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Introduction
Seeing a new face in the market is always refreshing. Or, in this particular case, a few very old familiar ones branching out into the smartphone realm. The legendary ThinkPad laptop brand traces its roots back to IBM and the 1990s. It was later acquired as part of IBM’s personal computer business by Lenovo in 2005. The other big name involved in the creation of the ThinkPhone is Motorola Mobility – another legendary company that changed hands to Google ownership in 2011 and then joined Lenovo’s ranks in 2014. This is of course an oversimplification of the timeline and depth of the various acquisition events, but the Motorola ThinkPhone is certainly one of the end products in this story.
So what we have in our hands here is a unique, up to this point, product introduced by Lenovo and imbued with the traditional ThinkPad aesthetics and some features and created by Motorola for the actual phone guts and Android OS.
Motorola ThinkPhone specs at a glance:
- Body: 158.8×74.4×8.3mm, 189g; Glass front (Gorilla Glass Victus), aramid fiber back, aluminum frame; IP68 dust/water resistant (up to 1.5m 30min), drop resistance to concrete from up to 1.3m, MIL-STD-810H compliant.
- Screen: 6.60″ P-OLED, 1B colors, 144Hz, HDR10+, 1080x2400px resolution, 20:9 aspect ratio, 399ppi.
- Chipset: Qualcomm SM8475 Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 (4 nm): Octa-core (1×3.19 GHz Cortex-X2 & 3×2.75 GHz Cortex-A710 & 4×1.80 GHz Cortex-A510); Adreno 730.
- Memory: 128GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 12GB RAM, 512GB 12GB RAM; UFS 3.1.
- OS/Software: Android 13.
- Rear camera: wide (main): 50 MP, f/1.8, 1/1.5″, 1.0 µm, multi-directional PDAF, OIS; Ultra wide angle: 13 MP, f/2.2, 120 degrees, 1.12 µm, AF; Depth: 2MP, f/2.4.
- Front camera: wide (main): 32 MP, f/2.5, 0.7 µm – ROW model; wide (main): 16 MP, f/2.0, 1.0µm – PRC model.
- Video recording: Rear camera: [email protected], [email protected]/60fps, [email protected] HDR10, [email protected]/60/120/240/960fps, gyro-EIS; Front camera: [email protected], [email protected]/60fps.
- Battery: 5000mAh; 68W wired, 15W wireless.
- Miscellaneous: Fingerprint reader (under display, optical); NFC; stereo speakers.
Neither company pulled any punches here. The design of the ThinkPhone is very similar to the iconic ThinkPad look. The materials, surfaces and colors, even the slightly boxier design of the middle frame are all noticeable nods to the design. Additionally, the durability aspect that ThinkPads are known for is carried over to the ThinkPhone with a MIL-STD-810H and IP68 ingress protection rating and Gorilla Glass Victus.
As for Motorola’s part, the ThinkPhone is flagship hardware like a 6.6-inch, 144Hz, 10-bit, HDR10+, P-OLED display, stereo speakers, a large 5,000mAh battery with 68W wired and 15W wireless charging. It’s clear that the ThinkPhone has been in development for some time, as evidenced by its slightly older but still very powerful Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset. Its camera setup leaves a bit to be desired, like a dedicated telephoto. Still, it looks pretty potent on paper with a 50MP main snapper and a 13MP ultrawide.
Before we dive deeper into the Motorola ThinkPhone, let’s take a look at its retail box.
Unboxing
The ThinkPhone comes in a box made entirely of recyclable cardboard. It also looks the part where Motorola chooses a natural brownish color and soy ink. However, the two-part case itself is still very robust. The phone itself has a small cardboard holder, and so does the charger. There are plenty of safeguards to survive shipping, all while being ecological.
Our review unit came with what we consider decent accessories set by modern standards. Namely – a 68W PD “TurboPower” charger and a USB Type-C to Type-C cable are included in the box. According to the press material, certain markets will also get a USB Type-C headset, a protective case and a protective film for the screen in the box or a subset of these. You should contact your local dealer for more information.
