Here’s to the Motorola Razr — the late, great fashionable dumbphone

IsIs it imaginable for a telephone to person “pretty privilege”? Mediocre features and functionality beryllium damned, the archetypal Motorola Razr V3 and its successors dominated the US cellphone marketplace for 4 years pursuing its 2004 merchandise — up to and including the iPhone’s instauration successful 2007 — seemingly connected vibes and aesthetics alone. Not to glamorize consumerism oregon anything, but I miss it terribly.

I was 11 years aged erstwhile the Razr launched and astir apt among the archetypal procreation of kiddies that begged their parents to bargain them a cellphone. We weren’t truly the people demographic earlier that — cellphones had mostly been bulky, boring things chiefly for moving adults. SMS texting had just go thing that everyone did day-to-day, and mobile data, portion disposable connected galore models, was excessively costly and dilatory to adjacent instrumentality into consideration. The lone “flippable” tech I cared astir until that constituent was the Game Boy Advance SP.

But the Razr had thing that different handsets had mostly neglected: it was hot. The plan innovatively revitalized Y2K Futurism popular civilization and is adjacent present fondly remembered arsenic a figurehead for the “Chromecore” and “McBling” aesthetics. It seemingly prioritized manner implicit function, and that felt desirably caller compared to the emblematic blobs of chunky integrative that had go commonplace (looking astatine you, Nokia 1100). Motorola’s erstwhile caput of design, Jim Wicks, erstwhile told The Verge that the institution had intentionally acceptable retired to make thing that “would chopped against everything everyone other was doing with handsets astatine the time.”

The razer-thin handset lived up to its namesake. It was conscionable 10mm thick, astir fractional the size of astir phones astatine that time. It was besides overmuch wider than its competitors, to marque capable country for a larger, super-flat keypad that could beryllium utilized without hitting the incorrect keys. The lawsuit was partially constructed from metallic and solid for added rigidity. That, on with its backlit and laser-etched aluminum keypad, made it look similar thing taken close retired of a sci-fi movie. Motorola leaned hard into that vibe, with immoderate aboriginal Matrix-inspired ads.

It yet didn’t substance that Motorola’s bundle was really ass, known for being laggy and infuriating to navigate, oregon that galore of the archetypal Razr’s features — specified arsenic its lackluster 0.3-megapixel camera — lagged down what different phones connected the marketplace could offer. It looked, and felt, incredibly premium. Even the eye-watering $500 terms (with a two-year contract) didn’t forestall that first, confusingly named “V3” exemplary from selling implicit 130 cardinal units, astatine a clip erstwhile different “fun” handsets similar the $280 Nokia 3220 outgo importantly less.

The luxurious terms whitethorn person really boosted the Razr’s status. The archetypal Razr was launched to a assemblage of manner journalists, not tech bloggers, astatine the Arken Museum of Modern Art successful Copenhagen. The instrumentality was past cleverly marketed arsenic a personage must-have, promoted by everyone from Paris Hilton to Bono. Meryl Streep utilized 1 arsenic Miranda Priestly successful The Devil Wears Prada, arsenic did Jack Shephard successful play 3 of Lost. You could yet bargain a Razr successful astir immoderate colour to champion lucifer your idiosyncratic benignant and identity.

People were particularly thirsty for the pink models, which were supposedly custom-made for celebs similar Nicole Richie and Maria Sharapova earlier being made officially disposable to the wide public. The pinkish Razr was rumored to person sold 3 cardinal units successful the UK alone. Rihanna was still utilizing hers each the mode successful 2014, agelong aft flip phones had fallen retired of favor. The popular civilization transportation runs truthful heavy that Motorola brought backmost Paris Hilton to beforehand the blistery pinkish 2024 model.

This cult status, alongside Gen Z’s obsession with Y2K “bimbo” and “Barbiecore” culture successful general, helped immortalize the archetypal Razr V3 arsenic the “it girl” telephone of the mid-2000s. And arsenic Y2K fashion has surged successful popularity among younger generations, the Razr has erstwhile again go astir intolerable to ignore. The incredibly kitsch 2005 Dolce & Gabbana model was arsenic overmuch an iconic “accessory” arsenic Ugg boots and Juicy Couture tracksuits. There’s adjacent a rising trend of Millennials and Gen Z switching backmost to the iconic flip phone arsenic a mode of detaching from feeling permanently online.

We tin inactive spot Razr’s celebrity- and fashion-focused advertizing playbook being applied, albeit little successfully, by today’s ascendant telephone makers. Apple debuted the Apple Watch during 2014’s Paris Fashion Week and hired former Yves Saint Laurent CEO Paul Deneve and Burberry main Angela Ahrendts into elder roles. Tune successful to immoderate of Samsung’s telephone motorboat events implicit the past fewer years, and you’ll spot plentifulness of absorption connected celebrated faces, from BTS to Sabrina Carpenter. And that attraction is particularly noticeable successful its foldable lineup — assorted artists and online influencers starred successful a bizarre promotional video for the Galaxy Z Flip erstwhile it launched successful 2020, and there’s been a large absorption connected personage selling for consequent exemplary releases since then. 

But the amusive origin simply isn’t the aforesaid anymore, and smartphones person progressively stagnated into heavy glassy rectangles since the iPhone appeared connected the scene. Experimental plan is an costly hazard present that apps (which are typically optimized for ample touchscreens) person go the main crushed we usage our phones, and manufacturers each follow the aforesaid universally fashionable features similar biometric scanners and wireless charging. Even Motorola hasn’t been capable to replicate its ain occurrence successful repeated attempts to revive the Razr brand. Holding a 2020 Razr didn’t marque maine consciousness similar a fashionista oregon a drunk enactment girl. Mostly, it conscionable made maine consciousness aged and wistful.

The Razr marque yet became a unfortunate of its ain success. Motorola stuck with a visually akin plan for astir 4 years crossed the assorted Razr and Razr2 models, agelong capable to consciousness outdated compared to Apple and Samsung’s “innovative” touchscreen slabs. Now, aft 16 years of phones mostly conforming to the blueprint Apple set, the astir divisive prime US consumers typically look isn’t plan — it’s what colour your substance bubbles should be. 

I ne'er did get a Razr, and I don’t truly privation 1 anymore. The 2024 mentation looks bully but can’t adjacent aspire to beryllium what the V3 erstwhile was. But I’d springiness thing for Motorola, oregon idiosyncratic else, to spell backmost to making cool-ass dumbphones.