Motorola RAZR's display is breaking and peeling after a week's use

Back in November of 2019, Motorola announced the highly anticipated Motorola RAZR foldable phone. The phone was cheaper than the Galaxy Fold and became popular as it was based on the original RAZR phone that dominated the markets in the early 2000s.

Recently, the phone went on sale and it received disappointing feedback from JerryRigEverything and iFixit because of the design of the device. This was done in a controlled environment and everyone expected better results in the real world. However, things didn’t work out in Motorola’s favour as the first report of breaking and peeling of display emerged earlier today. Inputmag published an article earlier today highlighting the issue with the phone. In the article, they noted that they had been using Motorola RAZR for about a week and the display has started to peel off the chassis of the phone.

As far as I could tell, the Razr’s display was in perfect condition this morning and afternoon. I even took a photo of the Razr for a friend at 12:18 p.m. ET and there was no damage at the fold.

And then I saw it.

Sometime during my 45-minute train ride from Queens to Manhattan that left at 3:08 p.m. ET, the Razr’s display peeled apart at the fold. I have no idea how it happened, but I can promise you it wasn’t from impact; the phone was closed in my front jeans pocket the entire ride and there’s no visible damage anywhere on the device. (And no, my jeans aren’t super tight.)

Inputmag noted that the issue could have been caused by the sudden change the temperature causing the adhesive to loosen and give away the display.

The only reason I can think of is a change in temperature. I used the phone to snap eight photos yesterday. It was a freezing day with temperatures between around 28 to 30 degrees Fahrenheit when I was shooting with it.

Then, I brought it home and played with it for what was likely less than an hour in total. My apartment is warm, but not hot. The heat is on, but I wasn’t sweating or anything.

Taking it back out into the cold today with the weather in the upper 30s to low 40s could have triggered some kind of reaction that might have loosened the adhesive. Add to the fact that the fold is where the screen’s weakest point is — the screen actually gets pushed down into the “chin” of the phone to reduce the amount of creasing that’s found in other foldables like the Galaxy Fold and Galaxy Z Flip — and, well, it’s a recipe for disaster.

If this is the case, then Motorola has a serious flaw on its hands. Again, the Razr has never been dropped and never been wet, or moist, or even near liquid (it’s not water-resistant after all).

Motorola hasn’t commented on the matter. However, this looks like a problem with foldable phones as earlier we reported how a couple of Galaxy Z Flip phones broke after a day’s of usage.