Introduction
Motorola has had quite a busy year thus far. Now that there are five tiers of Moto smartphones for folks to choose from (6, if you include the Asia-specific Moto M), we have been introduced to the highest-tier of smartphone that Motorola has to offer: The Moto Z2 Force.
While it is the best in Moto's portfolio, it's certainly doesn't mean the newest hardware. In fact, the Moto Z2 Force is almost exactly the same as its predecessors with the exception of a few internal improvements, hardware upgrades, and a couple of cosmetic differences. The Z2 Force has inherited the Z Force's ShatterShield durability, and has gotten slimmer like the Moto Z. The downside is the slimmer Z2 Force has lost 22% of the battery capacity (2,730 mAh) compared to the Moto Z Force Droid (3,500 mAh).
The camera certainly gets an upgrade: dual 12MP sensors. Motorola was never really known for having excellent cameras in its smartphones, so we do hope things will be different with the new dual-setup. This system doesn't use a telephoto lens like the iPhone 7 or OnePlus 5. Rather, one RGB sensor combines with the information from another black and white sensor.
The Z2 Force keeps the same MotoMod interface from its first generation (hence, the identical design), which means all the MotoMod toys that were purchased during the first-generation Moto Z can be used with the second generation (and vice-versa).
Moto Z2 Force key features
- Body: 7000 series aluminum frame and brushed metal backside
- Screen: 5.5" QHD P-OLED display with ShatterShield (plastic lens instead of glass)
- OS: Android 7.1.1 Nougat with Moto Enhancements (Moto Blur)
- Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 835, 10nm: octa-core CPU (4 - 2.35 GHz Kryo cores & 4 - 1.9 GHz Kryo cores) Adreno 540 GPU
- Memory: 4/6GB of RAM, 64/128GB of storage, microSD expandable nanoSIM tray
- Camera: Dual 12MP, f/2.0, laser & PDAF, dual-tone LED flash, 1.25 µm pixel size
- Secondary camera: 5MP fixed focus with f/2.2 and dual-tone (dual) LED flash
- Video: 4K video @ 30fps, 1080p @ 60fps, 1080 @ 30fps
- Connectivity: nanoSIM (dualSIM available); Qualcomm X16 model capable of Gigabit LTE; dual-band Wi-Fi ac; Bluetooth 4.2 (5.0 support via OTA), USB-C
- Battery: Integrated 2,730 mAh battery
- Misc: NFC, Fingerprint sensor, MotoMod interface
Main shortcomings
- ShatterShield display scratches very easily
- No headphone jack
- Moto Mods add up $$$
- Carrier versions start at $750
Particularly in the US, we are happy to see that the Moto Z2 Force has made it to all major US Carriers. These days, the only smartphones that are you can count on being available with all US carriers is the iPhone, Galaxy flagships, and LG's flagships. Otherwise, other smartphone makers aren't getting as many carrier deals as they used to.
Quickly getting back to Moto Mods, Motorola has embraced the idea of expandability this year by also announcing two new Moto Mods along with the Moto Z2 Force: the GamePad MotoMod, and the Moto 360 Camera MotoMod. A note-worthy tidbit is the GamePad Mod also features a headphone jack. While we do like the idea of expandability with MotoMods, we think that the attachments might be a bit on the pricey side which prevents them from reaching mainstream popularity.
If you already have a Moto Z (or Z Force on Verizon), should you upgrade to the Moto Z2 Force? It's going to be a close call, but we're prepared to give you the facts you need to make your decision. The Moto Z2 has a couple of things going for it, and like many phones lately, "compromise" might be one of those things.
Let's take a closer look at the Moto Z2 Force. The unit we got to check out is for AT&T's network in the States. Follow us along as we unbox and take a close look at the hardware.
Unboxing
We received an AT&T unit of the Moto Z2 Force, which didn't really include anything more than a 15W TurboPower charger. Although we didn't get the headphone jack adapter in the box, AT&T says the final retail units will include one. Sadly, no bundled earbuds so you'll need to supply your own.
As usual, the AT&T unboxing experience was hindered by the carrier, which prefers to use generic branding with the AT&T logo displayed proudly on the packaging of most of its smartphones.
AT&T Packaging
The Moto Z2 Force sits right at the top of the box. Underneath this cardboard cradle is a flap that reveals the TurboPower charger and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Unfortunately, the Moto Z2 Force doesn't come with anything else. Our review unit didn't even have a 3.5mm headphone jack adapter, but we were assured the retail units would include one.
Unboxing the Z2 Force • Box contents
Also worth noting: the Moto Z2 Force comes with a separate USB cable and wall adapter, which is much more practical since last year's Moto Z models came with a single unit charger, which meant you needed to buy a separate USB-C cable to hook up the phone to a PC. Motorola mentions some markets might not offer a bundled TurboPower charger with the phone.
Hardware
The Moto Z2 Force is essentially a Moto Z with updated internal hardware and a slightly modified exterior. The Moto Z2 Force is a little bit beefier than the Moto Z. While the Moto Z had a super thin profile of 5.2mm (minus the camera assembly), the Moto Z2 Force gains 0.9mm in thickness, adding up to 6.1mm thick (minus the camera 'disk'). Also, the Z2 Force doesn't come with any Style Shells like last year.
Moto Z2 Force (left), Moto Z (right): front • back
Instead, the Z2 Force's backside is much more comfortable to hold. With the Moto Z, if you took the Style shell off, you were left with holding sharp edges whose lines easily imprinted into your palm. The new Force shaves off the hard edges with an every-so-slight bevel around the edge that joins the antenna band and the metal frame. On the bottom of the phone, there's a mic hole on the lower antenna band.
Speaking of antenna bands, the Z2 Force has only one of them. It goes all the way around the back of the phone; which, surprisingly, hasn't really been done by other phone makers that were too busy copying the iPhone's antenna band layout. This antenna band layout just makes sense.
Antenna band • Bevel around the frame
On the inside of the antenna band is a brushed aluminum metal backing. The Moto Z2 Force features the Moto batwing as an insert rather than a silk-screen printing. This makes the "M" easier to find to rest your index finger on, bringing us back to the days of the Moto X. The Z2 Force's insert doesn't curve in, rather, it's is slightly recessed.
New to the Z2 Force is Moto's first generation dual-camera setup. The camera ring does protrude quite a bit, just like any other Moto Z model. The camera assembly is made up of two 12MP sensors: one RGB and one monochrome. This means the Moto Z will be able to take pure black and white photos, as well as produce images with a simulated-bokeh effect. More on this in the camera section.
As a reminder, the MotoMod interface remains exactly the same as last year, which means you can use any MotoMod accessories you might already have on the new Z2 Force, in addition, any new MotoMods are also backwards compatible with any variant of any generation of the Moto Z.
