p>Lenovo's Motorola Moto Z Droid Force has many noteworthy performance, features, and capabilities. One is its modular design, namely Moto Mods, which can transform the phone via interchangeable backs into a miniature movie projector, boom box, or attach a battery pack. These Moto Mods bond with the phone in an esthetically appealing way, as though that's how the phone came from the factory. They easily attach and detach to the back of the phone using magnets, and have their own batteries. The magnets are reasonably powerful enough to keep the modules in place with normal handling, but not so powerful that it's hard to pry modules off when it's time for a change. The Moto Mods are optional accessories which can be purchased separately, or as part of a bundled deal. The Moto Z Droid Force has an excellent quality, 5.5-inch quad HD display, with a 1440x2560 resolution that presents photos, videos, Web pages, and other objects with more than 500 pixels per inch of detail. While you probably won't notice the benefits of those extra pixels in everyday use, you will be impressed with how easy the display is to see in bright light. The display is also designed to be shatterproof and warranted against shattering and cracking for four years. The main 21.4-megapixel camera captured very good. They were ultra-sharp, the color is highly accurate, the dynamic range was excellent, and it did very well under low-light conditions. The camera also took good 1080p video, and it can also record in Ultra HD (2160p) video format, which provides extra clarity when that video is viewed on an Ultra HD TV. Also, the front-facing camera is relatively high-resolution at 5-megapixel, and has a flash-rare in a smartphone. Battery life overall is very good, but not as great as Motorola's Droid Turbo 2. The Moto Z Droid Force has rapid charging capability, which in our tests, took about 30 minutes to bring a drained battery to more than 60 percent capacity using the included charger-faster than many of the phones we've tested. This Motorola also has a USB Type-C connection, whose main advantage is that it can be inserted into the phone no matter which way you hold it, so there is no "wrong-side up" as there is with micro USB cables. One of the more notable features of Motorola phones is that they're always ready to respond to spoken commands even if you don't touch them or wake up their screens. It recognizes your voice, so without touching the phone, you can ask for directions, call someone even if the screen is off, and more. This Motorola is also smart about interpreting simple gestures: For instance, reach for it to display the time, or, just twist your wrist twice quickly to launch the camera or chop twice to turn on/off the flashlight, even when the screen is off. The Attentive Display feature enables the screen to stay on and not dim while you're looking at it, as well as sleep sooner when you're not. On the down side of the Moto Z Droid Force is its lack of productivity apps. You can't open office type documents such as word, spreadsheets, nor presentations, out of the box. This model also lacks a 3.5mm headset jack, though it does come with a USB Type-C to 3.5mm jack cable. And though it's mostly thin, about .28-inches without the included back cover shell, the rear-facing camera noticeably protrudes out, making the thickness there .36-inches.
The Moto Z Droid Force has intuitive navigation that provides easy access to all its main functions via a highly responsive touch screen that supports more than ten home screens of apps-more than other smart phone we've tested, programmable shortcuts, as well as back, home, and recent apps keys. The Home button has a fingerprint scanner for unlocking the phone or authorizing purchases with a touch. Pressing and holding the home button launches the search function. The recent apps key lets you see a stack of screen shots of your most recently used apps. Tap any one of them, and you can jump to that app. This model comes with Androids Marshmallow OS, which gives users more precise control over what personal information individual apps can access. Now, on an app-by-app basis, you grant or deny permission for an app to access such personal data as your location, your contacts, and other potentially sensitive information. Another notable Marshmallow feature is Google Now on Tap, which improves the relevance of Web or in-app searches by producing results based on the context of what you're doing. For instance, if a friend sends you a text message from the Mets game, Google on Tap can fetch you the current score, the team's league standing, or information about their next venue-all from within the message. To launch Google on Tap, you just long-press the home key. Google also helps you dive more directly into specific app content with fewer steps. For instance, if you launch the National Public Radio app, the app will ask you which programs you'd like to listen to. Marshmallow also adds extra controls in settings. For instance, Storage adds explore capability, Battery adds optimization controls, Location adds WiFi and Bluetooth scanning options, and Backup & reset adds a network settings reset.
