Moto Z2 Force Review: Late to the party but still a winner

Sleek, Premium and Future ready

Motorola Moto Z2 Force is razor thin. At just 6.1 mm, the unibody metal smartphone feels amazingly lightweight and is unlike any other smartphone we have used in past few months. The closest that any smartphone can get to Moto Z2 Force's thinness is LG V30, another design marvel that packs in a bigger display in comparatively smaller footprint.

Future ready Modular Design

But Moto Z2 Force is not just about sleek design and light weight body, its also future ready. With Motorola's genuine efforts in making modular design approach a reality, the smartphone simply leads the design department. It supports all the Moto mods that the company has developed till date and will also be compatible with the upcoming mods.

The range of Moto mods is exciting and very functional in everyday life. The list includes Turbo power battery pack, JBL Soundboost mods, Hassleblad camera mod and the recently introduced gamepad mod. Motorola is offering the battery mod in the package at no additional cost with the purchase of Moto Z2 Force that makes the overall package quite a steal.

The bundled Turbo power mod is extremely useful and charges your phone at quick speed. It houses a 3,490 mAh battery unit that combined with 2,750 mAh battery unit of the phone easily offers a two-day backup even with heavy usage. If you want to experience a full-fledged modular experience, you can purchase other Moto mods separately as per your use cases which simply make the new Moto smartphone a force to reckon with.

Sturdy and Premium but not water-rust resistant

Crafted out of 7000 series Aluminum, Moto Z2 Force looks downright premium and also feels very sturdy in hands. Yes, it's not very apt for one hand use due to its larger footprint but the light weight and rounded corners helps to a good extent. The rear panel of the handset does all the talking. The signature Moto camera module with a substantial bulge is placed on the brushed metal layer and now gets one more lens to enable Bokeh mode functionality. A golden strip at the bottom of the magnetic Mod connectors adds to the style and gives the handset a unique identity.

As the handset is extremely lightweight, the smartphone can be used with bundled battery mode strapped on without much handling issues. Motorola hasn't offered any IP rating to protect the handset from water and dust which is a bummer. LG V30+ which is also priced at Rs. 45,000 comes with IP68 rating, but then its screen is not shatterproof. And at last, there's no 3.5mm headphone jack on this razor thing Moto smartphone which leaves you two options; wireless headphones or the adaptors in the package that will help you connect any standard 3.5mm headphones to Moto Z2 Force.

Crisp Quad HD Shatterproof screen

In the age of smartphones with taller 18:9 aspect ratio screens, Moto Z2 Force does feel a bit dated but make no mistake, the Quad HD display is super crisp and rock solid. Unlike other smartphones, Moto Z2 Force comes with a promise that the screen will not crack or shatter even if the handset hits a hard surface from heights of up to 2 feet. We dropped the handset without our will but for the sake of giving you a better understanding of the Motorola's Shatter shield technology. The screen survived the impacts without any damages. Smartphones sans this Shattershield technology cannot survive such abuses and will succumb to cracked screens in 85 Percent cases.

I must say that Moto Z2 Force offers a sense of confidence while you carry it around, take it out from pocket or just keep it anywhere without giving much thought about any possible damages to screen. This is something other flagship smartphones fail to offer.

And if I talk about the general screen performance, the QHD display is crisp, vivid and very much responsive even though it has 5 layers to maintain the high standards of toughness. Yes, the gameplay experience and video playback is not as immersive as you get on 18:9 aspect ratio phones but the trade-off for a much durable screen is something I would never mind.

In a nutshell, if you think you can make peace with a 16:9 aspect ratio screen in 2018, Moto Z2 Force makes perfect sense. In my usage, I found the screen totally usable for everyday tasks such as reading, gameplay, video playback and other day-to-day multimedia tasks. The screen is crisp, vivid and has good viewing angles. The videos you watch, text you read and games you play look brilliant, thanks to the quad HD resolution, something you will not find in any other smartphone priced under Rs. 40,000.

Overall, Moto Z2 Force gave no reasons to crib about an 18:9 aspect ratio screen. I would any day trade the taller screen for a conventional crisp quad HD panel that is nearly indestructible.

Capable dual-lens camera setup

Motorola has made some significant advancements in camera department with the Moto Z2 Force. The smartphone sports a newly designed dual-lens camera setup that comprises of two 12MP IMX 386 sensors. The 12MP sensors have larger 1.25 micron pixels and work on an f/2.0 aperture. The camera system is also equipped with laser and phase detection autofocus to improve the focus speed. All of this translates to a camera that captures excellent shots in daylight. The camera setup has a good control over light which helps you capture the frame the way you want it to be.

