Category
🤖
TechTranscript
00:00🎵
00:07Hey, how's it going guys? This is Dave2D, and this is a video on the Moto Z and the Moto Z Force.
00:12So, what makes these phones special are the fact that they're modular phones.
00:16They have detachable components that you can switch around to make the phones do different things.
00:20But these aren't the first modular phones we've seen this year.
00:23LG had the G5, which was a bit of a miss.
00:26But these phones, the Moto phones, are a completely different take on the whole modular phone concept.
00:31So let's take a look at how they are as a regular smartphone first.
00:35They're currently both Verizon exclusives, but the Moto Z will eventually come in an unlocked version.
00:40Off contract, they're around $600 for the Moto Z and $700 for the Moto Z Force.
00:45They're pretty expensive, so thankfully the build quality is on point.
00:48Everything just feels super solid. The machining on the metal is great.
00:52The seams are tight, and there's next to no material flex because it is an aluminum body, even the back.
00:57It's actually one of the best-built phones I've seen from Motorola.
01:00Now, the Moto Z is super thin. It's 5.2 millimeters, one of the thinnest you can get on the market right now.
01:05The bigger one, the Moto Z Force, is a bit thicker and heavier, but when you use them individually,
01:10they're actually both comfortable to use.
01:12The buttons on the side are all the same size.
01:14They're kind of small, and they're positioned a little higher than the Moto X buttons,
01:17but because the power button is still textured, I got used to it quickly.
01:21The camera hump on the back is one of the bigger ones out there,
01:24but these humps are so common now, they've kind of stopped bothering me.
01:27If you're wondering about phone wobble from the hump, it's not an issue if you're in portrait mode,
01:31but if you're in landscape, yeah, there is a bit of a wobble.
01:34Both of the cameras have an aperture of 1.8 with OIS and laser focusing.
01:39It can't take the crown from the Samsung phones right now, but it takes some very respectable photos.
01:44Accurate colors, good dynamic range.
01:46The one on the Z Force has a higher resolution at 21 megapixels instead of the 13 megapixels on the Z,
01:52but aside from having higher resolution, the image quality looks very similar between them,
01:57both in low light and brightly lit environments.
02:00The photos that I took in low light aren't amazing.
02:02They have quite a bit of noise, and even if I'm on HDR, the image doesn't look great.
02:07I did notice that the Z Force has more reliable focusing for macro photos,
02:11probably because it has phase detection.
02:13The regular Moto Z would hunt for focus a bit more, but yeah, pretty good cameras overall.
02:17I wouldn't say that they're strong in low light, but for an everyday shooter, I'm happy with it.
02:21It also shoots 4K video.
02:23The displays are both 5.5-inch Quad HD AMOLED panels.
02:27Colors are vibrant, and the viewing angles are good like all AMOLEDs, but they aren't super bright.
02:31In a brightly lit room, the screens can feel a little dim at times.
02:35There's standard Gorilla Glass 4 on the Moto Z.
02:38The Z Force has Motorola's shatter shield, which is guaranteed to be shatterproof,
02:42and we've seen that stuff before. It's really durable.
02:45The voice quality on the mic seemed good, and the earpiece volume is appropriately loud.
02:49It doubles as the mono speaker.
02:51It doesn't sound amazing, and I definitely miss the stereo speakers from the Moto X, but it's not bad.
02:56The square fingerprint sensor works well, but it's not a home button.
03:00I've pressed it so many times this week trying to use it as a home button.
03:03I don't love the square shape.
03:05I feel like it doesn't really go with the design aesthetic of the phone, but it gets the job done.
03:09There's no 3.5mm audio jack.
03:11You need to use the included adapter to use headphones.
03:14There's still a DAC in the phone.
03:15It's not in the adapter cable, but it's in the phone itself, and the audio sounds very standard for a smartphone.
03:21It's not a super special DAC in there or anything.
03:23The dongle is super easy to lose.
03:25If you leave the dongle attached to your headphone, it can help, but I did this, and I still lost one, so maybe use some tape.
03:31System performance is fast.
03:33They're both running a Snapdragon 820, so you expect it to be fast, but it does get pretty warm.
03:38It's not uncomfortable to hold or anything, but it throttles down when you're running long benchmarks or sometimes when you're playing more demanding games.
03:44Basically, if you push the processor hard, it heats up, and once it hits 39 or 40 degrees, the CPU throttles down.
03:51And to amp up the problem, if you're using a Moto Mod that covers the back of the phone, like a battery something,
03:56now there's another object on the back that also puts out heat, and it makes it more difficult for the processor to dissipate the heat.
04:02So, if you're a hardcore gamer and you want maximum frame rates, I would just keep the phone naked on the back to let that CPU cool off.
