Motorola Bets On Modular Future With Moto Z2 Force

Motorola is betting on modular components as a means to inject innovation into its smartphone range with the reveal of the Moto Z2 Force.

The Lenovo-owned smartphone maker has found some success in producing  more affordable yet solid performing smartphones, but with the Moto Z2 Force it is looking to produce a high-end handset.

To this end, the Moto Z2 Force has some of the elements expected in a flagship phone, including a 5.5in QHD AMOLED display, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835 chipset, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, and Android 7.1 Nougat.

A dual camera array, comprising a 12MP f/2.0 aperture lens and a 12MP monochrome lens, is also present and correct like many high-end smartphones, and the Moto Z2 Force is also ditching the 3.5mm headphone jack in favour of audio, alongside other connectivity, to be provided by the handset’s USB-C port.

It’s designed to be tough as well with an all metal body featuring reinforced 7000 series aluminium and Motorola’s ShatterShield scree protector technology.

Modular ambitions

But the potential real appeal of the Moto Z2 Force is its compatibility with ‘Moto Mods’, modular components such as 360 degree cameras, video projectors, battery packs and game controllers, that can be connected to the handset to give it additional features and functionality.

Motorola has previously had a stab at modular smartphones with the Moto Z, but the expensive mods and lack of any valuable additional functionality meant the Moto z did not win mass appeal.

LG also attempted to adopt the modular mentality with it’s G5 smartphone, but also failed to win critical acclaim, causing it to ditch modular components in favour of improved display design with the LG G6.

However, Motorola does not appear to want to give up on its Moto Mods too soon, and is hoping a tweaked design of the Moto Z2 Force will make the mods more appealing.

The company is offering the Moto Z2 Force access to all the previous Moto Mods and has shown off some new mods, including a attachable controller system for mobile gaming and a 360 degree camera that can record 3D audio alongside footage.

The latter mod costs $300 (£230) making it an expensive addition to a handset that is priced at $720 (£550).

Time will tell if a second bite at the cherry will work for Motorola’s modular ambitions, but with so many capable smartphones in the market that do a lot well without the needs of additional components, the Moto Z2 Force may be a hard sell to all but the most fanatic modular system fans.

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