The Moto Z4 is a modern smartphone trying hard to hold on to the past

The original Moto Z was way ahead of its time – it was a modular phone done right. At a time when LG’s G5 and Google’s Project Ara had failed to make smartphone modularity fly, the Moto Z with its snap-on Moto Mods was more than just another laboratory experiment gone wrong. The Moto Z was a ticket to the future where one smartphone fits them all would mean the end of buying a new one year after year to stay ahead in the game. Those were the days. 

But while the original Moto Z showed lots of promise, Motorola failed to capitalize on the concept. Even though Motorola made many Moto Mods (including one that turns your Moto Z into a 5G-ready smartphone), there were never enough mods to justify – and the ones that were there, weren’t exactly made to democratize the market owing to their expensive price tag, at least in India.  

The new Moto Z4 is a summation of that collective failure. Don’t mind me, it doesn’t look like a bad phone at all. But I can’t stress enough, it looks like a distant cousin of the original – and even though the two have the Moto Mods in common, there’s nothing else to talk about here if you were (somehow) wowed by the original. What I really like about Motorola (and the Moto Z4) is its persistence. The Moto Z4 has the same 16 magnetic connector pins on the rear, that makes it compatible with even the first-generation Moto Mods. But that could also be because Motorola isn’t making any new Moto Mods this year – it isn’t saying anything about any new Moto Mods that may be coming either. 

It doesn’t help that the Moto Z4 doesn’t shine from a pure specifications point of view either. While the original was a high-end flagship phone (that I called the most underrated phone of 2016, once upon a time), the Moto Z4, at best, is a $500 mid-ranger – that's almost Rs 35,000 in INR. For some perspective, you can get a OnePlus 7 at Rs 32,999. 

Speaking of specs, the Moto Z4 comes with a 6.4-inch 1080p+ OLED display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection, as well as an in-display fingerprint scanner, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 675 with 4GB RAM and 128GB storage (expandable), 48MP rear and 25MP front camera, near-stock Android Pie software, and a 3,600mAh battery with 15W fast charging.  

The Moto Z4 is a well-stacked mid-range phone – and it may even do well as a stand-alone product. But I can’t help noticing that it’s also a modern smartphone trying hard to hold on to the past – to carry on the legacy of the original. But without any new convincing Moto Mods, that legacy remains just in name. At a time when smartphone brands have cracked the code of good design, good display, good performance, good cameras, and good battery life, a modular phone seems just another gimmick. While it did show lots of potential once upon a time, the world of smartphones has come a long way in three years – it’s probably time for Motorola to also move on now.  

The Moto Z4 will be available for buying in the US from June 6 and Motorola will be bundling a 360-degree camera Moto Mod in the box for free. Going by history, the Moto Z4 should arrive in India soon. 

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