In hand, the Moto Z feels solid like it’s been carved out of a solid piece of metal and it handles my ever popular Gadgeteer squeeze test with nary a creak or groan.
Thin is great, but this phone feels almost too thin without a back Style Shell. Most people will probably add a Style Shell to the back of the phone, which then makes the Moto Z just as thick as most other smartphones.
From the front, the Moto Z looks pretty standard with its 5.5? display and black bezel on the sides, top, and bottom. You’ll notice what looks like a square home button at the bottom center. This is not a physical button. It’s a fingerprint scanner. Touching the button does wake the phone and touching it again will turn off the display.The back of the phone is flat with a raised camera lens and a LED flash. Near the bottom is a row of gold electrical contacts. This is the connection point for the Moto Mods.On the bottom edge of the Moto Z, you’ll find a USB Type-C charging and syncing port.And on the right side of the phone are individual volume buttons and a power button that has some knurling ( grooves) which helps your finger know which button to press since they are all the same size.
The Moto Z has a nice bright AMOLED display with vivid colors and great viewing angles. I have no complaints about the display except that it doesn’t have the same shattershield tech as the Moto Z Force…
The Moto Z has a 13MP vs. the 21MP camera on the Moto Z Force. Even though the Moto Z’s camera has less megapixels, I think it does a pretty darn good job taking pix.
I really enjoyed using the Motorola Moto Z Droid for the 3 weeks that I had the eval unit. It felt good in my hand and was a snappy performer with good battery life. I really liked the snap on Style Shell feature and could see myself starting a collection of different backs if I owned this phone. I also liked Motorola’s Moto Mod implementation and feel like they’ve beat LG soundly with their version of this feature. When it comes down to it.