The Moto Z Droid Force lets you perform Google searches by voice command and lets you download applications, services, music, and games, and more from the Google Play Store, and other sources. Its multi-touch screen lets you zoom in and out of photos or Web pages using two fingers (for instance, your thumb and index finger). A handy on-screen drop-down status bar alerts you to and takes you to new messages, upcoming appointments, and other items that need your attention, even when your screen is locked. Its Android OS offers better text editing tools and controls for managing data usage, and enhanced voice-activated navigation and dictation.
The Moto Z Droid Force supports Near Field Communication (NFC), a short-range wireless communication technology that allows the phone to read "smart" tags, or other items that have NFC capability in them. Though the technology is not yet widely deployed for mobile phone users, it could ultimately allow you to pay by phone at the register. The Moto Z Droid Force works on Verizon's 4G network (LTE), allowing fast streaming, downloading, and uploading of high-definition videos and other large files. The fast network also facilitates better Web browsing experiences. The WiFi connection provides another way to access the Web, e-mail, and other Internet-based content, without using your data plan allowance.
MESSAGING: The virtual keyboards were very easy to use. It supports a method that allows users to type words without lifting a finger-literally. You enter a word by dragging your finger across the screen from letter to letter. Though it's initially awkward to use, we eventually had a lot of success "typing" quickly and accurately. Its advanced voice command feature supports text fields, allowing you to dictate e-mails, text messages, Tweets, and other normally typed forms of communication. Good e-mail readability and attachment capabilities. The Moto Z Droid Force also supports Microsoft Exchange and Outlook for work e-mail. When connected to Windows or Macintosh computers, this phone can appear on the computer as another drive. You can then transfer data to and from your phone as you could on a regular drive. But it doesn't have preset text messages, and you can't create custom preset text messages. And this model can't handle Office type documents, out of the box.
PHONE: We tested this phone under a variety of conditions to simulate environments ranging from the quiet indoors to noisy roadsides. We found voice quality was very good when talking, though only fair when listening. Battery life overall was very good. Talk time was an adequate 15.5 hours, LTE data time was 14.5 hours and WiFi browsing time was 12 hours . This phone has a very good mixture of controls and features for making and taking calls. Very good keypad readability under most lighting conditions. Its voice command allows you to conveniently dial numbers from your phone book by speaking the name, without the usual training. You can also dial numbers by pronouncing the digits. It has Bluetooth for wireless hands-free voice communication. The Moto Z Droid Force is a "world phone" because it also works with the GSM-based networks pervasive in Europe, Asia, and other parts of the world. (But you can't use it with domestic GSM carriers such as AT&T and T-Mobile.). This model can simultaneously be on a phone call and an Internet-based connection over the cellular network, but only when using its Advanced Calling capability (VoLTE).
MULTIMEDIA: The 21.4-megapixel camera produced very good quality pictures and it also performed very well under low-light conditions. The camera's optical image stabilizer also improves your chances of taking better handheld photos under low-light conditions. The camera's built-in flash and manual ISO controls help improve your chances of taking better pictures under low-light conditions. The camera took decent 1080p video, probably adequate for casual use such as uploading to the Web. You can capture pictures at the same time you're shooting a video by simply tapping the screen. The Moto Z Droid Force can also record in Ultra HD (2160p) video format which has benefits when viewing on an Ultra HD TV giving you extra clarity. The front-facing high-resolution 5-megapixel camera allows easy self-portraits, and can support video chats. It also has a flash, and can record at 1080p. Both cameras can record in slow motion.
The music player has the capabilities and controls of a typical stand-alone MP3 player, including an equalizer, music shuffle and repeat controls, and options for sorting music by album, artist, etc. This model also supports Bluetooth stereo headsets, and can download music over the phone network. Its Bluetooth data support enables the phone to wirelessly share pictures, contacts, and other files with compatible printers, computers, and mobile devices.
GPS navigation capability provides spoken turn-by-turn directions and automatic re-routing. The Moto Z Droid Force also supports the Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) standard. This lets the phone connect via WiFi to share content with other compatible certified devices such as a TV, printer, and computer. The Moto Z Droid Force can act as a mobile hotspot for WiFi-enabled devices. It has 32GB of built-in memory and supports memory cards of more than 128GB. Its memory capacity is beneficial for storing music, videos, pictures, and other types of files. But the battery is non-removable, the memory card is hard to access, and this model doesn't include a USB charging cable.
