Motorola debuts Razr Fold and Qira AI platform at CES 2026, enters wearable AI race

Motorola Debuts Its First Book-Style Foldable and Wearable AI Concept

Lenovo Group Ltd.'s Motorola unveiled its first folding phone that opens like a book or passport, a departure from the string of clamshell-style foldables that the brand has released over the last several years. The device is called the Razr Fold -- though this iteration doesn't bear any resemblance to Motorola's once-iconic handset. Motorola offered few details about its technical specifications and said it plans to share more in the coming months. It also did not reveal a price or expected release date. Lenovo showed off the device during a flashy CES keynote on Tuesday alongside a range of new laptops, desktop PCs, concept devices and smart glasses. Like many of its competitors, the company has arrived at the annual consumer technology conference ready to demonstrate it can keep up and adapt in the age of artificial intelligence. But it's one of relatively few brands this week unveiling smartphones -- not typically a heavy area of focus at this industry event. With this announcement, Motorola is making a late entrance into a relatively established segment: Competitors like Samsung Electronics Co. are already launching trifold phones with screens that fold in two places. For now, Motorola has confirmed that the Razr Fold features a 6.6-inch outer display that unfurls to reveal an 8.1-inch inner screen, dimensions that are slightly larger than most competing devices in the US. The Android-based phone will include three rear cameras that are each 50 megapixels, plus a 32-megapixel selfie camera, and a 20-megapixel camera on the inner screen that's primarily intended for video calls. In addition, Motorola will offer a note-taking stylus accessory for the new foldable -- a departure from the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Pixel 10 Pro Fold. The Razr Fold will also include Qira, a new artificial intelligence platform that will be offered across Lenovo and Motorola devices, promising a more consistent user experience. The company is combining its past AI efforts across both brands into one unified assistant. At CES, Motorola also showed off a concept AI wearable gadget with a built-in camera known as Project Maxwell. The company is still exploring this burgeoning category, but uses for the early hardware sample include live translation and using the camera to ask questions about someone's surroundings or to automatically take snapshots throughout the day for a digital journal of sorts. It, too, would run the new Qira platform. Project Maxwell came out of Motorola's 312 Labs team, which focuses on future innovation. Users can activate the device by pressing a finger against its surface. "When prompted, this helpful assistant continuously collects full scenario data -- seeing what you see, hearing what you hear, and listening to what you say -- and provides real-time insights and personalized recommendations," Motorola said in a statement. Learnings from Project Maxwell will inform the company's future, consumer-facing AI initiatives, it added. Motorola didn't provide details on the device's potential battery life, as a company representative acknowledged that it's one of the biggest technical hurdles for this hardware type. The company showed off multiple different exterior styles including a tortoise shell finish, a pearlescent look and another covered in blue fabric. A plethora of wearable AI-powered gadgets are likely to arrive in 2026 and beyond as tech companies try to land on a formula that sparks broad consumer interest. OpenAI is in the midst of developing its hotly anticipated first hardware device in partnership with former Apple Inc. design boss Jony Ive. Motorola's other CES announcements include a sleek Android smartphone with high-end specifications -- which won't be released in the US -- plus new location trackers, a revamped smartwatch and a portable Bluetooth speaker with sound tuned by Bose Corp. A limited edition FIFA World Cup 2026 edition of the Razr flip-style foldable will be released in February with exclusive ring tones and wallpapers. That product will exclusively be sold direct from Motorola and Verizon Communications Inc. followed by wider retail availability in March.

CES 2026: Motorola unveils Razr Fold, a book-style foldable phone

Motorola is taking another swing at foldables. The company announced the Razr Fold at CES 2020's Lenovo Tech World, introducing its newest flagship and a more ambitious take on the Razr formula. Instead of leaning into nostalgia with the flip-style Razrs, the Razr Fold is marketed as a productivity device. Closed, it looks and feels like a standard smartphone thanks to a large 6.6-inch external display. Open it up, and it unfolds into an 8.1-inch 2K LTPO screen meant for multitasking. Motorola is also pushing its on-device AI harder here. Features like Catch Me Up and Next Move are designed to surface reminders, context, and suggested actions without requiring constant switching between apps. It's all part of Motorola Qira, the company's new unified AI platform which ties Motorola and Lenovo devices together under one assistant. Camera specs are predictably stacked: a triple 50MP rear setup, including a periscope telephoto, plus separate internal and external selfie cameras. There's Dolby Vision video, stabilization, and a Sony LYTIA sensor doing most of the heavy lifting. Motorola also confirmed stylus support, which makes the foldable pitch feel a little more serious. This wasn't the only Razr news. Motorola also showcased a FIFA World Cup 2026 Edition Razr, featuring custom branding and software enhancements. Pricing and availability haven't been detailed yet, but it's clear that Motorola wants the Razr to be not only cool, but useful as well.

