The Motorola Razr was a stupendous dumbphone, and it’s nonetheless undefeated

Is it doable for a telephone to have “fairly privilege”? Mediocre options and performance be damned, the unique Motorola Razr V3 and its successors dominated the US cellphone marketplace for 4 years following its 2004 launch — as much as and together with the iPhone’s introduction in 2007 — seemingly on vibes and aesthetics alone. To not glamorize consumerism or something, however I miss it terribly.

I used to be 11 years previous when the Razr launched and doubtless among the many first technology of kiddies that begged their dad and mom to purchase them a cellphone. We weren’t actually the goal demographic earlier than that — cellphones had principally been cumbersome, boring issues primarily for working adults. SMS texting had simply develop into one thing that everybody did day-to-day, and cellular information, whereas obtainable on many fashions, was too costly and sluggish to even consider. The one “flippable” tech I cared about till that time was the Sport Boy Advance SP.

However the Razr had one thing that different handsets had principally uncared for: it was sizzling. The design innovatively revitalized Y2K Futurism popular culture and is even now fondly remembered as a figurehead for the “Chromecore” and “McBling” aesthetics. It seemingly prioritized trend over operate, and that felt desirably contemporary in comparison with the standard blobs of chunky plastic that had develop into commonplace (taking a look at you, Nokia 1100). Motorola’s former head of design, Jim Wicks, as soon as instructed The Verge that the corporate had deliberately got down to create one thing that “would minimize in opposition to every thing everybody else was doing with handsets on the time.”

The razer-thin handset lived as much as its namesake. It was simply 10mm thick, round half the dimensions of most telephones at the moment. It was additionally a lot wider than its rivals, to make sufficient room for a bigger, super-flat keypad that may very well be used with out hitting the mistaken keys. The case was partially constructed from metallic and glass for added rigidity. That, together with its backlit and laser-etched aluminum keypad, made it appear to be one thing taken proper out of a sci-fi film. Motorola leaned onerous into that vibe, with some early Matrix-inspired advertisements.

It in the end didn’t matter that Motorola’s software program was truly ass, identified for being laggy and infuriating to navigate, or that lots of the authentic Razr’s options — corresponding to its lackluster 0.3-megapixel digital camera — lagged behind what different telephones available on the market might provide. It regarded, and felt, extremely premium. Even the eye-watering $500 worth (with a two-year contract) didn’t forestall that first, confusingly named “V3” mannequin from promoting over 130 million models, at a time when different “enjoyable” handsets just like the $280 Nokia 3220 price considerably much less.

The luxurious worth might have truly boosted the Razr’s standing. The unique Razr was launched to a crowd of trend journalists, not tech bloggers, on the Arken Museum of Fashionable Artwork in Copenhagen. The machine was then cleverly marketed as a celeb must-have, promoted by everybody from Paris Hilton to Bono. Meryl Streep used one as Miranda Priestly in The Satan Wears Prada, as did Jack Shephard in season 3 of Misplaced. You may ultimately purchase a Razr in nearly any shade to finest match your private model and identification.

Folks have been particularly thirsty for the pink fashions, which have been supposedly custom-made for celebs like Nicole Richie and Maria Sharapova earlier than being made formally obtainable to most of the people. The pink Razr was rumored to have offered 3 million models within the UK alone. Rihanna was nonetheless utilizing hers all the way in which in 2014, lengthy after flip telephones had fallen out of favor. The popular culture connection runs so deep that Motorola introduced again Paris Hilton to advertise the recent pink 2024 mannequin.

This cult standing, alongside Gen Z’s obsession with Y2K “bimbo” and “Barbiecore” tradition usually, helped immortalize the unique Razr V3 because the “it lady” telephone of the mid-2000s. And as Y2K trend has surged in reputation amongst youthful generations, the Razr has as soon as once more develop into almost unattainable to disregard. The extremely kitsch 2005 Dolce & Gabbana mannequin was as a lot an iconic “accent” as Ugg boots and Juicy Couture tracksuits. There’s even a rising pattern of Millennials and Gen Z switching again to the enduring flip telephone as a method of detaching from feeling completely on-line.

We are able to nonetheless see Razr’s celebrity- and fashion-focused promoting playbook being utilized, albeit much less efficiently, by in the present day’s dominant telephone makers. Apple debuted the Apple Watch throughout 2014’s Paris Trend Week and employed former Yves Saint Laurent CEO Paul Deneve and Burberry chief Angela Ahrendts into senior roles. Tune in to any of Samsung’s telephone launch occasions over the previous few years, and also you’ll see loads of give attention to well-known faces, from BTS to Sabrina Carpenter. And that remedy is very noticeable in its foldable lineup — varied artists and on-line influencers starred in a weird promotional video for the Galaxy Z Flip when it launched in 2020, and there’s been a giant give attention to superstar advertising for subsequent mannequin releases since then.

However the enjoyable issue merely isn’t the identical anymore, and smartphones have more and more stagnated into thick glassy rectangles for the reason that iPhone appeared on the scene. Experimental design is an costly threat now that apps (that are sometimes optimized for big touchscreens) have develop into the primary purpose we use our telephones, and producers all undertake the identical universally in style options like biometric scanners and wi-fi charging. Even Motorola hasn’t been in a position to replicate its personal success in repeated makes an attempt to revive the Razr model. Holding a 2020 Razr didn’t make me really feel like a fashionista or a drunk celebration lady. Largely, it simply made me really feel previous and wistful.

The Razr model ultimately turned a sufferer of its personal success. Motorola caught with a visually comparable design for round 4 years throughout the varied Razr and Razr2 fashions, lengthy sufficient to really feel outdated in comparison with Apple and Samsung’s “revolutionary” touchscreen slabs. Now, after 16 years of telephones largely conforming to the blueprint Apple set, essentially the most divisive selection US customers sometimes face isn’t design — it’s what shade your textual content bubbles needs to be.

I by no means did get a Razr, and I don’t really need one anymore. The 2024 model seems good however can’t even aspire to be what the V3 as soon as was. However I’d give something for Motorola, or another person, to return to creating cool-ass dumbphones.