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- Motorola just released their latest flagship phone
the Moto Z2 Force, the two in there means that it's the 2nd
iteration of the Moto Z Force, and the force in there
means that it has a shatterproof screen.
Now the big draw to any of the Z line of Motorola phones
is the fact that they're compatible with Moto mods.
Moto mods are essentially these add-ons that Motorola
has been partnering with other manufacturers like
Hasselblad, JBL, etc. that can then attach to the back
of the device to further it's functionality.
Now it's because of these mods and Motorola famously stating
that all of their foreseeable future devices will support
all of the mod lineup going forward, that you might notice
that the new Z2 Force looks a lot like the Z Force and
the Z Play and the Z2 Play, etc.
We have our flat back, since the mods need to be swapable,
they have to all have the same flat design that is covered
in this brushed metal, that I kind of like.
Along with our camera bump, which all of the mods have
a hole for, and the same pin connectors at the bottom for
all of the mods to connect to.
Now all this flatter design does kind of feel maybe a
little outdated in a world of G6's and S8's and 1+'s that
are all just curved and other things,
I actually don't mind it,
I kind of like the flatter designs and even the sharp edges.
There's something about it that I just kind of like,
and the fact that it is different is kind of nice too.
Uh, but that just might be me.
Flipping the phone over,
we have that 5.5 inch PO LED
2.5k display that is really nice.
Colors pop, it's super sharp, and if it weren't for the new
aspect ratios and new-found race to remove bezles,
it's a pretty good screen.
And of course, since it does have that Force name in it,
it means that it is pretty shatterproof.
And when it does get scratched up, you can actually
easily replace it with another what they call Moto lens
which costs about $30 on Motorola's website.
Under that screen, we have the fingerprint sensor,
which works well, but instead of it being a home button
with two navigation buttons on either side like most
Andriod devices that have a fingerprint reader home button,
Motorola left the two nav buttons off and instead put all
the buttons on the screen.
Have you ever seen my other Android phone reviews, you'll
know that I am a big fan of the on-screen navigation,
I just think that it's a smarter way to do navigation
in the OS, they can move out of the way whenever they're
not necessary, they can change depending on the screen
you're looking at, they also allow for the bottom bezel
of the phone to be a lot smaller, etc.
The issue here, though, with that choice is that most
Android phone manufacturers then move the fingerprint
sensor to the back of the device so that they can
actually make those front bezels smaller.
Motorola has the Moto mods that go on the back of phones,
so obviously they couldn't do that.
So, instead we're left with a fingerprint scanner on the
bottom of the phone with two kind of useless bezels
on either side and on-screen navigation as well.
Motorola does, however, give you an option to turn that
fingerprint sensor into kind of the home button and then
also swipe right and left to get those navigation buttons
that are missing.
But, if we're honest, it just doesn't feel natural,
and it's kind of hard to do.
The device isn't any IP rated type of certification for
waterproofing, unlike most of the smartphones that have
been coming out.
But, Motorola does say that they did put some type of
waterproof/water-resistant coating on it, so it will
survive a lot of splashes and other things like that.
Just don't, you know, try and drop it in the toilet.
Next, we have the audio, which considering I'm not a
big audio file, I just kind of appreciate when a phone
can get loud enough without distorting the sound.
The only real test I do for this is I check to see if I can
hear a song with the phone on the bathroom counter
while I'm in the shower.
(singing) Despacito, something, something,
something, something, wish I had the burrito
something, something, something, something, burrito
- Which the Moto Z Force did just fine.
The bigger thing audio-wise that I think most people
will focus on about this device, however, is the lack
of a headphone jack.
There is simply a USB C port and, while my review unit
didn't come with it, Motorola says there will be a USB C to
headphone jack included with the device at retail.
The camera is sharp and the color science is pretty good,
albeit a little more saturated than I'm used to.
But, it still looks good.
And it has and F 2.0 aperture as well.
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A unique camera thing about this phone, though, is the
front five megapixel F 2.2 aperture camera, also has
a front-facing flash next to it, which I feel makes a big
difference for selfie-takers in low light.
