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Introduction
Motorola has launched a new member of the Moto Z series - the Moto Z3. However, its actual announcement has raised many eyebrows and has us wondering if the Moto Z3 is more of a refresh of the Z2 than a real successor.
The most significant change on the Moto Z3 is the addition of a taller 6-inch Super AMOLED display, a frame-mounted fingerprint scanner, and a fresh new glossy finish around the frame and on the pretty rear glass. None of these features, however, were any mystery since the Moto Z3 Play has the exact same design elements.
Interestingly, Motorola didn't bother to mention its "Force" branding that was synonymous with the Moto Z2 when it launched and was marketed as a shatter-proof smartphone. Shatter protection has gone out the window with Motorola, likely due to the soft plastic display that was super easy to scratch on the Z2.
Moto Z3 specs
- Body: 6000 series Aluminum and all-glass rear; splash-resistant P2i6 (repellent nano-coating)
- Display: 6.01-inch Super AMOLED with FHD+ (2160x1080 px) resolution
- Rear camera: Dual 12MP (f/2.0, 1.25 micron) RGB + (f/2.0, 1.25 micron) Monochrome; Phase-detection AF + Laser AF; CCT (Color Correlated Temperature); dual-tone LED flash; "Zero Shutter Lag"
- Front camera: 8MP; f/2.0; 1.12 micron; 84-degree FOV; full-screen flash
- Video recording: 4K (2160p)@30fps on main camera; 1080p@30fps on front-camera
- OS: Android 8.1 Oreo with Moto Experiences
- Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 835: Octa-core Kryo (4x2.35 GHz & 4x1.9 GHz); 850 MHz Adreno 540 GPU
- Memory: 4GB of RAM + 64GB of internal storage: up to 2TB expansion via microSD
- Battery: 3,000 mAh non-removable Li-ion
- Connectivity: nano-SIM; LTE; Bluetooth 5.0; Wi-FI a/b/g/n 2.4GHz + ac 5GHz; GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS; BEIDOU; NFC; Verizon 5G upgradable via future MotoMod;
- Misc: Side-mounted fingerprint scanner; face unlock; Moto Mod compatibility; Moto Actions; 3.5mm headphone jack via USB-C
Before you ask - yes, the spec sheet is correct. Motorola didn't update any internals of the Moto Z3, keeping last year's Snapdragon 835 and not bumping the RAM up from 4GB. To be fair, this configuration is still great even in today's standards. In this industry, however, nobody wants to hear that one-year-old tech is still good a full year later.
The bigger part of the announcement was Verizon and Qualcomm's collaboration to launch Verizon's 5G network next year. Motorola ties into the announcement with a 5G Moto Mod modem that would make the Moto Z3 (and presumably older Moto Z devices) take advantage of Verizon's 5G network once it goes live next year.
The Moto Z3 shows us a different strategy than we've seen in a while. Unlike when HTC released the overpriced Bolt with an old Snapdragon 810 (which constantly overheated) Motorola is pricing the Moto Z3 very aggressively with hopes it will boost sales and leverage the 5G hype.
Verizon hopes it does boost sales since the device will be available exclusively from Verizon in the US. We also expect to see Verizon offer some lucrative promotions to get folks to switch to Verizon with the Z3's upgradable 5G as an incentive.
No matter how different (or similar) the Moto Z3 is from its predecessor, we're still going to review it like any other flagship. We'll be looking to see how the larger new display affects battery life, whether the camera sees any improvements, and whether the Moto Z3 is a worthy upgrade over the Moto Z2.
Let's take a look at this retail packaging first.
Verizon Moto Z3 unboxing
We have a Verizon variant of the phone with bold red packaging and some cool black stripes along the sides. The box's sleeve comes off and it opens to the right.
The Moto Z3 comes with a documents pack, a USB-C to USB-A adapter, TurboPower wall adapter, and a 3.5mm headphone jack to USB-C adapter.
Design and hardware
The Moto Z3 adopts the same design language that we saw on the already available Moto Z3 Play, so there are no surprises here. The screen got an upgrade in size and aspect ratio, but a downgrade in resolution. The fingerprint scanner has moved to the right while the power key moved over to the left side.
The rear of the phone also got some nicer-looking glass, a change from the mostly metal backside that previous-generations of the Moto Z had. There is a downside to this: the phone is no longer shatter-proof. Perhaps Motorola would rather have a conventional display than have to deal with uproar that its plastic displays were making whe the Z2 Force first launched.
