Motorola Razr: The Great Experiment

I initially started writing this blog post back in July of this year, and am just finishing it now, in October...

Last year, when the new Motorola Razr dropped, I was absolutely enamored by the red version of that retro flip cellphone.

2023 Razr in "Viva Magenta"

I exercised restraint, however, under the guise that I would give Apple a little bit more time to come out with their iPhone version of the flip phone. A year went by, and news of the release of the Apple flip iPhone cooled, with release dates ranging from two to three years away. My current iPhone is the model 14 Pro Max, which still runs like the premium phone that it is... but would it keep up with the next two-three years, pushing it to five year-old tech? In the cell phone industry five years is all-but forever.

I decided to take the plunge, and pre-ordered the Motorola Razr+ (aka the Razr 50), 2024 anniversary edition, in the Pantone Color of the Year, Peach Fuzz. 

2024 Motorola Razr+ Peach Fuzz

They had done away with the red color that I lusted over last year, in favor of the iconic hot pink color, brought back in homage to the tenth anniversary of the original Razr phone.

In the meantime, I watched every video I could lay my eyes on about my soon-to-be-new Android operating system, and more specifically, my soon-to-be-new Motorola Razr.

It took my new phone about a week to arrive; one week earlier than the in-store release. I was a kid in a candy store queued to buy the latest edition of Wacky Packs, which were all the rage back in the mid-seventies.

Loved these-- you?

I knew that the migration from iOS to Android  would be formidable; after all I had been a resident of Apple's Proprietary Garden for seventeen years, way back to the original iPhone. Currently, I have an iPhone, an Apple Watch, a MacBook Pro, and a MacBook Air. I am heavily invested in the Apple ecosystem. But the lure of the Flip Phone was strong. My original favorite, back when you had the choice of the clam shell (now called flip) or the candy bar/slab  form factor.

Classic Clam Shell

I never lost my secret desire for the clam shell, even though it has been almost two decades since I've actually owned one. Rumors of the "iPhone Flip" have been circulating for several years now, but Apple has remained its usual tight lipped, close-to-the-vest MO, releasing not one whisper of the alleged Apple Flip Phone. Meanwhile, Samsung and Motorola, to name but two companies, are already invested in the flip phone; several years in now. Apple has been know to be late to the market with its products, but when they do release, they have benefited greatly from the extra refinement that they put into their products, believing in quality over speed.

Classic Candy bar (looks like a tv remote!)

By early summer of this year, my resistance was finally breached with Motorola's release of its 2024 iteration of the classic Razr flip phone. I eagerly pre-ordered the Razr+ in the Pantone Color of the Year, Peach Fuzz.

Of course in true "Cattie Style," I watched every video I could about the new Razr, looked at hundreds of pictures, read dozens of testimonials, and also worried over the conversion from iPhone to Android which, as it turned out, was (very) justified. When my new Razr arrived, it was with much enthusiasm that I unboxed it, and launched into the initial setup.

"Hello Moto" welcome screen.

Pleasantly, the fact that it was an Android really didn't make much of a difference-- in mid-2024 there isn't really a whole lot of difference. Oh, Android may have a few more customization options, it’s true, and can really get lost down that particular rabbit hole, and of course I did.

In no time at all I had set up everything to work to my liking, and with a quick phone call to my carrier I had my phone number patched over and was texting successfully almost right away.

Gorgeous, ain't it?

On to the what-I-though was going to be the fun part, equally as easy as the initial setup from the "Hello Moto" splash screen: The Copying of My Specific Stuff From My Deep Purple iPhone 14 Pro Max to My Shiny New Motorola Razr+, in the Pantone Color of the Year, Peach Fuzz.

Bill's eating-- an apple.

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah.

I was-- naive? Child-like? Downright Delusional? All apt words to describe an Apple User who has been playing exclusively in the walled-off Apple Garden

Safe, but restrictive…you’ve been warned.

(see above for more detailed immersion notes) who suddenly decides to switch to the relatively "loose" Android Ecosystem.

As easy as the initial setup was from the "Hello Moto" splash screen, I ran headfirst into that brick wall when I endeavored to port over some of my customizations from my iPhone to my new Razr. That hard, very ungiving brick wall that has the Steve’s— Jobs & Wozniak— graffiti spray painted liberally all over it.

There were several apps recommended to help ease the pain of transfer, but to my chagrin the apps were no longer available. The tech had moved on beyond apps, which I will illustrate more fully later.

In a nutshell, there was no way for me to get my 7,000 photos from my iPhone to my Razr. Nor was there a way for me to transfer my gaming data, since I used Apple’s (proprietary) Game Center. While that might not seem to be a big deal, I have games on my phone that I’ve been invested in for years, and the thought of losing them was making me sweat.

Transfer from iPhone to Android?!

But the biggest chestnut was Notes. It might surprise you to know that I am a writer (ha!), and at any given time I have from 350-400 active notes—it’s my go-to writing tool to jot down thoughts and ideas. While they are in fact saved on iCloud as well as on my iPhone, there was no compatible android app that would accept my iCloud notes format. There was no way for me to transfer my notes from Apple’s (proprietary) Notes app to a notes app in Razr, short of literally copying and pasting.

Non-Apple users have no idea how quickly and easily you get seduced by Apple’s ecosystem; ultimately you end up using everything Apple, as it’s miles easier, and everything within the ecosystem plays well together.

My seduction took me across the full gamut from hating Apple, to buying an iPod and iTunes/Apple Music, then iPhone (every year, including camping out at the Apple Store in the early days— great fun!),

Just a few...!

to going from a Toshiba (Windows) laptop to a MacBook Air, then a MacBook Pro, iCloud, an Apple wireless keyboard, an Apple Magic Mouse, an Apple external hard drive, and Apple Watch, AirPods, and of course those magical Apple stickers that come with every Apple product.

Though in the name of “reducing their carbon footprint” to zero by 2030 they have eliminated the stickers in recent years, which strikes me as disingenuous considering all of the Apple people jetting around the world in those fossil fuel-guzzling jets.

Carbon neutral by 2030

Android friends, it’s downright insidious how inevitably and fully you get sucked into Apple’s ecosystem, smiling and happily spending money. As I’ve said, it’s a great ecosystem— everything Just Works. But here’s what they don’t tell you: it doesn’t play well with Android!

Anyway, I digress. I was giving myself the cold sweats thinking about the time I spent working on my conversion, only to realize that I would have to start over with the things that actually meant something to me. And that was the kicker, the rub, the straw that broke the Upgrade Camel’s back.

You can hear it snapping...

I’m no quitter— heck, I’ve been in education for thirty-five years— but after 168 hours, 47 minutes, and 22 seconds of painstaking, aggravating, insomnia-inducing effort, I threw in the proverbial towel and re-boxed my shiny new Motorola Razr+ 2024 anniversary edition in the Pantone Color of the Year Peach Fuzz, and shipped it back.

Update from September 2024: I ended up getting a shiny new iPhone 16 Pro Max, in Desert Titanium (it’s gold, people). It is my hope that it will tide me over until/if Apple ever gets around to releasing the iPhone Flip— errr— the iFlip?

Finis.

© Ray Cattie