Motorola took the wraps off its Moto Z4 today, a phone that we’ve seen available on Amazon; one lucky buyer did a quick Moto Z4 unboxing, showing the box, wrapping, packaging, and even the accessories such as the screen protector, adapter, and USB Type-C cable a few days ago. The Moto Z4 was planned to have 5G Moto Mod access, giving the phone an opportunity to perform on Verizon Wireless’s fastest internet speeds, but Motorola turned things up a notch when it also announced that the two-year-old Moto Z2 will also see 5G Moto Mod access.
The Moto Z2 Force shares the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 SoC that is found in the Moto Z3 from last year. The Moto Z3 was able to connect to the 5G network by way of the 5G Moto Mod. Motorola can use the same 5G Moto Mod to connect the Moto Z2 Force to Verizon’s new LTE network.
Moto Z3 users just received 5G Moto Mod access by way of the recent Android 9.0 Pie update released at the year’s start. The 5G Moto Mod attaches to the smartphone and can be taken off when the smartphone user wants to use other development mods such as the battery mod, for example.
The Moto Z4, announced today, features a 6.39-inch OLED display with a 2,340 x 1,080 (Full HD+) resolution, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 675 SoC, 4GB of RAM, 128GB of onboard storage with microSD card slot expansion, a 25MP selfie camera, 48MP back camera, and a 3600mAh battery. The Moto Z4 retails for $499.99 but will work on Verizon’s 5G network with the purchase of the 5G Moto Mod that is available for the Moto Z2 Force and the Moto Z3.
Motorola unveiled the Moto Z2 Force back in New York City on July 25, 2017 with 5.5-inch display with a 2,560 x 1,440p (Quad HD) screen resolution, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835 SoC, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of onboard storage, two 12MP rear cameras, a 5MP selfie camera, 2TB of expandable microSD card slot storage, a rear fingerprint sensor, USB Type-C charging, and Android 7.1 Nougat. The Moto Z2 Force is called “Force” because of its ShatterShield Display that can withstand impacts from drops.
Motorola first announced its Moto Mods with the arrival of the Moto Z back in 2016. At that time, Lenovo took to the stage to offer Moto Mod Developers a $1 million prize for their work on bringing innovative Moto Mods to the market for interested Moto Z buyers.
The “Mods” in “Moto Mods” is short for “modules,” referring to the modular phone concept where users can detach parts and add parts to smartphones as they see fit. It was a goal of LG in bringing out the LG G5 three years ago, where G5 users could detach the battery from its compartment and add a new one, for example. In LG’s case, the quasi-modular G5 turned out to be a failure with consumers, and Motorola took up the challenge with its Moto Mods program. Three years later, Motorola’s Moto Mods have stood the test of time because of Motorola’s elegant designs.
Motorola’s Moto Mods lineup includes the following Mods: a ROKR Speaker Module, Direct TV DTV Mod, Studio Moto Mod featuring a microphone, DSLR Moto Mod with Camera Lens Support, Action Moto Mod with rotating camera, 360-camera module, JBL Soundboost Moto Mod, Moto Turbo Power Pack, Alexa Speaker Mod, Polaroid Insta-Share Printer Moto Mod, 5G Moto Mod, Hasselblad Camera Moto Mod, the Lenovo Vital Moto Mod and Livermorium Slider Keyboard Moto Mod (both unveiled at CES 2018), GamePad Moto Mod, The Smart Z Printer Moto Mod, and the Power Pack Moto Mod, among others.