Rear • Closeup of the camera
Motorola made the Z2 Force out of 7000 series aluminum, which Motorola attributes to the phone's elegant, yet, durable exterior. "Because what's the point in having a beautiful phone if you cover it with a bulky case?" The phone's frame is metal and features a smooth-matte finish. Just keep in mind it's not immune to dents and scuffs. It will definitely hold up better than many other phones that are built with more malleable metal.
The Z2 Force is a shatterproof smartphone, which Moto calls "ShatterShield". The display is a durable OLED panel protected by a plastic lens, which means there isn't glass that can break, but the plastic lens is much more susceptible to scratching.
Motorola did state that the press received pre-production units, so the retail devices for the masses should see a more durable ShatterShield. Motorola also said that customers would be able to get the plastic ShatterShield replacement, though quickly contradicted itself shortly afterwards when the communications rep realized Motorola had discontinued them for the Z2 Force. Motorola encourages that you use a third-party screen protector to protect the ShatterShield from scratches.
Aluminum body • Scratches and indentations toward the middle of the screen
While you likely won't get a case for the Z2 Force, you'll definitely want to invest in a screen protector of some kind. We barely used ours for a day after the announcement event and already saw two scratches on the lens. In fact, pressing a fingernail into the screen is enough to permanently dent it, which does not look good for a phone that starts at $720, even going for more than $800 on AT&T. Also notable: the Moto Z2 Force's frame doesn't dent when dropped, but it will scuff.
Lens aside, the Z2 Force's front consists of an unchanged 5MP selfie camera with front-facing dual-LED flash, and an earpiece which doubles as the loudspeaker. Under that, a 5.5-inch QHD P-OLED display, which doesn't look like much of an upgrade from last year's Moto Z, but we'll be taking a look at the display tests and let you know our findings in the next section.
Under the display is a larger fingerprint sensor, one that matches the size and shape of Motorola's other offerings. Also under the display is a mic hole and two infra-red sensors on either lower-corner that detect the wave of your hand when you want to activate Moto Display. More on that in the UI section.
Front • Bezel: top • bottom
Like the Moto Z and Z Force last year, the Z2 Force is also missing a 3.5mm headphone jack. So there is only a USB type-C port on the bottom. We do like that Moto uses a more durable material just around the USB-C port to protect the metal frame from getting scratched front frequently connecting the charger.
The top edge houses a SIM and microSD card tray, as well as a noise-cancelling microphone (this makes three external mics, which work together for Moto Voice and video. Meanwhile, the left side is completely blank while the right side is home to the phone's only physical keys, which have been placed pretty high up on the phone.
The volume and power keys are made of presumably the same 7000 series aluminum as the phone and feature tiny beveled edges. The power key is also textured to tell it apart from the volume buttons. We like when phone makers put this kind of attention to detail.
Bottom • Top • Left • Right
All in all, the Moto Z2 is still quite wide for a 5.5-inch display. As phone makers are focused on getting more screen to fit in your hand, this was not a priority for Motorola and this overall design may not resonate with some in 2017.
While thin, the device has generous amounts of surface area and pretty large bezels. That said, the iPhone 7 Plus is still a bit taller and wider than the Z2 Force. Then again, the iPhone 7 Plus technically carries designs from 2014 and is still the largest 5.5-inch phone in 2017.
Moto Z2 Force in the hand
In the next section, we'll dive into the display, battery life, and connectivity suite.
Display
The Moto Z2 Force's display is pretty much unchanged since the previous iterations of the Moto Z. It's a 5.5-inch OLED display with the standard 16:9 aspect ratio. The display is about 10% brighter than the Moto Z and 8% brighter than the Moto Z Force. The use of an OLED display is a no brainer for power efficiency of features like Moto Display, which only powers the pixels that are being shown.
The Z2 Force also features Moto's ShatterShield, which is Motorola's branded term for being shatter proof. Instead of using any type of Gorilla Glass (or any glass, for that matter), the Moto Z2 Force uses a plastic-based lens, which is not anywhere near as durable as older generations of Gorilla Glass (which is on its fifth generations).
The tradeoff, however, is that you never need to worry about the Z2 Force's display cracking or splitting. Motorola even had a drop station at the launch event where Moto reps were dropping the Z2 Force on patio tiles. Still, we only used the Moto Z2 Force for a couple of days when we already noticed a couple of deep marks in the display's lens.
In addition to very light scratches, there were indentations in the screen. Moderately pressing a fingernail into the display will also result in a permanent marking: This definitely should never be a characteristic of a smartphone of this price range. Do get a screen protector of some kind to protect the Z2 Force's display. We'd even recommend you apply it as soon as you pull it out of the box.
| Display test | 100% brightness | ||
| Black, cd/m2 | White, cd/m2 | ||
| 0.50 | 681 | 1362 | |
| 0 | 618 | ∞ | |
| 0.373 | 583 | 1563 | |
| 0.41 | 573 | 1398 | |
| 0 | 559 | ∞ | |
| 0.335 | 547 | 1633 | |
| 0.00 | 517 | ∞ | |
| 0.00 | 506 | ∞ | |
| 0.308 | 483 | 1568 | |
| 0.00 | 445 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 440 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 435 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 432 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 376 | ∞ | |
| 0.00 | 371 | ∞ | |
| 0.00 | 352 | ∞ | |
The display's brightness tops off at 376 nits when manually adjusted. However, when in Adaptive mode, the display is able to crank out up to 559 nits, which is bright enough for comfortable use outdoors. Otherwise, the phone's display is able to get as dim as 7 nits: which is about average.
We do wish that Motorola took more time to correctly calibrate this display. On our review unit, in standard mode, we found an average deltaE of 5. Whites appear cooler than they should and colors were a bit oversaturated, a typical result of an OLED panel.
There is also a standard mode which does tone the colors down a bit and is typically selected for more accurate use of the screen, such as when adjusting photos. This mode is sometimes called sRGB, as well. Anyway, the average deltaE of this mode was a little lower at 3.8, but the reds, ironically, are even further from accuracy with a max deltaE of 11.2 when displaying the reds, so while in vibrant mode, reds were too saturated, in standard mode, reds are too dark.
This means, if you are a photographer or a graphics designer and you are nitpicky with color accuracy, you might want to look elsewhere. Otherwise, this isn't a deal breaker for the casual smartphone user, so don't take inaccurate reds to heart when making a decision.
Connectivity
Motorola boasted that the Moto Z2 Force supports 1Gbps download speeds thanks to the Snapdragon 835's X16 modem. While there aren't many areas that will support the download speeds just yet, T-Mobile and Verizon have already shown us they are working toward these speeds in the US, which under normal conditions, can show speeds of between 100-300 Mbps.