CES 2026: Motorola is entering the wearable AI game

Chance Townsend is the General Assignments Editor at Mashable, covering tech, video games, dating apps, digital culture, and whatever else comes his way. He has a Master's in Journalism from the University of North Texas and is a proud orange cat father. His writing has also appeared in PC Mag and Mother Jones. For the past couple of years, tech companies have been pushing to make a wearable AI companion that actually breaks into the mainstream. Whether that company ends up being Motorola remains to be seen, but the smartphone maker is clearly angling for a shot. At CES 2026, Motorola debuted a new wearable AI proof of concept for guests and press during its Lenovo World Tour event. I had the chance to see the device in action a few days earlier at a private media preview, where company spokespeople were careful to stress that this is very much a proof-of-concept device. What they showed us works largely as you'd expect this category of hardware to function right now. Powered by Motorola's new AI assistant, Qira, the wearable can identify and explain objects in front of you, summarize information, and even navigate to events by launching apps on a paired phone. The device itself is small and minimalist, resembling a chunky pendant more than a traditional gadget. It's encased in a glossy, pearl-like shell with softly rounded edges and hangs from a thin necklace chain. A subtle Motorola logo sits near the center, while a small camera lens and sensor array are positioned at one end. Aside from a narrow speaker slit and tiny pinhole microphones, there are no visible buttons or displays. In practice, it teeters on the edge of being an agentic AI. Rather than just spitting out directions, the device actually opened Google Maps on the demo phone and entered the destination on its own. Some of the demos, however, felt redundant -- including one where a spokesperson held up an event flyer, and the device more or less repeated the text verbatim, with only minimal added context about the speakers. Still, Motorola may have an opening here. The bar for minimalist, wearable AI remains unsurprisingly low. Humane's AI Pin flamed out almost immediately, criticized for its limited usefulness and high price. The Friend necklace followed, drawing immediate backlash for allegedly borrowing its design from someone else. Motorola was clear that this wearable is still a long way from any commercial release.

CES 2026: Motorola Enters the Wearable AI Race With Project Maxwell

Motorola also unveiled its first book-style foldable, razr fold Motorola announced two major artificial intelligence (AI) projects at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2026 in Las Vegas. The company unveiled a unified AI platform, dubbed Qira, which works and retains context and memory across devices manufactured under Motorola and Lenovo brands. Additionally, a new proof of concept called Project Maxwell was also showcased by the company. Project Maxwell, a wearable device, is Motorola's foray into the AI-powered companion devices space. Apart from this, the Lenovo-owned company also introduced its first book-style foldable phone, razr fold. Motorola Makes Major AI Announcements at CES 2026 In a press release, Motorola detailed the Lenovo Tech World showcase and the AI-focused announcements. First is Qira, a unified AI platform that merges Lenovo and Motorola's existing AI work into a single cross-device solution. So far, both companies have relied on separate AI assistants -- Lenovo with AI Now and Motorola with moto AI. This created pocket spaces where a user could not carry the context, chats, or personalisation instructions over from a laptop to a smartphone. Qira solves this problem by becoming the sole AI platform between the two brands. Apart from bringing cross-device support, it also ensures that users will get a consistent experience across the Lenovo-Motorola ecosystem. The unified platform, Qira, showcased in different devices Photo Credit: Motorola The unified AI platform is said to leverage partnerships with major industry technologies, including Microsoft Copilot, Google, Qualcomm, Intel and Perplexity AI, bringing a mix of on-device and cloud-assisted capabilities together. The platform is designed to remember context, such as where a user left off on a task, anticipate user needs, and respond in more fluid ways than existing, siloed assistants. Motorola also showcased a prototype that marks its entry into the AI wearable space. Dubbed Project Maxwell: AI Perceptive Companion, which the tech giant described as a proof-of-concept wearable built to extend Qira's intelligence into everyday life without requiring a phone. The prototype device, developed by Motorola's 312 Labs team, is designed to be always accessible and context-aware, combining camera, microphone and sensor inputs to perceive what's happening around the user and provide real-time insights or suggestions. Project Maxwell's design integrates multimodal perception fusion, meaning it can simultaneously process and merge visual and audio data using the microphone and camera. Users can instruct it via natural language prompts, and with context-aware capabilities, it can not only respond to queries but also take action based on the instructions. It is not a production-ready product, and the company did not specify when it could be launched.