04:09The Moto Z runs a relatively small battery, and using just the built-in battery, I had a tough time getting it to last a full day.
04:16It's doable, but it's not easy.
04:18The Moto Z Force has a significantly bigger battery, and lasting a full day is pretty comfortable.
04:22But for both of these, because they have turbo charging and the battery mods, most users should be okay.
04:28It's running Android 6.0.1.
04:30The standard Motorola tweaks are still there, and as much as I love stock Android,
04:34I also like Motorola's version because it's so close to vanilla, with some useful things like the twist for camera.
04:40And this year, the twist for camera is really fast.
04:43A few months ago, when I was trying to use the LG G5 as my daily driver,
04:47I remember thinking that, eh, maybe modular phones aren't for me.
04:51The phone is really cool and fun to play with, but the modular pieces didn't have that polish that I needed in a daily driver.
04:57The Moto mods are really different.
04:59They're well-made and super simple to use.
05:01A few magnets securely hold them in place, and when you attach them, there's no rebooting or any kind of user requirement.
05:06It automatically gets recognized whenever you place them on.
05:09The style covers are pretty basic.
05:11They're just various covers of different materials.
05:13This one's made with real wood.
05:15It doesn't have any functionality other than aesthetics.
05:18But if you've ever said, hey, phone companies, please give me a thicker phone with a bigger battery.
05:23Well, now you can do that.
05:24A bunch of companies are bringing out battery options.
05:26This one's from Incipio.
05:28It has wireless charging capabilities and packs a 2200 milliamp battery in there.
05:32And with all of these, you can straight-up hot-swap the battery in the middle of a phone call.
05:37There's no need to turn it off.
05:38When you connect it, the Moto mod will actually fill up the internal battery.
05:42I really like these, and I think these are the first hot-swappable batteries I've seen on a phone.
05:47Now, if you've ever wanted some proper speakers and didn't want to bring an external Bluetooth speaker, you can do that.
05:52So, at first, I thought, why would I want this thing when I already have a good Bluetooth speaker that I really like?
05:58But after using it for a while, I'm sold.
06:00Even though it makes your phone pretty thick when it's attached, having only one thing to charge and one thing to carry is really nice.
06:06It doesn't sound as good as some Bluetooth speakers, but compared to anything on a phone, this thing is fantastic.
06:12When you're using Moto mods, there's a widget that shows the battery level of the mod itself.
06:16Some mods can be charged separately, or you can attach the mod to the Moto Z,
06:20plug in your USB-C cable, and that will charge up the phone first, and then charge up the mod once the phone is full.
06:26Now, if you want to use mods, you probably won't be able to use a bumper or a case.
06:30The device looks good naked, but if you ever want to change it up, you can easily put on a dbrand skin.
06:35The mods still work perfectly. This one is concrete. It's linked below.
06:39Okay, the Moto Z and Z Force phones.
06:41They both have an aluminum chassis with great build quality,
06:445.5-inch AMOLED screens that have vibrant colors, but they could be a little brighter.
06:48There's a single speaker up top, so no stereo sound.
06:51They have square-shaped fingerprint sensors that are fast.
06:54They both have 5-megapixel front-facing cameras.
06:57The Moto Z has Gorilla Glass 4.
06:59The Moto Z Force has ShatterShield.
07:01On the back of the device, we have a 13 or a 21-megapixel camera.
07:05Both are solid shooters.
07:06There's also a series of connection points and magnets for all the cool Moto mods.
07:10On the inside, we have 32 gigs of storage, upgradable by microSD,
07:14a Snapdragon 820 that is fast, but it can throttle on benchmarks and heavier games,
07:18especially if you have a Moto mod attached.
07:20Powering them are batteries that are a little short on the Moto Z,
07:23but comfortable on the Moto Z Force.
07:25And lastly, they both have a water-resistant nano coating that should protect it from the rain.
07:29So, I think Motorola did a really good job on these phones.
07:32I've always been interested in modular phones, and I've often been disappointed by them.
07:36These are the first ones that I've been very impressed by.
07:39They're really well executed. The mods themselves are really well done.
07:42The mechanism of how everything works is really intuitive and simple to use.
07:46And the best thing is that Motorola wants these mods, the ones that exist today,
07:50they want them to be able to work on future Motorola phones.
07:53They want it to have, like, an extended life like that.
07:55That is awesome.
07:56That shows commitment from Motorola for, like, a long-term investment in this whole modular phone thing.
08:02If you're interested in modular phones, take a look at the Moto Z.
08:05You might like it.
08:06Hope you guys enjoyed this video.
08:07Thumbs if you liked it, subs if you loved it.
08:09It's been nice.
08:10See you guys next time.