Motorola’s reboot of the classic Razr featuring a new bendable screen was originally slated to go on sale in early January, but in order “to better meet consumer demand,” Moto decided to delay the phone’s launch to February 6th. However, it seems despite that new release date, some U.S. Moto Razr pre-orders have started arriving a week early.
Reports of early deliveries started trickling in on Friday, with more devices arriving over the weekend to enthusiasts and YouTubers such as Noah Herman and Flossy Carter. Based on screenshots of shipping info from devices that got delivered early, it appears that this first batch of Razrs were to sent out to people who pre-ordered their devices on Motorola.com, as opposed to pre-orders from Walmart or Verizon.
Currently, Walmart’s product listing for the Razr says pre-orders aren’t expected to ship until Monday, February 10th, while anyone who orders now on Verizon will have to wait even longer, with Verizon promising an estimated delivery by February 25th. For some, the latter shipping estimate for people on Verizon could be an issue, because by the end of February, there’s a good chance we’ll have official details regarding Samsung’s competitor, the Galaxy Z Flip. That could result in some buyer’s remorse, especially with the Razr costing $US1,500 ($2,241) and rumours claiming the Z Flip could start as low at $US1,000 ($1,494).
According to a thread on Reddit, it’s possible to activate Verizon-branded Moto Razrs on Google Fi by using the eSIM option, potentially providing a workaround for people interested in ordering a Razr who but don’t want to lock themselves down to a specific carrier. However, if you do activate your Razr’s services this way, it seems you’ll also have to deal with a warning that lives in your notification bar telling you that the activated SIM is not from Verizon.
In the end, while Motorola may have struck first with its fancy Razr reboot, Moto could be facing some serious competition from Samsung in just a week when Samsung is expected to announce more info about the Galaxy Z Flip at its upcoming Unpacked Event on February 11th.
Meanwhile, anyone who did get a Razr early will probably want to remember that Moto says that bumps and lumps in the Razr’s flexible OLED display are “normal,” so while the phone’s screen should be pristine when it arrives, it may develop some bulges or swelling down the road.