UPDATE: The Moto Z is launching in Malaysia on 31 October 2016.
To me, the Moto Z is easily one of the most exciting smartphones I’ve seen in awhile. It was Moto’s take on the “modular” smartphone concept and it is the best implementation of this idea I’ve seen yet. So, imagine my excitement when Moto Malaysia published this little ad on their Facebook page.
Hype!
Now, Moto didn’t explicitly say that this ad was about the Moto Z so there’s still a small chance that it isn’t Moto’s latest flagship smartphone. But come on! What other smartphone can “transform” in a “snap” to suit your different needs?
In case you have no idea what I’m talking about, here’s a quick recap of the Moto Z and its modular smartphone design.
For all intents and purposes, the Moto Z itself is just a regular flagship Android smartphone. It’s got a 5.5-inch Quad HD AMOLED display, a Snapdragon 820 processor, 4GB of RAM and 32GB/64GB of internal storage. The Moto Z also has a 13-megapixel primary camera with an f/1.8 aperture lens and optical image stabilisation.
Like most flagship smartphones these days, the Moto Z will come with a USB Type-C port but, unfortunately, like Apple’s new iPhone, you won’t find a 3.5mm headphone jack on this 5.2mm thick smartphone’s body.
It’s even got a bigger brother called the Moto Z Force which gets a larger 3,500 mAh battery (compared to the Moto Z’s 2,600 mAh) and more megapixels in its primary camera — 21 megapixels, to be exact.
But that’s just what it’s like as a phone. The Moto Z (and Z Force) also comes with a bunch of connectors towards the bottom of the handset shiny back that allows you to magnetically snap on modular accessories. Moto calls them Moto Mods.
These Mods are what give the Moto Z its “modularity” and users can snap on a variety of mods that lets the smartphone do many things. There’s a cool Mod from JBL that turns your smartphone into a boom box with a kickstand. There’s a powerbank Mod called the Power Pack that adds 2,200 mAh to your handset. There’s a projector Mod called Insta-Share. There’s even a camera Mod from Hassleblad called the True Zoom that replaces the Moto Z’s camera with a new one that has a 10X optical zoom!
You get the idea.
Of course, snapping mods and accessories on your smartphone isn’t new to the Moto Z. LG also gave it a shot when they launched their G5, however, with the G5, users had to unplug the entire battery (which switched the smartphone off) which can be rather inconvenient. The “Friends”, as LG called their modular accessories, were also expensive with prices starting at RM399.
With the Moto Z, there’s no complicated reboot procedure. Instead, you just snap on your Moto Mod and you’re good to go. However, the Mods success in Malaysia will likely also depend on the pricing and how well Moto can keep adding mods. For now, there’s no information on that, but when Moto reveals more of their hand, we’ll be sure to inform you.
What do you guys think? Is this flagship worth your time?
