The Motorola Razr 2019 was announced nearly two weeks ago in the USA. The phone is a modern version of the popular Razr V3 launched in 2004 before the Android-era. This modern version is not only way more powerful, it also comes with a flexible display that folds vertically. Technically, it is a foldable phone with a clamshell design.
While the phone will not go on sale until January, there is a chance Motorola will already be hard at work by then developing a successor. This successor may arrive as the Razr 2, and a recently published patent gives us an early look at its design and some of its features.
The patent titled ”Cumulative Sensor in a Foldable Device” was filed at the United States Patent and Trademark Office and the World Intellectual Property Office in May 2018 and was approved on November 21, 2019.
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The patent description mentions that there are sensors on the sides of the device – four on each side (two above the fold line and two below) for a total of eight sensors. It states that the sensors serve as virtual buttons that can be used to operate the device when the phone is folded on unfolded.
Their functions vary depending on if the phone is open or closed. The patent says the sensors can perform thirteen functions when the device is unfolded and seven functions when folded, for a total of twenty. We already know the title reads Cumulative Sensor in a Foldable Device. Motorola says this is when the device is folded and two sensors come in contact with each other it becomes a cumulative or combined sensor. When this happens, the sensor performs a different function.
The sensors also recognize different gestures including taps and swipes.
The description says the display may wrap around the edges which explains why there are sensors on the sides similar to what Huawei did with the Huawei Mate 30 Pro’s waterfall screen. The patent also says the device may even wrap around the wrist and that the hinge structure may even be designed to receive touch input from the user (probably like a trackpad).
The Motorola Razr 2019 has a front-mounted fingerprint scanner. That may change with its successor as the patent says the device may have an in-display fingerprint scanner.
There is no confirmation that Motorola is working on a successor and even if it is, we don’t expect it to launch anytime soon.
