The LG G5 has been surpassed by the Moto Z as the most interesting phone in years
Like most people, I don‘t like being wrong. But I am willing to concede when new evidence comes to the fore proving my earlier misconceptions. This would be one of those cases where I did not foresee anyone else launching such an interesting device, as I recently gave the honour of the most interesting phone in years to the LG G5.
Now, however, I have to backtrack because of the newly announce Moto Z family. These devices are truly interesting and could point to the future of modular phone designs, potentially much more so than the solution on the LG.
Like the LG G5, the Moto Z comes with modular add-ons that can deliver some additional functionality or experiences you would not have seen otherwise. These modular parts are called Moto Mods, and could make the LG solution completely redundant because of its superior design.
Read: Motorola unveils its new flagships, the modular Moto Z and Moto Z Force
These add-ons snap onto the handset using a quartet of magnets and communicate with the device via 16 pin-connectors capable of 6Gbps data/‘power transfer. There are only three Moto Mods available at launch ““ a battery pack, a JBL speaker to boost sound performance (with sound quality akin to a wireless Bluetooth speaker) and a projector.
Initially, the battery pack will probably get the most usage, as the standard Moto Z is ridiculously thin at 5.2mm, meaning you have a smaller battery. Subsequently, the headphone jack has been excluded due to the lack of space and you‘ll need to use the USB-C connector for both charging and headphones. While there will by USB-C headphones available soon, the Moto Z does come with an adapter so that you can use your current headphones.
But back to the Moto Mods, the stars of the show here. As mentioned before, I believe this modular implementation is vastly superior to the LG G5‘s solution, and could make the development of third party Friends for the LG a non-starter. Instead, I believe third party manufacturers will prefer the Moto Z Mods.
The fact that you don‘t need to switch off your Moto Z when adding and removing Moto Mods makes it immediately superior to the LG Friends. It‘s a much more elegant plug and play solution, and it‘s completely won me over.
Read: Project Ara: The modular phone still lives
There are some other Moto Mods concepts that Lenovo showed off at the event, but they are still a bit messy and I find them a bit more difficult to digest as is. But surely there are endless possibilities with such a simple implementation. The most important that comes to mind is an optical zoom camera extension. Just think how quick and easy it would be to take top notch photographs with your smartphone if you could quickly snap on a close-to professional spec camera onto the back of your thin Moto Z and remove simply and easily when you‘re done.
While the Moto Z might not be as “˜modular‘ as Project Ara, but it might be the first step into making a commercially viable modular device.
What do you think about the modular design of the Moto Z? Do you agree that its the most interesting phone in years? Let us know in the comments below.
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