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  • Mumrik - Thursday, June 9, 2016 - link

    No mini jack is quite a killer for me. You lose so much usability for no clear gain there.
  • ddriver - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link

    The gain is clear - milking more profit out of the cattle.
  • Murloc - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link

    so you listen to your phone while charging?
  • taisserroots - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link

    Loads of people do. When you are outside with a powerbank hooked up to it etc, in a Cafe doing work etc
  • inighthawki - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link

    Yes
  • agent2099 - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link

    I don't.
  • Shadow7037932 - Sunday, June 12, 2016 - link

    I play games while it's charging along with using headphones.
  • rabidpeach - Monday, June 13, 2016 - link

    ...some pple don't have nice headphones? ... enjoy/don't notice charging hiss? or is that just my phone?
  • Shadow7037932 - Monday, June 13, 2016 - link

    Probably your charger or cable. It could be the phone itself, but that's unlikely. No issues with sound while charging on my phone and I'm using HD555s. Certainly not the "best" headphones, but not trash either.
  • Shadow7037932 - Monday, June 13, 2016 - link

    I also use Xiaomi Pistons and haven't noticed any issues.
  • TheinsanegamerN - Tuesday, June 14, 2016 - link

    Yes? Streaming video takes a bit of juice, and when most phones only get 4 hrs SoT typically, most people will plug their phone in when listening to audio for more then 5 minutes.
  • prisonerX - Wednesday, June 15, 2016 - link

    You're the kinda guy who still uses floppy disks.
  • aakash_sin - Thursday, June 9, 2016 - link

    At least something different and fresh.
  • zeeBomb - Thursday, June 9, 2016 - link

    The Motorola mods is quite the testament for a new era of modular smartphones. Very well thought out, speakers, battery pack and a friggin LED projector. Hopefully the pricing is competitive as they exclaimed, too. This is a wonderful start under Lenovo's name.
  • evilpaul666 - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link

    Love to know when I'll be able to buy one of these and a non-reference 1070GTX. They're the two things I've been eyeing as my next upgrades in a while and it's looking like months more waiting for both.
  • evilpaul666 - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link

    And what process tech are the SoCs made on?
  • Matt Humrick - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link

    SD 820 uses Samsung's 14nm LPP
  • fanofanand - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link

    The 820 is on Samsung's 14 nm lithography.
  • dean.e.lev - Saturday, June 11, 2016 - link

    Snapdragon 820, so 14nm
  • Eden-K121D - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link

    Yuck! Looks like piece of Crap. Motorola's days are done
  • LiverpoolFC5903 - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link

    Whats with the new trend of omitting 3.5 mm ports? Letv/Leeco have also done the same with their latest range of phones, using audio fidelity as justification (uses CLDA),

    The disadvantages far outweigh the advantages in my opinion. Its an 'innovation' that nobody needs.
  • trparky - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link

    More and more people that I see are walking around with those Bluetooth earbuds that wrap around the neck. I figure that future cell phones will omit the headphone jack because of this Bluetooth headphone trend.
  • Lolimaster - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link

    That may be fine for calling not when you want to listen to music, because buying a high end smartphone to listen to music in the most cr@ppy way it's a bit pathetic.
  • taisserroots - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link

    Even then having to charge more devices is a massive nuisance
  • jabber - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link

    I don't use headphones at all with my phones. Not a big music on the go user.
  • StormyParis - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link

    Well, the backs might be nice for some, I'm guessing not for most though, and by far. Since the phones seem a bit iffy (battery and ergonomics, not to mention Moto's no-update policy), I'll probably look elsewhere.
  • CiccioB - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link

    Which "no-update" policy you are referring to?
    Motorola has been the first one to upgrade its recent product to Marshmallow and has upgraded a lot od devices.
    Are you confusing with Samsung, LG or other million different devices but zero support company?
  • fanofanand - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link

    Yeah I'm not sure where he's getting that, even the lowly Moto-E gets updates before a Galaxy S7 Edge.....
  • TheinsanegamerN - Tuesday, June 14, 2016 - link

    That was before moto got bought by lenovo. You will notice that the promise of frequent updates has long vanished. the moto g series got 5.1.1. way later then even samsung.
  • micksh - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link

    WTH with these OEM's making only huge 5.5" flagship phones?
    4.7" iPhone outsells 5.5" iPhone at least 3:1. Those OEM's still live in early 2014 when big screen size was Android unique feature.
    The mods and other things are gimmicks, no headphone jack is stupid. I'll stick with my old Sony Z3 compact, thanks.
  • Michael Bay - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link

    Because the use case for proles has shifted. They don`t use their goddamn phones for talking anymore, no, it`s all faceberg and insultingly dumb games.
  • Murloc - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link

    people do get used to the bigger screens, and women and neapolitan men have purses to put them in anyway so size is not an issue.
  • micksh - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link

    Size is still an issue, even for internet browsing/reading. Hands hasn't grown larger. 4.7" phone can be operated with one hand, 5.5"+ phone cannot.
  • Exodite - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link

    I'm not convinced that it's relevant for that large a number of users.

