Lenovo unveils modular Moto Z and Moto Z Force; to go on sale in September

After much speculation and plenty of rumours, Motorola finally announced not one, but two flagship smartphones. The smartphone maker announced an all new Moto Z with a slimmer build and top of the line hardware along with a sturdier Moto Z Force that features Motorola’s ShatterShield technology. However, the focus here is also on  MotoMods that lend modular functionality to both smartphones, placing Motorola in line with LG’s recently launched G5 smartphone . Both devices will go on sale in the US this summer on Verizon and will be offered internationally from September. [caption id=“attachment_319839” align=“aligncenter” width=“640”]  Shown above is the Motorola Moto Z.[/caption] Coming to the smartphones, they look similar in terms of design and even feature similar specifications. The Moto Z features the slimmer construction of the two and is just 5.2mm thin with aircraft-grade aluminium and stainless steel. There’s a 5.5-inch QHD AMOLED display on the front.  Inside, we get standard flagship fare in the form of a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 chipset paired with 4GB RAM and 32GB or 64GB of internal storage. On the back we have a 13MP camera unit that features laser autofocus, OIS and a dual-tone LED flash. The front-facing camera is a 5MP unit and offers a wide-angle lens and a front-facing LED flash as well. The smartphone also features a fingerprint reader on the front bezel, similar to that on the Moto G4 series. It also comes with a water-repellant coating. Powering all of the above is 2600mAh battery with quick charge support via a USB Type-C connector. As you may have guessed, the audio, similar to the LeEco Le 2 and Le Max is delivered via a USB-C port. Motorola will include a 3.5mm to USB-C adapter in the box. [caption id=“attachment_319843” align=“aligncenter” width=“640”]  Shown above is the Motorola Moto Z Force.[/caption] The second smartphone is the Motorola Moto Z Force. The device is packed in a slightly thicker shell and at 6.9mm , one would expect it to pack in a better camera and a bigger battery and it does pack in both of those. The Moto Z Force features a 5.5-inch QHD AMOLED display but is protected by Motorola’s ShatterShield tech which the company guarantees won’t shatter from drops.  Inside, we get a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 chipset paired with 4GB RAM and 32GB or 64GB of internal storage. The camera unit gets a spec bump with Motorola hauling in a 21MP sensor with f/1.8 aperture, PDAF, laser autofocus and OIS. The front-facing camera is similar to what we have on the Z. Power is provided by a larger, 3,500mAh battery. Motorola also introduced MotoMods which are modular accessories that can be slapped on to the Z and the Z Force. The accessories which include the JBL SoundBoost speaker, Insta-Share projector and the Incipio-designed offGRID Power Pack connect via the 16-pin connector on the back of the smartphone and will be available at launch. Also announced at the Lenovo Tech World was the first consumer-ready Project Tango-based smartphone called the Phab2 Pro . Motorola also announced a Moto Mods contest that offers a $1 million prize to the winner.