Motorola did good by bringing back the full "Motorola" branding on the chin of the phone - it had tried to make "Moto" stick but it didn't sound as recognizable the full name of the brand. Also on the chin are dual microphones to pick up commands for Moto Voice. Above the 6.01-inch display with curved corners is the earpiece, which is also the loudspeaker.
Front
There's also an 8MP camera up top along with the usual cluster of motion sensors. Moto Display uses motion sensors that are embedded in the bezels of the phone and Motorola managed to get these working despite having less bezel area.
Chin • Forehead
On the right side of the phone is the integrated fingerprint scanner, whose placement we are still getting used to. While the fingerprint scanner can wake the phone up from standby, it can't put the phone back to sleep like it could when it was front-mounted. Instead you'll have to reach around to the left side to press the sleep key. This will certainly take some getting used to. Otherwise, the volume keys retain their original location.
Right • Left
On the bottom of the device is a single USB-C port and nothing else. There is no headphone jack, so this is where you'd insert the included 3.5mm headphone jack adapter. At the top is another microphone, and the SIM/microSD card tray.
Bottom • Top
The frame around the phone is no longer of a matte finish, it now has a polished finish with a very dark shiny color somewhere between black chrome and gunmetal. The name of the color is Ceramic Black, so a reflective black finish is appropriate.
Corner
The back of the Moto Z3 is beautiful. It's made of Gorilla Glass 3 so it's just as susceptible to scratches as the display is and there's a reflective backing just behind the glass that gives it that shiny reflective appearance. We do miss the feel of metal that the Moto Z and Z2 had and you'll be wiping fingerprints off the glass very often unless you slap on one of Moto's Style Shells.
Rear
Ever since the Moto Z limited the camera setup to the round cutout so that it'd see through any Moto Mod. Since then, this round camera ring has been adopted into other models like the Moto G6 and the Moto X4.
The ring around the cameras are nicely detailed in black chrome, and this is the same color as the frame that goes around the device. One last note about the Ceramic Black color - this is the only color option that the Moto Z3 is available in.
Camera
The Moto Z has never been an ergonomically designed phone. Holding it for extended periods of time might temporarily mark your palms from the hard edge that runs all the way around. Using a Moto Style Shell makes it more comfortable to hold. Unfortunately, Motorola hasn't included a Style Shell in the box since the original Moto Z.
Moto Z3 in-hand
In the past, we've praised the Moto Z's durability and the confidence that we had to carry it around with no protective case. Now that the phone is no longer shatter-proof and is made of breakable glass on both sides, its durability is no longer backed by anything Shatter Proof.
Without a doubt, the phone looks much nicer with the rounded corners and a shiny glass back. We just hope that Motorola's history of hardware durability will shine through in the Moto Z3.
Moto Mods are still around. Aside from the 5G Mod that Verizon will release next year, Motorola hasn't announced any other new Moto Mods for the Moto Z3, but Motorola assured us the 5G Mod won't be the last.
The Moto Z3 is the third-generation flagship for the Moto Mods platform, which fulfills Motorola's three-generation promise that Moto Mods you'd bought with the first generation Moto Z would keep working with future Moto Z devices.
Display
The Moto Z3 has a brand new display: a 6.01-inch Super AMOLED screen with a taller 18:9 aspect ratio. Motorola is switching from its P-OLED displays to brighter Samsung displays. Although late to the party, Motorola finally managed to minimize the bezels in the Moto Z's chassis by replacing the aging 5.5-inch 16:9 display with this taller one.
We really enjoy how the Moto Z3 looks compared to its predecessors. The 5.5-inch display gave the Z and Z2 really large bezels that quickly became outdated when the trend fully shifted towards tall displays in 2017. As for resolution, Motorola decided to keep the resolution at Full HD+ (1080 x 2160 px).
As a result, the pixel density of the Moto Z3 is 25% lower than the Moto Z2 Force, which had QHD resolution. That reduction in ppi is not a dealbreaker by any means. If anything, it would help bump performance and lengthen battery endurance.
