moto z hands on review

 Introduction

The Lenovo Tech World brought us the Moto Z and Moto Z Force not that long ago but the US launch of the devices was just made public with Verizon introducing the Droid Edition versions of the two flagships. Moto Z Force will be exclusive to the US so we couldn't wait to get our hands on one at the launch event.
Motorola and Verizon lead a successful Droid promo campaign in the early days of Android and deserves a lot of credit for the success of the nascent OS. The partnership is still strong and the US carrier occasionally gets an exclusive version.
For now at least, the Force version of the phone is available in the US only. The Moto Z Force Droid Edition brings a big battery, 3,500mAh while being only slightly thicker - at 7mm it's still impressively thin.
The 5.5" AMOLED screen with QHD resolution also has ShatterShield - two panes of glass make sure the screen doesn't crack when you drop the phone. The regular Moto Z Droid Edition settles for a single Gorilla Glass pane.
Those are the key differences between the two Moto Z Droid Edition phones, you can see why we're eager to get our hands on the Force version.

Moto Z Force Droid Edition at a glance

• Body: 7mm with snap on modules
• Screen: 5.5" AMOLED, 1,440 x 2,560px resolution (534ppi); ShatterShield
• Chipset: Snapdragon 820, quad-core CPU (2x Kryo at 2GHz + 2x Kryo at 1.6GHz), 4GB of RAM, Adreno 530 GPU
• Camera: 21MP sensor, optical image stabilization, f/1.8 lens, Laser AF, 2160p @ 30fps video
• Selfie cam: 5MP sensor, f/2.2 lens, 1080p video
• Battery: 3,500mAh
• Misc: Water repellent nano-coating

Moto Z Droid Edition at a glance

• Body: 5.2mm with snap on modules
• Screen: 5.5" AMOLED, 1,440 x 2,560px resolution (534ppi); Gorilla Glass
• Chipset: Snapdragon 820, quad-core CPU (2x Kryo at 2GHz + 2x Kryo at 1.6GHz), 4GB of RAM, Adreno 530 GPU
• Camera: 13MP sensor, optical image stabilization, f/1.8 lens, Laser AF, 2160p @ 30fps video
• Selfie cam: 5MP sensor, f/2.2 lens, 1080p video
• Battery: 2,600mAh
• Misc: Water repellent nano-coating

Moto Z Force Droid Edition hands-on

Don't let the thin profile fool you! The Moto Z Force Droid actually feels heftier than it looks thanks to the larger battery and improved camera hardware. The phone feels really solid and dense. As it should, the extra strong materials that make the phone shatter resistant surely play a role in the weight of the phone.

Rear of Moto Z Force Droid • Moto Z Force Droid (top), Moto Z Droid (bottom) • Profile view of both phones

One way to tell the Moto Z Force Droid from the Moto Z Droid (besides their thickness and weight) is by the frame. The Moto Z Force Droid has a pronounced bevel all the way around the frame of the phone. This bevel is not present on the Moto Z Droid.

3.5mm headphone adapter and Turbo Charger

Just like the Moto Z Droid, the Z Force does not have a 3.5mm headphone jack. This is likely to keep the device thin and reallocate as much space needed in order to support the Moto Mods as well as the large battery. The good news is the phone includes a USB-C to 3.5mm headphone jack adapter in the box, along with Motorola's Turbo Charger.

Chin • Display • Forehead

In front of the device, the first thing that one might notice is the front-facing LED flash which is used to light selfies taken with the front-facing 5MP camera. In the middle of these two is the ear-piece, which also doubles as the loudspeaker. Below that is the 5.5 inch QHD AMOLED screen.

Top • Bottom

The top of the phone houses the SIM and microSD card slot and something I've noticed when opening the slot is that this device is not water resistant, but splash resistant thanks to that nano-repellant coating. The Galaxy S7, by contrast, has a gasket around the SD card slot and even reminds you not to take the phone for a swim until you've sealed it back up again.
The bottom of the phone only has the one USB-C port.

Right • Left

The left side of the phone features nothing. Moving on to the right side we have three physical buttons - these are the only physical buttons on the device. The button layout is definitely a departure from the Moto X and the placement is much higher than you'd expect. No worries here though, as you can wake/sleep the phone just by scanning your fingerprint - the reader is always on.
Along with our review units, we were also given three Moto Mods to try out with the phone. The Tumi battery pack, JBL speaker, and the most interesting: Moto Insta-Share projector. Hit that next page to check those out!

 

Moto Mods hands-on

In case you don't know what Moto Mods are, these are modular phone accessories, which snap on magnetically on the phone's back. Motorola has also opened this modular connection with an SDK and developers and companies can build their own Moto Mods for the Moto Z and Z Force Droid! And, yes, the Moto Mods work interchangeably with either device.

Moto Mod SDK examples by function • That's a Moto 360 display! • An Arduino board implementation

We were given three Moto Mods to try out with the phones. The Tumi battery pack, JBL speaker, and the most interesting: Moto Insta-Share projector. Hit that next page to check those out!

Brushed black finish • Specs of the battery • Battery pack attached to Moto Z Force Droid

First up is the Tumi battery. It adds 2,200mAh to your phone by just snapping it on. That's quite convenient in a pinch! The rear of the add-on pack is a brushed black texture. Though it looks like metal, it's actually plastic. Like other Moto Mods, the phone can keep track of two battery sources: the internal battery, and the battery found in the Moto Mod, if any.

JBL Soundboost: front • rear

Next up is the JBL Soundboost speaker Moto Mod. It adds a booming speaker to your smartphone. By the way, it's pretty loud! The JBL Soundboost was shown to us at the Verizon event in two different colors. White and Black. The Moto Mod also has a kick-stand so you don't drown out your tunes.
Now we take a look at probably the coolest thing this phone can do. Thanks to this Moto Mod, you can finally turn your smartphone into a portable projector. This is the Moto Insta-Share Projector.

Insta-Share Projector: mounted • in action • rear view

This thing mirrors what your phone's display is currently seeing, so you won't be able to plug in your laptop via HDMI or anything. Still, anything you can playback on the phone can be viewed on the projector. You can also turn your phone's screen off while the projector is running, and the projector will keep the video going.
Like the JBL Soundboost speaker, the Insta-Share Projector has its own battery which will only run for about an hour before the phone's internal battery kicks in.

Conclusion

We are really excited for the Moto brand after taking another look at the Moto Z Droid and Z Force Droid. Many were worried about the direction Motorola would go now once Lenovo owns the company, but we think this will be a great year for the Moto brand.
We cannot wait to review these phones and show you what they can do! Stay tuned!

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