    It's a common enough argument but to me that always sounded like gibberish. While I do use a smaller device, an Xperia Z3 Compact, I've never used any device with one hand and I don't see how you reasonably could for anything but voice calls.

    Obviously, for users who don't use their phones one-handed regardless the inability to use a device with one hand isn't a particularly strong con.
  • micksh - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link

    Most often I use smartphone to browse web, read RSS, facebook, etc. I can do lots of things with one hand on Z3 Compact, even type short messages.

    If you can't use phone with one hand, you, for example, can't eat while learning something from internet. That's wasting of time. Having to use both hands severely limits smartphone usage. Another example - you can't use it while standing in public transit and holding a hand-rail.

    I doubt that 4.7" iPhones outsell big ones by so wide margin only because of 100 bucks price difference.
  • Exodite - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link

    I suppose it's mainly because my usage contain more writing than simply reading.

    It's not /impossible/ to do, it's just not particularly efficient.

    As for the iPhone that's an entirely different can of worms, I don't think the platforms can be compared on size alone.
  • Impulses - Sunday, June 12, 2016 - link

    I write as fast with one hand as a ton of people do with two... If you learn Swype's shortcuts it's every bit as efficient.
  • Chidoro - Sunday, June 12, 2016 - link

    Most people purchase the 16 gig model, do most prefer 16 to 64? Of course not. Price is a big issue when your phone starts at $649. You also have to consider that iPhone users all had dinky 4 and 3.5" screens. I'm sure many would see the jump from those a to a 5.5" as too big a difference. Besides, the big iPhone as particularly big compared to other phones with 5.5" screens.
  • Impulses - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link

    " I've never used any device with one hand and I don't see how you reasonably could for anything but voice calls. "

    Wow, I can tell you flat out that's a very inaccurate misconception. I've had all three HTC EVOs followed by my current phone, a Nexus 5, and I can guarantee you my usage of them is 90% one handed, for EVERYTHING. Browsing, texting (Swype pretty much promotes one hand use), whatever.

    Gaming might be the only thing that requires two hands and I don't do much of it. Maybe I'm in a minority, I dunno, but I don't have any freaky natural abilities that enable this usage. I'm your average 5'11" 160 pound male... I have my phone in my left pocket, I slip it out with my left hand, and I use it largely with that hand alone even tho I'm right handed (can use it with either tho).

    I think people that never use their phone with one hand have probably never tried a swiping style keyboard (and learned the necessary swipe shortcuts and gestures for capitalization etc), if you need to constantly hunt and peck with two thumbs then yeah, you need two hands.

    If I went any larger than the N5's 5.2" screen (and relatively minimal bottom bezel) I'd definitely struggle tho, cause I'd need to adjust my grip to reach the notification bar, even now it's a tiny bit of a stretch and I wouldn't mind slightly smaller or less bezel. My grip has my pinky supporting the phone from below which enables my large-ish thumb more freedom of motion than if I palm the phone against the center of my hand.

    Like others said, eating, commuting, etc; there's a million usage cases why I prefer one handed use.
  • Impulses - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link

    Wrote this whole message with one hand btw.
  • JoeyJoJo123 - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link

    >commuting

    Please don't be that asshole looking down to his phone while driving. I don't even care if you're at a red light. It CAN wait until you get to your destination. I can tell if you're texting your girlfriend when the light turned green and you haven't moved from the red light, bro.

    Operating the phone without hands is fine, ie: dash-mounted as a GPS, or bluetooth connected with the car, voice controlled, etc. But do not look away from the road, ever, (even while at stop) to operate your phone.
  • Michael Bay - Saturday, June 11, 2016 - link

    Commuting usually implies riding the public transportation.
  • Impulses - Sunday, June 12, 2016 - link

    By commuting i meant, as others stated, public transpo... I don't even take my phone out of my pocket in the car unless it's to charge it or because I need directions.
  • Exodite - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link

    My first Android device were the Xperia arc (2011) and I've been using Swype or similar iterations ever since.

    Even so text input is far faster and more accurate two-handed, having the typing hand fully free to trace.

    Anyway, it's not so much about my personal preference as I think one-handed use is overrated in general. People prefer larger devices, which either means one-handed use isn't an issue with those or not a particularly big deal for most users anyway.