We tested the display on the Z3 and found some great color reproduction and brightness. The Moto Z3 reached a max brightness of 464 nits with the adaptive mode turned off. The screen gets a boost of brightness when adaptive mode is enabled and it reached a very good brightness of 652 nits.
| Display test | 100% brightness | ||
| Black, cd/m2 | White, cd/m2 | ||
| 0 | 652 | ∞ | |
| 0.468 | 640 | 1368 | |
| 0 | 623 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 618 | ∞ | |
| 0.399 | 566 | 1419 | |
| 0 | 559 | ∞ | |
| 0.397 | 554 | 1395 | |
| 0.311 | 507 | 1629 | |
| 0 | 464 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 456 | ∞ | |
| 0.278 | 453 | 1629 | |
| 0 | 440 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 440 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 422 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 376 | ∞ | |
| 0.19 | 309 | 1626 | |
Colors are generally pleasant on the Moto Z3. In the standard "Vibrant" mode, colors are slightly oversaturated for the most pleasing viewing effect. Even so, colors are just vibrant enough without being overbearing. In the default viewing mode, we saw an average deltaE of 5.7 with a max deltaE of 8 - greens and reds are slightly dark while whites were a little cool (blueish).
The most accurate color mode was the "Standard" after we moved the color temperature slider down to "Warm". In this mode, we saw a better average deltaE of 4.1 despite the much higher max deltaE of 10.6 due to reds looking a bit dark. We'd trust this display to edit photos with coloring in mind.
There is no way to fine-tune color temperature, but there is a slider that lets you choose between Warm, Neutral, and Cool. Vibrant + Warm yielded the best-looking colors with mostly accurate whites while Standard + Warm yielded the most accurate color mode on the device.
Color mode adjustment
Considering the price point of the Z3, this is a great display with excellent color reproduction and ample brightness for viewing outside.
Battery endurance
The Moto Z3 has a 3,000 mAh battery. By contrast, the Moto Z2 Force had a smaller 2.750 mAh battery. Even though this display is lower-res, its still a larger display. So even if the display was more efficient, the greater surface area might outweigh any added efficiency.
The Moto Z3 did surprisingly better than the Z2. For starters, the call time of 21:02h was several hours improved over the Z2. Meanwhile, our browsing test endured about one hour longer than the Z2: it got 10:49h. Finally, video playback saw a drop but still came up strong at 15:08h. The overall score is 86h, which is quite good for a device with a 3,000 mAh battery.
The Moto Z3 uses Motorola's TurboPower Charging - which Motorola's trademarked version of USB- Power Delivery. The included power brick supports 5V @ 3A/ 9V@ 1.6A/ and 12V @ 1.2A. We appreciate that the Moto Z3 supports both Qualcomm Quick Charge or USB-PD which makes the phone more accessible to quick top-ups with different kinds of power banks and power bricks.
Using the TurboPower OEM charger to recharge the Z3 from a depleted battery reached 53% in half an hour.
Our endurance rating denotes how long a single battery charge will last you if you use the Motorola Moto Z3 for an hour each of telephony, web browsing, and video playback daily. We've established this usage pattern, so our battery results are comparable across devices in the most common day-to-day tasks. The battery testing procedure is described in detail in case you're interested in the nitty-gritties. You can also check out our complete battery test table, where you can see how all of the smartphones we've tested will compare under your own typical use.
Loudspeaker
The Moto Z has always used a single loudspeaker - the earpiece. Even though the display now takes up more space in the same size body, the speaker is somehow even louder than the Z2 Force.
| Speakerphone test | Voice, dB | Ringing |
Overall score | |
| 70.2 | 74.7 | 70.0 | Good | |
| 69.5 | 68.0 | 77.6 | Good | |
| 68.6 | 69.9 | 77.8 | Good | |
| 69.7 | 73.5 | 76.6 | Very Good | |
| 68.5 | 74.3 | 81.1 | Very Good | |
| 68.2 | 70.2 | 86.1 | Very Good | |
| 70.0 | 77.0 | 81.1 | Excellent | |
| 71.7 | 77.8 | 80.3 | Excellent | |
| 78.3 | 76.4 | 82.3 | Excellent | |
| 76.0 | 73.6 | 88.5 | Excellent | |
| 80.1 | 73.2 | 85.0 | Excellent | |
| 77.0 | 73.8 | 91.1 | Excellent |
Dynamic response is very good for a smartphone speaker. The sound this loudspeaker produces is clean and clear with zero distortion. Motorola has always made strong loudspeakers and the Moto Z3 is no exception.
