Motorola Z2 force and Mods - Special Media pack
Moto Mods
Last year Lenovo and Motorola came out with the concept of Mods for the smartphone which was very unique compared to other competitor brands. They had released Hasselblad True Zoom, JBL SoundBoost (Speaker), and moto insta-share projector. It was big hit with the consumers and liked the idea especially the JBL SoundBoost and Hasselblad True Zoom. This year in CES 2017, motorola got the “Best of Innovations Award”.
This year Lenovo and Motorola released Polaroid Insta-Share Printer, moto smart speaker with Amazon Alexa, moto 360 camera, moto gamepad, JBL SoundBoost 2, moto turbopower™ pack, moto style shell with wireless charging and moto power pack and their also 3rd party company who have also designed mods for the Motorola smartphones. Check out the full list of Mods available for the consumers from Motorola website. Please note: All the Mods mentioned in the may not be available for consumer’s in MEA region.
As mentioned earlier, Motorola had given us a special customise package which had the Mod 360 Camera, Moto Turbopower pack and Moto Gamepad for use and review.
The good thing about the Mods, Motorola has maintained the same magnetic connecting pins as same one released last year, so consumer who has earlier version can use the newer Mods and same vice versa.
Mod 360 camera
It attaches to your phone like other add-on Mods. Line up the electrical contacts on the phone and module, and the two will snap together magnetically. To use it, just launch the camera app as normal, the same way you do with the Hasselblad True Zoom add-on. You can launch the app from the home screen, or by holding down the single button on the rear of the 360 Camera, marked by the Motorola logo.
When not in use the Moto 360 camera has silicon rubber cap which protects the camera from scratches. The module doesn’t work independently of your phone. It doesn’t have its own battery or memory, so it must be attached in order to function. It uses the same camera app as your main camera—you can switch between the two with ease—and if you turn on Professional mode you get access to white balance, shutter speed, ISO, and EV control.
Shooting video at 4K quality with full 360-degree coverage is the camera’s marquee feature, but that’s not all . It can also capture still images, both in 360 degrees or in a wide panoramic view, and you can live stream video to popular social media channels. Live streaming support has to be enabled with download of Moto 360 App, as soon as it is installed, it creates a button in the camera mod to give you the option to live stream.
With Moto 360 camera mod attached on the smartphone, you switch on the camera, instantly camera switches on in the 360 mode. To switch back to smartphone camera, you have to click on the option button while the camera in on.
Video and Image Quality: Just to give you an idea of 360-degree camera world, you need to understand something: 360 4K is not the same quality as the 4K you get with 16:9 video because the same number of pixels and stretching them out across a sphere, rather than confining them into a small space. You’re also limited to ultra-wide lenses, needed to cover the entire world, so distant objects aren’t going to look crystal clear.
The Moto 360 captures footage at 3,840 by 1,920 pixels at a fixed 24fps frame rate but camera cannot shoot at 30fps, and 60fps. Video is compressed in MP4 format at a 50Mbps bit rate. You can see clear details on subjects close to the lens, but distant objects are softer.The stitching of both the camera to form 360 degree image or video is not prefect as their is a difference in exposure between the two lenses in our test footage, which makes the seam lines very visible.
It captures 3D audio thanks to its four built-in microphones, I have recorded the sport car driving experience and it didn’t overpower the sound of my voice and in the indoors it is pretty clear.
There was heating issue whiling using the Moto Z2 force with Moto 360 camera for long video for 10 mins especially shooting on 4k video mode. Suggestion: take short videos and give the smartphone and mod sometime to cool.
Moto Gamepad
This new Moto Gamepad was different experience while playing certain compatible game avaliable on Play Store. I have downloaded the Real racing game which worked beautifully along the moto gamepad. No doubt you can play the game with the virtual screen keys on the smartphone screen but with the Moto gamepad, it gave me more hand space and better control as I didn’t have to shrug in my shoulders which normally have to do to hold you smartphone while playing any games on smartphone.
The hardware for the Gamepad is excellent. Like most of the other Moto Mods, it connects to the back of your phone with a satisfying magnetic click. And that’s the entirety of the setup. There’s no app to install and no Bluetooth pairing to go through. If an app supports Android’s controller API, it’ll just work. The fact that the Gamepad directly connects to the phone means that lag isn’t really an issue either, unlike with Bluetooth controllers. It also doesn’t block the camera, should you feel the need to snap a quick picture while having the fairly bulky Mod still attached.
The build quality is excellent and the D-pad has particularly is crisp and the two analog sticks are responsive, and the face buttons aren’t too soft. The only issue is with the triggers, which are placed around the rounded corner and may cause you trouble while playing a shooters game.
The only issue is that currently there are limited choice of games which you can use with Moto Gamepad but I am sure the Motorola must be working with developers and gaming industry to develop compatible games for the Moto Gamepad.
Moto turbopower™ pack
This is perfect thing for the people who need extra juice / battery for heavy smartphone users. As the Moto Z2 Force comes with a 2370mAh battery, heavy smartphone user may require extra juice for continuing their work on smartphone. The Moto turbopower weighs 95gms and comes with 3490 mAh battery with battery level indicator.
To tryout the Moto Turbopower pack, I fully charged my Moto Z2 Force while leaving home for a day & night camping. I knew my battery would die down as I was in camp area where there was no access to electrical point and Moto Turbopower pack came in handy. I used the smartphone not only for listen to music via bluetooth speaker but also as flash light for the whole night and watched some videos online. With super heavy usage the battery pack lasted for 2 days non stop till I came back home. Compared to my friends, I was only with charged smartphone.
Interesting I liked about the Moto Turbopower pack is the mod is slim and has nice silicon rubber finish on the back and you just have to slap on to the Moto Z2 foirce smartphone. Even with the Moto Turbopower pack on the smartphone , the smartphone didn’t feel odd shape to carry in your pocket as I didn’t have to worry carry an extra power bank with wires in my pocket. Another feaure which I liked that the Moto Turbopower pack has it is own USB Type-C charging port, so you dont have to have the phone connected for charging the power pack. Also charging of the power pack is fast charging, in 20 mins it can give you 50% charge. Also as the smartphone battery starts to deplete, the Moto Turbopower pack recharges the smartphone as it is directly connected via magnetic pin with the smartphone.
I feel it perfect thing for people in business or video bloggers or who people who always wanted to hooked on to their smartphone.
For reader who want to know more about the Moto Z2 Force, please click see the Review of the Moto Z2 Force
https://www.criticreviewer.com/product-detail/review-of-motorola-z2-force-smartphone/
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