Motorola Razr Ships Folded From The Factory, Concerns Still Rising

Motorola's Razr 5G is pretty much was the first new Razr should have been in the first place but it definitely isn't how the phone should have shipped in the first place. Motorola is now adjusting how it places the phone inside the box, erring on the side of caution instead of flaunting the phone's fragile screen. That, however, is causing no small amount of concern and complaints from buyers who are now doubting whether the phones they received haven't actually been tampered with or used.

The Motorola Razr originally shipped in an open and standing position to best showcase its headlining feature. But while the company did take great care in covering the sensitive flexible screen with foam, the pressure and movement against that screen were still inviting trouble.

Motorola's initial solution was to let retailers like Amazon open the package to fold the phone close before shipping. It apologized for any fingerprint marks that may appear on the phone but assures buyers that the Razr they receive are brand new. It turns out that fingerprint smudges, however, was the least of people's worries.

The foam that protected the Razr's open screen was custom made just for that and naturally didn't fit a closed Razr that was now twice the girth. Retailers were forced to cut away chunks of the foam to make it fit, leading to unprofessional-looking packaging. Worse are the reports that the protector films were either missing or placed incorrectly.

To address this problem, Motorola told Ars Technica that it was now packaging the Razr folded at the factory level so that retailers won't have to open the boxes after the fact. That, however, doesn't resolve reports of improperly "repackaged" phones and all Motorola could say is that it is looking into it.