With a totally innovative design, this analysis of the Moto Z brings us a high-end modular smartphone that seeks to set the trend in smartphones, offering different solutions that enhance the characteristics of the Moto Z. We will see if it manages to sneak between the best smartphones on the market
Moto Z and motomods
At the moment it seems that the space for innovation in today’s smartphones is quite limited by its own evolution. By looking for the most out of the front and making the phone as thin as possible, there is little room to achieve a truly differential design.
Fortunately this analysis of the Moto Z shows us that there is still room to do different things with current technology. In this sense, this differential line that Motorola has always followed we continue to see it in the Moto range, with perfectly identifiable terminals, with a very careful ergonomics, and a design that left no room for doubt as to what we had in hand.
But the most prominent feature of the Moto Z is its modular design. Okay, this is nothing new, since LG was the first to introduce it with the G5, maybe it wasn’t the best way to deal with it, as it had drawbacks like having to turn it off every time we want to change the module. The Moto Z and Motomods have taken another completely independent path, with a docking in the back where these accessories are directly connected, without the need to restart it.
It is difficult to know how these motomods will work on the market, but they provide a different idea that is to be appreciated, and their success will be contingent on how well they work and their value for money.
Here we along with the Moto Z, we will also perform the analysis of the Hasselblad True Zoom, possibly the most attractive Motomod, which has a new camera that has an optical zoom of 10 magnifications. Let’s try both cameras of the Moto Z and tell you if it really is worth this Motomod.
Design
The previous Moto X family followed a design heritage that we already saw in the Moto G, with ergonomic lines, and a lot of curvature in the edges. Here they change from the third, and although the front silhouette does not change too much of what we saw in the Moto X Style, the smartphone that this Z bike replaces, if it changes radically in the rest.
And since we’re talking about design, the first thing we’re going to mention is something that’s surprising and visible: it’s the finest smarphone inside high-end smartphones in 2016. It has a thickness of only 5.2 mm, much smaller than we can find on an iPhone 7 Plus or a Galaxy S7 Edge, both with a thickness above 7 mm.
There is no doubt that being so thin gives it a spectacular image, although this slenderness does not occur in the entire phone, since the camera excels in a remarkable way, although even this does not affect the total thickness in excess, since even with the back cover, it amounts to 7.26 mm. This extreme thinness is also accompanied by a weight of 136 grams, making it also the lightest 5.5″ smartphone.
These back covers are available at the moment in 3 different textures, where we have different wood finishes, one in leather, and another two in synthetic nylon, which is the one we have in our Moto Z test, although surely many more options of colors and finishes will come.
Apart from the thickness, it is a phone of considerable dimensions given the 5.5″ screen that has, with 153.3 mm height by 75.3 mm wide. At the top of the front we can find the main speaker along with the front camera and an LED flash that will be very useful with night selfies.
Below we find the fingerprint sensor which is just that, since it is not a button, and does not allow its use as a home button. It is a pity that despite the generous space that we have in this area, it has not been used to include the three Android buttons off the screen, allowing us a better use of this one.
The finishes are outstanding, as it should be on a smartphone of this category, with nothing to envy to Samsung or Apple references. On the side we have a metal frame, where the only connection it has is the USB Type-C located at the bottom. Like the new iPhone, it loses the audio jack, although in this case it is more justified, since it was physically impossible to include because of the thickness of the Moto Z. To compensate, a USB C-to-jack adapter is included.
On the right side we have the 3 buttons to raise and lower the volume next to the power button. All three are the same size, so there will be times when it’s confusing to operate them, even though the ignition one has a different texture. At the top we find the tray for the nano SIM card and the micro SD card up to 2 TB. The only thing we miss is IP 67 protection in front of the water, something that its rivals do have.
Let’s not forget to talk about the back of the Moto Z, made of glass with 3 distinct zones where we have smooth black glass at the ends, while in the center we have a horizontal stripe finish and the Moto logo in the center, just below the main camera. We can also see the connection for the motomods at the bottom, which are anchored quite easily thanks to the built-in magnet.
This magnet will also make your life easier when using it in the car, as there are car mounts located on the dashboard or with the ventilation grille, which also use a magnet, and in this way placing the Moto Z is very comfortable. These little details are to be appreciated in everyday life.
Screen
A high-end smartphone must be required to have an outstanding display. And after the test of the Moto Z we can say that this premise is met, and it significantly surpasses what has been seen with the Moto X Force.
Here we continue to have an AMOLED panel, whose main advantage is the color depth and the ability to offer much purer blacks than we can find on any IPS panel like the one that the iPhone 7 carries to put an example. Although this does not mean that the screen of the last iPhone is worse than that of the Moto Z, since there are other factors that influence.
What is also exceptional is the resolution of the screen, which reaches 2560 by 1440 pixels, so that with a size of 5.5 inches we get a density of 535 pixels per inch, high enough that it is practically impossible to appreciate a single pixel in it. Added to this is Corning Gorilla Glass protection.
So far there are no major advances, since except for a slight increase in size, the features are practically the same as those we saw in the previous version. The real breakthrough on the Moto Z screen is that we now have a much brighter panel, so that even with 50% brightness we manage to have better visibility than many phones 100%.
If we climb it to the fullest is when we see that we are really looking at a high-end phone, although in this case it is still slightly behind the phones with the best screen on the market, like the Samsung Galaxy S7.
Software
There has been a close relationship between Google and Motorola since the latter was acquired by the former. Since then these smartphones, now like the Moto line within Lenovo, remain among the first to receive the latest updates from the popular mobile operating system.
In addition, we have a version 6.0.1 Marshmallow totally stock, identical to the one we saw on Google Nexus (here we no longer talk about Google Pixel, since these come as standard with Android Nougat 7.0).