Nine years after acquiring Motorola from Google, Lenovo is finally leveraging the brand to produce a flagship smartphone called the ThinkPhone that is aimed at the enterprise segment. Powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset, the ThinkPhone sports a number of security and software integrations that Lenovo hopes will make it the best possible companion device for users of its ThinkPad laptop range.
Updated April 27: After revealing the business-oriented smartphone during CES 2023, Lenovo's ThinkPhone by Motorola is now on sale in the US. Initially available only via B2B channels, consumers will be able to order the ThinkPhone from April 28 directly from the Motorola and Lenovo online stores.
How Much?
The pricing for the ThinkPhone is actually pretty decent considering its hardware, coming in at $699 for an unlocked unit in the US. We'll update the article with links to Lenovo and Motorola's web stores once the links go live.
Featuring an aluminum frame and a display protected by Corning's Gorilla Glass Victus, the ThinkPhone has a hardy construction which also includes an Aramid fiber rear panel. On top of this, there is also IP68 certification against water and dust ingress as well as MIL-STD-810H rating. On the side of the phone is something called the Red Key which can be programmed to quick-launch apps or shortcuts via single and double-tap gestures.
The 6.6-inch pOLED display has a 144Hz refresh rate and FHD+ resolution (2400 x 1080). That Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset is accompanied by up to 12GB of RAM and up to 512GB of non-expandable storage.
The rear cameras consist of a 50MP main sensor with OIS along with a 13MP ultra-wide angle lens which also takes care of macro photography. A 32MP front-facing camera resides in a center punch-hole on the display. There are dual speakers which support Dolby Atmos and the 5,000mAh battery supports both 68W TurboPower charging and 15W TurboPower wireless charging.
In terms of hardware, the ThinkPhone is certainly no slouch, and it's backed up by software and security features, along with running Android 13 out of the box and the promise of three years of OS updates and four years of security updates. This is far more than most other Motorola phones get.
The ThinkPhone makes use of Think 2 Think which is a set of productivity experiences that allows users to enjoy a seamless device integration between the phone and ThinkPad laptops. Think 2 Think includes the following experiences:
- Instant Connect: Phone and PC seamlessly discover when nearby and connect over WiFi.
- Unified Clipboard: Seamlessly transfer copied text or recent photos, scanned documents, and videos between devices by pasting them into any app on the destination device.
- Unified Notifications: Phone notifications instantly appear on the Windows Action Center. Clicking a notification auto-launches the corresponding phone app on the PC’s screen.
- File Drop: Easily drag and drop files between ThinkPhone and PC.
- App Streaming: Open any Android application directly on a PC.
- Advanced Webcam: Take advantage of the powerful ThinkPhone cameras and AI capabilities, seamlessly using it as your webcam for all your video calls.
- Instant Hotspot: Connect to the internet through one click, directly from the PC to leverage the ThinkPhone’s 5G connectivity.
In terms of security, the ThinkPhone features Moto Threat Defense and companies can manage multiple units via device management solutions such as Moto OEMConfig and Moto Device Manager. Moto Secure is also present, allowing IT admins to remotely configure ThinkPhone settings such as lock screen logins, network alerts, and even pin layout scrambling. And if this isn't enough, Moto KeySafe is a separate processor that is embedded in the phone that isolates PINs, passwords, and cryptographic keys.
For the moment, Lenovo is keeping pricing details for the ThinkPhone to itself but the handset is scheduled to launch in the US, Europe, Latin America, and other regions in the coming months. The ThinkPhone is targeted toward the enterprise market, which is a shame because it could be a phone that consumers would consider buying, especially if the price is right.
The lack of keyboard case/dock, headphone jack and an “S-Pen’ styled accessory is also a big turn off me me as a power user as I often use/need them for my job. The lack of expandable memory is also a deal-breaker.
Basically, this device is DOA.
No expandable storage? I’d run out just loading up a fraction of my music files! Then there’s the tons of photos and videos I shoot & it wouldn’t be long before I’d have to get rid of it and get something that does have expandable storage!