Audio quality
The Motorola Moto Z3 delivered the faultlessly accurate output we've come to expect from smartphones these days when hooked to an active external amplifier. In fact it went a step further and garnished it with impressively high volume.
Headphones did damage to the stereo crosstalk and added a tiny dash ot intermodulation distortion. The slightly worse than average stereo takes a few points away from the Moto Z3, but the output is still pretty solid. And loudness was up there with the best too, so we can easily give this one the stamp of approval.
| Test | Frequency response | Noise level | Dynamic range | THD | IMD + Noise | Stereo crosstalk |
| +0.03, -0.02 | -92.9 | 92.9 | 0.0027 | 0.0080 | -92.8 | |
| +0.21, -0.04 | -92.7 | 93.2 | 0.081 | 0.142 | -50.0 | |
| +0.03, -0.07 | -93.4 | 93.9 | 0.0012 | 0.0063 | -89.3 | |
| +0.01, -0.58 | -92.2 | 93.5 | 0.0088 | 0.330 | -55.7 | |
| +0.02, -0.15 | -94.3 | 94.3 | 0.0021 | 0.0069 | -94.3 | |
| +0.18, -0.13 | -93.7 | 93.6 | 0.0024 | 0.104 | -52.7 | |
| +0.01, -0.03 | -92.6 | 92.5 | 0.0012 | 0.0076 | -93.4 | |
| +0.03, -0.03 | -92.2 | 92.2 | 0.0017 | 0.042 | -76.3 | |
| +0.02, -0.01 | -93.2 | 93.1 | 0.0008 | 0.0069 | -94.2 | |
| +0.03, -0.02 | -92.9 | 92.9 | 0.0057 | 0.051 | -68.1 |
Motorola Moto Z3 frequency response
You can learn more about the tested parameters and the whole testing process here.
Android 8.1 with Moto Experiences
The Moto Z3 comes with Android 8.1 out of the box. Like all previous versions of the Moto Z, Moto's software is near-stock with added Moto Enhancements: Moto Actions, Moto Voice, and Moto Display.
Let's start with the fingerprint scanner, it's great. The sensor is quick and reliable and the its placement is right where the power button would be. However, the actual power key has been moved to the left side.
It wasn't really any inconvenience to have it on the other side. It takes maybe a day or two to get used to - press the right side with your thumb to unlock, and then use your index or middle finger to reach behind the phone to press the sleep key. This is assuming you're right-handed, of course.
Although it isn't until Android 9.0 Pie that Android implemented an official gesture navigation solution, Motorola has been using gesture navigation since the Moto Z2. Of course, it used the front-mounted fingerprint sensor to do this. Since the scanner is no longer on the front, Moto's One Button Navigation is now on-screen and looks a lot like the iPhone X's Home "bar".
Standard Nav bar • One Button Nav
It's simpler than Google's Android 9 Pie controls in that it emulates the original three on-screen navigation keys: Swipe left on the bar to go Back, tap the bar to go Home, swipe right for Recents, swipe right again to quickly switch between the last two apps, and tap-hold for Google Assistant. We're pretty glad there is no "swipe up" gesture that emulates the iPhone X.
How to use One Button Nav
Aside from the change in navigation, not much has changed in the UI since the Z2. General navigation is the same: swipe up to access the app drawer, 5 dynamic app icons at the top of the drawer, and rotatable home-screens, all in a taller display. The taller display means it may be harder to reach the drawer, so you can swipe down from anywhere on the launcher to pull it down.
Rotated home screen • App drawer • Notification shade
The One Button Navigation feature is one of Moto's Experiences and can be controlled within the Moto App. The app has been updated with a new suggestions tab, which now shows a few cards of suggested tools like Night Display, a storage cleanup tool, and a power monitor tool to put power-chugging apps to sleep.
Moto app features • Suggestion cards in Moto App
The list of Moto Actions has grown from the Z2. Media controls, Lift to unlock, Screenshot editor, and Three finger screenshot.
Moto Actions
There's a new feature called Attentive display. This will keep the display turned on as long as you're looking at it by looking for your attention through the front-facing camera.
Moto Display has been around since the original Moto X (formerly known as Active Display) and will briefly show you the time and date, along with any notifications you may have missed. The bezels are embedded with motion sensors that will active Moto Display when you give the display a quick wave.
