Two weeks after launching its latest Moto Z Play Droid Edition smartphone with Verizon on Sept. 8, Moto.com has begun taking preorders for the unlocked version of the Moto Z.
The unlocked Moto Z, which sells for $699.99, is compatible with AT&T, T-Mobile and other GSM networks and allows owners to switch carriers, will be changing out the phone’s SIM card. The unlocked 4G LTE handsets, which do not include preloaded bloatware from any carriers, were announced by Motorola on Sept. 22. A release date for the new phone was not announced but previously was targeted for October.
The latest Moto Z features a 5.5-inch quad HD 1440p AMOLED touch-screen display (2,560 x 1,440 resolution) with a Corning Gorilla Glass cover, a 1.8 GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor, an Adreno 530 GPU, 4GB of LPDDR4 memory, 64GB of on-board storage and a microSD card that supports external storage cards up to 256GB.
The unlocked Moto Z runs on the Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow operating system and also includes a 13-megapixel rear camera with an f/1.8 lens, optical image stabilization, laser autofocus, 8X digital zoom and 1080p HD and 4K video. The 5-megapixel front camera has an f/2.2 wide-angle lens and its own flash.
Powering the handset is a 2,600mAh rechargeable battery with TurboPower fast charging that gives eight hours of use after just 15 minutes of charging. In addition, the unlocked Moto Z includes a fingerprint reader for user and device security, a water-repellent nano-coating for protection against accidental spills of liquids and a USB-C port for headphones, charging and data transfer. A 3.5mm USB-C headphone port adapter is included.
The unlocked Moto Z is 6.03 inches tall, 2.96 inches wide and 0.20 inches thick, and weighs 4.79 ounces and also includes WiFi, Bluetooth 4.1 and Near Field Communication (NFC) connectivity. The handset comes in black with lunar gray trim and a black front lens.
Earlier in September, Motorola launched its Moto Z Play Droid Edition smartphone exclusively through Verizon. The Moto Z Play Droid Edition features a 5.5-inch 1080p HD Super AMOLED touch-screen display, estimated battery life of up to 50 hours on a charge and a $408 price tag. The 4G LTE handset, known as the Moto Z Play elsewhere around the world, features a 2GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor, an Adreno 506 graphics processor, 3GB of memory, 32GB of on-board storage and a microSD card slot for additional storage.
The Moto Z Play Droid Edition handset also includes a 16-megapixel rear-facing camera with laser auto-focusing, an f/2.0 lens, 4X digital zoom and 4K video capabilities, a 5-megapixel front-facing camera with an f/2.2 lens and LED flash, and a fingerprint reader for device and user security. The handsets are built around an aluminum frame and have a glass back plate. Like its unlocked Moto Z stablemate, the Moto Z Play Droid Edition phone features TurboPower fast charging, the Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow operating system, a water-repellent nano-coating to protect it from spills and WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0 and NFC connectivity capabilities. The Droid Edition handset is 6.15 inches long, 3 inches wide and 0.27 inches thick and weighs 5.8 ounces. It comes in Black/Silver/Black Slate or White/Fine Gold/Sugar White color combinations.
A standard Moto Z Play model is available in Europe for about $558.
All of the Moto Z phones, including the latest unlocked model, work with Lenovo’s Moto Mods collection of modular attachments. The latest such attachment is the Hasselblad True Zoom module, which is a camera attachment that adds a Hasselblad-engineered camera to the Moto Z handsets. The Hasselblad True Zoom module snaps onto the phone and adds capabilities, including 10x optical zoom, a Xenon flash and RAW image capturing. The Hasselblad True Zoom module sells for $249.99.
In June, Lenovo announced its latest Moto Z and the Moto Z Force smartphones, which also feature a series of interchangeable, modular Moto Mod backs that can be snapped onto the phones to add varying features as needed by users, including a larger battery, a big-screen projector or a boom box speaker system for over-the-top audio. The Moto Z and Moto Z Force handsets are flagship smartphones that include all-metal bodies, Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processors and Moto TurboPower fast charging capabilities. The Moto Z Force also includes the Moto Shattershield display, which is guaranteed not to crack or shatter.