Motorola's modular flagship Moto Z line certainly looks the part

Shawn Knight

Posts: 15,240   +192
Staff member

Lenovo’s Motorola on Thursday said goodbye to the Moto X branding at Tech World 2016. In its place is a new line – the Moto Z – that’s debuting with two flagships, the Moto Z and the Moto Z Force.

The new Moto Z is being billed as the thinnest flagship in the world, measuring just 5.19 millimeters thick and tipping the scales at 136 grams (4.8 ounces). The key word here is “flagship” as there are thinner smartphones in the wild but I digress.

The handset packs a 5.5-inch Quad HD (2,560 x 1,440, 535 PPI) AMOLED display driven by Qualcomm’s quad-core Snapdragon 820 SoC, Adreno 530 graphics, 4GB of RAM and 64GB of local storage (expandable via microSD).

There’s a 13-megapixel rear-facing camera with autofocus, optical image stabilization and an f/1.8 aperture lens that adds a sizable hump to the phone, a 5-megapixel selfie cam up front, a fingerprint reader and a USB Type-C connector on the bottom.

That USB Type-C connection is all you get as there is no 3.5mm headphone jack on the device. Although there will be an adapter, this design decision will certainly drive some prospective buyers away despite the odds that 3.5mm jacks will likely be going away in droves over the coming months and years.

The Moto Z includes a 2,600mAh battery that’s rated for up to 30 hours of use and will ship running Android 6.0 Marshmallow.

The Moto Z Force, meanwhile, is a bit thicker and heavier at 6.99mm and 163 grams (5.75 ounces), respectively. It, too, has a 5.5-inch Quad HD AMOLED display but this time, it’s coated with a ShatterShield screen. The Moto Z Force also swaps out the 16-megapixel rear camera for a 21-megapixel model and a larger 3,500mAh battery that’s reportedly good for 40 hours of use. Otherwise, the two devices are virtually identical.

You may have noticed on the back that there’s a 16-pin interface. Along with a magnetic system, this enables Motorola’s modular components to connect to the device. Dubbed MotoMods, there are aesthetic-only rear cover add-ons called Style Shields as well as functional accessories including a 50-lumen pico projector that outputs up to a 70-inch image, an external 2,200mAh battery pack and a 6W JBL speaker system that pumps out up to 80 decibels.

Final judgment will be reserved for when we get these in to test although at first glance, Motorola’s approach to modular accessories seems far more practical than what we recently saw from LG.

Motorola hasn’t yet revealed how much its new phones and accessories will sell for. Following an exclusive stint with Verizon, we should see unlocked versions land sometime in September.

Permalink to story.

 
I want my removable battery back! I don't care what anyone says, sometimes a phone will lock up so badly, the only way to get it back is to pull the battery!

Would be cool to see one of those new Samsung 512GB SSD on a chip put into a phone. Maybe next years flagship phones. The main thing though, I want my removable battery.

EDIT : I know there was no mention in the article about the battery being removable or not, but I am willing to bet my ( some sort of trash ) it isn't.
 
If they are going to make phones that thin they better make it:
- bendable/flexible
- Might as well increase overall thickness to make camera sit flush, this looks tacky
 
Sony dumps the Xperia Z line and introduces the (highly overpriced) X line. Motorola gives their X line the boot and introduces the Z line. I suppose they can't be caught wearing the same dress at the same party. Anyway it seems that eveybody is infatuated with having a 'X', 'Z', 'Black', 'Neo', 'Pro' somewhere in the name.
 
Well at least Google's Marshmallow now allows us to disable Permissions for each app - something I've been griping about for years.

As far as the Chinese government removing the 3.5mm jack..good for them - more sales to another company that will provide features that the customers want.
...and we want the microSD card slot, the removable battery, and 3.5 (or 2.5)mm headphone jack; I can tell you that as they decide to remove features, my list will just get longer. This could very well mean that I'll be forced to stick with my Note 4 for another many many many year.

btw, marshmallow is now out for Note 4. :D
 
They better not do like LG and miss the opportunity they have with that 16 pin interface. Make a freaking 10000mAh battery case.
 