Moto Display: features • Settings • How it works
'Talk to me' is the feature that was first introduced with the original Moto X: when the phone detected it was in a moving vehicle. Text messages and incoming calls would be read aloud with prompts for the user to respond. This feature is still here and is a part of Moto Voice. Unfortunately, the feature is buried pretty deep in the Moto App.
Talk to me
The Z2 used simpler Moto Voice commands so that its features wouldn't overlap too much with Google Assistant. Most of them started with "Show me..." and you could follow that with things like "the weather", "my calendar", or "Google Maps". More glanceable things like the weather or upcoming events would appear and then fade out.
This updated version of Moto Voice doesn't work with any of the "Show me" commands. The majority of what it can do now overlaps with Google Assistant, so why bother using Moto Voice at all? Well, there might be a couple of reasons.
Moto Voice setup
Moto Voice can perform certain actions within apps. For example, you can ask Moto to "view my favorite places" and it will take you to the appropriate screen within the Google Maps app, or you can say "pull up my drafts" and it will open the Gmail app to the drafts screen. These are things that Google Assistant can't do.
Moto Voice commands
Unfortunately, since the new Moto Voice is half-baked (is is in Beta, after all), not all apps queries worked for us properly. Also, the replies from Moto Voice use the old robotic-sounding synthesized voice, so after hearing two lengthy replies, we proceeded to disable audial replies from Moto Voice.
Until Moto Voice is updated with something more useful that isn't already possible on Google Assistant, we'll just stick to the latter.
Of course, since this is a Verizon device, we found plenty of useless bloatware that was installed after setting up. There were five games, two extra apps (Weather Bug and SmartNews), and eight Verizon apps. In all honesty, we've seen worse than this.
Can you spot the bloatware?
On the bright side, you can uninstall any unwanted apps.
Performance
The Moto Z3 is stuck with 2017's Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 CPU. Motorola didn't even think the Z3 was worth an upgrade in RAM - it comes with 4GB of RAM, which gives it the exact same performance as the Z2. This reminds us of when LG released the G6 with the Snapdragon 821.
Motorola's decision to use the same processing hardware as last year is partly justified due to the asking retail price for the Moto Z3, which is $480 on Verizon. The Snapdragon 835 and 4GB of RAM still go a long way even into 2019.
On the performance front, you can expect the exact same performance out of the Z3, expect for a couple of factors that could affect real-world performance. One of these is the resolution - which went from QHD on the Z2 to FHD+ on the Z3. Less pixels means less rendering required and higher frame rates.
GeekBench scores in the mulit-core sector show a significant gap between the 2018 devices and the 2017 devices. The Moto Z3 sits among all 2017 devices in performance while last year's iPhone 8 with the A11 Bionic chip still topped charts in GeekBench's single and multi-core scores.
GeekBench 4.1 (multi-core)
Higher is better
- Xiaomi Mi MIx 2S
9158 - OnePlus 6
9011 - Samsung Galaxy S9+
8883 - Samsung Galaxy S9+ (Snapdragon)
8349 - Samsung Galaxy Note8
6784 - Huawei Honor View 10
6738 - Huawei P20
6722 - Motorola Moto Z2 Force
6629
6614
6590
6437
5831
5830
The iPhone 8's A11 Bionic chip is still unmatched in single-core scores while the Exynos 9810 in the Galaxy S9+ is not far behind. The Snapdragon 835's single core score was roughly half that of the iPhone 8's.
GeekBench 4.1 (single-core)
Higher is better
- Samsung Galaxy S9+
3771 - Apple iPhone 7
3459 - Xiaomi Mi MIx 2S
2468 - OnePlus 6
2450 - Samsung Galaxy S9+ (Snapdragon)
2199 - Samsung Galaxy Note8
1987 - Motorola Moto Z3
1924 - Motorola Moto Z2 Force
1915 - Google Pixel 2
1912 - Huawei Honor View 10
1902 - Huawei P20
1897 - Samsung Galaxy Note8 (SD 835)
1862 - BlackBerry KEY2
1628
Antutu 7 ranks the CPUs a bit differently. The devices with the Snapdragon 845 were at the top of the list with the Exynos-powered S9+ just behind them. Antutu puts the Kirin 970 from the Huawei P20 right at the same level as the Snapdragon 835 devices.