The Moto Z2 Force is compatible with CDMA and GSM networks (market dependent). You can expect Quad-band GSM: 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900, HSPA+ 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100, (worldwide) LTE bands: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 17, 20, 25, 26, 28, and 66.
Other connectivity options include: Wi-Fi a/b/g/n (2.4GHz) + ac (5GHz MIMO), Bluetooth 4.2 (A2DP, EDR, LE) with Bluetooth 5.0 arriving in a future software update. A-GPS, Wi-Fi Direct, Android Beam, and NFC with support for tap-to-pay services.
It's worth mentioning that the NFC radio on this thing has a really strong signal. Merely putting the phone next to another one will engage NFC. No more hunting for the antenna for an Android Pay transaction to go through.
The Moto Z2 Force has a USB-C port where audio is also streamed through (with the included 3.5mm to USB-C headphone adapter). If you were looking for a built-in FM radio, sorry. You won't find one here.
Battery Life
The battery situation is strange on the Moto Z2 Force. You see, last year the Moto Z had two trims: Moto Z and Moto Z Force, the latter of the two was a Verizon-exclusive version, but it also had a 35% larger battery pack (3,500 mAh) than the standard Moto Z (2,600 mAh). And the Moto Z had terrible battery life.
This time around things are different. The battery in the Z2 Force is a 2,730 mAh battery and there is no version with a larger power pack. However, the battery scores are quite interesting.
The Moto Z2 Force scored a higher-than-expected Endurance rating of 69h overall. By contrast, the Moto Z scored 53h, overall, in our endurance tests. There are significant improvements across the board in terms of battery endurance, despite the incremental battery update. The call endurance time was 40% better at 15:04h, web browsing saw a 58% increase in score at 9:52h, and video playback was the most improved category with a 71% improvement, yielding a score of 18:21h.
The numbers were so unexpected, we had to run the endurance tests multiple times. However, where the numbers didn't see as big of a change was in standby times. While the Snapdragon 835 yields much longer usage time, it also yields a higher battery draw, which weighed the overall scored down to 69h. Regardless of the standby time, our expectations were still surpassed in terms of battery endurance.
You can quickly glance at the phone's projected battery life by tapping on the battery icon in the Quick Settings and there's even a toggle for the battery saver. There's a shortcut to the battery settings screen, too. Here, you can view battery statistics and set the Battery saver to come on automatically or never.
Battery Quick setting • Battery options • Battery saver
The battery charger has received an update. In addition to now being a separate piece from the cable, the included wall adapter uses three power modes: 5V @ 3A (15W), 9V @ 1.6V (14.4W), and 12V at 1.2A (14.4W). The previous TurboPower adapter only supported the first power mode: 5V @ 3A, which is USB PD (Power Delivery) -- the same fast-charge method as found on the Google Pixel.
The difference is that the new TurboPower adapter is also compatible with Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0 devices. This also means Moto Z2 Force is compatible with both Quick Charge 2.0 adapters and USB Power Delivery adapters, we applaud Moto for using dual fast-charging standards. The TurboPower charger brought the Moto Z2 Force to 60% power capacity in 30 minutes.
Our endurance rating denotes how long a single battery charge will last you if you use the Moto Z2 Force for an hour each of telephony, web browsing, and video playback daily. We've established this usage pattern so our battery results are comparable across devices in the most common day-to-day tasks. The battery testing procedure is described in detail in case you're interested in the nitty-gritties. You can also check out our complete battery test table, where you can see how all of the smartphones we've tested will compare under your own typical use.
Lean and mean UI
Ever since Lenovo acquired Motorola, we were afraid the new parent company might adopt some new kind of manufacturer skin for future Moto phones. We are happy to see that Lenovo decided to keep Motorola's software on the same track that it's been on, since even before Google acquired it back in 2013. The Moto X's software was so minimally intrusive and well optimized with just the right amount of value-added software features.
The Moto Z2 Force's software is in the same boat: a minimalistic yet efficient interface that runs near-stock Android with useful and unique software features that are not redundant with Google or Android's set of features. Perhaps Samsung could learn a thing or two from Motorola's software engineers.
Anyway, Moto's UI is lean and clean. Starting off with the launcher, it looks a lot like the Pixel's launcher, complete with a swipe-up app-drawer. You can tap and hold the white tab on the right of the drawer to scroll through apps by letter. The most frequently used apps are on the top row.
Home screen 1 • and 2 • Swipe-up for the app-drawer • Top row consists of frequently used apps
Launcher settings are pretty barebones. The wallpaper chooser is the same one found on the Google Pixel and on the Play Store as Google's "Wallpapers" app. You can choose between live wallpapers and various categories.
Launcher settings • Google's wallpaper chooser
Widgets are also a familiar deal, scroll through widgets and you tap-and-hold to place it on your home screens. There are two more options behind the Settings cog: A home screen rotation toggle (which is ON by default), and a toggle for showing your Google Feed on the leftmost screen.
Browsing for widgets • Additional launcher settings
Even Google Now has made it to Moto's stock launcher. Swiping past the leftmost home screen will pop you into Google Now so you can take a quick peek at Google cards.
The Lock Screen has your standard notifications view: double tap on a notification to open the app or pull it down for more information. Otherwise, there are two shortcuts here: swipe from the left for a Google Assistant Voice Search or Swipe from the right for the camera.
Google Now • Lock screen
There are two places where you can interact with notifications: the lock screen and the Moto Display screen. We'll talk about Moto Display in the Moto Enhancements section below.
Like much of the stock-Android UI, notifications are no different. Quick Replies are accessible right from the notification, as well as the aforementioned Active Display. You'll be able to reply right from the lockscreen as well, though this feature only works without a screen lock method or when Smart Lock is enabled. Otherwise you'll need to unlock the phone before you can Quick Reply.
Lock screen • Notifications • Reply right from the lock screen
The Moto Z2 Force also supports multiple users out of the box. Add another user or guest account to the phone.
A double-pull of the notification shade shows you more quick toggles while an edit button lets you rearrange and add new toggles.
Notification shade • Quick settings • Editing Quick Settings • Switch user profile
A toggle unique to the Moto Z's UI is the MotoMod toggle which allows you to update or control the attached MotoMod's settings.
Moto Mod toggle • Shortcut to attached Mod's settings
The Moto Z2's fingerprint scanner can be used in a number of ways. It can be used to wake/unlock the phone and it can be used to navigate the phone without the need of on-screen navigation buttons.
Setting up a fingerprint
Gestures are used to navigate: swipe left to go Back, tap to go Home, or swipe right to switch between recent apps. You can even invert the Back and Recents gestures if you prefer it another way. Oh yeah, and press-holding the sensor for a short time will lock the screen, press holding it for a longer time will summon the Google Assistant.
Gesture navigation
The Settings app is a standard affair. The top of the menu gives you suggestions to features and shortcuts to those features. Otherwise, the menu is not organized into tabs of categories; a single screen gives you access to all the settings, or you can search for a setting.
