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  • osxandwindows - Thursday, July 28, 2016 - link

    This was unexpected.
    I'm glad anandtech is speeding up with their reviews.
  • Ironchef3500 - Thursday, July 28, 2016 - link

    +1
  • Mugur - Thursday, July 28, 2016 - link

    Well, they said that the 1060 review was to be expected last Friday... :-)
  • ImSpartacus - Thursday, July 28, 2016 - link

    Yeah, the best laid plans...
  • powerarmour - Thursday, July 28, 2016 - link

    With a bit of luck HL3 will be out soon also.
  • ddriver - Thursday, July 28, 2016 - link

    It wasn't due "last friday" it was due "next friday", you know, tomorrow never comes, because tomorrow it is always tomorrow.
  • Eden-K121D - Thursday, July 28, 2016 - link

    Exactly
  • dhotay - Thursday, July 28, 2016 - link

    Companies don't need to solicit Anandtech/Purch with payola for products that are flying off the shelves.
  • ImSpartacus - Thursday, July 28, 2016 - link

    Ouch. That's probably true. :(
  • Dennis Travis - Thursday, July 28, 2016 - link

    When Anand ran Anandtech the same accusations were thrown at him. Anandtech has never taken $$$ for a review. Yet people keep accusing them of doing so. Where is the proof?
  • ianmills - Saturday, July 30, 2016 - link

    He went to work for apple? Its not proof but when someone writes glowing positive reviews for a company's products and then starts to work for them, well one can expect there to be questions

    I personally have no opinion. I haven't read enough to know if apple reviews are treated differently than other companies. I do remember however, a lot of chatter how negatives in Android phone reviews (eg. lack of SD card, lack of removeable battery) were never mentioned as negatives in iphone reviews
  • Osamede - Friday, August 5, 2016 - link

    Where is Anand now?

    Can you answer the question? Dare to? Nah.......
  • powerarmour - Thursday, July 28, 2016 - link

    Anand, please come back for goodness sake!
  • kshky - Friday, July 29, 2016 - link

    +1
  • animeshagr - Saturday, July 30, 2016 - link

    So am I. I'm equally stumped they haven't managed to put out a full review for the HTC 10 yet. Or the Mi 5.
  • prisonerX - Thursday, July 28, 2016 - link

    Great phones. Headphone jack luddites need to get over themselves.
  • damianrobertjones - Thursday, July 28, 2016 - link

    Yey all those amazing headphones that I own no longer work without an adapter. Tech-whores need to get over themselves.
  • patel21 - Thursday, July 28, 2016 - link

    I think if the battery mod included a 3.5 mm slot, it would be a nice deal.
  • Flunk - Thursday, July 28, 2016 - link

    They do include the adapter, so that's not much of a complaint. What I'd complain about is the lack of ability to charge it while you have the headphone adapter in. That's annoying if you've got it hooked up in your car.
  • Friendly0Fire - Thursday, July 28, 2016 - link

    Precisely this. I shouldn't have to buy a second adapter to be able to charge and listen to music at the same time.
  • UtilityMax - Thursday, July 28, 2016 - link

    What a non-issue. Why would you want to hook the headphones to your smartphone in a CAR. Geez. If you're driving the car, then that's not legal in many places and not safe.
  • Daving - Thursday, July 28, 2016 - link

    Its an issue if I'm sitting at work and want to charge and use headphones at the same time.
  • phoenix_rizzen - Thursday, July 28, 2016 - link

    What if you want to charge your phone while driving, and connect it to your stereo via the AUX input, for older decks that don't have Bluetooth support? :)
  • erikiksaz - Friday, July 29, 2016 - link

    Then buy a BT receiver and hook that up to the aux port. You'll now join the rest of us in year 2016 where cabling isn't a requirement.
  • mortimerr - Sunday, July 31, 2016 - link

    You are a fool buddy. No intelligent person would willfully want 3.55 removed for no reason, and have it replaced with Bluetooth. There are so many negatives compared to the positives. Not to mention the extra cost in switching all of your existing hardware over. Just plain foolish. I feel sorry for you.
  • grant3 - Friday, July 29, 2016 - link

    Yes, hands-free calling while driving is clearly "not safe" and instead people should be holding the phone to their ear.

    And absolutely no one has an AUX jack in their car to connect the phone to their car stereo. Because apparently listening to anything but the radio is "not legal in many places"

    Thank you for the legal lesson.
  • evilpaul666 - Sunday, July 31, 2016 - link

    Hands free driving with your phone while not paying attention to what's going on around you because you're paying attention to your fucking phone is no more safe than having something in your hand while you're not paying attention to what's going on around you.

