moto z review
There have been radical changes to the branding and model, but the character remains the same. The hugely popular Moto X series is now known as Moto Z. Along with identity, work has also completely changed. Because it supports different types of mods. LG made a similar attempt with the G5 flagship. However, LG G5 could not become popular. We hope that Lenovo and Motorola together have tried something new.
Moto Z look and design
The new Moto Z is made of metal and glass. Its price can be justified only through these hardware specifications. However, there is nothing memorable about its looks when compared to the Samsung Galaxy S7 (Review) and the new iPhones.
The Moto Z is longer than it needs to be. For this reason, a lot of space is left at the bottom of the screen. You’ll find a square fingerprint sensor with the Moto logo on it. The sensor looks like a home button, which it actually is not. You get standard onscreen Android controls for navigation. The sensor works to lock or unlock the screen. During our time with the Moto Z, we repeatedly touched this sensor as if it were the home button. Due to this process, sometimes the phone also got locked.
The edges of the phone are of metal frame. The left side is completely blank. There is a hybrid SIM tray on the top. There is a USB Type-C port at the bottom and there is no 3.5mm audio socket. The power and volume buttons are on the right side and they are very small.
The most interesting part of the Moto Z is the rear panel. All the modular mods here are amazing. The phone is very thin. However, there is a bulge in the area where the camera lens and dual LED flash are located. At the bottom you’ll see a wide metallic contact point. This is a space made for MotoMods which stick to the back of the phone using a magnet. You can stick to the style shell when you’re not using the mod. You can use the phone without mods or shells if you want, but you’ll have to be prepared to put up with sharp edges. The review unit we received comes with a wood-grey style shell. You can change the color and texture of Moto Z as per your convenience. This shell made it more convenient to grip the phone. Due to this, we have no complaints about the increase in width.
The mods and Style Shell attach seamlessly to the back of the Moto Z using magnetic force. And due to the bulge of the camera, they remain in place. We found that the magnetic lock was not completely reliable.
There has been no claim about the Moto Z being water and dust proof, which is expected from a phone in this price range. However, it is written on Motorola’s website that the phone has nano coating which will protect the phone from splashes of water or any other liquid substance.
Moto Z specifications and software
The specifications of the Moto Z are great, but not enough to make a huge difference to the affordable OnePlus 3 and Asus ZenFone 3. You get a 1.8 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor, Adreno 530 GPU, 4 GB RAM, and 64 GB storage. There is also support for microSD cards up to 2 TB. However, due to the hybrid SIM design, you will not be able to add another SIM if you use microSD.
It has a 5.5-inch display with 1440×2560 pixel resolution. Its pixel density is 535 ppi. The battery is 2600 mAh. Motorola promises up to 7 hours of power in just 15 minutes of charging.
The sensor of the rear camera is 13 megapixels. It is equipped with laser autofocus, F/1.8 aperture and the most interesting feature is optical image stabilization. The front camera sensor is 5 megapixels, but it comes with a wide angle lens. There is also a flash with it and with the help of the larger sensor, the performance in low light is expected to be better. This phone runs on Android 6.0.1 in which not much customization has been done.
We feel that the Moto Z’s fingerprint sensor should have been used for more purposes. There is no sensor button, it starts working just by touching it. You can activate the phone from standby and can also activate it with fingerprint in a jiffy. But, if you accidentally touch the sensor while the phone is active, it immediately locks it.
The biggest change in terms of software in Moto Z is in the Active Display feature. We have already seen its glimpse in old Moto phones.
Some voice and gesture controls are also present in it. You can also launch the camera app directly from standby mode by simply rotating your wrist twice. We found it very useful.
Motorola has given its only app Moto in this phone. It has all the controls for active display, gesture and voice assistant. There is also an icon named Moto Mods but it is a link to a web page.
moto z performance
Unlike other big-screen phones, the Moto Z isn’t as easy to use. Grip and comfort have been taken care of, especially when attaching the style shell. When using the camera or playing 3D games, the lower part of the front and rear panel of the phone becomes a little hot.
Videos of all formats play smoothly on the phone. The screen is bright and vibrant. There is no problem in reading even in bright sunlight. The single built-in speaker is fine for playing games and watching videos, but it’s not much fun listening to songs. The sound of the headset given in the box is fine, but due to it being made of hard plastic, it is awkward to use.
Talking about general performance, the Moto Z never slowed down. Despite many big apps running in the background and many browser tabs open, its speed did not slow down.
This time Motorola has changed the default camera app. The app provided in Moto Z is easy to use. It has a Pro mode in which it is possible to control focus, white balance, ISO, shutter speed and exposure. Video and slow motion have their own modes. The app can detect bar codes, QR codes and business cards.
We liked the photo quality very much. In photographs taken in daylight, we found that all the details of the object were captured well. Some textures were missing and autofocus also faced occasional issues. But, overall it can be said that the camera of Moto Z justifies its price.
(Click to see camera sample of Moto Z)
The pictures taken at night also turned out good. There was a little noise and motion blur, but we got a lot of useful photos. The front camera is also quite capable. But we felt that the flash was more powerful for objects only at arm’s length.
(Click to see camera sample of Moto Z)
Battery life disappointed us. This is less than Motorola’s claims of 12 hours. Our video loop tests repeatedly delivered disappointing results. Finally we requested the company to send another review unit. The battery of the new unit lasted for 13 hours and 4 minutes in the loop test. Hopefully the poor battery performance is limited to just one unit. In normal use the phone’s battery easily lasted for a day. The charging process happened very fast. The battery was charged up to 20 percent in just 15 minutes and up to 45 percent in 30 minutes.
our decision
Motorola has made its most solid effort yet in the field of modular smartphones. Even if we forget the mods for a moment, the new Moto Z is a powerful and stylish handset. Most things are good about it and it does the job well. This phone is for those who want style and power. Its important feature is the ability to use Moto Mods.
However, it also has some shortcomings, such as a very awkward fingerprint sensor and it gets very hot. It is also more expensive than OnePlus 3 and Zenfone 3. If you don’t like any mods then you may not want to spend that much money for this phone. Instead, you can consider the Samsung Galaxy S7.
