Introduction
Ever since the Moto Z3 Play saw the light of day, a couple of months ago, it has mostly been a waiting game for the flagship model. Well, that wait is now over and the Moto Z3 is official.
The phone was announced last night at a US event and for now, remains Verizon exclusive. This time around, there is no Force moniker either. Motorola is backing out of the whole shatterproof glass campaign and has instead opted for a more conventional Gorilla Glass 3.
The compatibility to the MotoMods as we know them is still in place, too. Though that last bit is not such a big surprise because the new Moto Z3 is physically identical to the already available Moto Z3 Play.
Moto and Verizon used the opportunity to showcase a new MotoMod (still in development) which will be able to add 5G connectivity to the Moto Z3 family once the Verizon 5g network lights up for consumers sometime next year.
Moto Z3 specs
- Body: Gorilla Glass 3 front and back, aluminum frame; p2i water repellent nano coating Display: 6.01-inch, 18:9, FHD+ 2160x1080, Super AMOLED, MAX Vision
- OS: Android 8.1
- Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 835, Octa-core (4x2.35 GHz Kryo & 4x1.9 GHz Kryo) CPU, Adreno 540 GPU, 4GB RAM
- Storage: 64GB internal, microSD expansion (dedicated slot)
- Rear Camera: 12 MP, f/2.0, 1/2.9", 1.25µm, PDAF & laser AF + 12 MP B/W, f/2.0, 1/2.9", 1.25µm, PDAF & laser AF, two-tone LED, 4K video
- Front Camera: 8 megapixels, f2.0, 1080p video
- Connectivity: 4G VoLTE (optional upgrade to 5G though Moto mod), Nano-SIM, Bluetooth 5.0, dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11ac, A-GPS/GLONASS, NFC, USB-C port, FM radio
- Battery: 3,000mAh non-removable, Motorola TurboPower 15W fast charging support
- Misc: Fingerprint sensor, Moto Display, Moto Mod support
The Moto Z3 does come with a few specs changes. And compared to last year's Moto Z2 Force, the changes are definitely more noticeable. The entire body is directly borrowed from the Z3 Play, down to the dimensions 156.5 x 76.5 x 6.8 mm and even the weight - 156 grams. That is just slightly beefier than the Moto Z2 Force, but the major screen to body ratio improvement makes for a much more efficient use of space. Speaking of which, the large 6.01-inch, Super AMOLED display from the Z3 Play is also present.
The major changes include the chipset, swapped for the Snapdragon 835, in the Moto Z3 and the camera. The latter is definitely tweaked, but not necessarily better. But, more on that later.
For Verizon, the carrier agenda obviously comes first, which is why the 5G step on the roadmap soaked up a lot of spotlight at the Moto Z3 unveiling event. In fact, it kind of feels like Verizon jumped on the opportunity to showcase a 5G device upgrade path, even if one isn't quite feasible yet, considering the rushed and rough, unfinished status of the 5G Moto Mod. That being said, the message was loud and clear - Verizon will be the first to launch a 5G residential service in the US, followed by a 5G mobile solution, sometime in 2019.
The exact release and expansion schedule is still unknown and so is the pricing and availability of the 5G Moto Mod. But having an actual physical device and 5G connectivity solution, janky or not, in hand, at an announcement event, definitely makes for a more impressive promise of future intentions.
With 5G upgrade capabilities aside, join us on the following pages where we'll get a better look at the Moto Z3.
Moto Z3 hardware tour
Motorola pretty much locked-in the overall profile of its Moto Z lineup with the unveiling of the Moto mods and the consequent promise for cross-generation compatibility for the accessories. This has made for rather physically identical phones over the last few years, but even so, Motorola managed to successfully switch things up and make the jump to a trendy new 18:9 screen aspect ratio. That design change, however, is only new compared to last year's Moto Z2 Force. Compared to the Moto Z3 Play, from earlier this year, the new vanilla Z3 is practically unchanged on the outside.
The phone is very thin, with flat Gorilla Glass 3 pieces shielding its screen and back. A thin frame made of Series 6000 aluminum glue the said glasses together - and that's pretty much it. It should come as no surprise that the flat back, in particular, is a major fingerprint magnet. To be fair, though, Motorola clearly intended it to be used with some kind of attachment installed, pretty much all the time. Even if it's just a Moto style sheet, with no added functionality. Those don't really hold on any firmer to the Moto Z3 than any other Moto Z device, so you can expect to find them sliding about if you frequently let the Moto Z3 slide about inside a backpack or handbag. Still, they look great.
