If it has a hard time finding a place in France, Motorola is still in the top 3 of smartphone manufacturers on the American continents. Now owned by Lenovo, this icon has lost its luster in Europe, the fault of a missed turn at the time of the rise of the smartphone.
What if his salvation lay with the professionals? The new smartphone unveiled at CES 2023 has in any case to please this demanding target. To put the odds on its side, Motorola has teamed up with the know-how of Lenovo, dubbed by professionals thanks to its famous ThinkPad computers.
This first smartphone designed as a duo is the fruit of nine years of collaboration. Its name: the ThinkPhone.
Motorola ThinkPhone: a premium smartphone, for the pros
Technically, the ThinkPhone has everything to seduce its target. Its sober and elegant design hides a conception centered on robustness. The ThinkPhone is certified to MIL-STD 810H1 (military standards, the industry where Motorola started), IP68 (withstands submersion up to 1.5m for 30 mins), and is made of a lightweight, stronger aramid fiber than steel. Finally, a Gorilla Victus protective glass protects it from shocks or falls up to 1.25 meters.
Behind this serious design are state-of-the-art technologies. A Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chip combined with 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage promise a high level of performance. In the front, the 6.6” Full HD+ OLED display supports 144Hz refresh rate. Enough to ensure smooth animations and transitions. Perfect for handling “complex dashboards or endless series of emails” writes the brand in its press release. The battery provides 36 hours of autonomy according to the manufacturer’s laboratory tests. The ThinkPhone comes with a 68W charger and is compatible with wireless charging (15W).
On the photo side, the ThinkPhone relies on a triple module with a main sensor of 50 Mpxl. Even if the photo will not be the number 1 criterion of the professional target, the requirements have increased a lot in recent years. There is no question of missing out, as Blackberry has done in the past.
Designed for productivity
© Motorola
To accompany this material, Motorola has developed exclusive features aimed at improving productivity. At launch, the ThinkPhone will ship with Microsoft 365, Outlook, and Teams pre-installed. Motorola has partnered with Microsoft to develop other features such as the Walkie Talkie accessible via the smartphone’s red button.
Mostly, the ThinkPhone has Think 2 Think connectivity to link the smartphone with a ThinkPad PC or a model from another brand with Windows 10 or 11 in one click. Users will then be able to access a file explorer on the phone to transfer them directly to the PC, receive notifications from the smartphone to the computer, open any Android application on the PC or connect directly to the internet using connection sharing.
Above all, the ThinkPhone takes over a flagship feature of the latest iPhones. It will be possible to use the ThinkPhone as a webcam during video to take advantage of the quality of its cameras.
Safety first
© Motorola
Like Blackberry, Motorola and Lenovo understood that professionals needed a high level of security. The ThinkPhone therefore has ThinkShield, a portfolio of digital security solutions. Concretely, “IT departments can be assured that their enterprise devices are protected by integrated and advanced hardware-based security and artificial intelligence solutions” explains Motorola.
Businesses will also be able to manage fleets with device management solutions like Motorcycle OEM Config Where Moto Device Manager. Motorola also provides MotoSecurean application that acts as a control center for security and privacy settings.
Finally, the ThinkPhone comes with Motorcycle KeySafea separate processor that adds a layer of security to protect each device’s most sensitive data.
The Motorola ThinkPhone will be available from the end of January 2023 at a price of 999 euros. So, is it tempting you?
