The most iconic cell phone from the distant past has returned with some upgrades. The 2019 Motorola RAZR ($1,500) shares a lot with its pre-smartphone ancestors, including a flip-open design, pronounced "chin", outward-facing screen, this time touch-enabled for quickly responding to messages and controlling music, and even the same radii on the curves. But instead of a keypad and tiny screen, it opens to reveal a 6.2-inch plastic OLED panel running Android 9 Pie. Its specs aren't overly impressive — it has a Snapdragon 710 processor, 6GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, a single 16mp front-facing camera, and a fingerprint reader. The specs are nice but the world can't bring the joy of flipping the thing closed to end a call. For the truly nostalgic, it also has a "Retro RAZR" mode that apes the original's interior design, from the interface and boot sequence to the iTap text entry. It will be available exclusively on Verizon in the US and will start shipping in January 2020.
Long-rumored, Microsoft's first post-Windows Mobile phone isn't really a phone at all. Sure, it makes calls, but that's just one feature of the Surface Duo ($TBA). This book-like device has a pair of thin 5.6-inch screens that unfold to form an 8.3-inch computing surface. It can be used as a tablet, like a mini-laptop, or as something altogether different when the 360-degree hinge is bent so both screens face outwards. It runs Android, instead of Windows 10X like its big sibling the Surface Neo, and will available for the 2020 holiday season.
Who doesn't like to air drum? Now it is an air drummer's dream come true, Pocketdrum ($69+) lets you play a complete set of drums on the go with nothing but a pair of sticks and their phone. The force-sensitive sticks connect via Bluetooth and use haptics to recreate the feeling of real drums. They run for up to 10 hours per charge and work in three modes: tutorial, free mode, or game mode, with the former and latter designed to increase the user's skill. Not even the LED beam of the standard version there's also a Lite model. So get your air drumming on in style now!
Since it seems that companies are coming out with folded phones lets take a look at this one. The Huawei Mate X, which keeps its screens on the exterior of the phone. The result is a logical design that lets both 6.6-inch "sides" of the screen function when folded, yet serve as an 8-inch tablet when unfurled. It also promises high-speed 5G wireless connectivity, excellent image chops thanks to the Leica-engineered camera, and plenty of battery life thanks to a purpose-designed 4500 mAh cell. The cost, however, is up to $2,600 compared to the Samsung Fold which is $2,000.
It's a smartphone when folded, a tablet when unfolded, the Samsung Galaxy Fold aims to create a new product category. It has a 4.6-inch AMOLED front display for normal use and a hidden hinge that opens for access to the 7.3-inch Dynamic AMOLED Infinity Flex display for when you want to watch a video, multitask (app continuity), or just view your content on a larger screen. Six cameras with three on the back, one on the front, and two on the inside — allows you to snap photos from any angle, and a 7nm Octa-Core processor, 12GB of RAM, 512GB of storage, two batteries, and an available 5G modem ensure nothing slows you down. Coming April 26 with a whopping price tag of $1,980.
If this doesn't get your friends talking then well that can't be helped. The Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge has no micro SD slot. No user-accessible battery. Guess they took that from Apple. It delivers a metal and glass phone that's made even more interesting by the signature dual-curve, 5.1-inch Quad HD Super AMOLED display. Other specs include an octacore processor running Android 5.0, a 16 megapixel, f/1.9 rear camera with optical image stabilization, a 5 megapixel front-facing camera, 3GB of RAM, and support for both WPC and PMA wireless charging, meaning your wall charger is needed but can still be used.
So what do you think of this new Samsung phone? Check out the link for more info or check out the video below.