We have to say, personally, we also appreciate the move away from the Shatterproof glass finish on the front of the Moto Z2 Force. The Moto Z3 uses a much less shatter-resistant, but noticeably more scratch resistant Gorilla Glass 3. This might have necessitated the loss of the "Force" moniker and a potentially desirable extra feature for some buyers, but it should also mean a lot less general wear and tear on the display. And this was a major issue on the Z2 Force.
Moto Z3 front
Speaking of which, you really don't want to cover that gorgeous 6.01-icnh, Super AMOLED panel, courtesy of Samsung. It's of the new tall kind with 18:9 aspect ratio, which means the resolution is now 1,080 x 2,160 px. The extra 240 rows of pixels didn't increase the Z3 footprint (which is limited by the Mods), Motorola just trimmed the bezels.
Sure, the resolution is a downgrade over the QHD panel on the Moto Z2 Force. But, even subjectively, the contrast levels and colors looks a lot better on the Samsung panel than they did on the older P-OLED one. Sill, we will reserve final judgment for the proper review, after the full set of display tests. Plus, there are now fewer pixels for the Andreno 540 GPU to push, so we can definitely expect on-screen framerate improvements, compared to the Z2 Force.
While a thin bottom chin definitely looks good, it also meant no front-facing fingerprint reader/home button combo on the Moto Z3. Again, not a big surprise, since the Z3 Play is in the same boat. The Moto Z3 relies on a single virtual key for complete Android navigation, while the fingerprint sensor has been placed in the only place they could fit it on - the right-hand side. Sony has a long history of putting the sensors there and we liked how those worked on those Xperia phones, and we found it pretty neat on the Moto Z3, too.
Anyway, back to the control scheme, from our brief time with it, the fingerprint seems pretty snappy and very accurate. Just like the one on the Z3 Play.
It's also quite conveniently placed. We can't exactly say the same about the tiny and rather crammed volume buttons. The fingerprint reader does a great job of unlocking the phone but it can't really lock it back up, since it's not actually a button and does not double as a power button.
There is a separate control for that on the left-hand side of the device. Frankly, it feels really odd to unlock your phone on one side and then lock it back by using a button on the opposite side. We would probably opt for an Android lock screen app shortcut on the desktop instead if we had to do this every day.
Finishing off the I/O tour of the device - the SIM card tray is on the top frame, along with the secondary noise-canceling microphone. Since, for now, at least, the Moto Z3 is a Verizon exclusive, it can only take a single Nano-SIM card. We are pretty confident that once a wider release takes place, a dual-SIM version will also pop-up.
On the bottom - a single USB Type-C port. No 3.5mm audio jack. But, once again, the Moto Z3 Play already prepared us for this development. Plus the Moto Z2 Force lacks the standard audio jack as well. You get a dongle for that in the box.
Moto Z3 internals
Since the Moto Z3 Play and the Moto Z3 are pretty much identical externally, even down to the display panel and resolution, it's going to be the internals that potentially push a buyer in one direction or the other. Motorola upgraded the chipset, but didn't
Not to mention, the GPU has gotten a significant boost as well. The Adreno 540 is, again, not the best money can buy, but quite potent and capable to handle pretty much any modern game load. Plus, there is also the matter of the phone's lower FullHD resolution, which will definitely help with on-screen fps.
Speaking of lower, we are mostly taking the Moto Z2 Force as a reference point here. While the vanilla Z3 clearly borrows its exterior from the Z3 Play, the internals seem to be almost directly transplanted from the Moto Z2 Force. The chipset is identical, so is the memory base memory configuration - 64 GB, 4 GB RAM. The latter might be subject to change once the phone leaves the Verizon exclusivity club, considering the Z3 Play recently got a 128GB, 6GB version of its own.
Before we get to the camera department, though, there are a few other upgrades in the Z3, compared to its predecessor. Most notably, the battery pack has gotten a bump up to 3,000 mAh. Same as in the Z3 Play. Bluetooth has also been upgraded, or rather updated to the v.5.0 protocol stack. Last and probably least important, there is an FM radio receiver - a feature you rarely see on flagship phones.
Moto Z3 camera
The main camera on the Moro Z3 appears to be directly lifted from the Moto Z2 Force. It is a dual setup, consisting of a main 12 MP, f/2.0, 1.25µm, PDAF & laser AF snapper and a secondary 12 MP B/W, PDAF & laser AF one.