Settings suggestions • Browse or search for a setting
The UI is smooth and makes sense, there's not much that bogs the system down and we're really glad about that. Next up are all the features unique to the higher-end Moto devices.
Moto Enhancements
The best part of using a Moto phone is the addition of Moto Enhancements. Motorola has included its own unique number of enhancements and has been refining their branding and functionality over the years. We enjoy the approach of the Moto App, which acts as a control center for all the actions and automated features of the phone.
The Moto Z2 Force's Moto Enhancements consist of three main categories: Moto Display, Moto Voice, and Moto Actions. We'll brief over each category and the features that stand out the most. Moto Voice has gotten the most significant update, so we'll cover that as well.
Moto Enhancements • Actions • Display • Voice
Moto Actions
We like that Motorola has placed all its major actions into single menu. This is much better than having them scattered all over different Settings menus. Most of these actions have been optimized for years so their effect on overall battery life is marginal.
In the original Moto X, a dedicated contextual processor was needed to manage actions that involved physical gestures as part of Motorola's X8 computing platform. Contextual motion and voice sensing has been since been baked into Qualcomm's CPUs for a while now, minimizing the battery draw needed for it and eliminating the need for dedicated chips.
Moto Actions
While we've seen most of these features in other smartphones, but the most notable to Moto are "chop twice for flashlight", and "twist for quick capture". "Approach for Moto Display" is unique to Moto. The phone's IR sensors on the chin of the phone pick up motion as you reach for the phone, which wakes Moto Display so you can glance at your notifications.
Moto Display
Moto Display has been updated from the Moto Z with a new clock design with integrated battery ring, a new blue-colored theme, and direct-replies from the locked Active Display. There's no way to change the color, but you can select which apps to block, choose how much detail to show, and toggle the quick reply feature.
Active Display and its Settings
You can either type your quick reply or vocalize it. To quick reply from Active Display, tap and hold the message icon and drag it to either the reply arrow icon or the mic icon.
Also part of Moto Display is a new feature called Night Display. An increasingly popular feature: the phone will display warmer colors to filter our blue light to help you sleep better at night.
Moto Display • Night Display • Moto Display settings
Moto Voice
Moto Voice received a pretty significant change to how it's used. In the past, Moto Voice worked in parallel with a Google Search, which is no longer the case. The New Moto Voice works better with a low or unstable connection, and eliminates the need for a wake-word.
Moto Voice
Upon setting up Moto Voice, you'll be asked to say commands like "Show me Maps" and "Show me my calendar". This is actually all you need to say to wake the phone up to do things efficiently. "Show me [App], Show me [my calendar/my day], Show me [the weather]".
"Show me" mechanics
These new "Show me" commands are more instantaneous than Google searches and display the information for a short time. Though if you still want to call someone, play music, or send a text, you'll have to use the "Okay, Google" command (which still works with the screen off). Moto Voice has reduced its footprint to give way for features that are already available from Google Assistant. Way to keep it lean, Moto!
Once under another category (Moto Assist), Talk to me is a feature that announces all your incoming notifications. Which you can set the Z2 Force to do if it detect you're driving or if a headset it connected.
Moto Voice options • Talk to me
Synthetic benchmarks
Like the majority of flagship smartphones of 2017, the Z2 Force packs a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 CPU. Where the Snapdragon 820 used a souped-up quad-core CPU (two performance cores + two efficiency cores), the SD 835 uses four performance cores clocked at up to 2.45GHz and four efficiency cores running up to 1.9GHz.
However, what attributes to the faster CPU's improved power efficiency over the Snapdragon 820/821 is the 835's 10nm process, which contains a more powerful CPU in a smaller footprint, thus resulting in improved battery life.
Snapdragons aside, the Moto Z2 Force posted quite well across the board. We've got a decent variety of CPUs in the batch: The Exynos 8895 represented by none other than the Galaxy S8, as well as the Snapdragon 835 version of the S8+ (along with the HTC U11). We're also looking at the Kirin 960 in the Huawei P10 Plus, and, of course, the Apple iPhone 7 Plus' A10 Fusion chip.
Motorola's software has always been well optimized and the Moto Z2 Force is no exception. In GeekBench, the scores are well within other smartphones with the same processor. In GeekBench 4 (not 4.1) results, you can see the clear distinction between the Snapdragon 820/821 and Snapdragon 835. You can also spot the iPhone 7 Plus' A10 Fusion in the single-core score, whose Twister cores remain champs on their own.
GeekBench 4.1 (multi-core)
Higher is better
- Samsung Galaxy S8
6656 - Motorola Moto Z2 Force
6629 - OnePlus 5
6604 - HTC U11
6393 - Samsung Galaxy S8+ (SD 835)
6301
GeekBench 4.1 (single-core)
Higher is better
- Samsung Galaxy S8
1991 - OnePlus 5
1932 - HTC U11
1919 - Motorola Moto Z2 Force
1915 - Samsung Galaxy S8+ (SD 835)
1832
GeekBench 4 (multi-core)
Higher is better
- OnePlus 5
6404 - Motorola Moto Z2 Force
6278 - Samsung Galaxy S8
6175 - HTC U11
6125 - Samsung Galaxy S8+ (SD 835)
6106 - Huawei P10 Plus
5821 - Apple iPhone 7 Plus
5664 - OnePlus 3T
4364 - Google Pixel XL
4152 - Lenovo Moto Z Droid
4130 - Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (S820)
4128
GeekBench 4 (single-core)
Higher is better
- Apple iPhone 7 Plus
3473 - OnePlus 5
2031 - HTC U11
1993 - Motorola Moto Z2 Force
1986 - Samsung Galaxy S8
1945 - Huawei P10 Plus
1937 - Samsung Galaxy S8+ (SD 835)
1915 - OnePlus 3T
1890 - Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (S820)
1696 - Lenovo Moto Z Droid
1694 - Google Pixel XL
1507
In overall performance, the Z2 Force took the lead only behind the iPhone 7 Plus. The OnePlus 5 trails close behind and the OnePlus 3T scored atop the other competitors, even besting both versions of the Galaxy S8. The Moto Z Droid is just ahead of the OnePlus 3T with the Google Pixel scoring dead last here.
Basemark OS 2.0
Higher is better
- Apple iPhone 7 Plus
3796 - Motorola Moto Z2 Force
3609 - OnePlus 5
3601 - Samsung Galaxy S8
3376 - Samsung Galaxy S8+ (SD 835)
3319 - HTC U11
2970 - Huawei P10 Plus
2940 - Lenovo Moto Z Droid
2690 - OnePlus 3T
2678 - Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (S820)
2352 - Google Pixel XL
2281
AnTuTu 6 shows a pretty nice curve with the scored of devices. The OnePlus 5 likely dominated the charts thanks to its whopping 8GB of RAM. Otherwise, the U11 trails just behind with the iPhone 7 Plus unable to break 175k. The Huawei P10 Plus scored last in this round.
