Modular phones sound like a great concept; instead of getting a brand new phone, why don’t you just upgrade parts of your existing smartphone? Speakers aren’t loud enough yet to pass off as an amplifier? Get a modular speaker add-on. Instagram pictures still aren’t aesthetic enough? Slot on a new lens (which still doesn’t guarantee you’ll be taking good pictures). Unfortunately, until recently modular phones were a great concept flawed in execution. One just has to look at the LG G5. However, I did say until recently, and that’s because the Moto Z has set the new standard when it comes to modular smartphones.
I use an LG G5 as my primary smartphone device and calling it a modular smartphone would be quite generous when compared to the Moto Z. Not only is swapping modules easy, there’s actually a noticeable difference; they aren’t just expensive looking gimmicks.
A half-finished design
The Moto Z (also known as the Moto Z Droid if your purchase one from Verizon in the US) is a thin phone; it’s only 5.2 mm thick, putting it in the category of smartphones that are “barely there”. Furthermore, the stainless steel frame weighs surprisingly little: 136 grams. Being 153.3 x 75.3 mm also puts it in that category of smartphones that fit snugly in your hand, without being too small if you want to use both your hands to clutch it and tap away with your thumbs.
Without its mods and just by itself, the Moto Z is both elegant, and at the same time quite bare. It has all the virtues of a chic smartphone, at least when viewed from the front. Bezels are a foreign concept to the wafer-thin Moto Z, with its hard edges cutting into your hand when gripping it too tightly. The volume rocker and power button are 3 buttons of similar size and shape and are located equidistant from each other on the right side of the smartphone. Sure, Lenovo may have given the power button a rough texture, but you’re guaranteed to be accidentally switching the smartphone off when trying to lower the volume, or you’ll be cranking the volume up when trying to turn off your phone in an important business meeting.
Up to two nano-SIMs can be slotted into the phone from the conveniently placed sim card slot at the top. Or you can forego one SIM for an external micro-SD card, which I would recommend for anyone going for the 32GB version of this smartphone (or any smartphone for that matter!).The bottom of the front face of the smartphone houses the square fingerprint sensor, which may take some getting used to; I keep forgetting that it’s not the home button. Instead, the navigational buttons are placed just above it and the “moto” logo, on the display.
Meanwhile, near the top of the smartphone, just above the display, sits the front facing camera and flash! Yes, no more will you have to awkwardly find a streetlight to take a Snapchat selfie on those dimly lit nights. Going back towards the bottom of the smartphone, below the fingerprint sensor resides the USB-C port. Yes, the next generation of USB ports and fast charging capabilities is making its rounds and its addition to the Moto Z is invaluable, especially when it comes to charging certain mods.
The back of the Moto Z is where the design process seems to have gone out the window. The camera bump is noticeable, especially when compared to the relatively thin body and the magnetic pins glare out brazenly when compared to the mute colour of the smartphone. Thankfully, Lenovo does supply a backplate that removes the camera bump, covers the magnetic pins and, furthermore, adds a slight gradient to the hard edges of the phone removing those rough edges.
There’s one thing missing. The 3.5 mm headphone jack. Yes, this smartphone beat the iPhone 7 when it came to being headphone jack-less. However, much like the iPhone7, it does provide an adaptor, in this case, it’s a USB-C to 3.55mm adapter. I don’t mind the lack of the 3.5 mm jack, it’s a necessary step if you want to get your phone to 5.2 mm in so-called “thickness”.
Rich Display
The Moto Z sports a 5.5-inch AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, with a resolution of 1440 x 2560 pixels. That rounds up to a pixel density of 535 ppi. The Quad HD display has a sheet of Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protecting it, giving it quite a decent amount of protection, even when dropping it a metre or so. The AMOLED display gives users deep blacks and vibrant colours, just what you want with a smartphone display. Viewing angles are surprisingly decent when taking factoring in the Gorilla Glass 5 and the brightness is spot on, however, you’ll have to enable adaptive brightness in the settings to bootstrap the brightness to 506 nitts. There’s also a colour mode available, letting you switch between standard colours, which are more realistic, and vibrant colours, which have richer saturation.
However, this isn’t just a pretty display, it actually has a bit more functionality behind it; the Moto Active Display. Two IR sensors and a transmitter let you light up the display at night by just waving your hand over the screen, giving you a brief look at the time.
A decent camera
Here’s the buzz kill of the Moto Z. The camera is decent at best and certainly not something to look out for. Do not take this smartphone with you to places that are dimly lit.
The Moto Z has a 13 MP, f/1.8 rear-facing shooter, with laser autofocus, OIS and dual-LED (dual tone) flash. The basic photo mode of the smartphone does a good job when it comes to taking pictures in brightly lit situations, however, the white balance does often act up, giving my white walls a yellow tinge. Detail is another thing you may have to forego depending on the lighting. Even with the optical image stabilisation and zero shutter lag, you do get a smidgen of blur with the slightest of movements in low light situations.
“Light is the greatest ally of the Moto Z’s camera. As soon as the sun starts to set, slip it back into your pocket.”