Now, depending on your preference, this could either be considered an improvement or not so much, compared to the cheaper Moto Z3 Play and its brighter f/1.7 main camera. No doubt, having a secondary black and white unit is potentially more functional than a simple 5MP depth sensor, but the jury is still out on whether the extra data from the black and white camera can make up for the f/2.0 main one.
That can only be properly answered once we get the phone in for review and test it out. If the Z2 Force is any indication for camera performance, we were, indeed, quite impressed with the level of resolved detail on it, as well as the low noise. However, color capture and reproduction was unreliable and the dynamic range left more to be desired on that phone.
Perhaps a year's worth of camera software development might have helped improve on those problem areas. If nothing else, the camera on the Moto Z3 does have a few new shooting modes to play around with, like cinemagraph and a background cutout feature.
While on the subject of software, as a side note, the Motorola experience is still a very clean, nearly AOSP one. So, no change there.
As for selfies, you get the same 8 MP, f/2.0, 24mm, 1.12µm from the Z3 Play, which is an overall upgrade, compared to the Z2 Force. Except for the dedicated LED selfie flash, which is now gone and has been replaced by a screen-flash solution.
5G Moto mod
Like we already mentioned earlier, Verizon did the best it could to gear the Moto Z3 launch event in a clear 5G direction. As it turns out, Verizon might be a little ahead of other US carriers on the 5G train, with residential broadband service in four markets in the U.S. - including Houston, Los Angeles, Sacramento and one additional city expected to go live in the second half of 2018. Then, a 5G mobile offer will follow in 2019 and when that happens, Verizon wants you to know that you can get the Moto Z3 connected to the massive bandwidth through the 5G Moto Mod.
The entire thing has PR stunt stapled all over it, in our opinion for a number of reasons. Chief among being the pure matter of time until the 5G service goes live, leaving plenty of opportunity for native, integrated 5G models to pop-up in many other devices. Also, the 5G Moto mod, shown at the event was clearly not in a finished, or at least not a polished state.
Hopefully, this unofficial prototype state means we can expect the whole thing to be slimmed down, at least a bit. Since now it is almost comically oversized, compared to the Moto Z3. Not only is it quite thick and hefty, but it literally features a protruding chink near the top - what we can only assume is an antenna.
5G Moto mod
As per Motorola's PR materials, the 5G Moto mod promises data transfers "10 times faster than today's wireless technology", which might be a theoretical claim to make, but mostly falls in line with the recent 5G hype. Also, the mod also contains a 2,000 mAh battery, which might explain some of its weight and bulk.
5G Moto mod
Even so, the whole thing just seems a bit too oversized in its current state. Plus, we did also have a few questions as to how exactly it will operate and be offered to users. So, after asking around at the event, it was made even clearer that the thing we saw on the show floor is a "hardware mockup." The final version will contain Qualcomm's X50 modem, theoretically capable of speeds up to 5Gbps.
5G Moto mod
We took note of the future tense here, meaning that the thing we were handed might not contain any modem at all, at this point. So, you really shouldn't judge it as a final product quite yet. As for the functionality questions we had, apparently, the mod will have its own SIM card. Be it a regular or e-SIM one, it won't be user accessible. That kind of explains the separate type-C interface. Like every other Moto mod, it will be able to charge while attached to the phone, via its charger. However, the USB interface might be used to hook it up to a PC for 5G connectivity.
Pricing and availability
Finished or not, the 5G Moto mod does sound intriguing. Especially since Motorola's website mentions it will initially be available only for the Moto Z3 and Z3 Play, but should, eventually, be compatible with Moto Z2 devices, as well. That sounds like a unique connectivity upgrade for older models.
However, given the non-user-accessible nature of the SIM card and the fact that Verizon is currently claiming exclusivity for the add-on, its wide-spread appeal will likely be limited. Also, we have little doubt that the US carrier will be offering it on a separate contract for 5G, likely asking a pretty penny, especially initially.
That being said, pricing for the 5G Moto mod is still unknown. As for the Moto Z3 - Verizon will start selling it on August 16, at $20 a month for 24 months on Verizon's device payment plan ($480 retail; 0% APR). The carrier is also offering up to $300 off that price on a device payment plan if you switch to Verizon or trade-in an old phone. Verizon hopes that could provide enough of an incentive for users to go after the 5G Moto mod, once it becomes available and put the savings towards that. We are not so convinced, but we'll have to see how it all pans out before coming with a final verdic. In the meantime, stay tuned for our upcoming Moto Z3 review.
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