Carrying forward the legacy of modular handsets, Motorola introduced Moto Z2 Force in India in February 2018. Motorola’s initiative to appease the audience by increasing the shelf life of its devices with the promising aspect of innovative Mods is visible with the addition of Turbo Power Mod to this package. Even better is the fact that any moto mods that you may already own, will be compatible with the moto Z2 Force as well.
The phone’s lightweight build with metallic luster would allure you if you have a taste for sleek-looking handsets. Minimal dimensions- 6.1 mm in width and 143 grams in weight, are the design elements that are put into place to please your aesthetic senses. To keep the body compact, the size of the battery is reduced, which is eventually compensated with a free Turbo Mod (Yes, the Turbo Mod comes as a bundle offer with the Moto Z2 Force). The model has no ‘waterproofing’ however its back is made of 7000 series aluminum with a water-repellent nano-coating.
Personally speaking, the most attractive feature to cite is its brilliant, shatterproof display, which enhances the durability of the product, since phone screens are most susceptible to damage. The shatterproof quality is achieved through 5 layers of protection, but that doesn’t make it scratchproof like the hard Gorilla Glass we see on most devices these days. The durability does not compromise the richness of colors that is achieved through a 5.5-inch AMOLED display panel with a resolution of 1440 x 2560 pixel (534 pixels to be precise) and a 16:9 aspect ratio. One could feel the depth of colors. The display is sharp and crisp, without any distortion.
Moving ahead, the fingerprint scanner which is positioned on the front of the model is quite receptive to touch, and there was no visible lag. The phone unlocks in a jiffy and no glitches in even during continuous unlocking attemptsat 360 degrees. You can also enable various gestures and use this fingerprint sensor for one button navigation, which is something moto has borrowed from Lenovo. There are multiple quirky gestures which can be activated to start other applications, about which we will discuss further in the detailed review.
Moto Z2 Force is powered by Snapdragon 835 SoC with 6GB of RAM and it runs Android 8.0 (Oreo) out of the box. With this device, Motorola does away with the traditional 3.5 mm jack as well, but the dongle/adapter is included in the box which you can connect to the USB- C type port to plug in your headphones/earphones.
In terms of battery life, the 2730 mAh battery on the Moto Z2 Force doesn’t fall short of providing sufficient muscle to the device, and it lasts for an entire day without any hassle. To test the battery life, my everyday usage included surfing social media websites on 4G data connection (permanently on) and playing games for short spans of 10-15 minutes in breaks. Anyhow, the TurboMod that tags along is meant for situations when the phone battery gets drained quicker due to heavy usage. It has a capacity of 3490mAh and can charge the device with a speed equivalent to moto’s turbo charging, and that too approximately one and a half times, if fully charged.
With respect to the camera quality, the most sought-after feature in any smartphone in an Instagram-crazy world, the moto Z2 Force does not disappoint.
With the twin 12-megapixel sensors paired with dual tone LED flash (the combination appears as a smiley bump at the back of the moto Z2 Force!), the camera tends to perform better in conditions with ample light. I enjoyed using the professional mode more than the preset HDR mode, whereby you can play with the settings, and enjoy the pictures filled with richness of colours on the screen.
With all the promising aspects and high ended features loaded under the price tag of INR 34, 999, does the device serve as a great pick in this price segment, especially when competing brands like OnePlus have already established an immense brand following? We’ll find it out with our thorough probing in the detailed review of the device coming soon!