Motorola wants you to make your own phone with the modular Moto Z, but it has a way to go to prove the platform is worth the investment.
The good
- Thin design
- Lots of flexibility with moto mods
- Good performance for a phone of its era
The bad
- Adding moto mods can quickly get expensive
- Ordinary battery life
- Weird button placement
Motorola's original moto mod compatible handset introduced modular accessories to the world – a premium approach that the company has stuck with for its premium phones.
Go back a little over 10 years and you’ll remember that Motorola (alongside Nokia) ruled the mobile world. The RAZR was an icon of personal communication, with its thin design and robust flip build quality, years before Steve Jobs announced the iPhone.
The company has been bought and sold by Google since those days and is now owned by Lenovo. Motorola pinned its hopes to the modular ecosystem for hardware that was built into the Moto Z and Moto Z Play as well as newer handsets like the Moto Z2 Play and Moto Z3 Play.
Launching alongside some pretty impressive first- and third-party modular attachments, the Moto Z was designed to try and accommodate a simple, intuitive modular ecosystem. For the most part it succeeds, with an intelligent system that comes with impressive mod attachments, though the cumulative costs can be prohibitive.
Design
- Thin design
- It's all about the mods
- Weird button placement
Camera
- Standard camera is ordinary
- Hasselblad mod is much better, but it's a pricey mod.
Performance
- Snapdragon 820 gives it enough power
- Moto actions are practical and fun
Battery life
- 2600 mAh battery
Verdict
- A pioneer in modular phones, but one that is definitely showing its age.
Pricing and availability
Motorola Moto Z
Motorola's stylish Moto Z
The Motorola Moto Z combines distinct style with camera power to make an exceptional smartphone.
- The Motorola Moto Z originally sold in Australia for $699 outright.
Motorola Moto Z specs
Display |
Camera |
Physical dimensions |
Connectivity |
Power, storage and battery |
Device features |
| Display size | 5.5 inches |
|---|---|
| Resolution | 1440 x 2560 |
| Pixels per inch (PPI) | 535 |
| Rear camera megapixels | 13MP |
|---|---|
| Rear camera aperture size | f/1.8 |
| Video recording | 4K |
| Front camera megapixels | 5MP |
| Front camera aperture size | f/2.2 |
| Dimensions | 155.3mm x 75.3mm x 5.2mm |
|---|---|
| Weight | 136g |
| NFC | Yes |
|---|---|
| Wi-Fi | 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac |
| Network category speed | N/A |
| Processor | Snapdragon 820 |
|---|---|
| RAM | 4GB |
| Operating system | Android 6 |
| Internal storage |
64GB |
| External storage support | Up to 2TB |
| Battery capacity | 2,600mAh |
| Headphone jack | Yes |
|---|---|
| Fingerprint sensor | Yes |
| Water resistance | N/A |
| Wireless charging | No |
Compare SIM-only plans for the Motorola Moto Z
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