    YMMV.
  • Impulses - Sunday, June 12, 2016 - link

    " Even so text input is far faster and more accurate two-handed, having the typing hand fully free to trace. "

    I disagree, a second hand just gets in the way if you're using Swype to it's full potential. I don't deny that someone using something like Swiftkey to it's full potential might be faster, but I'm awfully fast with one hand and Swype, I can all but guarantee I'm faster than anyone using a stock keyboard.
  • fanofanand - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link

    You don't think price has anything to do with it? Apple has been selling only large phones for long enough that users who want a smaller iPhone have been left in the dark. There was quite a bit of pent up demand, just like there was for a large iPhone when all they sold was small. Once you clear out the backlog of people who were holding out for a small phone clears, I think you will find that the biggest motivator to the smaller device is the $250 in savings. I am definitely not pro-apple but trying to use one quarter of sales figures to state unequivocally that smaller phones outsell larger phones is more than misleading. Device makers make poor decisions at times, but they are in a better position than we are to know what sells. Considering nearly ALL manufacturers are making larger phones should be enough to tell you that those are the devices that are selling.
  • micksh - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link

    It's only a $100 difference between 4.7" and 5.5" iPhones. I don't think it can account for such difference in sales:
    http://pocketnow.com/2015/10/05/iphone-6s-6s-plus-...
    People buy large Android phones because they have no choice now. Nobody makes decent phones smaller than 5.1" except Sony with Z5 Compact, but Sony sucks at marketing and this phone also has serious drawbacks.
  • ishould - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link

    What're the drawbacks? I've been considering getting this phone for my SO, she has very small hands
  • micksh - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link

    You can read this
    http://www.theverge.com/2015/10/16/9549247/sony-xp...
    Shortly - all drawbacks of 810 CPU like overheating, plus others - slow, buggy software, inconsistent finger sensor, etc.
    Basically, Z3 compact was better.
  • micksh - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link

    I also hear about recent Sony reliability problems. Things break by themselves soon, glass is too fragile... Never had a problem with Z3 compact.
  • TheinsanegamerN - Tuesday, June 14, 2016 - link

    Did you forget about the iphone SE as well? That is certainly smaller the 5.1"
  • micksh - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link

    "Device makers make poor decisions at times, but they are in a better position than we are to know what sells"

    I highly doubt that OEMs do any market research. Instead, they copy what they think is successful, add some their own gimmicks, and then they have huge inertia. Once they find a feature, they won't stop, they will develop it to death.

    For example, you know how many people would love bigger battery in exchange for thicker phone. Yet, most OEMs continue to make flagships thinner without any battery life improvements.

    Or, TouchWiz that nobody likes. But Samsung won't stop making it. Same thing with screen size, I believe. OEM's heard once that some would like bigger phone than iPhone, and now they won't stop, won't even try to make good compact phones.
  • prisonerX - Wednesday, June 15, 2016 - link

    How do you that people want to trade battery life for thickness? What are you basing it on besides your own righteousness?
  • JanSolo242 - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link

    I might be in the minority here, but I don't mind the lack of the 3.5mm audio port since I only use bluetooth headphones. If only my 6P had wireless charging - I'd never need to plug a cable into it ever again.

    I like this phone and I'd love to see a review on Anandtech, if possible. It's just too that bad it's a Verizon exclusive.
  • Lolimaster - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link

    Glad you like to listen to music or videos with garbage quality earbuds.
  • jabber - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link

    For some the tunes are more fun and important than fussing over the purest audio quality.

    Listen to the music...not the hardware!
  • BurntMyBacon - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link

    If you want to / can ignore the junk added to your listening experience by poor audio hardware, that is good. You get to save some cash, have a thinner phone, etc.. However, for some, the poor audio quality gets in the way of the tunes. Pretty soon we're no longer listening to the music, but all the garbage interference and/or crosstalk from the low quality hardware. In particularly bad cases, there is more garbage than music.

    @jabber: "Listen to the music...not the hardware!"

    Back at ya.
  • JanSolo242 - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link

    I use earbuds? Where did I state that?
  • ishould - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link

    I don't know about you, but I have a pair of SoundBot SB270 bluetooth headphones that sound great. I'm not an audiophile and I would never spent more than $100 for a pair of speakers. For the average Joe bluetooth earbuds/headsets are more than good enough
  • Cakefish - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link

    Just a friendly comment enquiring as to the whereabouts of the Galaxy S7 review part 2?
  • adityarjun - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link

    Shhh... Speak softly.
  • RaichuPls - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link

    Asked that for the past 3 weeks, apparently the excuse is "got schoolwork and finals, can't prioritize Anandtech as I'm part-time".

    Honestly, the phone reviews have been backlogged for 3 damn months, and they can't even get a Part 2 out. Last year they skipped the GTX950/960, wonder if they'll just skip all the phones this year.
  • fanofanand - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link

    Maybe they should just stick to press releases instead. With Apple products that's about all we get anyway, is company talking points.
  • Michael Bay - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link

    >5 mm
    >razor thin
  • Murloc - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link

    it's *literally* razor thin
  • iwod - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link

    So the two difference is only thickness, battery capacity, camera, and the Screen Glass?