    Having something in your hand or not in your hand isn't what makes people talking on phones shitty drivers. Not paying attention because of your "important phone call" (that could never occur and have no impact on your or anyone else's life) is.
  • lilmoe - Thursday, July 28, 2016 - link

    iTardism at its best. Gimme more.
  • osxandwindows - Thursday, July 28, 2016 - link

    Coming to all smartphones near you. Hehehehe.
  • grant3 - Friday, July 29, 2016 - link

    "need to get over themselves" it seems you don't understand what this phrase acctually means.

    Someone who wants to use their existing headphones is "practical" not "conceited"

    Wanting to charge your phone while simultaneously listening to music doesn't make someone a "luddite"

    Perhaps you are blindly in love with the notion of USB headphones despite them providing no meaningful advantage over 3.5mm jack headphones
  • zeeBomb - Thursday, July 28, 2016 - link

    Holy shit! Unexpected review...Matt delivers!
    On the contrary, will we see a Moto G 2016 review by the likes of Brandon soon?
  • Brandon Chester - Thursday, July 28, 2016 - link

    Hopefully soon. Most of the data collection is done, except for low light photos which has proven problematic due to timing and the weather here. Aiming for early August.
  • cknobman - Thursday, July 28, 2016 - link

    Nice phones with some interesting ideas.

    But given a few design oddities and/or shortcomings and the price they are I could not justify purchasing these over other Android devices.

    If Motorola knocked offered these at say $500/$600 then they might be a more compelling option.

    Also, thanks for the review!
  • prisonerX - Thursday, July 28, 2016 - link

    The current prices are a bit bogus. Expect them to come down to a more reasonable $400-$500 by Xmas.
  • erikiksaz - Friday, July 29, 2016 - link

    There's actually a 200 off deal through best buy right now.
  • Oyeve - Thursday, July 28, 2016 - link

    Overall nice and exciting phone. My only qualm is the price. IMO its way overpriced. 500-600 would be a much better price point. Camera is mediocre but my main phone is an S7 Edge so yeah, i'm jaded. I am interested in the modular speakers but would probably use a few time then toss in my desk. Lack of headphone jack is not such a huge deal if they pack in an adapter. I may get one to replace my job supplied iphone 6 which it a very boring phone.
  • hybrid2d4x4 - Thursday, July 28, 2016 - link

    Thanks for the review.
    For me as a consumer, the horrible use of space (big top and bottom bezels) and overall large size are a deal breaker. What I find astounding is that of all the android phones released this year, practically none are <5" in screen size and the ones that have 5" screens are noticeably bigger than an S4 from 2013 in terms of external dimensions. I'm still on an S4mini and would like to upgrade, but there's really nothing compelling that I've seen so far. Ugh :(
  • hybrid2d4x4 - Thursday, July 28, 2016 - link

    ^edit: In this phone's case it's just the bottom bezel that's way oversized.
  • grayson_carr - Thursday, July 28, 2016 - link

    The Galaxy S7 is actually the exact same width and thickness as a Galaxy S4, and only slightly taller.
  • Che - Friday, July 29, 2016 - link

    He has an S4 Mini, smaller than the S4
  • Paraninos23 - Thursday, July 28, 2016 - link

    Will the other Snapdragon phones get this updated driver or is it impossible at this point?
  • Matt Humrick - Thursday, July 28, 2016 - link

    Based on past experience, driver updates generally get bundled with major OS upgrades (i.e. Android 5.0 to 6.0), but occasionally an OEM will roll out a driver update in a point release.
  • RaichuPls - Thursday, July 28, 2016 - link

    Yo where the GTX 1060 review at? Was said last Friday coupled with RX480 deep dive 2 days later, now a week and nothing?
  • blzd - Sunday, August 7, 2016 - link

    It will arrive just as soon as you promise to never post that useless drivel here again.
  • mortimerr - Thursday, July 28, 2016 - link

    Firstly, great review. Great depth and information. I'm appalled at the idea that that Moto Z costs as much as a top of the line flagship, but ships with what seems to be a mid range camera, poor ergonomic design and a tiny battery, in a device that's 5.5 1440p. Who in their right mind would want a smaller battery to be forced to get a 60$ battery pack? I get that Motovola wants to make money, but no intelligent consumer would do something so foolish.

