Moto Z is quite an interesting smartphone but only in the event you are going to invest in at least one of the 2 modular addon accessories that are available: JBL SoundBoost speaker or Hasselblad True Zoom lens. Both of these addons are really good. The lens is particularly useful because of the fact that it turns the smartphone into a device that has a very good camera, including a true optical zoom that can go as high as 10X. The only problem is that you would need to pay around $300 for this lens right on top of the price tag of the Moto Z, which is at around $600.
For those that have the money, the combo (camera and phone) will take very good photographs, especially when zoom is necessary. The “True Zoom” option is definitely much more interesting than expected. This includes photographs that are taken outdoors and indoors.
If we are to look at the speaker, the JBL SoundBoost will cost around $90 more but will deliver very good audio, volume and bass. To make matters even more interesting, this addition will increase battery life with 10 more hours.
Both of the addons will be connected to the phone with 16 pin connectors. They are really easy to both connect and disconnect whenever you want to. There is also an extra addon in the Insa-Share Projector. This one is also pretty good but it will only be considered by people that would use a smartphone to project videos and images on walls. There are not many that will want that.
The problem is that when you remove these addons from the phone and you only look at the Moto Z you receive a smartphone that can only be described as being boring. It is incredibly thin, just 0.2 inches, but you have a large bottom bezel and the fingerprint sensor is definitely not a great addition.
Soft buttons are included, making this quite strange. We are basically faced with a smartphone that looks weird without the mods. We cannot say that it is ugly but it will not be as great looking as the other options available on the market at the moment. You will also not find a headphone jack but you can connect some with the USB-C jack.
Most of the phone’s specs are very similar to what we see in most of the smartphones available on the market from 2016 like 4 GB of RAM and the 5.5 inch HD display. Stock Android is included as the operating software and battery does run smoothly. Some will not appreciate that but they might find the included Moto Active Display as enough.
All else we can look at with the Moto Z is quite solid. The camera is a good enough 13 MP shooter but it will definitely be much better with the mod that is mentioned above. Focus will be fast and the manual mode will be really handy. Images will have much noise though, which is definitely not what you want to see.
On the whole, the Moto Z stands out as a good enough phone but as nothing special without the mods. That lens mode is the one that is the most impressive. In the event that you are going to buy the Moto Z without the addons, chances are you are going to find something better on the market at a lower price.
