Motorola Moto Z3 Compared to Iphone X Better Photography

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As a long-time iPhone user, I'm non likely to just randomly switch to an Android phone. There would have to exist a actually proficient reason — and a truly great Android device — to brand me pull the trigger.

On paper, Motorola's new Moto Z3 has one of the near compelling Android phone pitches I've withal heard: Pay a reasonable toll at present for a modern 4G phone, then use a bespoke accessory to add next-generation Verizon 5G support early side by side year. Leveraging tomorrow's virtually transformative technology to sell phones today is an ingenious strategy.

I've had the opportunity to exam the Moto Z3 since concluding calendar week, and though information technology won't actually make me (or most iPhone users) switch, it could win over a certain group of Android fans. Specifically because of its 5G expandability, it might become a primary telephone and portable hotspot for some people, though that won't be clear until Motorola and Verizon disclose their 5G hardware and service pricing — nosotros asked, and they're not talking.

Without its 5G attachment, the $480 Moto Z3 is a story of 2 phones: Information technology's similar an iPhone X on the outside, and an iPhone 7 on the inside. While information technology initially appears to be a rare example of a near futurity-proof production, the devil — as ever — is in the details.

On the outside, it's similar a half-priced iPhone 10

When I say that the Moto Z3 is superficially similar a one-half-priced iPhone X, I mean that in the nicest possible manner: If yous've never used Apple'southward $1,000 flagship, y'all'll be hard-pressed to spot meaningful differences between them. Motorola went with a fully glass front end and back, joined by a polished black 6000-series aluminum frame, so apart from the Z3'southward slightly different curves and notchless top and bottom bezels, they await extremely similar.

Moto Z3'southward 6-inch screen is lower in resolution than the iPhone 10's, and LCD rather than OLED, only the boilerplate person's not going to care much well-nigh these differences. Instead, they'll run across a very brilliant, beautifully saturated display that'southward entirely usable even at ane-3rd power. They'll also capeesh that the Moto Z3's 0.2-inch larger screen supports Android'due south split-screen mode that's missing from the iPhone X (but likely to show up in the larger and more expensive Plus-sized version adjacent month).

Above: Moto Z3 fingerprint scanner.

Image Credit: Jeremy Horwitz/VentureBeat

One thing I was surprised to dear almost the Moto Z3's outside is its side-mounted fingerprint scanner. Placed right underneath the volume buttons on Z3'south correct, it's in just the place where my finger unremarkably grips the phone, making unlocking fast and effortless… when the feature works. In my experience, that's virtually of the fourth dimension, and in any instance more frequently than the iPhone 10'due south however-spotty Face ID unlocking experience. If the scanner had more surface area — information technology's express by Z3's six.75mm thin chassis — it would exist perfect.

The finger scanner isn't Moto Z3's just option. Its front photographic camera supports Face Unlock, which automatically unlocks the device using photo recognition when you lift upwards the camera to your face. Unfortunately, the phone openly disclaims Face Unlock'south security, saying that it's less protective than using a password, Pivot, or fingerprint. In practise, I likewise found that it worked far less often than either Z3'southward fingerprint scanner or Apple'southward Face ID. But it'southward at that place if you're willing to take a "not great" culling unlocking experience.

Higher up: Moto Z3'due south beautiful just constantly fingerprint-smudged back.

Paradigm Credit: Jeremy Horwitz/VentureBeat

One thing I hate about the Moto Z3'southward exterior is how much its torso makes me worry about adventitious damage. Just similar the iPhone 10, every i of its glossy surfaces is a magnet for fingerprint smudges, and I found myself worried nigh future accidental drops. While I quickly came to honey the manner the Z3 feels in my manus, I tin can't get past concerns that it volition scuff, chip, or shatter.

On the within, information technology's non quite an iPhone 7

In that location are so many Android phones — even ones in the Moto Z serial — that they're really hard to meaningfully tell apart at this indicate. Moreover, most any contempo Android telephone around the $500 cost point has enough hardware and software horsepower to be a competent phone for typical daily apply. Armed with Qualcomm's crumbling Snapdragon 835 and Android 8.1 Oreo, the Moto Z3 falls squarely into that "competent" category.

In a higher place: Android 8.1 Oreo on the Moto Z3.

Image Credit: Jeremy Horwitz/VentureBeat

I use my telephone primarily for photography and videography, making audio and video calls, navigation, and reading news. Besides those things, I'll occasionally play a game and apply a social media service. Then I care about having slap-up cameras, solid wireless (including telephone and GPS), and a adequately powerful CPU/GPU combination.

Using Geekbench four, the Moto Z3 benchmarks at 1924 (single-core) and 6529 (multi-core), which is to say halfway betwixt an iPhone 6 (~1550) and iPhone 6s (~2500) in single-core and closer to the iPhone seven (~5900) than 8 (~10100) in multi-cadre. In practical terms, this means the belatedly 2018 Z3 performs roughly similar a late 2015 or 2016 flagship device for everyday tasks, which is to say near apps exterior of games and photography.

Most of the fourth dimension, that's a difference you won't feel. But there are times when the Z3's interface shows its chips' lack of speed and software optimizations. I e'er noticed the GPS needing a few seconds of extra time to get started when I used Google Maps for navigation, and apps taking just a little longer than "immediately" to open up.

On the wireless side, I never came close to the peak 4G speeds the Z3 is already capable of. At home, I saw roughly 10Mbps downloads and under 2Mbps uploads with Verizon, lower than (but in the aforementioned general ballpark) as the mediocre LTE operation I get at abode with my iPhone on T-Mobile. Simply outdoors, I was able to hit fifty.4Mbps down and 9.1Mbps up at i point, better on the download side at least than the U.South. national boilerplate.

