Would you like a Mod to go with that Moto? After three iterations of the Moto Z, it’s clear that Motorola still believes in its line of snap-on magnetic phone accessories. And it should. There are a lot of intriguing Mods[1] you can buy, including a photo printer[2] and a fancy Hasselblad-branded camera[3], and they all work interchangeably with these Z phones.
Unfortunately, Moto Mods haven’t become a selling point yet. According to Motorola reps, only 40 percent of Moto Z owners are buying them—but the ones that do tend to come back for more. To try and up those middling Mod sales, the phone maker is going to give everyone a taste. The new unlocked Moto Z3 Play comes with a Mod in the box, and it's exactly the Mod you'll want.
Normally $50, the Motorola Moto Power Pack Mod[4] (that’s a mouthful) comes with every Moto Z3 Play[5]. It adds a 2,220mAh battery, or about one full waking work day (16 hours), of extra juice to the phone. It’s nice and thin too, adding only 5mm of thickness.
The best thing about having that extra battery pack is that you don’t usually need it. I kept mine tucked away in my laptop bag most of the time. On a typical day, the Moto Z3 had about 25-35 percent charge around bedtime. That’s about in line with other Android phones this year. Oddly enough, the BlackBerry Key2[6] is one of the only phones that’s consistently performed a lot better, but without a snap-on battery.
Take off the included battery-stuffed backpack and the standard Moto Z3 Play is almost identical to last year’s Moto...