Moto Z: modular Motorola is molto meh
Project Ara, Google's plan for a modular smartphone, generated a lot of interest in tech circles. Like so many Google ideas, it was abandoned before it ever came to market. But the modular smartphone lives on, and Motorola is the latest manufacturer to run with the idea, with the Moto Z line.
The Moto Z, confusingly, comes in two distinct flavours. The Moto Z Play is cheaper, thicker and has monster battery life, getting over two full days on a single charge. Both support MotoMods — Moto's name for the snap-on accessoried for the phone — but it's the Moto Z (without the Play bit), I'll be referring to for the rest of the article.
The Moto Z is almost too thin for comfort.
The Moto Z prides itself on being the world's thinnest smartphone at just 5.2mm thick. I never thought I'd say this, but it's almost too thin. It looks like it shouldn't be able to support its 5.5 inch screen. The company is quick to point out the "aircraft grade" aluminum chassis inside the phone prevents it from buckling in your pocket. And being that skinny, the phone has one hell of a camera bump; the camera lens looks comically large on the back of the device.
Of course, the Moto Z needs to be svelte so it won't look too bulky with a Mod attached, but the overall effect is that it looks somehow unfinished when it's naked. So let's look at the four MotoMods available.
Unlike the LG G5 mods, which were mostly pointless and an awful experience to swap out, the MotoMods simply clip onto the back of the phone with magnets and feel pretty sturdy in place. They're hot swappable, so you can attach or detach one, and the phone is smart enough to keep up.
The cheapest and most practical mod is the $119 Incipio battery pack. When snapped on, the combined thickness of the Moto Z is not that much thicker than a standard smartphone in a case, and, as a bonus, that camera bump is hidden away. Moto advertises up to 22 hours of use when the pack is connected.
Probably the best value MotoMod is the JBL Speaker, coming in at $159. It provides great audio, comparable to most portable Bluetooth speakers, and includes a built-in battery to keep the phone charged. Still, $99 can get you a UE Roll, which is a better sounding speaker and compatible with any smartphone.
Spending $399 will get you a Hasselblad-branded camera mod that provides 10x zoom. This will allow you to focus on your kids from the back of a school hall, but again, $400 will get you a pretty good point and shoot camera, so it's hard to recommend this MotoMod over a stand-alone snapper or a zoom lens.
And then there's the Moto branded portable projector. At $429, Moto insists this is perfect for the "road warrior" who needs to be able to present anywhere. I'm not convinced. At a maximum 480p, image quality is just OK, and nowhere near as good as the Sony Portable Projector.
Moto hopes to expand the line of MotoMods available, to create a kind of App Store for hardware. It's a big ask, building out an ecosystem would be a challenge for smartphone behemoths such as Apple or Samsung, let alone Moto. The phone was announced in the USA back in June, and there's still only the four Mods that were available at launch.
The Moto Z and its MotoMods are easily the best incarnation of a modular smartphone design, but that's a low bar to clear. As excited as I was for the concept, there's nothing about the MotoMods to convince me this should be my next smartphone.
Peter Wells works at Swinburne University and is a technology commentator in his spare time. He is an award-winning journalist who currently appears on the Daily Tech News Show.
Most Viewed in Technology
Please explain
Our weekly podcast giving you insight into the stories that drive the nation.
Listen now