The problem at that place isn't the device — it'south the LTE network. On my abode Wi-Fi network, the Z3 hit 117Mbps downward and 13Mbps upward, within 1Mbps of the numbers of my iPhone. When 5G networks are available, a Z3 with the 5G Moto Modern should frequently be able to reach 10 or more times that speed, just for now, it's limited by the 4G networks we all have.

I wasn't blown away by Moto Z3'due south camera performance. On paper, the specs are fine: twin 12MP rear cameras (ane colour, one monochrome) with f/2.0 aperture, light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation autofocus, and 4K/30p video recording, plus a f/2.0 8MP front end camera with 1080p recording. In practice, the Z3 tends to produce overly absurd photos and videos that too often were soft due to normal manus motion. It also tended to overexpose and blow out indoor shots, leaving unrecoverable highlights.

Above: The Moto Z3's rear camera (below) overexposes and blows out highlights compared with the iPhone X's rear camera (above). Information technology also has a narrower field of view.

The rear photographic camera's single field of view is a less ideal compromise between the twin fields of view offered by recent iPhones, while its front end camera is noticeably wider — an 84 caste FoV — which is better for wide-angle selfies simply worse for portraits. Moto Z3 supports software-based background blurring, a Cinemagraph mode that lets you freeze most of an image while animative a portion of information technology, and a variety of filters. A true black and white mode is also offered for the monochrome rear camera.

Above: Moto Z3's front photographic camera (left) has the same colour coolness as its rear photographic camera, just the reward of a noticeably wider field of view, enabling more people (or background) to fit into a selfie than a current-generation iPhone.

Image Credit: Jeremy Horwitz/VentureBeat

A brief note on games: You can expect Moto Z3 to do but fine with most of the mobile games currently on the market. As a stress test, I tried the popular 3D battle royale game PUBG, which notably defaulted to "loftier" settings — a good thing — and ran in the low- to mid-20fps range during a brief playtest session.

To a higher place: PUBG on Moto Z3.

Prototype Credit: Jeremy Horwitz/VentureBeat

The Moto Z3 isn't a tiptop-of-line flagship Android telephone, but for most intents and purposes, information technology's merely a couple of steps behind the leading devices today. My big question is whether that'southward a solid enough foundation for a "5G upgradeable" phone.

Here's what this all means for 5G

Fifth-generation (5G) cellular networks will be launching afterward this year in the United States, with the hope of radically improved network performance: Depending on where you lot alive (and how bad your existing 4G network connexion is), you lot could meet 10 to 100 times current speeds when receiving and sending files. During Moto Z3's announcement, executives suggested that calculation the 5G Moto Mod will let Z3 users apace download a concluding-minute moving-picture show earlier hopping on a aeroplane and have sufficient cellular bandwidth to share it with other devices.

Above: Motorola's 5G Moto Modern signals the dawn of a new era for telecommunications – 5G.

Paradigm Credit: Motorola

As smartphone accessories go, the 5G Moto Modernistic is truly interesting. From the outside, it's not much different from a Mophie Juice Pack battery, except that it attaches directly and magnetically to a pin panel on the lower bottom of the Moto Z3's back. Inside, it contains twin modems — a beginning-generation 5G modem and an ultra-modernistic 4G modem — which are designed to let it squeeze maximum information rates out of whatever network is nearby.

The vivid function of Motorola's and Verizon'due south pitch is that every Moto Z3 possessor is a potential 5G customer — and i with reasonable incentives to actually sign on. A 5G Moto Mod is likely to be smaller than early on standalone 5G hotspot pucks, and in 5G'due south earliest days, the promises of more than bandwidth and faster video downloads may exist enough to win some customers. Some people might even be able to ditch their existing broadband service for 5G… if the price is correct.

Merely pricing remains a cloud over Motorola's and Verizon'southward heads — information technology's hard to get excited virtually or recommend the Moto Z3 to anyone without knowing pricing for both 5G service and the 5G Moto Mod. I reached out to ask how much the hardware and service would price, but was told that the companies are not disclosing those details now.

As concerning as the hardware and 5G service numbers may be on their own, Moto Z3 has a Mobile Hotspot screen to remind y'all that Verizon may add another charge for Mobile Hotspot tethering. There'southward certainly potential for nickel-and-diming to stifle 5G's growth.

Some other big question is how much late-4G-generation devices like the Moto Z3 will really exist able to take advantage of 5G's capabilities. Putting the increase in bandwidth aside, will you really demand to have 5G speeds to picket 1080p videos on the Moto Z3's screen? Volition you really be able to use it for any sort of VR or other ultra-loftier-bandwidth video streaming applications? How will information technology actually handle sharing a 5G connectedness with multiple tethered devices?

Above: The 5G-ready Moto Mod connection pegs on the back of the Moto Z3.

Paradigm Credit: Jeremy Horwitz/VentureBeat

These sorts of questions are critically important to answer properly before recommending the purchase of a Moto Z3 — and I won't accept the definitive answers until I get to put it through stress tests with a 5G Moto Mod on an actual 5G network. And then until and then, this is merely a hands-on rather than a full review; I'm excited to meet what the Z3 can practise when its most important accessory is actually bachelor with hardware and service pricing.

For the time beingness, I would suggest that only a very specific group of Android users remember about owning the Moto Z3: people who aren't as concerned well-nigh owning a flagship telephone as a very solid ane, withal as well don't want to be left behind next yr at the starting time of the 5G transition. If you desire a expert phone now that could become a 5G portable hotspot for work, consider the Moto Z3 — only I would strongly suggest waiting on the buy until both Verizon and Motorola become transparent on their 5G pricing.

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