The Lenovo-owned Motorola made some waves earlier this year by dropping the Moto X branding for its flagship landing, and subsequently launching two new high-end smartphones under the new Moto Z brand. The Moto Z and Moto Z Force, known as the Moto Z Droid and Moto Z Force Droid for Verizon Wireless where they exclusively launched, are certainly flagship devices for Motorola, and they herald a new focus on modular design that will surely stick around for years to come.
The Moto Z lineup offers plenty of high-end specifications to draw in potential new customers. Sharp, big displays. A ridiculously fast and stable processor under the hood. Solid cameras on the back and front. And an offering of Google that’s barely altered by the company at hand. It’s a next-to-stock experience, with Motorola only adding a few features to boost the overall experience in solid ways.
It isn’t a surprise that Motorola would launch worthwhile, high-end smartphones.
Perhaps, if anything, it’s a surprise that Motorola would release those new handsets as a carrier exclusive to start, but maybe not. Exclusives aren’t going anywhere any time soon, obviously, and Motorola and Verizon have been working together for a long time now. Still, I can’t help but think there wasn’t a large number of people flocking away from their carrier to switch to Verizon just to get those handsets.
I do want to hear from the people who bought the Moto Z Droid and/or the Moto Z Force Droid, because the phone’s have been out long enough that either owners kept them or returned them, and I want to hear the reasons for either scenario.
The Moto Z family of devices is bolstered by a strong spec sheet, nearly stock software, and worthwhile features, but is there anything that you wish was different? For me, personally, the only thing I’d change at this stage is the cost of its MotoMods, the accessories that are designed to attach directly to the back of the handset. We can pick up things like an external battery, a projector, and external speakers. A Hasselblad camera is on the way, too.
These accessories are expensive. The projector MotoMod costs $300! Even the MotoMod cases, which just put a different design on the back of the phone, cost upwards of $60. I honestly find it difficult to rationalize that a projector accessory costs $300. When I was in a Verizon store recently I asked the representative if they’ve sold any Moto Z units yet, and they told me more than a few. I asked if they sold any projector MotoMods and they just laughed at me, followed by a resounding, “Not at all.”
I think the Moto Z devices are great, and they’re nice to look at, too. But the MotoMods, in my opinion, are just priced too high to be worthwhile. And I think that trend will continue with the Hasselblad camera, too. So if I could change anything about the handsets, it’d be the price of its accessories that are obviously so important to the overall design decision of the handsets.
What about you, though? What would you change about the Moto Z? If you own one, did you keep it, and if so, is there anything you’d change to make it better? If you returned it, what was the deciding factor there? Let me know!
