Motorola Moto Z preview: Super thin new handset drops the headphone jack and gains modular add-ons

The Inspector Gadget of smartphones will come with add-on speakers, projectors, and batteries

Motorola has just announced a new line of modular smartphones called the Moto Z. The phone will be available in two versions, Moto Z and Moto Z Force. Both will come with a range of magnetised backs called Moto Mods, able to bring a different function to the phone without altering its build. Thanks to LG and Google, modular smartphones aren’t a new thing but that doesn’t make Motorola and Lenovo's offering any less interesting or exciting.

As far as the phone itself goes, the standard Moto Z will have a 5.5 inch display; 32 GB of storage with an SD card to expand it; 4GB of RAM; a 13 megapixel camera with optical image stabilisation; a fingerprint scanner for added security; and a 2600 mAh battery. The handset is also exceptionally thin, at only 5.2 millimetres thick without Mods attached.

The Force model isn’t too different from the standard Z in terms of appearance but it does upgrade the camera to 21 megapixels and the battery to an impressive 3500 mAh. These additions make it slightly thicker at around 7 millimeters, but this actually a standard thickness, similar to the iPhone 6 and 6S.

A downside to both models is that neither has a headphone jack, so if you want to listen to your music privately you’ll have to turn to Bluetooth or use an included adaptor which allows you to plug them into the USB-C charging port.

By far the most exciting thing about the phones, though, are their modular additions. All users will receive a Mod that will provide the phone with something as simple as a new look upon purchase. However, mods with more exciting functions will be available to buy separately including a pico projector, a speaker, and a battery booster that will add up to 22 hours of battery life to your phone. Importantly, all of the Mods come with their own built-in batteries so users won’t see any significantly greater drain on power when using them.

The standard Moto Z will be released internationally in Autumn 2016 - there’s no sign of the Force model coming outside of the US yet - with a selection of Moto Mods available already. Moto have more Mods planned for release after the launch but there are also development kits available for third party developers who’d like to create and submit their own ideas. As a creative incentive Lenovo has promised a cool $1,000,000 to the developer who can come up with the best prototype Mod by March 31st, 2017.

As yet, there are no prices released but as modularity is still a relatively fresh feature for smartphones and it’s not entirely clear whether it’s something consumers are really crying out for, we imagine the accessories won’t be overly expensive in an attempt to draw people in. It’ll certainly be interesting to see what features will be added next.