AnTuTu 6
Higher is better
- OnePlus 5
180331 - Motorola Moto Z2 Force
178674 - HTC U11
177343 - Apple iPhone 7 Plus
174987 - Samsung Galaxy S8
174435 - Samsung Galaxy S8+ (SD 835)
168133 - OnePlus 3T
165097 - Lenovo Moto Z Droid
151619 - Google Pixel XL
141186 - Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (S820)
132849 - Huawei P10 Plus
126252
Now we arrive to gaming performance. GFXBench puts the devices through graphic-intensive tests to see where the phones top off in the number of frames per second the phone can crank out.
The Moto Z2 Force topped out on all offscreen tests, which objectively puts the Moto Z2 Force at the top of the other smartphones. That's only if you compare apple to apples, though. Since phone displays come with varying resolutions, the one with a higher resolution would require working with more pixels, thus scoring a lower frames-per-second.
The Exynos Galaxy S8 was able to beat the Z2 Force in only one test by one point: 3.1 Manhattan on-screen test. Considering the S8 has a resolution only slightly higher than QHD (because of pixels added in the 2:1 display), the Exynos 8895 is a gamers dream. Otherwise, the phones that scored higher all did so because they only render at 1080p resolution.
GFX 3.0 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)
Higher is better
- Motorola Moto Z2 Force
61 - OnePlus 5
60 - Apple iPhone 7 Plus
60 - HTC U11
60 - Samsung Galaxy S8+ (SD 835)
57 - Samsung Galaxy S8
50 - Lenovo Moto Z Droid
49 - OnePlus 3T
49 - Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (S820)
49 - Google Pixel XL
47 - Huawei P10 Plus
28
GFX 3.0 Manhattan (onscreen)
Higher is better
- OnePlus 5
56 - Apple iPhone 7 Plus
56 - OnePlus 3T
48 - Motorola Moto Z2 Force
40 - Samsung Galaxy S8
36 - HTC U11
35 - Samsung Galaxy S8+ (SD 835)
34 - Lenovo Moto Z Droid
31 - Google Pixel XL
30 - Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (S820)
29 - Huawei P10 Plus
19
GFX 3.1 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)
Higher is better
- Motorola Moto Z2 Force
42 - OnePlus 5
41 - HTC U11
41 - Samsung Galaxy S8+ (SD 835)
39 - Apple iPhone 7 Plus
39 - Samsung Galaxy S8
36 - OnePlus 3T
33 - Google Pixel XL
32 - Lenovo Moto Z Droid
32 - Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (S820)
32 - Huawei P10 Plus
19
GFX 3.1 Manhattan (onscreen)
Higher is better
- Apple iPhone 7 Plus
42 - OnePlus 5
40 - OnePlus 3T
33 - Samsung Galaxy S8
23 - Motorola Moto Z2 Force
22 - HTC U11
19 - Samsung Galaxy S8+ (SD 835)
18 - Lenovo Moto Z Droid
18 - Google Pixel XL
17 - Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (S820)
16 - Huawei P10 Plus
12
GFX 3.1 Car scene (1080p offscreen)
Higher is better
- Motorola Moto Z2 Force
25 - Samsung Galaxy S8
25 - OnePlus 5
24 - HTC U11
24 - Samsung Galaxy S8+ (SD 835)
23 - OnePlus 3T
20 - Google Pixel XL
19 - Lenovo Moto Z Droid
19 - Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (S820)
18 - Huawei P10 Plus
12
GFX 3.1 Car scene (onscreen)
Higher is better
- OnePlus 5
24 - OnePlus 3T
20 - Motorola Moto Z2 Force
15 - Samsung Galaxy S8
13 - HTC U11
13 - Samsung Galaxy S8+ (SD 835)
12 - Lenovo Moto Z Droid
12 - Google Pixel XL
11 - Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (S820)
10 - Huawei P10 Plus
9
Finally, we made it to Basemark X. Like Antutu 6, we can see somewhat of a curve here as well. The Galaxy S8 (Exynos) is the clear first of the pack. Just below it are the OnePlus 5 and then comes the Moto Z2 Force. After seeing these comparisons, we can say that the top three Android performers are the Exynos-flavored Galaxy S8, OnePlus 5, and the Moto Z2 Force.
Basemark X
Higher is better
- Samsung Galaxy S8
42370 - OnePlus 5
38844 - Motorola Moto Z2 Force
38615 - HTC U11
38399 - OnePlus 3T
36958 - Lenovo Moto Z Droid
36322 - Samsung Galaxy S8+ (SD 835)
34951 - Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (S820)
32160 - Google Pixel XL
30861 - Huawei P10 Plus
30602
The Moto Z2 Force is no slouch in performance. We're also glad that the Snapdragon 835 isn't as prone to heat as the Snapdragon 820 was. The Snapdragon 835 is more efficient during use thanks to its 10nm process. By contrast, the Snapdragon 820 used a 14nm one.
The phone never hesitates with tasks and Moto's lightly flavored skin of Android has worked in its favor ever since the days of the original Moto X.
Telephony
The Moto Z2 Force's dialer is simple and clean. There are only three tabs: favorites, call history, and contacts. The dial pad is accessed by the blue button at the bottom. From here, you can use alpha-numeric input of the dialer to search for a name.
Dialer: Favorites • Call history • Contacts • Pad
The dialer has an integrated call blocker, which can be found in the dialer's Settings. Our AT&T review unit also featured video calling, though it can only be used to call other AT&T subscribers.
In-call screen • Dialer settings • Call settings
Do Not Disturb mode settings can be found under "Sound" in the Settings app. Here, you can fine tune which calls or notification have priority. You can also set rules for when the phone should automatically go into Do Not Disturb mode.
Sound settings • Do Not Disturb settings
Loudspeaker
The Moto Z2 Force's loudspeaker output has improved over the Moto Z's. Despite there only being one speaker on the Z2 Force, it's amply loud enough for everything. The loudspeaker also doubles as the in-call receiver, so it's a front-facer - great for watching videos.
The speaker opening on the Z2 Force is physically smaller than the last iteration. Moto however has worked on improving the speaker volume and quality and it shows. Loudspeaker tests have shown an improvement of about 4 or 5 decibels across the board.
