Motorola Moto Z2 Force: It’s A Sleek Monster With Durable Screen

Motorola Moto Z2 Force with shatterproof screen comes with Android 8 version and bundled with Battery Mod unit.

Motorola is back in 2018 with the Moto Z2 Force which will be a OnePlus 5T competitor. The Moto Z2 Force gets the same shatterproof screen that we first saw on the Moto X Force a few years back.

And unlike the previous device, this one gets a manageable price tag of Rs 34,999, with its design signature borrowed from the Moto Z series.

Does that translate into an all-round package?

Pros:

• Durable screen; can handle a bump or two
• Bright and crisp 2K display quality
• Impressive hardware performance
• Stock Android interface is a bliss
• Long battery life with the Mod

Cons:

• Dated design
• Slow-ish camera is a deal-breaker

What’s Good?

It’s hard to look beyond the shatterproof screen on the Moto Z2 Force, and that’s one of the main reasons why I wanted to test the phone out. The 5.5-inch screen with its 5-layer display shield has proven its case before and we’re glad it doesn’t change with the Moto Z2 Force.

It has a slim design profile, with a rugged metal body and a fingerprint scanner on the front, right below the Moto branding. It’s got the looks of a pricier phone with its 6.1-mm thickness that carries a weight of 143 grams only.

A smartphone with a strong screen is hard to find in this price bracket, and that makes this one a bargain for those with butterfingers. The screen, however, isn’t just durable. The panel has got a nice sheen to it, which adds the gloss and crispness that everyone expects from a Quad-HD display with 2,560x1,440 pixels resolution.

In terms of hardware, you’re getting a Snapdragon 835 with 6GB of RAM, that puts the Moto Z2 Force at par with the OnePlus 5T. You get 64 GB of internal storage, which is expandable up to 2 TB (yeah, right). It gets a hybrid SIM slot which can either support two SIM cards at a time or one can be replaced with an SD card.

Topping all of this, there’s a 2,730 mAh battery and also a Battery Mod that has been bundled with all phones selling in India. Initially I wasn’t sure how the small-sized battery would manage my daily workload, but surprisingly enough, it did better than I had imagined.

Motorola sticks with its tried-and-tested mantra of using stock Android interface for its Moto devices. The Android 8.0 Oreo version, blending with a slew of Moto services ensures that the phone manages to work smoothly.

What’s Bad?

We’ve spoken highly about the way Moto Z2 Force has been designed. But the moment you see that aged 16:9 screen ratio on the 5.5-inch display, you realise Moto Z2 Force has entered India a bit too late.

We’re in 2018, where even a sub-20K phone gets an 18:9 ratio screen. The Moto Z2 Force doesn’t manage to excite with its camera offering either. Motorola has gone with a duo of 12-megapixel sensors with f/2.0 aperture.

While the Moto Z2 Force is a reliable shooter in daylight conditions, the phone barely manages to capture anything in low-light. This is mostly because of its inability to capture more light aided by the use of a f/2.0 sensor.

We felt that the Moto Z2 Force is trying too hard to make an impression. While the edges do clean up nicely in bokeh mode, the lack of detail ensures the muting effect in the background is prominent.

Why Buy It?

If you’re in a habit of breaking phone screens and cannot handle the heartbreak that follows, then Moto Z2 Force could be your calling. It’s got a sleek design, which has been bundled with a battery Mod in India, and packs hardware that you get on the Pixel 2.

The phone is running on stock Android interface, packs dual rear cameras that are a mixed bag. Having said that, for all its durability, the Moto Z2 Force has a dated design with its 16:9 ratio screen. If the OnePlus 5T doesn’t fit your taste, this one is surely worth looking at.