has launched many products ahead of its time. This isn’t limited to its flip phones, mind you, as one could argue that Motorola’s 2020 foldable Razr was a grand attempt to breathe some life back into the brand (even if Samsung ended up stealing the spotlight). Going back, Motorola’s Atrix 4G was also revolutionary in that it attempted to completely replace a laptop – in 2011, no less – and 2009’s Motorola Droid helped popularize the Android operating system. All of this pales in comparison to the iconic Razr V3 which nailed the style at a time when phones and fashion were an oxymoron. However, the forgotten relic of 2004 that you could argue was truly forward-looking was the A845 which supported video conferencing long before Apple made it cool.
Motorola’s flagship technological ideas
FaceTime who? The Motorola A845 was the first phone to support video calling in the United States. That’s about six years before the HTC Evo 4G became the first modern smartphone to support the feature, and even longer before Apple rolled out FaceTime on the iPhone 4. In fact, the technology was in its infancy when Motorola made it a feature. Reviewers couldn’t even test it because its functionality was limited to a few areas like San Francisco, and it also required another UMTS phone to make it work. Then ask anyone back in the day which old Motorola phones are iconic, and they’ll mention the Razr V3, which launched the same year as the A845, meaning it probably eclipsed that original revolutionary device.
Looking at reviews from the time, the Motorola Razr V3 was not universally praised. One reviewer pointed out how bad the camera was compared to its competitors (funny how that has stuck with Motorola to this day) and complained that the phone was priced too high. Yet it was also the first device that felt like a fashion accessory at a time when phones were just starting to become more than utility devices you’d use to make calls. It was unlike anything else on the market, and the bet paid off as the Razr V3 remains one of the best-selling phones of all time.
Motorola in the modern era
Motorola’s innovative streak didn’t stop there, although the brand arguably failed to reach its former commercial heights. The Motorola Droid from 2009, for example, was one of the first Android phones to achieve great success. It was a slider phone with a keypad at a time when keys were being phased out completely in favor of touchscreens. Just two years later, Motorola released the Atrix 4G featuring a “lapdock” add-on that essentially allowed you to turn the relatively small device into a laptop – something that is still considered a novel concept today with the NexPhone and similar devices. While it was by no means the first, the Atrix 4G was also one of the first major releases to feature a fingerprint scanner, which would become standard a few years later.
The last gasp in Motorola’s innovations may be the Motorola Razr 5G of 2020. Motorola announced it just months after Samsung launched its Galaxy Fold in 2019, when a foldable screen was still a huge gamble, building on its past. Announced just months after Samsung launched its Galaxy Fold in 2019 (a time when a foldable screen was still a huge gamble), it looked back at Motorola’s past. Still, mid-range specs and questionable cameras (again) kept it from becoming the de facto foldable model of the time. Credit where credit is due, it was the best thing Motorola could do at the time, but that Razr gamble didn’t necessarily pay off.
Today, the range survives thanks to the Motorola Razr Ultra. It’s a solid phone with just three years of full OS updates, and the cameras are nothing special. The company is fine with releasing its B game, but fans (and there are many of them) are demanding more punch and longer support. If Motorola keeps its promises, it may one day make a proven comeback worthy of its launch in the early 2000s.
