If you believe that Huawei was the only company to play with names of its smartphone, Lenovo-owned Motorola has something in store for you, or we can say an attention seeking device, in the name of Moto Z 2018 Kingsman Edition.
For the unknown, Moto Z series has been the bread and butter for Lenovo in the mid-budget segment, going head-to-head with the likes of OnePlus, Honor, Xiaomi and Samsung’s series of mid-rangers. However, the last smartphones to come out from its stable and make a difference were Moto Z2 Play and Moto Z2 Force, both of which needed some major updates with the changing smartphone space.
While be expected the Moto Z 2018 to be powered by an SD 660 SoC and priced within the mid-budget segment, what we have got is an updated Z2 Force bundled with some Moto Modes, dual-cameras and a ‘beautified’ design.
Talking about the design, Moto Z 2018 Kingsman Edition is nearly identical to its predecessor as it has the same brushed metal back, premium 7000 Series aluminum body, all-around antenna line, a glass front with ShatterShield display and redesigned 16 pin pogo connector. However, the Motorola batwing logo is gold instead of black.
At the launch event, Motorola has introduced USB-C earphones with Moto Z 2018 Kingsman Edition which the company refers to as the world’s first USB-C Hi-Fi headphones. It is an in-ear type with 120cm long braided cable and also features an in-line control with volume buttons as well as a call button.
Moto Z 2018 Kingsman Edition Specifications
- 5.5-inch (2560×1440) P-OLED QHD ShatterShield curved display with, 16:9 aspect ratio, 16 million colors, and 535 PPI.
- 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 Processor clocked at 2.45GHz coupled with Adreno 540 GPU.
- 6GB RAM and 128GB of internal storage, expandable up to 2TB via microSD card
- There is also a standard version which comes with 4GB RAM and 64GB of internal storage, but its pricing hasn’t been announced yet.
- Android 7.1.1 Nougat out of the box, upgradable to Android 8.0 Oreo
- 12MP+12MP (RGB + Monochrome) Sony IMX386 CMOS dual rear cameras with Dual-LED flash, PDAF, 1.25µm pixel, f/2.0 aperture and 4K, 2160p@30fps, 1080p@120fps and 720p@240fps video support.
- 5MP front camera with OV5695 sensor, f/2.2 Aperture, 1.4µm pixels, 85-degree wide angle lens, LED flash and Pro Mode.
- Hybrid Dual SIM support and fingerprint scanner embedded in the home button
- 3,490mAh battery (2,730 mAh standard) with TurboPower charging
- Moto Z 2018 Kingsman Edition measures 155.8 mm x 76 mm x 6.1 mm and weighs 143 grams.
- 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth v4.2, GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, Type-C USB v3.1 with OTG and wireless charging.
Moto Z 2018 Kingsman Edition Box Contents
15W TurboPower Charger, 2,730mAh extra battery as Moto Mod, Type-C HiFi Headset, Type-C USB Data Cable, 3.5mm To Type-C Adapter, 45th Anniversary Book, Exclusive Leather Case, Warranty Card, VIP Service Card, Turbo Power Moto Mod, Wireless Rechargeable Mod and Sim Removing Tool.
Moto Z 2018 Kingsman Edition Pricing and Availability
The Moto Z 2018 Kingsman Edition is available in only black color variant and will retail for ¥9,999 ($1500 approx) in China. Seems expensive right? Well, to be true, it really is and we haven’t found a justification yet.
There is also a Moto Z 2018 standard variant, whose pricing has not been disclosed but it comes with 4GB RAM, 64GB of internal storage, 2,730mAh battery with an option to buy the 3,490mAh Moto Mod. While the rest of the specifications remain same to that of Moto Z 2018 Kingsman Edition, out-of-the-box contents only include a Type-C USB Data Cable, 15W TurboPower Charger, and a Sim Removing Tool.
The standard version of Moto Z 2018 is expected to be priced at $750-$800.
With the pricing, Moto Z 2018 Kingsman Edition will cost more than the iPhone X and from what we see, limited the standard variant’s availability might end up killing the Z-series once it for all because the Kingsman Edition will find it hard to justify its price tag.