Crisp Images with good dynamic range

The shots captured in daylight have vivid colors and good dynamic range. The pictures have lots of detailing but sharpness seems to take a hit as the overall output is bit on a softer side.

Pleasing Bokeh effect

And while the camera system has PDAF and laser autofocus, the duo are still not as efficient as the optical image stabilization, which is missing. Resultant, the camera is not a good shooter if the subject is in a fast motion. The images often come out to be blurry and camera demands a very still hand and stable subject, especially when you are taking a shot with Depth mode enabled. The bokeh effect is good and the dual-lens camera setup does a pleasing job in differentiating a subject from the background.

Low-light performance

The dual-lens camera can also perform well in low-light but it struggles to control the uneven light. The images also show lot of noise in poor lit conditions. Auto HDR does a good job in uneven light and captures a good shadow detail. The camera can record 4k videos at 30 fps and 1080p videos at 30fps and 60fps. The output is crisp but the lack of OIS is still a big miss here. As far as front camera is concerned, the 5MP shooter is only good for taking selfies in well lit environments.

Overall, the dual-lens camera setup on Moto Z2 Force is by far the best camera I have tested on a Motorola smartphone. However, it still needs some improvements to rival the competitors.

Flagship CPU and ample RAM

Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 CPU with 6GB RAM combined with Motorola's efficient and near stock Android UI makes for a winning combination. Moto Z2 Force did not disappoint me throughout my testing duration no matter what was this phone being subjected to. Games like Marvel Contest of Champions and Asphalt 8 ran without any glitches. The ample RAM made it possible to run multiple apps with no visible performance slowdown. The audio performance of Moto Z2 Force is also excellent. The speakers are loud and clear and you can actually watch a movie even if you are not carrying headphones with you. Overall, Moto Z2 Force is snappy and just as powerful as a flagship smartphone should be in today's time.

Best-in-class software experience in its price-point

The best thing about Moto phones is their seamless software experience. The near stock Android UI and carefully designed custom softwares make for an intelligent mobile user experience. The user interface slightly differs from the default Android skin and resembles the Pixel devices' UI. There are no unwanted apps and you get a clean and minimal stock Android experience. The UI works very well and there's no stutters and lags during app loading, shifting from one app to another and during basic UI navigation. The software experience on Moto Z2 Force is much refined than the Samsung Galaxy A8+ and Honor View10.

Moto Actions are intelligent and useful

The cherry on the cake is Moto actions. You can simply twist your wrist to launch the camera, turn on the flash light by performing a chopping gesture, turn the phone over to activate DND mode and do a lot more with these smartly coded software actions. Besides, there are several other thoughtful gestures that work quite well and pace up the mobile usage experience in everyday scenarios. To offer more screen real estate, you can turn off the on-screen buttons and use the fingerprint scanner instead.

The one button navigation feature gets some time to get use to but works like a wonder. A swipe left on the home button works as a back action, swipe right open the multitasking tray and long press can lock the phone. Moto display let you read notifications on the display without even unlocking the phone. Motorola has also added Moto Voice that can show weather, open Chrome app, display your day's schedule, show contacts/messages with just voice commands.

Weak battery supported by bundled Moto mod

With a razor thin form factor, Motorola had to sacrifice with the battery powering the handset. Moto Z2 Force is backed by a 2,730 mAh battery unit which can barely last a day on a heavy usage. However, let me tell you that I never felt this carefree while using a smartphone in last few years as the TurboPower Moto Mod was always there to rescue. I did not carry a charger around while using the Moto Z2 Force as my daily driver. With batteries (phone and Moto mod) charged to 100%, I was able to get a two day's battery backup on a heavy usage without any problem.

The usage was much more intense than any of my previous smartphone testing and still there was some juice left in Moto mod at the end of second day. With moderate usage, the phone combined with the Moto mod's 3,940 mAh battery easily lasted for over three days on a single charge, which is indeed amazing. I wish all the phones I have this modular functionality as once you get addicted to Moto mod ecosystem, there's very little chance you will shift to conventional mobile ecosystem.

Conclusion

Motorola Moto Z2 Force is by far the best overall mobile phone I have used in sub Rs. 40,000 price-point. It addresses some very important issues that as an end-user we all face in everyday life. First, you don't need to worry about the dying battery as the bundled Turbopower Moto mod is always there to extend the battery life, provided it has juice left in it. The software performance is brilliant and you can always buy individual Moto mods as per your requirement.

But the best thing about the Z2 Force is its Shattershield screen technology. There's a contentment and sense of confidence while using the Z2 Force that no other handset can offer. I want Motorola to improve on camera and extend the screen's size a bit to match the current market trends. Once the day comes, it will be the phone I would buy without giving any thought.