Moto Z Droid Edition Review
Introduction:
Lenovotorola. Motonovo. Motorola. We should stop dwelling on what
to call them as it really doesn't matter now. Since Lenovo's acquisition of
Motorola has been completed, Lenovo has developed a successor to the Moto X
lineup which had a great three-generation run.
Sure, other aspects of Motorola's Moto X have been phased away,
namely, Moto Maker. It allowed consumers to customize (aesthetically) their
Moto X exactly how they wanted, but we haven't heard it mentioned for the Moto
Z. It seems that Lenovo doesn't think Moto Maker is worth the trouble, anymore.
Well, at least for now. Maybe the company will bring it back or launch it later
closer to the holiday season.
Side note: This
review is based on the Moto Z Droid, which is the US version of the internationally
available Moto Z. The phone is available exclusively on Verizon's network in
the US. The carrier has successfully held onto its exclusive 'Droid' branding
for about 7 years now which kicked off with the Motorola Droid, then the Droid
RAZRs, and more recently the Droid Turbo 2, all of which were Verizon
exclusives in the US. This is also the first time a "Droid" device
shares the "Moto" branding as well. It looks like Verizon's terms
with the Droid branding have changed seeing as there is no sign of "Verizon"
branding on this phone.
Key features:
5.5" AMOLED screen, QHD (1440x2560 / 535 ppi), Gorilla Glass,Water-resistant nano-coating (splash-proof but not submersible)Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 - dual-core 2.15 GHz Kyro & dual-core 1.6 GHz Kyro w/ Adreno 530, 4GB of RAM32 or 64GB of internal storage, microSD expandable up to 2TBAndroid 6.0.1 Marshmallow with Moto Enhancements (Moto Voice, Moto Display, and Moto Actions)13MP camera, f/1.8 aperture, 1.12-µm pixels, OIS, laser autofocus, dual-tone LED flash. 1080p video @ 30 or 60fps, 4K @ 30fps.8MP front-facing camera with wide angle, front-facing LED flashFingerprint sensorU.S. Version - CDMA: 850, 1900MHz, GSM/GRPS/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900MHz), UTMS/HSPA+ (850, 900, 1700, 1900, 2100MHz), LTE Bands: 2, 3, 5, 7, 132,600 mAh battery, Moto 15W Turbo Charger USB
Cons:
Below-average battery lifeNo USB transfer cable included (charger and its cable are one piece)No standard 3.5mm audio jack (an adapter from USB Type C is provided)Moto Mods aren't cheap
Exclusive to Verizon in the US (for now):
As many Snapdragon 820 devices as there are on the market right
now: Galaxy S7 (US), LG G5, HTC 10, Sony Xperia X Performance, and possibly one
of the two upcoming Nexus devices, The Moto Z brings Motorola's own flare to
the marriage of software and the Snapdragon 820 chip.
As for the Moto Z's camera, we are expecting major improvements as
the Moto X lineup has been infamous for awful low-light performance when taking
pictures. So we are curious to see if Lenovo's touch will help to deliver a
camera experience better than "average".
The Moto Z is now available at Verizon for $624 or $26 per month
when you opt to pay for the phone in installments over 24 months. While the
Moto Z won't include any Moto Mods out of the box, Best Buy is currently
offering the Moto Z at $200 off AND it includes the JBL Speaker Moto Mod. As
for the rest of the world, there is no pricing or availability information for
the Moto Z's worldwide launch.
Moto Z in Fine Gold Moto Z in Fine Gold Moto Z in Lunar Grey Moto
Z in Lunar Grey
The Moto Z also brings another implementation of modular
accessories which add functionalities to the phone by simply expanding. It's
quite different than LG's execution of such modular accessories with LG's
"Friends". We're excited to see how Moto Mods work with Motorola's
Moto Mod platform.
Head over to the next page where we dig into the Moto Z's retail
box and get a closer look at the device that will carry the 'Moto' name into
the future.