Thankfully, there is also a professional mode available on the Moto Z. Activating it via the bottom right menu lets you mess around with the ISO, white balance, focus, shutter speed and exposure value. It’s a slight improvement, letting you correct the white balance, but you’ll still be lacking in detail in some scenarios.
Video can be shot at a stunning 4K UHD at 30fps and 1080p at 60fps or 30fps. There’s a slow motion mode which lets the rear camera record at 120fps, albeit at a lower resolution of 720p.
But how does the Moto Z compare when equipped with the Hasselblad True Zoom Moto Mod? The answer is a bit more detail when zooming in, but otherwise not much of an upgrade. As any photographer will tell you, tracking an object when you’re zoomed all the way in requires precise control and that should be enough to tell you who the Hasselblad True Zoom is designed for; consumers who snap a lot of photos. For the average consumer, it’s nothing but a gimmick. However, while this may be the primary camera mod add-on for the Moto Z, you’ll still be out of luck when if you thinks this enhances photo quality. It doesn’t, it just lets you zoom further out whilst retaining the quality of the zoomed out image.
Even then there are some concessions; you’re reduced to 12-megapixel photos and the video quality is also downgraded to a max of 1080p at 30fps. Both downgrades are due to the smaller sensor the mod utilises. Unless you’re willing to blow an extra $299 for it, I would advise against it.
Software; a worthy Nexus imitation
The Moto Z runs a mostly stock version of Android Marshmallow 6.0.1, I say mostly because there are some added bits to the software, including some Motorola settings and the Moto Mods app. You do get the usual suspects when it comes to Google Apps and for the most part, using the Moto Z is akin to using a Nexus device, and boy does that feel great.
Beastly performance undercut by a weak battery
The Moto Z is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 820 processor which is backed up by a whopping 4GB of RAM. The result? A smooth, jitter-free and tranquil experience when it comes to using the smartphone. Not once did I notice even the slightest hint of stuttering as I switched between multiple apps, with each starting smoothly and quickly. Even the camera boots seamlessly, both by tapping the camera icon and flipping the phone twice.
The reason for the smooth experience can be nailed down to the aforementioned sleek software. Take a note smartphone developers: bloatware can kill your performance. However, The Moto Z does not feature multi-tasking, something it will surely get when the Android 7 update makes its way to the smartphone.
Battery wise, the Moto Z falls short. When you have such a slim form factor, sacrifices have to be made, and the battery was another feature to take the axe. In this day and age, a 2.600 mAh battery simply isn’t enough to power you through your whole day. When you compare that number to the specifications of the display and one of the best mobile CPUs on the market, you know it’s not going to be enough. And it isn’t. However, Lenovo does supply a Turbo Charger in the box, which is capable of swiftly charging your Moto Z up from a flat battery to 50% in about half an hour. As normal, once it reaches a higher percentage it slows down a bit, meaning you can charge it from flat to 100% in just over an hour. On a full charge, I found I could get through most of the day on medium to heavy usage before needing to charge the device. However, some of the Moto Mods add an extra hour of charge and there is also a separate external battery mod if you feel that your phone doesn’t cut it endurance wise.
When it comes to benchmarks the Moto Z scored 2,108 on 3DMark, placing it just below the Samsung Galaxy S7.
The other Moto Mods
I’ve only touched upon one Moto Mod, the Hasselblad True Zoom, but it’s not the only add-on Lenovo have given us with the Moto Z. My tenure with Moto Z saw me snapping on and off so many different Mods with ease and giddiness, it evoked a childish sort of amusement from me.
Hands down, one of the best mods for the Moto Z is the JBL SoundBoost speaker module. The Moto Z has quite good speakers by itself, nothing mesmerising, but quite impressive for the form factor. However, they barely compare to the SoundBoost module. The speaker, which while still far from some of the best portable Bluetooth speakers on the market, is more than enough to get the party started in any environment. Furthermore, the speaker module augments your phone’s battery by up to 10 hours, at the cost of increasing the thickness of the phone a wide margin. For $79, it’s worth it.
Another fantastic mod is the Moto Insta-share projector, which whilst being quite an unconventional mod, soon delivers its punch. Setting it up instantly turns any flat surface into a TV screen of surprising quality. I say surprising because I managed to watch quite a few YouTube videos on a bit of wall several feet across and still managed to pick out fine details. The best part is the flexibility of the projector; you can use dials to sharpen the image depending on how far away the surface you’re projecting on is, letting you cover an area the size of your phone or the side of your house. Obviously, conditions do need to be great for better quality; the room you’re in will have to be fairly dark. It’s a great way of showing people something instead of having to pass your phone around. However, it does come at the steep price of $299.
Verdict
The Moto Z looks to be the current leader when it comes to modular smartphones and as far as news goes, no other company is close to toppling it. The base phone itself is remarkable when it comes to performance and its display, though it does fall short in terms of design and its camera.
The Moto Mods themselves are fun add-ons, letting you accessorise your phone to your heart’s content, swapping modules depending on your schedule for the day. For $700, the (base) phone is great.
