Motorola patent filing hints at Razr phone's folding display design

Motorola has submitted a patent filing for what appears to be a smartphone with a folding display. The filing was submitted on December 17, as seen on the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) website (via 91Mobiles), just a month ahead of rumors that emerged last week that the company intended to revive its Razr brand with a new folding-display smartphone.

The designs in the filing appear to show a smartphone with two screens, folding vertically. When closed, it appears there may be a relatively compact front-facing screen, perhaps for notifications and at a glance information, while a larger display on the inside will be revealed when unfolded.

Samsung, which is also planning a smartphone with a folding screen, showed off a similar prototype last year. Where Samsung’s approach differs, however, is that the device would unfold to unveil a wider tablet-like device, while the Motorola device looks to fold down like the Razr clamshell of old, as per the image:

Other details gleaned from the patent include the presence of what may be a rear fingerprint scanner, a USB-C port on the bottom (with a speaker grill), and no headphone jack. It also appears to have a slightly protruding chin where the microphone would be.

It certainly looks interesting, but whether this is the design Motorola is pursuing with the rumored Razr device — or if it’s coming at all — we can’t say for sure. This is based purely on speculation at the moment — speculation which also suggests the device would cost $1,500, and be released exclusively on Verizon, should it see the light of day.

What do you think of the design? Does it look too tall? Will the screen ratio be above even 19:9? Would you like to see this hit the market? Let me know in the comments.