The first co-branded phone has hit the shelves nine years after Lenovo acquired the Motorola brand. Lenovo ThinkPhones by Motorola are available for $699 in the US. They offer a range of productivity features that work with ThinkPad Laptops. It’s not available in retail stores, but it is available to enterprise customers first. On April 28, it will be available via Motorola.com. This means that it is out of reach for many people. It’s a shame, because I think it’s a great phone.
The ThinkPhone is a flagship smartphone with many of the same features, but it’s only $799 cheaper. The ThinkPhone has a 6.6-inch OLED display with 144Hz refresh rates. The build quality is very sturdy, with an aluminum body, Gorilla Glass front panel and Lenovo’s signature textured fiber back panel.
I can personally confirm that it will survive a fall from your hand to the kitchen floor, which is not part of the MIL-STD-810H standard but a chief use case for clumsy people holding too many things. It will survive a drop from your hand onto the kitchen floor. This is not part of the MIL STD 810H standard, but is the main use case for someone who is clumsy and holds too many items. You can use the red key as a shortcut to open certain apps, and even specific features of the app. For example, the DoorDash website for a restaurant that you frequent. That’s how I do things.
The ThinkPad-like design and feel is complemented by a red button on the side, a tribute to Lenovo’s iconic keyboard nub. You can customize the key to some extent: A double-press will activate one of the ThinkPad integration features on your phone, while a simple press will launch an app shortcut.
You can even launch specific features from some apps. For example, mapping the app to the Starbucks “Pay” screen could save you from embarrassing mishaps at the register. Not that I would know about it. This is a great feature, and I wish more phones had it.
The ThinkPhone is still being put through its paces but so far I am impressed. It’s the high-end smartphone I’ve been waiting for Motorola to release in the last couple of years. A phone with a great build quality and Moto’s Android experience. It’s just a matter of being in the right industry to find it.