I want my removable battery back! I don't care what anyone says, sometimes a phone will lock up so badly, the only way to get it back is to pull the battery!
That has got to be the lamest reason for wanting a removable battery that I've ever heard.

It's pretty much the most valid use for a removable battery, actually. To those who love tinkering with things, trying to unlock their bootloader, get root access, load custom ROMs, etc; this is a hugely necessary feature. As original batteries are usually the highest quality available, I don't see the point adding in an overpriced spare or an aftermarket battery that will fail after a few uses. If you treat your battery well, and let it drain fully as often as possible before recharging, it will far outlast the usefulness of the device. So, your point was..?
 
It's pretty much the most valid use for a removable battery, actually. To those who love tinkering with things, trying to unlock their bootloader, get root access, load custom ROMs, etc; this is a hugely necessary feature. As original batteries are usually the highest quality available, I don't see the point adding in an overpriced spare or an aftermarket battery that will fail after a few uses. If you treat your battery well, and let it drain fully as often as possible before recharging, it will far outlast the usefulness of the device. So, your point was..?


He was just trolling, I didn't bite.

Anyhow, I think they can make phones thinner and cheaper if the battery isn't removable, and that is why they do it. If they would just put one of those teeennnyyy buttons you have to use a paperclip to push on the phones I would be fine with that. The only reason I can come up with as to why they are getting away from being able to manually cut power to the phone is :

( Puts foil hat on, looks for cars parked outside )

Phones really only get laggy and lock up when the NSA is downloading everything, and the NSA will not let phone manufacturers produce any more phones that can easily have the power cut.... Badvok must work at the NSA.
 
. . .I think they can make phones thinner and cheaper if the battery isn't removable, and that is why they do it. If they would just put one of those teeennnyyy buttons you have to use a paperclip to push on the phones I would be fine with that. . .
That'd be awesome.. I semi-bricked my Moto E just the other day, and thought I found one of those little reset buttons when I removed the surrounding frame... Too bad it ended up being nothing. x\
 
That'd be awesome.. I semi-bricked my Moto E just the other day, and thought I found one of those little reset buttons when I removed the surrounding frame... Too bad it ended up being nothing. x\

I super ultra bricked my virginmobile supreme ( actually is a ZTE Vital ) being stupid. So I bought another one, and tucked the brick in the closet. Today at work I somehow busted the digitizer to the point where it didn't work anymore, so I dug out the ole brick. This nice old phone comes apart so easy, phillips screws, not tamper torx or any odd crap, just simple phillips. The whole phone is serviceable.... Why not make phones serviceable?
 
I super ultra bricked my virginmobile supreme ( actually is a ZTE Vital ) being stupid. So I bought another one, and tucked the brick in the closet. Today at work I somehow busted the digitizer to the point where it didn't work anymore, so I dug out the ole brick. This nice old phone comes apart so easy, phillips screws, not tamper torx or any odd crap, just simple phillips. The whole phone is serviceable.... Why not make phones serviceable?
With the exception of most flagships and Apple phones, they do actually disassemble quite easily.. You just have to realize that things are designed to be assembled as easily as possible by machines and/or without tools. Find a seam and stick a credit card in it, you'll find most smartphones snap apart all too quickly.

I still don't see the trouble with a battery reset button, though.. Even the garbage $5 router TWC sent me has one.
 
It's pretty much the most valid use for a removable battery, actually. To those who love tinkering with things, trying to unlock their bootloader, get root access, load custom ROMs, etc; this is a hugely necessary feature. As original batteries are usually the highest quality available, I don't see the point adding in an overpriced spare or an aftermarket battery that will fail after a few uses. If you treat your battery well, and let it drain fully as often as possible before recharging, it will far outlast the usefulness of the device. So, your point was..?
There are lots of valid reasons for having a removable battery but resetting the phone isn't one of them. There isn't a single phone on the market that can't be reset via its buttons no matter how 'locked up' it gets. Of course if you manage to scramble it so much that the buttons don't work a battery pull isn't going to help either.
 
Back