    The problem is after using the Moto X 2013 I REALLY miss the different Moto features (voice, display, gestures, etc). They work great and are integrated nicely into the stock android system. Although performance looks amazing, these devices just look cumbersome to use day in and day out. You end up having to compromise on so many things (batt life, headphone, carrying around extra bulk) for the benefit of getting something you don't need and have never really needed in a good smartphone.
  • ayqazi - Thursday, July 28, 2016 - link

    Am I missing something? I thought it was the Lenovo Moto Z Force, not Motorola....
  • Matt Humrick - Thursday, July 28, 2016 - link

    Motorola is owned by Lenovo, but it still designs and sells its own line of phones.
  • ImSpartacus - Thursday, July 28, 2016 - link

    That's interesting. I wonder if temporary.
  • jhh - Tuesday, August 2, 2016 - link

    There are several pieces of Motorola which spun off from the original. Motorola Solutions is the only independent entity which uses the Motorola name. I expect that Lenovo either doesn't want to keep the Motorola name, or doesn't have permission to use it long term, and hence we get Lenovo Moto. When Lenovo bought the laptops from IBM, they only had permission to use the IBM name for a while, plus they wanted to make Lenovo more prominent.
  • ImSpartacus - Thursday, July 28, 2016 - link

    Why is the battery life section at the end?

    I always like that Anandtech reviews put it front and center. It sounds silly, but battery life is literally my number one priority, so I appreciated that ordering.
  • Daving - Thursday, July 28, 2016 - link

    There's nothing stopping you from skipping right to it?
  • ToTTenTranz - Thursday, July 28, 2016 - link

    Is there a HTC 10 review still coming up?

    I'm wondering because it's been so long that by now, everyone who was wondering what 2016 flagship smartphone to buy has probably done so already.

    You guys have had the smartphone for 3 and a half months. The Moto Z models in this review were announced 2 months after you already had the HTC 10 with you.

    Did you give up on the review?
  • grayson_carr - Thursday, July 28, 2016 - link

    Sorry, I've only made it to the spec table, but had to rant already. Why did Motorola put an IMX214, a camera sensor from 2 years ago that was mediocre when it was released 2 years ago, a camera sensor from the OnePlus One and Nexus 6, into a $620 phone in 2016??? Cheap bastards!!! What a rip off.
  • mortimerr - Thursday, July 28, 2016 - link

    For the same reason they put in the same size battery as a Samsung S4. As far as I can tell, to make people spend more on the Force Z or buy a mod to make up for all of the compromises. This may be one of the worst $600+ devices out right now.
  • Veteater - Friday, July 29, 2016 - link

    That must be a misprint. The Z actually has an IMX278, not an IMX214.
  • chief-worminger - Friday, July 29, 2016 - link

    Please can you give a source? Googling it hasn't helped and Motorola's website doesn't give any info on the actual sensor used. @Matt Humrick, do you know?
  • Matt Humrick - Friday, July 29, 2016 - link

    The Moto Z's system files list IMX338 (confirmed by Motorola) and IMX214 as the rear camera sensors. Further digging revealed no additional info. What's the source for IMX278?

    The purple fringing and loss of sharpness in the corners I see on the Moto Z, which I do not see on the Moto Z Force, are caused by the lens array and software processing rather than the sensor anyway.
  • Veteater - Monday, August 1, 2016 - link

    I would think it would make more sense for the phone to have an IMX278, but it could have either or...

    So, compared to $600+ flagships as well as phones like, say, the OnePlus 3 or something of that nature, just how good is the standard Z's camera? The force has one of the best cameras in the business.
  • grayson_carr - Thursday, July 28, 2016 - link

    I like that both the standard and vibrant display modes were tested! Nice to see that data!
  • grayson_carr - Thursday, July 28, 2016 - link

    If there was an unlocked Moto Z Force with a normal gorilla glass display, I would buy the hell out of it. Heck, if the Force just had a normal display, I might buy the Verizon version even though I'm on AT&T. I noticed the shimmery appearance of the Force display in store though and didn't like it. Not to mention I am more worried about scratches than shatters as I never drop and shatter my screens.
  • grayson_carr - Thursday, July 28, 2016 - link

    I should also say, I would have bought the regular Z and put up with a battery mod if it had the same camera as the Force. Giving the $620 standard Z, the true flagship for everyone who isn't a Verizon customer, a vastly inferior camera was a big, big mistake. I think that decision will have a direct and noticeable negative impact on sales. No one wants a $620 flagship phone with a mediocre camera in 2016, and Motorola has a great camera in the Force at their disposal! It boggles the mind. Using a different camera module in one takes more engineering resources too. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
  • mortimerr - Thursday, July 28, 2016 - link