AnTuTu 7
Higher is better
- Xiaomi Mi MIx 2S
270814 - OnePlus 6
264200 - Samsung Galaxy S9+ (Snapdragon)
264044 - Samsung Galaxy S9+
246660 - Huawei Honor View 10
212708 - Motorola Moto Z2 Force
209779 - Motorola Moto Z3
207903 - Huawei P20
206906 - Samsung Galaxy Note8
201065 - BlackBerry KEY2
140984
GFX lets us compare frame rates between devices since the rendering is leveled to 1080p resolution. Currently, the Snapdragon 845 dominates these frame rates, reaching past 60 frames with the Mi Mix 2S and the Galaxy S9+ in the Manhattan offscreen test.
GFX 3.1 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)
Higher is better
- Samsung Galaxy S9+ (Snapdragon)
61 - Xiaomi Mi MIx 2S
61 - OnePlus 6
58 - Samsung Galaxy S9+
47 - Apple iPhone 7
43 - Samsung Galaxy Note8 (SD 835)
43 - Motorola Moto Z3
42 - Motorola Moto Z2 Force
42 - Samsung Galaxy Note8
42 - Google Pixel 2
41 - Huawei Honor View 10
38 - Huawei P20
36 - BlackBerry KEY2
15 - Motorola Moto Z2 Play
6.5
GFX 3.1 Car scene (1080p offscreen)
Higher is better
- Samsung Galaxy S9+ (Snapdragon)
35 - OnePlus 6
35 - Xiaomi Mi MIx 2S
35 - Samsung Galaxy S9+
28 - Motorola Moto Z3
25 - Motorola Moto Z2 Force
25 - Samsung Galaxy Note8 (SD 835)
25 - Samsung Galaxy Note8
25 - Google Pixel 2
24 - Huawei P20
23 - Huawei Honor View 10
22 - BlackBerry KEY2
9 - Motorola Moto Z2 Play
3.5
Of course, on-screen rendering will depend on the display's native resolution. You'll notice here that the Moto Z3 gets better frame rates than the Z2 Force due to its lower pixel density. The Z2 Force was 1440p while the Z3 has a less-dense resolution of 1080p+.
GFX 3.1 Manhattan (onscreen)
Higher is better
- Apple iPhone 7
60 - OnePlus 6
55 - Xiaomi Mi MIx 2S
55 - Google Pixel 2
43 - Huawei P20
39 - Motorola Moto Z3
37 - Huawei Honor View 10
35 - Samsung Galaxy S9+ (Snapdragon)
34 - Samsung Galaxy S9+
24 - Samsung Galaxy Note8
23 - Motorola Moto Z2 Force
22 - Samsung Galaxy Note8 (SD 835)
20 - BlackBerry KEY2
17 - Motorola Moto Z2 Play
6.9
GFX 3.1 Car scene (onscreen)
Higher is better
- Xiaomi Mi MIx 2S
34 - OnePlus 6
33 - Google Pixel 2
26 - Motorola Moto Z3
23 - Huawei P20
23 - Samsung Galaxy S9+ (Snapdragon)
20 - Huawei Honor View 10
20 - Motorola Moto Z2 Force
15 - Samsung Galaxy S9+
14 - Samsung Galaxy Note8 (SD 835)
13 - Samsung Galaxy Note8
13 - BlackBerry KEY2
11 - Motorola Moto Z2 Play
3.8
You'd technically be getting improved performance on the Z3 over the Z2 since the latter has more pixels for the GPU to push around while the Z3's FHD+ display is not as graphic intensive.
Apart from the decrease in pixel density on the Z3, there is zero performance advantage to the Moto Z3 over the Moto Z2. The only true advantage for gaming is the taller display that will be able to show you a wider field-of-view of whatever game you are playing, assuming the game supports 2:1 displays.
The back of the Moto Z is now glass, which affects how heat is transferred from within the phone's internals to the outside. The Z3's lower half of the phone is what gets warm under longer periods of use. Sweaty palms will be an enemy of this device - unless perhaps you use the Moto Mod Gamepad.
The Moto Z3's camera hardware is unchanged from the Z2. There are dual camera sensors: one is a 12MP sensor with an aperture of f/2.0 and 1.25 micron pixels. The other sensor is a monochrome one with both phase-detection and laser-assisted autofocus. Despite having a second camera, the Moto Z3 can't do 2X zoom.