Motorola has been making radio equipment for decades, so if anyone knows how make a speaker ring piercingly loud, it's Motorola.
| Speakerphone test | Voice, dB | Ringing |
Overall score | |
| 68.5 | 69.4 | 71.6 | Good | |
| 64.5 | 66.2 | 81.8 | Good | |
| 68.3 | 72.2 | 72.9 | Good | |
| 69.5 | 68.0 | 77.6 | Good | |
| 66.1 | 69.0 | 84.1 | Very Good | |
| 69.2 | 72.9 | 77.5 | Very Good | |
| 74.0 | 68.3 | 78.0 | Very Good | |
| 69.2 | 72.7 | 78.4 | Very Good | |
| 68.7 | 73.0 | 79.1 | Very Good | |
| 67.7 | 70.0 | 83.6 | Very Good | |
| 68.2 | 70.2 | 86.1 | Very Good | |
| 73.4 | 72.1 | 84.1 | Excellent |
Dynamic range has also improved on the Z2 Force. We were able to hear a fairly wide range of bass tones and treble instruments. There was no sign of distortion even at maximum volume. There's a lot of depth in the sound, but it still feels on the tinny side, which is normal for any smartphone's loudspeaker, particularly with the side of the opening. The sound is quite good considering the side of the port.
The Z2 Force got a "Very Good" score in our loudness test. There are definitely louder smartphones, but you'll surely be satisfied with the volume and depth of sound at this price point. Oh yeah, and the front-facing speaker is an added bonus.
Google Photos for gallery and video playback
Moto uses the default option for viewing pictures or videos on Android: Google Photos. Gallery functionality isn't as intuitive as other custom galleries, but there are plenty of features and functionalities for Google Photos.
Just keep in mind many of these features require you to upload all your photos to Google's photo cloud. You can search photos by person or keyword, and Google Photos can even automatically generate collages, GIFs, and short video montages.
Photo view • Selecting photos • Album and people view
If you opt out of Google's cloud service, you can still manage albums and edit photos.
Offline: Gallery view • Menu
There are plenty of editing tools as well. What you won't find in Google Photos is a way to scribble on photos or inserting stickers. But you will be able to use filters, basic crop and rotation, and light/color correction with levels.
Photo preview • Photo editor: Filters and Auto adjustment • levels • crop and rotate
Video playback is nothing more than bare bones. You can seek with a progress bar, toggle loop playback, or share the video. You can also edit videos taken with the phone, though it's only a very basic trimming tool. Otherwise, there's neither support for subtitles, swipe-to-seek, nor playback speed adjustment.
Video playback
Google Play Music
Moto uses the Android-default option for music playback. Google Play Music offers a vast collection of music that you can listen to for free with supporting ads or you can upload up to 50,000 of your own MP3 collection that you can stream anywhere you go. You can even save these tracks offline with the free version.
Google Play Music Subscription
You can opt for a subscription that includes all of the features above with no-ads, unlimited skips, and YouTube Red comes bundled with the subscription which lets you watch YouTube videos offline, screen-off playback, and an ad-free viewing experience.
Google Play Music is very contextual and can recommend music for you based on your location. It learns what you listen to and at what times to offer suggestions for stations or playlists.
Contextual recommendations
Google Music's navigation is arguably cumbersome. You have a hamburger menu with several options. Google's Music App can also play back locally store music. You can browse by playlist, stations, artists, albums, songs, and genres.
Menu • Playlists • Stations • Now Playing screen
Google Music also has a collection of podcasts, which you can still use with the free version. The curated radio stations are powered by Songza and is quite diverse. You can find a radio station for any occasion, activity, mood, or decade.
Podcasts • Finding a radio station
Gboard for text input
Gboard is the default keyboard from Google and offers many features, predictive text, simultaneous language support, emoji and GIF search, and perform Google searches directly from the keyboard. To look something up or share a result.
Gboard
Double Vision
The Moto Z2 Force is the company's first flagship device featuring a dual-camera setup. Like a bunch of other dual-camera setups, this one uses dual-12MP cameras. Though, unlike the iPhone or OnePlus 5's solutions, this one takes the same approach as Huawei's Leica camera setup: one 12MP sensor is RGB (color) while the second sensor is black & white.
Both sensors have an f/2.0 aperture, which isn't quite the f/1.7 aperture on other top performers like the Galaxy S8 and the HTC U11 (the closer to zero, the more light that's allowed into the sensor). Motorola isn't exactly the leader in photography, so we're excited to see that Moto is taking photography more seriously with this new dual-camera setup. Let's see whether the camera's 2nd camera does make a good impression on these photos.
In addition to laser-assisted autofocus, the dual-camera also uses phase-detection autofocus. Laser-assist works to quickly focus on subjects that are not too far from the camera, otherwise, PDAF kicks in for focusing other, further parts in frame.
The first thing worth mentioning is the double-twist action to launch the camera. It works every single time and the camera starts up right away. If you find your hands full, double-twisting while the camera app is open will toggle to the front camera. We'll find ourselves missing this feature when we have to send the Moto back.
We're glad that Moto no longer defaults the camera to a 16:9, sensor-cropped aspect ratio. Moving along, let's dig right into the interface. The camera supports scanning of QR codes, business cards, or regular barcodes right out of the box.
Double twist to open • Business cards and QR code support
In the past, Motorola used an oversimplified camera interface but has since morphed into a more elaborate camera experience. For one, there's a shutter button, which was optional in the first Moto Z. The other option was to tap anywhere to take a photo. In the Moto Z2 Force, you can do either one.
To the left are very basic camera shortcuts: timer, flash, and HDR settings. A swipe to the right reveals a menu with more options: assistive grid, toggle quick capture, or change various resolution settings. Swiping to the left lets you scroll through the most recent pics in your camera roll. Swiping vertically or pinching controls the viewfinder's zoom.
Camera interface • Settings • Camera modes • Zoom
Professional mode lets you manually adjust ISO, shutter speed, white balance, and focus. The downside is that the professional camera mode won't let you choose a shutter speed slower than a quarter of a second. This really hinders the camera's low-light ability, even with a tripod.
Professional mode
The Z2 Force can take pure black & white photos by using the other 12MP monochrome sensor. Since black and white photos don't rely on color, they feature better dynamic range and result in less noise in lower lighting conditions.
Black & White mode
Depth mode has a few different uses, but the one that most will use is the blurring of the background: take a photo of a subject and the camera's second eye will make out what is in the foreground and try to blur what isn't. This simulates a bokeh effect from DSLR cameras without relying on aperture.
Depth mode
Finally, when the camera is in low lighting conditions, you'll see a crescent moon in the corner of the viewfinder signaling you to keep the camera steadier.
Low light detected
Image quality
The Moto Z2 Force is a premium device with a price tag to prove it. That said, while we're not totally satisfied with the images, we're not dissatisfied either. Yes, there are definitely better cameras out there in phones that are priced lower (HTC U11, Google Pixel). That said, we'll approach image quality with a reasonable amount of criticism.