    I would love to know what the total cost for materials is for the Moto Z. The Sony IMX214 is only used in budget devices from Chinese OEMs and devices from 2014.
  • Cliff34 - Thursday, July 28, 2016 - link

    It looks more like a marketing decision than an engineering one.
  • kmmatney - Thursday, July 28, 2016 - link

    Can you put a tempered glass cover over one of these? That should keep it from scratching.
  • peterfares - Thursday, July 28, 2016 - link

    Waiting for someone to make a keyboard mod. I'll upgrade from my PRIV immediately, the SD808 is such a terrible SoC.
  • Manch - Friday, July 29, 2016 - link

    YES!!!!! Make a keyboard attachment and Ill throw my money at them. I fucking hate touch screen kb. Took me forever to give up my original Samsung Galaxy LOL.
  • UtilityMax - Thursday, July 28, 2016 - link

    Another carrier locked flagship phone priced at +600USD, or priced at 700+ USD for the non-castrated version. Big YAWN. I don't know why I'd buy this when Nexus 5X is now on an everyday sale at about 240-250USD, and Nexus 6P, together with Oneplus 3, is 400USD.
  • fliptwister - Thursday, July 28, 2016 - link

    Very good review. I agree with most of it. I picked up the Moto Z Force today at Best Buy and I'm very impressed with the phone. The Force is thinner than I was expecting and the battery time is awesome. I have been on phone now for 4+ hours non stop and have only gone through 20% of the battery. What is really impressing me is how snappy the phone feels. My wife has the LG G5 and my buddy has the S7. I have played with these phones extensively and the Moto Z is faster. Apps open instantly. There is no hesitation in any of the phone's functions. I have not tried camera yet but I'm looking very forward to it. I get what they say in conclusion about price but the deal that Best Buy has now makes this a much better deal. I bought the Moto Z Force for $524 and I got a free JBL Soundboost Speaker (valued at $80).
  • aryonoco - Friday, July 29, 2016 - link

    Thank you for your attention to monthly security updates and dedicating a good paragraph or two to the issue.

    No matter how good your camera is or how well-calibrated your display is, I find it completely unacceptable for an OEM to sell a product with known and published remote root vulnerabilities.

    I remember a time, pre Windows XP-SP2 when Microsoft didn't provide monthly security patches, saying similar things about the need for Enterprise testing etc. Then the tsunami of malware happened and MS and the whole PC industry recognised the need for timely security updates. Google and the mobile ecosystem is now at a similar juncture. It took Google years to finally accept the need for timely security updates, but now that they do provide monthly patches, it's up to the OEMs to follow suite.

    Android OEMs need to commit to monthly security updates, and need to commit to providing such updates for a set period of time after the phone is released. Selling a phone which holds so much private information with known remote kernel-level vulnerabilities is not ok. Until such time that Android OEMs understand this, my only advice to people who care about security is: buy an iPhone, or buy a Nexus.
  • BrokenCrayons - Friday, July 29, 2016 - link

    Yeah, how about no? Aside from the name "Moto" being utterly grating to the mind to read and even stupider sounding to utter, $600+ for a phone is really exploiting peoples' lack of self control in making decisions about what to purchase..even moreso because they're going to end up paying around $2,400 more to feed it a data connection from a cellular carrier over the course of a couple years. Fine, for a lot of us that's a drop in the bucket compared to our incomes, but I see an awful lot of lower income wage workers forking over a not-insignificant chunk of their annual income to obtain a phone from their TELCO gods.
  • Teknobug - Friday, July 29, 2016 - link

    I still have my 2013 Moto X, still one of the best phones, but I wish there was a way to get Android 6 on it.
  • Aritra Ghatak - Friday, July 29, 2016 - link

    Why Lenovo chose to use a previous generation Sony IMX214 sensor in the Moto Z is beyond my understanding. Even the inferior Moto G4 2016 uses a theoretically much advanced Omnivision OV16860 1/2.4-inch 16MP sensor with PDAF & a large pixel size of 1.34um.
  • Lau_Tech - Friday, July 29, 2016 - link

    Nice Review Matt! May I request that you do the Android Flagships in the future? Thank you.
  • zodiacfml - Saturday, July 30, 2016 - link

    Good performance but I find having a Nexus level of software updates is valuable regardless of price.
    I also find myself waiting for next year's smartphones for that 10nm SoCs too as 14/16nm is from last year.
  • tom5 - Tuesday, August 2, 2016 - link

    Matt - please pass the info to Joshua Ho that we're still wating for his HTC 10 review he began to work on in April :).

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