Motorola Moto Z2: What’s the story so far?

The Motorola Moto Z was launched in 2016 as Motorola’s first crack at a modular mobile. The Z series was brought in to replace the flagship X series. Now, in 2017, Motorola has reintroduced the X series, but kept the Z range at the top of the family tree.

• Motorola Moto Z: A modular muddle

Following the recent release of the Moto Z2 Play, it would be fair to assume Motorola is planning a successor to the ‘regular’ Z smartphone. And there is evidence to suggest Motorola will release such a flagship phone later this year, so we’ve compiled all the rumours surrounding specs, design and features here for all to see.

• Motorola Moto Z2 Play: All the mod cons

Motorola Moto Z2: Release date

• Possible early-June announcement
• Late-July release based upon previous generation

Pinning down an exact release date is proving very tricky right now. Motorola announced the previous Z-generation of phones in early June 2016, so given the majority of smartphone manufacturers work on a yearly cycle, we could see some light shed very soon.We have seen a leaked presentation slide that only mentions the Z2 Play and the Z2 Force, with no ‘regular’ Z phone in sight. Although even then, it doesn’t mention release dates for either of those phones. But that hasn’t stopped online portals from suggesting Motorola is keeping it under wraps.A leaked photo of the Z2 Play, picked up by Android Authority, showed a date of 8 June on the display. Today is 8 June and we haven’t heard anything just yet, but fingers crossed we’ll hear something more official soon.When Motorola did announce the Z-series in 2016, they weren’t released until late-July, so we’ll stick with a late-July release for the Z2 for the time being.

Motorola Moto Z2: Design

• Modules are a certainty
• Slim build, no 3.5mm headphone port
• Glass front, likely to have a metal build

The previous Moto Z was incredibly slim at 5.19mm at its thickest point. It’s likely the Moto Z2 will come in at a similar size, which will mean once again that there will be no 3.5mm headphone port. Instead you’ll have to rely on a USB-C to 3.5mm adapter, USB-C headphones or Bluetooth wireless. The slim design was used so when modules were attached to the back, it wouldn’t make the phone overly bulky.Android Authority was once again responsible for an image leak purporting to be the Moto Z2. The phone features in the photo does look remarkably similar to the Moto Z2 Play, but Motorola phones have tended to follow a similar design language. The image was also just of the front of the device, showing a front-facing camera, home button with a fingerprint scanner likely to be built-in and a glass-covered front. It doesn’t show the rear and therefore the rear-camera or module attachment pins.The rear-camera can be different across the Z-series, so being able to see it would have helped to distinguish which phone it is.

Motorola Moto Z2: Hardware

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor expected
• 4GB of RAM
• Previous generation had 32GB storage, Z2 should have the same.

Being a flagship device, we expect the Moto Z2 to come with flagship specs. A recent Geekbench benchmark test, picked up by Pocket Now, shows the Z2 to have a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor and 4GB of RAM, putting it on par with the Samsung Galaxy S8.

In terms of storage, we haven’t heard any rumours, but the previous Moto Z has 32GB internal storage with microSD expansion. We’d expect the Z2 to come with the same, or better.The biggest selling point of the Moto Z2 will be the modules that can attach to the back. Roland Quandt, who has been responsible for some accurate leaks in the past, has posted images of a second-generation Moto Z device with a Hasselblad camera module, a battery pack and a JBL speaker.

Motorola Moto Z2: Display

• 5.5-inch Quad HD AMOLED display
• Adaptive brightness a likelihood

The previous Moto Z smartphone had a gorgeous 5.5-inch 2560 x 1440 QHD display. We’d expect the Z2 to come with the exact same. It’s highly unlikely Motorola would reduce the size of the display, and any bigger it will be encroaching on phablet territory.

Motorola Moto Z2: Camera

• Lower megapixel count that Moto Z
• Larger pixels for better lowlight shots
• Laser autofocus, OIS

As for the camera, Android Authority predicts it will have a dual-lens setup on the rear, and usually reliable tipster Ricciolo has said it will be lower in megapixel resolution, but the pixels will be larger to help it fare better with low-light shots.

2017 #motoz #motox #Lenovo enhanced low light images LOWER MP Bigger μm Quality Lenses Laser AF OIS 😉 FIX this!Sorry for being TOO AHEAD !

— Ricciolo (@Ricciolo1) 16 July 2016

The camera will also allegedly have laser autofocus and optical image stabilisation.

Motorola Moto Z2: Price

Determining a price for the Z2 is just as hard as pinning down a release date. Nowhere has mentioned how much it may cost when it’s released. For now, we’ll assume it will cost somewhere in the region of £500, the same as the previous generation Moto Z.