In ideal lighting conditions, the Z2 Force produced pretty good-looking photos. Although dynamic range isn't excellent in some scenes, we like the resulting images. Processing noise is barely there as a result of the second camera sensor and details are crispy. Briefly going back to dynamic range, it's difficult to expose for light coming through the foliage in the trees, we'll be able to better test this in the HDR section below.
Sample shots
Color reproduction is not consistent: sometimes the scene is colored very well while other times colors look washed out. Particularly, scenes with reds in the frame tend to throw off the white balance, resulting in dulled out colors. Red is the most difficult color for a camera to grade properly, and the Moto Z2 Force's camera is clearly affected by this. Besides the reds, color reproduction was quite good.
Focusing somewhat a mixed bag. It'll usually get it right but if you're not careful, the camera might see right past the subject and focus on the background. Do yourself a favor and disable the "tap anywhere to capture" option so you can select your focal point the way it was meant: by tapping the spot on the viewfinder. Otherwise, you'll have to drag the focal point around, which is more cumbersome.
After reviewing sample shots, we are glad to say that the Moto Z2's dual camera has significantly improved over last year's iterations. Way to go, Moto!
HDR
The Z2 Force has two HDR modes: Auto and ON. The following samples were taken with HDR ON. We have to say we were impressed by the results. We'll say that the HDR mode does a much better job of making shadows more visible, but has more trouble suppressing highlights. Regardless, HDR improved high-dynamic exposures in scenes.
HDR: OFF • ON
HDR: OFF • ON
HDR: OFF • ON
HDR: OFF • ON
We tossed in one sample of the Huawei P10. The Moto Z2 Force rendered better details, colors, and exposure than the Huawei P10.
Huawei P10 - HDR: OFF • ON
Low-light samples
Shooting in low light with any smartphone camera requires a bit of know-how if you really want to get a good shot. The Z2 Force's shutter speed does not go any lower than 1/15th of a second in automatic mode while maxing out ISO at 2,500. Despite the high ISO, the fountain scene's noise was pretty well managed.
In the first sample below, we took the photo in manual mode. It's a shame you can't manually set the shutter speed to a longer setting. Even a 1 second exposure time could have made a great image.
B&W versions of the scene are added to show its low-light performance as well. B&W tends to do better in low light since there are no colors to process, only shades of black. Noise starts to appear in higher ISOs.
Manual mode • Auto LL mode • B&W
Mind you, these shots were taken on a tripod, take it off the tripod and you'll see a huge difference.
HDR ON - handheld
Here are some more low-light sample shots. Here's a tip: don't overdo HDR mode in low-light situations because the HDR tries to increase exposure using software, which degrades the finer details (see last low light sample below). The best situation we found was letting the camera detect itself in Low light mode (the crescent icon) and then shooting the scene with a tripod.
Auto • HDR ON • B&W
Auto LL mode • Manual to 400 ISO • B&W
Auto LL mode • HDR ON • B&W
Black & White samples
The Moto Z2 takes black & white photos by using only the secondary camera from its dual sensor setup. The staircase photo and the outdoor one both yielded some really excellent details. Dynamic range could still use some work, particularly (again) suppressing highlights.
Black and white samples
Depth mode
Since the phone has two cameras, it can also understand depth perception. Well, to a certain degree. We'll say that the depth effect on images isn't too bad, but you CAN tell around our subject's wandering locks of hair.
Our subject was facing a diagonal, so you can see the shirt's focus slowly fade out of focus as you look toward his right arm. Surely, you'll get a better result if your subject has a more defined outline. Avoid taking photos of subjects really close to the lens or you'll get a photo with an indistinguishable bokeh border.
Depth mode shots
There are a few ways to edit the depth shots right from the phone. You can make it anything in focus is the only thing in color, you can refocus on an existing depth image, and you can replace whatever is in the background with an image already on your phone. The latter doesn't work perfectly, then again, both it and "Selective B&W" are in BETA. So you can expect these will improve over time.
Editing a depth-enabled image • Selective B&W • Adjusting blur effect
Background replacement
Panorama
Taking a panorama is simple on the Z2 Force. In fact, the Moto Z2 can take panoramas either vertically or horizontally. After pressing the shutter button, start moving the camera in any direction. Sweep the scene and the image will start stitching when you stop capturing.
Taking a panoramic shot
If you're taking a side-to-side shot, you'll wanna hold the phone portrait and hold it landscape if you're taking a vertical panoramic shot. This way, you get more field of view into the panorama. The first panorama was taken in landscape orientation and the second one in portrait. See the difference in field of view for yourself.
Panorama (landscape)
Panorama (portrait)
5MP selfie camera with dual LED flash
The selfie camera is the same one from the Moto Z: a 5MP fixed focus sensor. The only update to this camera is the addition of a second LED for the front-facing flash, making it dual-tone like many other smartphones these days.
There's facial detection for correcting exposure, HDR modes, and a beautify filter. You can manually adjust beautification or you can let Moto take the wheel with automatic beautification.
Front camera viewfinder
Selfies were pretty good. In good lighting, the front camera is able to pick up a nice amount of details in the background. Considering the camera is 5MP, it's able to pick up a considerable amount of detail.
HDR doesn't really improve much if you've already got good selfie lighting (in this case, light from a window). Toggling HDR ON in a selfie will raise shadows, so use it sparingly.
The beautification option can be selected between 1 and 7. There's also an "Auto" option, though we're not sure how it decides how much beautification someone's face needs.
HDR OFF • HDR ON • moderately beautified
Selfies in low light are quite decent, though you'll definitely see more noise if you switch HDR ON. We do enjoy that there's a dual-LED flash dedicated to the front camera as well. It works well in a pinch.
Low light selfie: HDR OFF • HDR ON • Flash on
Video
The Z2 Force can record up to 4K resolution at 30fps (though it's technically 29 fps). Otherwise, the camera is also capable of recording 1080p video at 60fps.
Camera modes
The video produced by the Moto Z2 Force looks excellent: details are very clean and colors are very well reproduced with minimal noise. The downside is that we experienced focus hunting in every video mode we tested. We can attribute that to cars heading toward the camera at high speeds and the intended focal point should have been manually set.
Typically, 1080p's 60fps mode sacrifices image quality to pump out double the amount of frames and we can say the Moto Z2 Force is no different. Video taken in 60fps takes a significant hit in image quality. The difference is more noticeable in the image stabilization test samples than in the video filmed on a tripod.
While there isn't a fully manual video mode, there are two other modes: slow motion video and B&W video. You can select either 720p@240 fps or 1080p @ 120 fps for slow motion.
The video recorder has a dedicated viewfinder, which changes the available shortcuts on the left side. There's a stabilization toggle and a torch shortcut. When you turn on the video stabilization feature, you'll notice the field-of-view will crop a bit in the viewfinder to compensate for extra camera movement.
