Moto Z2 Force. Flawed but fantastic.

After my failed Essential phone experiment I started looking for another phone. Ran into a deal for the Moto Z2 Force for $375 + free instashare projector. I had discounted the z2 Force as an option in my previous phone search for reason I'll go in to later but with the deal I thought I would give it a go. After several days of using it I'm really glad I took the chance on the Z2 force.

Things I knew I would like about the Z2. Shatterproof screen sounds great. I love Moto's version of Android, 99% stock but what small tweaks they do add is great stuff. AMOLED screen! Fingerprint reader gestures works great and removed the need for on screen navigation buttons.

I had two issues from reading reviews on the z2 Force which initially caused me to completely discount the phone at first. 1st was the Shatter Shield screen. The screen is guaranteed to not crack or shatter for 4 years. But, in order to achieve this they have a plastic layer on the outside surface of the screen. This plastic layer from what I read scratches incredibly easy. If you've seen a display Moto Z2 force the screen is probably scratched to hell and back. Add in the fact that most glass protectors don't seem to fit right as the bottom right corner of the screen is slightly curved so glass protectors always pull up in that area. The second was the fact Moto made the battery so much smaller on the new Z2 force, from ~3500mah TO 2730mah. Battery life is extremely important to me, maybe my #1 feature I look for on a phone.

One thing two weeks with the essential phone taught me is that the new Qualcom 835 SoC is incredibly efficient. With the 3050mah battery in the essential I would end the day with 4-5 hours of SoC and 43-46% battery left in the tank. That leave me a little bit of breathing room and room for the battery to age/degrade and still get me through the day. The Z2F is only 10% smaller so I figured I would get a little worse but probably be in acceptable range. Must be the AMOLED because the Z2 is even more battery efficient than the Essential. Yesterday I was 3:40 SoC and at 50% after a 7am-10:30pm day. None of the use was really intensive gaming, mostly texts, emails, and web browsing. But doing these tasks the phone just sips the battery. Tooday was a very light day with only 2h 5min of screen on time, 15 hours off the charger with 64% battery left.

Back to the scratchable plastic face. I knew this going in to the phone so the two days before my screen protector arrived I treated it with kid gloves. In a moment of inattention while sitting in the stands at the Iron Bowl I stuck the phone in my pocket with my keys and got a really fine Micro scratch So seriously don't use the phone at all until you get a screen protector. I went with a wet install protector so I wouldn't have to worry about the corner not sitting properly. Luckily the protector hides the micro scratch. Moto can replace the plastic layer for $49 if you screen gets too bad.

Moto Mods. I picked up the Moto Power Pack for $37 at the local best buy. It's a 2200mah battery pack that is 4.9mm thick. You can set the battery up one of two ways, efficiency mode and a mode that charges the battery on your phone to 100%. Efficiency mode only tops the phone off at 80% and keeps it there until the battery pack drains. You are supposed to get more longevity using efficiency mode. At the game last weekend I used my phone a ton. Streamed lots of video at the tailgate. Pictures, looking up scores, etc. Left the house at 8am for Gameday and got home that night after 10. With tons of heavy use the main phone battery was still at 80% and the battery pack was around 5% at the end of the night. So on normal days I can go regular but on days I need some more battery I can throw on the battery pack and not have to give the battery life on my phone a second thought.



When the Instashare projector comes in I'll be sure to post my thoughts on it. The phone isn't perfect but I've found I really like it. The plastic screen is a seriously crappy design because of how easy it scratches but if you know about it going in it is easy to avoid problems. Mods so far seems useful as the battery pack is fantastic. I already miss the essential phone bezeless form factor. Don't think I would recommend it at it's full $700 MSRP but at $300-375 Tmo has it priced with a free projector I think it's a fantastic bargain.