Motorola’s foldable phone Moto Razr has been tested by CNET. (Image: screenshot of Motorola’s YouTube video)

CNET recently performed a folding durability test of Motorola’s new Moto Razr (2019) and the foldable smartphone stopped fully folding after 27,000 folds. However, Motorola is not quite happy with the publication’s FoldBot machine test and decided to share a video its calling “The real razr flip test”.

CNET’s machine (borrowed from SquareTrade) did not end up damaging the foldable screen but the hinge was clearly damaged. However, it’s not sure whether the reason for the damage was the result of machine being improperly designed or calibrated or there is an actual flaw with the hinge of the Moto Razr.

Motorola claimed that CNET’s machine is the one to blame. In a statement to The Verge, Motorola said, SquareTrade’s FoldBot is simply not designed to test our device. Therefore, any tests run utilizing this machine will put undue stress on the hinge and not allow the phone to open and close as intended, making the test inaccurate.”

“The important thing to remember is that razr underwent extensive cycle endurance testing during product development, and CNET’s test is not indicative of what consumers will experience when using razr in the real-world. We have every confidence in the durability of razr,” it added.

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Motorola has shared its own video showing a robot flipping the Moto Razr’s screen open and closed. However, the video shows the machine opening and closing the Razr a total of six times and it does so quite gently without putting any pressure on the hinge itself. A bar-shaped hand slowly nudges the screen to open and a second hand flips it closed.

CNET’s machine might have put excessive pressure on the hinge, which the phone might not experience in actual day-to-day usage in a human hand. However, Motorola’s video also fails to clear things as it puts almost no pressure on the hinge, which is far from the actual use case scenario.

The reality is somewhere between the CNET and Motorola’s testing. A real human could put some stress on the hinge — lesser than CNET’s robot and definitely more than Motorola’s robot. However, as of now, we do not know how durable Moto Razr’s hinge will turn out to be.

A recent teardown of Motorola’s new Moto Razr (2019) revealed that the foldable smartphone has a thin flexible display and a hinge that’s hard to repair. And while Motorola says that the phone’s screen should last at least two years, it also says users can expect lumps and bumps as a normal thing.