Like the Z2, the Z3 has a fully monochrome mode for those scenes with very high contrasts. The second camera can also be used to shoot portrait photos with a synthesized bokeh. These are the only two things the second camera can do.
Despite the hardware being the same between the Z2 and Z3, the camera app has been revamped with a new interface and shooting mode features. There's a new cinemagraph mode that makes it easy to create GIFs that only move in a focused area. There's also a new color splash mode for shooting photos and emphasizing a single color.
Camera interface
The interface has some toggles on one side of the viewfinder, and the other has the shutter button, gallery shortcut, a Google Lens shortcut, camera toggle to switch between the front and rear, and three camera icons: camera, video, and a grid that shows you all the available shooting modes.
Camera shooting modes
When choosing monochrome mode, for instance, we like that the last used mode temporarily appears next to the camera mode so you can access it quickly the next time you launch the camera. There's also a dedicated video viewfinder, which is always appreciated.
Video viewfinder • Stabilizer toggle
We're also glad to see there's a Manual camera mode. It can be easily accessed by switching the toggle from "A" to "M", right from the viewfinder. In this mode, you can manually set the white balance, focus, ISO, shutter speed, and exposure compensation to your liking. We just wish there was a way to access the manual controls while shooting in monochrome.
Manual mode
Image quality
The Moto Z2 wasn't a terrible camera, in fact. It was a huge improvement over the first-generation Moto Z. Since we're looking at the exact same camera hardware here, we're not expecting it to be much better. With that said, let's take a look at some samples.
Resolved details are generally good, particularly in sunlight. Even if the clouds roll in, pictures still look great but the amount of details are noticeably reduced when you zoom in on the pixels. Colors are pretty good and dynamic range is average.
Camera samples
In some of the photos taken indoors, we notice some light noise throughout some solid color areas. As for dynamic range, it's generally good. If we want to nitpick even further, there is some amount of banding and pixelating when the camera tries to capture straight lines like in the multi-colored buildings.
HDR does help with dynamic range. Unlike other smartphone makers, namely HTC - leaving HDR On vs HDR Auto won't make a difference. HDR Auto will enable HDR where it finds it appropriate while HDR On will take all photos in HDR mode. We'd leave this one in Auto ourselves.
HDR: Off • On
HDR: Off • On
HDR: Off • On
HDR mode does a great job of leveling out exposure between in the shadows while suppressing highlights. Don't expect HDR to fix the lighting in all situations, though. Our best HDR samples were wherever the sun was casting shadows on the scene.
If the sunlight is far too strong or you find that HDR isn't helping the image, a monochrome photo will yield far better dynamic range and detail. Editing a black and white image for exposure is also much easier to do without the noise that it usually brings there are no colors to preserve.
Monochrome samples
Not many smartphone makers include a totally monochrome camera to shoot with and photographers will appreciate the possibilities of shooting with this camera.
Portraits taken on the Z3 are pretty good.
Portrait mode
Hair is the biggest enemy of all these dual cameras that shoot artificial bokeh. We have to say that the Moto Z3 isn't terrible - it's pretty good at finding the subject and going around it. Of course if you zoom in, you can see the defects.
The only strange thing we found is that the person needs to be pretty close to the camera in order for the portrait to work. If you're more than about 3 feet from the camera (about 0.9m), the camera can't take a portrait. Usually other phones might crop the image when switching to portrait mode - the Moto Z3 doesn't crop.
8MP selfie camera
There's an 8MP front-facing camera on the Z3 and although the camera is the same one from the Z2, the dedicated dual LED flash for the front camera is no longer here. Motorola must have decided to delete it to make ample room for the taller 18:9 display. In its place is an on-screen flash feature.
Selfie HDR: Off • On • Off • On
The selfie camera was pretty good. Selfies are well exposed and the fixed focus is well calibrated. You can also see a pretty good amount of details from what's behind the person taking the selfie.
There is also a portrait selfie mode, which makes the bokeh with a single lens so the subject detection is a bit less accurate. The selfies still look great with the blur effect. It didn't play very nice with Ricky's hair swoosh, though.
