Introduction
Lenovo Tech World brought the Moto Z and Moto Z Force to the world stage, now it has teamed up with Verizon to introduce the Droid Edition versions of the two flagships.
Motorola and Verizon lead a successful Droid promo campaign in the early days of Android and deserves a lot of credit for the success of the nascent OS. The partnership is still strong and the US carrier occasionally gets an exclusive version.
For now at least, the Force version of the phone is available in the US only. The Moto Z Force Droid Edition brings a big battery, 3,500mAh while being only slightly thicker - at 7mm its still impressively thin.
The 5.5" AMOLED screen with QHD resolution also has ShatterShield - two panes of glass make sure the screen doesnt crack when you drop the phone. The regular Moto Z Droid Edition settles for a single Gorilla Glass pane.
Those are the key differences between the two Moto Z Droid Edition phones, you can see why were eager to get our hands on the Force version.
Moto Z Force Droid Edition at a glance
- Body: 7mm with snap on modules
- Screen: 5.5" AMOLED, 1,440 x 2,560px resolution (534ppi); ShatterShield
- Chipset: Snapdragon 820, quad-core CPU (2x Kryo at 2GHz + 2x Kryo at 1.6GHz), 4GB of RAM, Adreno 530 GPU
- Camera: 21MP sensor, optical image stabilization, f/1.8 lens, Laser AF, 2160p @ 30fps video
- Selfie cam: 5MP sensor, f/2.2 lens, 1080p video
- Battery: 3,500mAh
- Misc: Water repellent nano-coating
Moto Z Droid Edition at a glance
Hands-on
Dont let the thin profile fool you! The Moto Z Force Droid actually feels heftier than it looks thanks to the larger battery and improved camera hardware. The phone feels really solid and dense. As it should, the extra strong materials that make the phone shatter resistant surely play a role in the weight of the phone.
Rear of Moto Z Force Droid • Moto Z Force Droid (top), Moto Z Droid (bottom) • Profile view of both phones side by side
One way to tell the Moto Z Force Droid from the Moto Z Droid (besides their thickness and weight) is by the frame. The Moto Z Force Droid has a pronounced bevel all the way around the frame of the phone. This bevel is not present on the Moto Z Droid.
3.5mm headphone adapter and Turbo Charger
Just like the Moto Z Droid, the Z Force does not have a 3.5mm headphone jack. This is likely to keep the device thin and reallocate as much space needed in order to support the Moto Mods as well as the large battery. The good news is the phone includes a USB-C to 3.5mm headphone jack adapter in the box, along with Motorolas Turbo Charger.
Chin • Display • Forehead
In front of the device, the first thing that one might notice is the front-facing LED flash which is used to light selfies taken with the front-facing 5MP camera. In the middle of these two is th e ear-piece, which also doubles as the loudspeaker. Below that is the 5.5 inch QHD AMOLED screen.
Top • Bottom
The top of the phone houses the SIM and microSD card slot and something Ive noticed when opening the slot is that this device is not water resistant, but splash resistant thanks to that nano-repellant coating. The Galaxy S7, by contrast, has a gasket around the SD card slot and even reminds you not to take the phone for a swim until youve sealed it back up again. The bottom of the phone only has the one USB-C port.
Right • Left
The left side of the phone features nothing. Moving on to the right side we have three physical buttons. The only three physical buttons on the device itself. The button layout is definitely a departure from the Moto X and the placement is much higher than youd expect. No worries here though, as the you can wake/sleep the phone just by scanning your finger print.
Along with our review units, we were also given three Moto Mods to try out with the phone. The Tumi battery pack, JBL speaker, and the most interesting: Moto Insta-Share projector. Hit that next page to check those out!
Introduction
In case you dont know what Moto Mods are, When the Moto Z and Z Force were announced at Lenovo Tech World, the company introduced our first taste of modular-phone accessories. Motorola has also opened this modular connection with an SDK and developers can build Moto Mods for the Moto Z and Z Force Droid as well! And, yes, the Moto Mods work interchangeably with either device.
Moto Mod SDK examples by function • Thats a Moto 360 display! • An Arduino board implementation
Moto Mods
Brushed black finish • Specs of the battery • Battery pack attached to Moto Z Force Droid
Alright, so lets dig right in. First up is the Tumi battery. It adds 2,200mAh to your phone by just snapping it on. Thats quite convenient in a pinch! The rear of the add-on pack is a brushed black texture. Though it looks like metal, its actually plastic. Like other Moto Mods, the phone can keep track of two battery sources: the internal battery, and the battery found in the Moto Mod, if any.
JBL Soundboost: front • rear
Next up is the JBL Soundboost speaker Moto Mod. It adds a booming speaker to your smartphone. By the way, its pr etty loud! The JBL Soundboost was shown to us at the Verizon event in two different colors. White and Black. The Moto Mod also has a kick-stand so you dont drown out your tunes.
Now we take a look at probably the coolest thing this phone can do. Thanks to this Moto Mod, you can finally turn your smartphone into a portable projector. This is the Moto Insta-Share Projector.
Insta-Share Projector: mounted • in action • rear view
This thing mirrors what your phones display is currently seeing, so you wont be able to plug in your laptop via HDMI or anything. S till, anything you can playback on the phone can be viewed on the projector. You can also turn your phones screen off while the projector is running, and the projector will keep the video going.
Like the JBL Soundboost speaker, the Insta-Share Projector has its own battery which will only run for about an hour before the phones internal battery kicks in.
Conclusion
We are really excited for the Moto brand after taking another look at the Moto Z Droid and Z Force Droid. Many were worried about Lenovos overtaking of Motorola smartphones, but we think this will be a great year for the Moto brand.
We cannot wait to review these phones and show you what they can do! Until then, well be hard at work with our in-depth review. Stay Tuned!
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service - if this is your content and youre reading it on someone elses site, please read the FAQ at http://ift.tt/jcXqJW.
Recommended article from FiveFilters. org: Most Labour MPs in the UK Are Revolting.
No comments:
Post a Comment