Last year, the Moto Z legitimized modular phones[1]. Plenty had tried and failed to deliver a device with swappable hardware components, but Lenovo/Motorola managed to pull it off — and sold “millions and millions” of phones in the process. In fact, the first Moto Z did so well the company made the line its flagship product — a bold move for a device many wrote off as a gimmick.
The arrival of the Z2 line[2] is a moment of truth for the line — and modular phones in general. The product’s novelty was enough to generate plenty of interest for the first generation, but a year after its release is the perfect time to reassess what the inclusion of swappable Moto Mods actually brings to the product.
The first Moto Z succeeded by being a solid piece of hardware with the added bonus of modularity. Even if you avoided Moto Mods altogether, you still got a pretty decent phone out of the deal. That’s especially good in light of the fact that users haven’t been particularly bullish about the Mods themselves so far — buying between one and two for every handset purchased. And its hard to make a compelling case that any Mods released since then qualify as essential.
Thankfully, Motorola is still focused on making a good phone underneath all the Mods. You’ve got your standard selection of flagship features here, including the latest Snapdragon chip, healthy heapings of RAM and storage (4GB and 64GB) and a “shatterproof” display. But let’s be real: people are buying these for the Mods.
All mod cons
Here’s a list of all the available and upcoming Moto Mods at the time of this writing:...
- Battery
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