Video stabilization OFF • Video stabilization ON
We tested each video mode with and without stabilization. We saw that a toggle for stabilization exists for 4K, and while it does crop the frame in a little bit, we don't think it really stabilized anything. It could just be that the stabilization is not working in this early build of the phone.
Stabilization works well in 1080p @ 30fps and that's about it. While the 60fps walking sample was pretty decently stabilized, it's quite disorienting to watch first-person footage with 60fps regardless of whether it's stabilized or not. That aside, stabilized 60fps video took a significant hit in image quality where the highlights blended with the foliage in the trees. 4K video suffers from the same thing, only stabilized 4K doesn't even look significantly stabilized in comparison to the improvement of stabilized 1080p @ 30fps video.
As always, you can check out the original video samples at these links: (2160p @ 30fps (~96MB) / 1080p @ 30fps (~32MB) / 1080p @ 60fps (~32MB).
Motorola has priced the Moto Z2 Force with the same price that the Moto Z Force launched with last year at $720 dollars in the US. What's more is the carrier-branded versions are priced even higher. They start at $750 with T-Mobile and breaks 800 for AT&T's price of $810. If taxes are high enough, you can expect to pay over $900 in some cases.
The Moto Z2 Force is one of the more compelling devices of 2017. But we can't help but think it should have been priced more competitively. After all, the phone doesn't come with any earbuds but a 3.5mm to USB-C adapter is tossed in. Additionally, if you're looking at getting Moto Mods, the price will quickly rack up with every one you add to the mix. If you can get in on one of the ongoing carrier deals for the Moto Z2 Force, it'd be a much easier pill to swallow.
We do give credit where it's deserved and the camera experience on the Moto Z2 Force is quite compelling. It has vastly improved since the Moto Z with its new dual-camera system, though still leaves room for improvement in a few aspects.
We love the software experience on the Moto Z2 Force. It's like buying a piece of furniture from IKEA except nothing is missing, and there are no duplicate parts. Moto Enhancements are far from gimmicky and offer practical functionality without being intrusive.
Lenovo Moto Z2 Force key test findings
- The Moto Z2 Force keep the same design as its predecessor except for a couple of aesthetic differences. ShatterShield won't leave you with a cracked display. Beveled edge around the rear of the phone noticeably improves ergonomics.
- OLED display is slightly brighter, but color calibration needs work and there is no way to manually adjust colors.
- Moto Enhancements add value to the software experience. They are not gimmicky and practical without being intrusive (i.e. battery life is not noticeably affected).
- Battery score was surprising considering the battery size. This barely makes up for Moto putting a 2,730 mAh battery in a flagship device. An overall score of 69h is very decent. You might be able to get away with not charging overnight and making it through another half day... Maybe.
- The Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 is a solid chipset offering great power efficiency and excellent graphic performance. 4GB of RAM is plenty, but other markets will get 6GB, which should be the standard by the time 2018 rolls around.
- Moto Mods offer expandable functionality without the need to pair any devices. They only work with the Moto Zs and some Mods are pricey.
- Loudspeaker is quite loud and offers great dynamic range when listening to music. Does not distort any range of sounds. Ringtones can be loud enough to call "piercing".
- 12MP dual-camera setup is much improved in many aspects. Low light performance is good, but we wish the manual mode allowed for longer shutter exposures. Reds tend to throw off the scene's color balance. Auto-focus is sometimes hit or miss. Camera leaves room for improvement, but Moto has come a long way.
- Front facing 5MP camera works well, but could use a resolution bump. Dual-LED flash on the front works well and we wish more phone makers included one.
- Video quality is excellent, though you should manually choose a focal point. 60fps @ 1080p sacrificed image quality as is usually the case. Video stabilization worked best on 1080p @ 30fps video. 4K stabilization is barely noticeable.
The Moto Z2 Force has some very fierce competitors this year. Let's jump right in.
The HTC U11 is the first Android phone that comes to mind to compete for your attention. It has the same hardware specs, a better-looking display, full water resistance, and an A+ camera experience. There's no dual camera, but the best smartphones cameras earned their spots with a single sensor. If you're still not convinced, the HTC U11 is a more physically attractive smartphone with a much lower asking price of $650 that checks those few boxes that Moto missed.
HTC U11
The Moto Z2 Force's price point is meant to directly compete against the biggest competition: the iPhone 7 Plus. Moto is putting everything on the table by enticing buyers to make a change with their upgrade. Even if you were considering the iPhone 7, we'd just tell you to wait until September's iPhone announcement.
Apple iPhone 7 Plus
Even almost all the way through its life cycle, the Google Pixel XL is still a great phone despite last year's CPU. If you want the best and purest Android Experience with a crown-worthy camera, this is the phone that you need to get. They hold value pretty well but you may be able to grab one as they discount before the Pixel XL 2 is announced. If your budget is more flexible, we'd recommend you wait until then, if you're set on a pure Android UX.
Google Pixel XL
If you're after a more affordable package with the most value for your dollar, you might want to look at the following two competitors. The Nubia Z17 is ZTE's latest premium device with a Snapdragon 835 CPU and 8GB of RAM. It's certainly a unique-looking design, which ZTE is pretty good at establishing like the Axon 7. The only issue is you'll probably have trouble sourcing it as it's not available in many markets.
ZTE nubia Z17
Otherwise, look no further than the OnePlus 5. You'll get a comparable camera experience (both are dual camera [though this is the telephoto kind]), more RAM, and a better-looking display, but you don't get expandable storage. Otherwise, you won't get the same experience that Moto Enhancements offer, but you'll be saving a fraction of the cost for a device with a future-proof 8GB of RAM.
OnePlus 5
The Galaxy S8 has all the bells and whistles you could ever want with a top-tier camera, Infinity Display, and beautifully crafted hardware. The Galaxy S8 has frequently been offered in promotions and trade-in offers, so you'll definitely be able to find a deal for it.
Samsung Galaxy S8
For those currently using a Moto Z Force, we wouldn't recommend upgrading given that you'll be downgrading in battery life. If you don't care about battery life and you are also a collector of Moto Mods, the Moto Z2 Force can set you up for another year. If you are using the Moto Z and really enjoy Moto Mods and you'd like to better compliment them, the Moto Z2 Force is a great way to do that.
The Moto Z2 Force is Motorola's top-tier offering - which represents the best that Motorola has to offer. With full US carrier support, this is a device that we might actually be seeing in folks hands while out and about - as long as Motorola has a marketing campaign to compete with the likes of the Apple and Samsung giants.
If you're new to the Moto Z family and are looking for a great software experience with excellent performance, there are definitely cheaper smartphones that get you more bang for your buck with a just as compelling, if not better, camera experience. The Moto Z2 Force does check the right boxes, but between the easily scratchable, average-looking display, well-improved camera, and pricey Moto Mods, the Moto Z2 Force might be a hard sell at its current price point.
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