Motorola Moto Z and Moto Z Force

Lenovo has taken to the stage at Lenovo Tech World 2016 to unveil its next-gen handset, the Moto Z, which steps into flagship territory.

But rather than just launching one new handset, Motorola has unveiled two versions of this handset, the Moto Z and the Moto Z Force, following the trend started by the Moto X in 2015. 

But the Moto Z isn't just about the phones, it's about a wider ecosystem of Moto Mods too. We've crunched through all the details: here's everything you need to know about the new Moto Z.

Motorola Moto Z and Moto Z Force: Design

The Moto Z offers a premium metal design, crafted from aircraft-grade aluminium and stainless steel, with a slim 5.2mm profile. It will come in a range of colours and finishes, with Lenovo offering the full Moto Maker treatment on the new Moto Z handset. 

The slim design means that the camera protrudes from the back, but your eyes will most likely be drawn to the 16 pins at the bottom, the connection point for the Moto Mod accessories. It also gets a degree of water repellency, something common to Motorola handsets of the past.

The Moto Z measures 153.3 x 75.3 x 5.19mm and weighs 136g

The Moto Z Force is thicker at 7mm and a little taller, but only by a faction of a millimetre giving space for more battery. The Moto Z Force weighs 163g.

One thing you'll notice is that there's no 3.5mm headphone jack. For a long time manufacturers have been saying that this legacy connection causes design problems, and Lenovo has ditched it, offering just the USB Type-C instead.

Visually, there's little difference between the two handsets in the overall design - except for the thickness, so whether you choose the Moto Z or the Moto ZForce, you get a great looking phone.

Motorola Moto Z and Moto Z Force: Display

Both versions of the Moto Z have a 5.5-inch AMOLED display, with a sharp 2560 x 1440 pixel resolution. That places the Moto Z right up there with other flagship handsets, with a lovely sharp 534ppi.

The difference, however, as the name suggests, comes in with the Moto Z Force offering the ShatterShield display that the Moto X Force first introduced. This should provide an extra level of protection for those who tend to drop theirphone.

The regular Moto Z has a Gorilla Glass coating. 

Motorola Moto Z and Moto Z Force: Hardware

On the hardware front, the story of the new Moto Z is fairly consistent. It's powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 chipset, the latest quad-core powerhouse that's sitting at the heart of many leading flagship handsets. This is backed by 4GB of RAM on both handsets.

Both handsets will offer options of 32 or 64GB of internal storage, we're guessing as an option selected through Moto Maker, but this can be expanded via microSD card.

However, there's a big difference in battery. The Moto Z has a 2600mAh battery, which is a little on the small side, but given the slimness of the handset, it's pretty generous. Motorola says it will give you 30 hours of usage, but boasts that TurboPower charging will give you 8-hours of use from just 15 minutes of charging.

The Moto Z Force, however, steps up, packing in a 3500mAh battery into that thicker body. This, Motorola claims, will offer 40 hours of use. Again, fast charging will see you getting 15 hours of use from just 15 minutes on a charger.

Motorola Moto Z and Moto Z Force: Cameras

The Moto Z offers a 13-megapixel camera on the rear, with f/1.8 aperture and optical image stabilisation. It offers laser autofocus and the sensor has a 1.12µm pixel size, which is a little on the small side compared to some mainstream rivals.

The Moto Z Force increases the resolution with a 21-megapixel camera, also with 1.12µm pixels, a f/1.8 aperture, OIS and laser AF again. This camera also offers phase-detection AF, so should be faster than the regular Moto Z sibling.

Both Moto Z models have a 5-megapixel front camera, with larger 1.4µm pixels, so it should be good at grabbing those low-light selfies. The front camera has a f/2.2 aperture and a wide-angle lens.

Motorola Moto Z and Moto Z Force: Software

Motorola has always offered a close to vanilla Android experience when it comes to software. Unlike its competitors, it opts not to add an entire skin over the top of Android and instead adds just a couple of extra apps here and there, providing an experience that is as close to pure Android as you can get without buying aNexus. 

Motorola Moto Z and Moto Z Force: Moto Mods

One of the exciting points of differentiation for the Moto Z is the Moto Mods. These modular accessories attach with a "snap", thanks to the magnets in the rear of the phone. The aim of Moto Mods is to expand the skills of your phonebeyond the core spec, simply by attaching the accessory to the rear of the handset.

Motorola has ambitious plans for Moto Mods, opening up to third-party developers, offering prizes for design innovation and making a slew of high-profile announcements about Moto Mod partners. 

On the list are a Moto Insta-Share projector, Incipio OffGrid Power Pack and JBL SoundBoost speaker and they simply snap onto the back of the phone. You'll also be able to quickly change the look of your phone with Mod shells.

In the future we expect to see a lot more Moto Mods and Motorola plans to make these Mods compatible with future devices. The Moto Mods will fit on either handset.

Motorola Moto Z and Moto Z Force: Release date and prices

Lenovo has said that the Moto Z will be available unlocked in the Fall in the US, with Verizon offering a Droid exclusive version - the Moto Z Droid Edition and the Moto Z Force Droid Edition.

For global customers, the Moto Z and the Moto Mods announced at the launch will be available from September. There's currently no word on how much they will be.