Lenovo announces the Moto Z and Moto Z Force

12:50:00 PM dickwyn 0 Comments

Today at Lenovo Tech World 2016, the company rounded up their keynote with the new Moto Z family. This new Moto Z series will completely replace the old Moto X series and the new name reflects upon the new design change that Lenovo is introducing with the new Moto Z and Moto Z Force which comes with a new unibody metal design.

Lenovo is calling their two new flagship Moto smartphones as the most thinnest flagship smartphone. At just 5.2mm thin, the Moto Z is definitely going to be an eye catcher. On a side note, it seems that the thinness comes at a price as both the Moto Z and Moto Z Force will not come with a 3.5mm headphone jack but there will a USB Type-C adapter included with the phone.

In addition to the new design, Lenovo is also introducing Moto Mods which will be an extension of their existing Moto Maker customisation. Moto Mods will be available alongside the new Moto Z and Moto Z Force and at launch, there will be three first party mods like a JBL case, a projector and also a battery extender.

The concept behind Moto Mods is very much similar to the LG G5's modular accessories but Lenovo says that they are committed to the idea of Moto Mods and say that future Moto Z smartphones will be able to re-use the modules released today. That is a bold statement and in addition to backwards compatibility with Moto Mods, Lenovo has also partnered with companies like Incipio and Mophie to create Moto Mods for the Moto Z

Additionally, Lenovo is also inviting developers to contribute to the Moto Mods platform by creating a developer hardware kit that enables third party developers to come up with innovative designs. To top things off, Lenovo's Capital and Incubator Group will be offering up to US$ 1,000,000 in equity funding towards the company or individual which comes up with the best Moto Mods.

Learn more about that here

But beyond the magical pins behind the Moto Z, these two new smartphones are the new flagships to beat. Lenovo has decked out the Moto Z and Moto Z Force with the best of the best. Both devices come with fingerprint scanners, a big battery, a premium build and a USB Type-C port. While these two smartphones are not IP rate, Lenovo has included a nano coating to help them endure splashes. And in the case of the Moto Z Force, the smartphone is once again coming with Motorola's shattershield display that Lenovo is claiming to be virtually indestructiable.

Both the Moto Z and Moto Z Force look virtually the same and the biggest difference between both these devices is that only the Moto Z Force comes with the shattershield display while the Moto Z will comes with a regular Gorilla Glass 4 screen. Also different is the cameras, the Moto Z Force will come with a better 21MP rear camera.

And last but not least, both devices will come with Lenovo's TurboPower technology that provides the Moto Z and Moto Z Force with up to 15 hours of battery life with just 15 minutes of charging.

Lenovo Moto Z Key Specifications

— 5.5-inch AMOLED display (2560 x 1440)

— Snapdragon 820 SoC

— 4GB LPDDR4 memory

— 32/64GB expandable memory

— 13MP f1.8 camera with OIS

— 5MP f2.2 front camera

— 2,600mAh battery

— Android 6.0 Marshmallow

— 153.3 x 75.3 x 5.19mm

— 136g

Lenovo Moto Z Force Key Specifications

— 5.5-inch AMOLED display (2560 x 1440)

— Shattershield display

— Snapdragon 820 SoC

— 4GB LPDDR4 memory

— 32/64GB expandable memory

— 21MP f1.8 camera with OIS

— 5MP f2.2 front camera

— 2,600mAh battery

— Android 6.0 Marshmallow

— 155.9 x 75.8 x 6.9mm

— 163g

Lenovo says that the Moto Z family will be available globally by the end of the year and US carrier Verizon will be the first to offer these smartphones under the Moto Z Droid Edition and Moto Z Force Droid Edition names. Unlocked versions of the smartphones will be available worldwide beginning September 2016.