Stay tuned for the video comparison, though, that you
guys asked for here on Youtube to see how the camera kind
of stacks up side-by-side with the other
flagships that are out.
One of the things that Motorola usually gets pretty right
on their phones, is the software.
The Z2 Force is no different, in that it is a very close to
stock Android experience, making for a much smoother
overall performance than some other manufacturers that throw
a ton of UI changes on top of Android which
ultimately slow them down.
Motorola even goes so far as to put the changes they want
to add to Android in their own self-contained app
simply called Moto.
This makes it a lot easier for them to handle upgrades to
the OS, and frankly adds some simple yet useful features,
like my most used one which is
twisting the phone to open the camera.
The device has a Snapdragon 835 processor and four gigs
of RAM and that paired with the almost-stock Android
means that it flies pretty much through anything.
Now since we all like benchmarks though, here's Geekbench
and 3Dmark for you to compare two other devices
if you feel like it.
Battery life on the phone, with it's
decently smaller 2730 mAh battery vs. its predecessor's
3500 mAh battery isn't actually that bad.
The original Z Force had crazy battery life, but I
still have to say that, thanks mostly to the Snapdragon
835 as well as a very stock Android and Motorola's
optimizations, it does kind of feel similar to me
at least in normal day-to-day use, as like an S8's
battery life which has a bigger battery.
And that bring us to what I think is the real reason
that would make you want this phone over any of the others.
The Moto Mods.
They have ones from camera attachments from Hasselblad,
speakers from JBL, battery packs, wireless charging mods,
a 360 degree camera, a projector, etc.
The thing is, each of these, though, cost between $80
say for the speaker, to $300 for say the camera mod,
the projector, the 360 camera, etc.
So, they're definitely not cheap.
Which brings us to the cost of the phone itself,
which is about $720 on Motorola's website.
And will be available on all US carriers, instead of the
previous models which were exclusive, starting August 10th.
Now for a limited time, that gives you a rebate for the
projector for free, which is about $300 normally,
which is nice, but when you start to do the math
on the phone and the mods, you start to see how pricey
this system can become and why Motorola's promise of
continuing the Mod support is so very important as well.
Now, I'm a little conflicted about this phone.
It has really snappy performance, it has a decent battery,
a decent camera, it has a lot of good things going for it.
But the truth of the matter is the only reason you would
want to buy this phone is if you wanted to invest
in those Moto Mods.
And so the Moto Mods in a way are kind of the best and
the worst thing about this phone.
I feel bad for the engineers of the Z line of Motorola
phones in a way, so much of the innovation that they could
be doing is being hindered by the fact that they have to
work within the very specific constraints
to keep this a modular phone.
And it's because of that, that a lot of the other
departments of the device are probably gonna have a
very hard time keeping up with their competition.
With that said, I am a fan of the Moto Mod concept,
I even like some of the Moto Mods.
My only concern is I'm not quite sure if
they're actually each worth it.
I think in the world of a modular phone like this,
if I'm going to invest in this phone, I'm going to need
Mods that I'm really excited about, and a decent
number of them.
Not only that, but there has to be a huge advantage or
at least a decent price cut on each of these Mods over
the actual separate devices that I could just buy
to do those functions anyway.
Right now, I'm not so sure that there's enough of them
or enough of a price cut, etc. for me personally to
want to jump ship and just live in the Motorola ecosystem,
which is what you're essentially doing
when you go down this path.
But, I am optimistic, and I am anxious to kind of see
what all these new mods that Motorola is talking about
come out soon, are going to be able to do,
what they'll cost, and also what they're partners come up
with as well, because as we mentioned it's been
opened to a lot of people, so it'll be really interesting
to see what innovations can at least happen on the mod side.
There you guys, a bit of a lengthy review
of the Motorola Z2 Force.
Sorry that it was as long as it was, I'm just kind of
on the fence about this device.
I mean, I like the Moto Mod concept, the phone is kind of
cool, ah, I don't know.
What do you guys think?
Let me know in the comments below, I would love to hear
your thoughts on the matter, I always like hearing from you.
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