Smartphone Motorola Moto Z

Slim body. Unique system of additional modules. AMOLED screen with 2K resolution. NFC. Fast charging. USB-C. Fingerprint scanner. OTG.

A vision of the evolution of smartphones with replaceable Moto Mods modules for a significant “pumping” of the functionality of a mobile gadget. Their connection is implemented through the contact pad on the back of the aluminium case of the device. The modules allow you to turn the Motorola Moto Z 32GB Dual into a mini music centre (JBL speaker), a projector (up to 70" diagonal image formation) or a cool camera (Hasselblad camera with a 12-megapixel sensor and 10x optical zoom).

The smartphone itself deserves no less interest — this is a real flagship of 2016 with a powerful hardware (top-end Snapdragon 820 chip and 4/32 GB of memory) and a large AMOLED screen with QuadHD resolution (2560x1440 pixels). With all this, the device impresses with the minimum thickness of the case, the value of which is only 5.2 mm. In addition to standard control methods through buttons and touch input, the smartphone responds to commands with gestures, for which motion sensors are built into its “chin”.

Smartphone constructor

Let's say right away that Moto Z, released in 2016, is able to surprise even now. How often have you seen smartphones with a built-in projector, a 10x optical zoom camera, or a built-in audio speaker?

Moto module

So, the main feature of the smartphone is its ability to customize, like a character from an RPG game. There is a special connector on the bottom of the back of the smartphone, to which Moto Mods modules are attached, which expand the functionality of the smartphone. It can be a reinforced battery, an armor-piercing case, a giant almost reflex camera, or the same projector with a speaker. In 2017, when smartphones were competing to see who could be thinner, being able to customize a smartphone was a breath of fresh air. Moreover, the connection system turned out to be extremely successful, which is why the replacement of the module took a few seconds. However now it will not be so easy to find Moto Mods in official stores. But the secondary market is full of them.

High-quality AMOLED screen with a resolution of 2K

If we take the modularity out of the equation, then we get a solid flagship of 2016, which looks quite modern in 2019. It has an excellent AMOLED screen with a diagonal of 5.5" and a resolution of 2K. Plus a full functional package, including fast charging, a fingerprint scanner, USB-C, an NFC, a well-thought-out gesture control system and an OTG connection that allows you to directly plug external USB devices such as a USB flash drive, keyboard or printer into your smartphone. The only thing missing is the good old mini-jack for connecting regular headphones.

Memorable design

The appearance of Moto Z also looks quite modern. Firstly, the thickness of 5.2 mm allows it to remain one of the thinnest smartphones on the market. Secondly, the corrugated metal back stands out great against the background of boring and the same type of covers that are used in almost every modern smartphone. The side frames of the Moto Z are also quite thin. In a bad way, only the lower part of the smartphone with the Home button stands out, which looks obscenely large by modern standards.

Perhaps the main weakness of the Moto Z is its Snapdragon 820 processor. In 2016 it was a flagship processor, but since then the manufacturing process has jumped ahead and now its power is comparable to entry-level and mid-range chips.