Selfie camera portrait samples
Video
The Z3 records in up to 4K video at 30 fps. There is also 60fps video at 1080p resolution. We recorded all the samples handheld so the stabilization option was turned on in all these samples. You can actually see the stabilization struggle a bit in 4k, but it's nothing compared to actually shooting with the stabilization switched off.
Details look good and noise is apparent, but not a huge issue. Dynamic range is also pretty good while colors and contrast are well represented.
1080p videos looked okay - details and colors were fine. Here you can see that the camera does crop in quite a bit due to the stabilization being enabled. Otherwise, noise is kept to a minimum and dynamic range was good. Colors are pretty spot-on as well.
We'd steer away from shooting 60fps video hand-held. Otherwise, they don't look bad. We just wish there was a bit more sharpness and that the stabilization feature wasn't so janky in 60fps.
You can, of course, download untouched video samples, the way they came out of the Moto Z3 - 2160p at 30 fps (11s, 69MB), 1080p at 60 fps (12s, 26MB) and 1080p at 30 fps (14s, 36MB).
The Competition
Provided that the Moto Z3 is only launching on Verizon in the US, chances are if you're all set and decided on this device, you're on Verizon. That alone limits the alternatives solely to devices that Verizon officially supports.
The only other devices that are very closely priced and offer a better value for your money are the OnePlus 6 and perhaps the Honor View 10. The issue is that neither of these handsets would even work on Verizon's restricted network.
Verizon has only a few devices in the $400-$600 price range: The iPhone 6S Plus (which is a terrible idea to get by today's standards), a Kyocera rugged phone called the DuraForce PRO, and the similarly priced Moto Z2 Play and Moto Z3 Play. To be honest, these devices aren't even worth your consideration if you remember that the Z3 is launching for only $480.
The only device that comes to mind as a viable alternative to the Moto Z3 at a somewhat close price is the Google Pixel 2. It has one of the best camera experiences around, updates directly from Google, and is fully compatible with Verizon. Otherwise, a refurbished (or discounted) Galaxy S8 or Galaxy S8+ can be purchased from Verizon or US Unlocked from retailers like Best Buy.
For the sake of this review, let's just assume the Moto Z3 will be released globally and priced at an imaginarily reasonable price of $550. With this in mind, here are some globally available competitors.
The Honor View 10 has the same size display, but a much larger 4,000 mAh battery and fully featured dual camera. EMUI doesn't quite have the same Moto Enhancement features, but EMUI is fully-featured and customizable.
The OnePlus 6 is the best value smartphone you can buy right now with the latest Snapdragon 845 CPU inside. At $540, you get an excellent camera package, large 6.3-inch notched display, and relatively quick Android updates. OnePlus' Oxygen OS offers really nice tweaks to a mostly stock Android look and feel.
Google Pixel 2 • Samsung Galaxy S8 • Huawei Honor View 10 • OnePlus 6
The Verdict
We'll start by saying that the Moto Z3 is not worthy of the number 3 in its name. At this point, the phone solely exists for Verizon to promote its 5G network and market it as the first 5G-upgradable phone with the 5G Moto Mod.
The idea that you could buy this phone and use it for 5G in the future is somewhat attractive, but the actual Moto Mod mockup hardware we saw in Chicago makes the phone twice as thick.
We don't know that anyone would willingly want to carry around a bulky Moto Mod for 5G signal when 4G LTE is readily available everywhere and when a new wireless technology like this rolls out, it's going to be a while before service is not spotty.
Pros
- Attractive choice of materials
- Great and bright 18:9 display
- Low price
- Very loud speaker
- Moto Mod compatibility
- Great camera at this price
Cons
- Device no longer ShatterProof
- Uses processor from Z2
- Not ergonomically designed
- No more front-facing LED flash
- Verizon-exclusive
- 5G Moto Mod is bulky
The Moto Z3 is for that person on Verizon who loves their Moto Z2 or Moto Z Force and invested heavily in Moto Mods. The Moto Z3 is a worthy upgrade from the first-generation Moto Z or Moto Z Force. If you already have the Moto Z2 Force, the upgrade might be worth the improved battery life and the taller and brighter display. Otherwise, the camera and performance will be identical.
We think Motorola should have called this phone the Z2s or the Moto ZV and saved the "Z3" name for 2019. It just feels like the device was rushed out the door without putting effort into any worthy updates. We're not sure anyone would be sad if the Moto Z3 remained a Verizon-exclusive for the rest of its product cycle.
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