    I am much more interested in the ShatterShield tech. It this Moto only? ( Surely cant be. ) What is it based on? Any more information and test?
  • Matt Humrick - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link

    ShatterShield was developed by Motorola and is used exclusively by them. Other companies are doing something similar, though. You can find more info about it here: https://www.motorola.com/us/Moto-Shattershield/mot...
  • TheProv - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link

    Are there different size of moto mods? If there is only one, how can it fit both moto z and moto z force, if one is taller than the other?
  • BurntMyBacon - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link

    They look to be the same height and width. The force is thicker, but it seems like the moto mods are magnetically latched. Unless I'm missing something (definitely possible) there shouldn't be a problem.
  • BurntMyBacon - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link

    Opps. Minor differences in height (2.6mm or 1/10 in) and width (0.5mm 1/50 in). Still don't think it will be a problem as the mods don't appear to wrap around the sides. May feel a little weird if you rub at the edges constantly.
  • ayqazi - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link

    Does anyone know if the AMOLED panels will be Pentile, or normal?
  • Matt Humrick - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link

    We do not know who is supplying the panels or what subpixel configuration they will use at this time.
  • JoeyJoJo123 - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link

    Chances are, it'll be pentile, and everyone knows it, cause companies just love compromising quality and cutting corners to save a bit of money to line those CEO pockets.
  • Belard - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link

    What the hell? No water proofing in a modern top end phone? My moto g3n has that. One of the reasons I've been using moto since the first moto x is because of the shape and clean install of software. Also I'm not a fan of large phones, which was a major reason i did not what the current moto X phones with the almost 6" screen.

    At least this moto has the usb c modern connector. The phone jack is not a big deal. More and more people are using Bluetooth for music.
  • flyingpants1 - Saturday, June 11, 2016 - link

    You're delusional. 97% of people use normal earbuds/headphones.
  • ummduh - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link

    Well, I'd still buy it even with needing an adapter to use my earbuds, but I'm not waiting until fall to be allowed to buy it. I waited long enough to see what it was going to be about already, my S6 sucks and it needs to go.
  • Belard - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link

    Ah, looking at the video from the motorola site and thinking about it. *IF* Lenovo/Moto has any smarts - they would make a rear-plate with the classic MOTO-X feel, along with the M-dimple. One of the things I like about my Moto G3 is that I can easily replace my rear-covers for whatever mood I am in. Or when going out on a date or something, I can change it to match my clothes :)

    I ordered my G with a blue cover, but got the buy 1 get one free covers. I got Teal and Red and ended up loving the red and rarely using the blue. Now I'm ordering Lime-green and Yellow.

    Maybe I'll wait till Moto Z2 comes out with more options. Getting the Moto-X shape is a selling point. The G4s don't grab me... enough that I'll stick with what I have. Sure, better battery, bigger screen I didn't want and vastly improved camera... that makes it almost like an X in some ways. But the new G4s are kinda plain and generic.
  • flyingpants1 - Friday, June 10, 2016 - link

    No, this is bad. What you need is a light phone with good BATTERY LIFE like the Droid RAZR MAXX. It had a 3300mAh battery wayyy back in the day. There's no reason you couldn't do a 3600mAh battery on a 5.1" screen right now.

    Also FRONT SPEAKERS.... SO YOU CAN HEAR. Wireless charging is great, but it adds thickness when a bit more battery would do just as well, and you can use an add-on for it..
  • Chidoro - Sunday, June 12, 2016 - link

    The speaker on the phone is in the front. And slapping a mod to bring a slim 5.2mm phone up to 4820 mAh is pretty damn compelling. If you go for the 6.9mm model, it will bring the 3500 to 5720 mAh. My god man
  • TheinsanegamerN - Tuesday, June 14, 2016 - link

    Meh. My note 4 is sitting pretty at 10000 MaH, fully removable. THAT is the way to go, none of this second battery nonsense.
  • Penti - Saturday, June 11, 2016 - link

    I think I'd rather see an updated Moto X-device, will we even see something like that?
  • zodiacfml - Sunday, June 12, 2016 - link

    I'm baffled why LG doesn't have an available loudspeaker attachment for their G5.
    The loudspeaker is very useful when going on a holiday or adventure where having earbuds is not a good idea.

    I have set my eye on the Z Force unless there will be a Nexus with similar specs but at a lower price.
  • TheinsanegamerN - Tuesday, June 14, 2016 - link

    Sealed battery, no 3.5mm jack, probably flagship price, and verizon exclusive for the time being . Yawn.
  • AnnonymousCoward - Thursday, June 16, 2016 - link

    I need 3.5mm and don't want to mess with adapters.

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