Introduction
Do we have a good one for you today – the Moto Z Force goes up against the new Honor 6X. Both devices come with an all-metal backing and a solid build quality, which is especially nice considering how cheap the Honor 6X costs. The two smartphones are similar in shape, although the Z Force’s back is designed to accept Moto Mods while the Honor 6X has a nicely smoothed and curved backing with dual cameras. Which one of these devices has what it takes to win this competition? Let’s see just what these two smartphones have in common and just how much they differ.
These two devices do have a few things in common. We can start with the display size they share of 5.5-inches; however, the technology and resolution used are different. This makes their physical dimensions almost identical with the Z Force being ever so slightly larger and one gram heavier. The Z Force and Honor 6X both offer a 32GB or 64GB model with expandable memory via a microSD card. The camera areas are very different with the Honor 6X employing a dual camera set up – however, the Z Force will give you a better picture. Both offer a large non-removable battery with rapid charge capabilities. The usual suspects are here – WiFi, Bluetooth v 4.1, GPS, and a reversible Type-C port for charging and data transfer in the Z Play and a microUSB v2.0 port on the Honor 6X.
Please take a thoughtful look at the detailed Specifications Comparison chart below and here you will see just how these two great devices stack up against one another – click on the “View Full Comparison” link at the end of the chart to expand the details. After that, we will look at each device in greater depth and point out some of its pros and cons. From all of this information, we will try to determine the winner based on specs and execution of design and functions.
Specifications
Moto Z Force
The Moto Z Force is a force to be reckoned with especially when you see the price, but you do get a lot of bang for your buck. It packs a Quad HD AMOLED display, an exclusive ShatterShield screen, an excellent 21MP camera, a large battery, and comes with the Moto Turbo Charger. The Moto Z Force is a sturdy all-metal design with a solid build and a thin stature. The back of the device puts off potential buyers with its protruding camera and metal contact points, but if you slap on a Moto Mod or a decorative back, suddenly it looks great. All of the Z family devices can use the Moto Mods, which allow you to increase the functionality of the smartphone and allows it to stay intact as the Moto Mods ‘snap’ onto the back with magnets and are stabilized by the protruding camera ring.
The Moto Z Force sports a 5.5-inch AMOLED QHD display with a resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels and 535 pixels-per-inch (PPI.) Moto’s ShatterShield is a 5-layer design that helps prevent breakage or shattering of the screen. Lenovo went with the Snapdragon 820 quad-core with dual cores clocked at 1.6GHz and dual cores clocked at 2.15GHz, coupled with an Adreno 530 GPU to handle the most demanding graphics. The Z Force packs 4GB of DDR4 RAM and offers 32GB of the faster UFS 2.0 internal memory that is expandable 256GB via a microSD card.
The primary camera on the Z Force uses a hefty 21MP sensor with a large aperture of f/1.8, laser and phase detection autofocus (PDAF), a dual-tone flash, and OIS. For its front-facing camera (FFC) it uses a 5MP lens with a f/2.2 aperture and Moto even included its own LED flash for selfies and video chatting. The Moto Z Force uses a large 3500mAh non-removable battery but comes with one of the fastest chargers available – a Moto Turbo Charger – it can charge the Moto Z Force battery up to 50-percent in only 20 minutes. An $89 Moto Mod will increase the battery by size by 2200mAh and adds wireless charging capabilities.
The Moto Z Force is wide enough to handle a 3.5mm jack, but they decide to remove it as they did with the standard Moto Z, which is too narrow for the jack. Moto provides an adapter that plugs into the Type-C reversible port to accept earphones – it does produce a better sound, but you have to remember to carry around an adapter or look to purchase Bluetooth headsets. The Moto Z Force can utilize Moto Mods that can add features to your device as well as customized covers for the back to help personalize its looks. The Z Force is part of the Droid series that is exclusive to Verizon. It has an IP53 certification for water resistance, but it is not a sealed phone. It measures in at 155.9 x 75.8 x 7mm and weighs in at 163 grams. It comes in four colors – Black/Gray, Black/Rose Gold, Black/Gold, and White with pricing at $720 at Verizon.
Honor 6X
The Honor 6X is their new mid-range smartphone, and with a price tag of $250 for the 32GB model and $299 for the 64GB model, you are getting an excellent product. It has a solid metal build with rounded corners that make it a pleasure to hold and it uses 2.D curved glass that mates up well with the curved sides. It is only 8.2mm thick and a lightweight at only 162 grams. It even comes with a dual camera set up and takes decent pictures. Let’s see how it stacks up to the Moto Z Force.
The Honor 6X sports a 5.5-inch IPS LCD Full HD display with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels and 403 PPI. Huawei used their own designed processor, the HiSilicon Kirin 655 octa-core with four cores clocked at 1.7GHz and four cores clocked at 2.1GHz, coupled with a Mali-T830MP2 GPU to handle the graphics. For now, the Honor 6X packs 3GB of RAM and offers 32GB of internal memory that is expandable via a microSD card. Huawei claims there will also be a 4GB/64GB model available shortly.
The Honor 6X uses dual cameras – a 12MP primary camera and a 2MP secondary camera that delivers a “professional-grade bokeh effect,” according to Huawei. It features phase detection autofocus (PDAF) and a LED flash. For its FFC, it uses an 8MP lens for social selfies and video chatting. The Honor 6X uses a large 3340mAh non-removable battery with rapid charging.
The Honor 6X is a very good mid-range smartphone. It has great built quality and good looks. Huawei added a neat feature to the Honor 6X to prevent eye fatigue by filtering out the blue light. It measures 150.9 x 76.2 x 8.2mm, weighs in at 162 grams, and comes in Gray, Gold, and Silver. It will cost you about $250 for the 3GB/32GB model and $300 for the 4GB/64GB model out later this year. It comes with Android 6.0 Marshmallow with a planned upgrade to Android 7.0 Nougat. The Honor 6X is a GSM device, and it will function on AT&T or T-Mobile in the US.
…And The Winner Is…
The Final Word
I really didn’t want to pick the Honor 6X as the winner of this comparison, but what choice do I have when you have a quality smartphone for only $250 – that is about $470 cheaper than the Moto Z Force.
There is no doubt that the Moto Z Force is the higher-end phone of the two and worthy of your consideration if you want the better display, better processor, better GPU, a better camera, the ability to use Moto Mods and capacity to use Verizon’s network. However, that all comes at a hefty price.
The Huawei Honor 6X has a decent display, acceptable processor, memory expansion, a decent camera, a solid build, and a very decent price. As long as you are okay with AT&T or T-Mobile and want a reliable device for everyday use, or possibly for the kids, the Honor 6X is a decent choice.
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