Here are my initial thoughts & impressions after using my new Moto Z4 for around 24 hours.
* I will start with this because it might be important to some people. Many of us have heard about the “lip or gap” between the phone and Moto Mods. It is definitely there and definitely noticeable, especially with a Style Shell. Moto rounded the back edges of the phone; they are not squared off like former Z phones. So some of the Moto Mod edges kind of hang over the rounded edge of the phone and cause a little gap there. Probably because many people don’t use Moto Mods all the time so they made the phone look & feel nicer without any Moto Mod attached (so some claim). If you were like me and used your Z Force / Play, Z2 Force / Play with no case and a Style Shell only you will NOT like the way a Style Shell looks or feels on this phone. Since it is Gorilla Glass I am using an inexpensive TPU rubber case to protect from drops, and it pops off in seconds for when I want to attach a Moto Mod. If this is a deal breaker the Z3 is still squared on the back edges and Moto Mods sit flush.
* Battery – it’s hard to say right now. We all know that when setting up a phone there is a lot of hustle & bustle, switching back & forth between many screens, Settings menus, downloading apps, etc., etc. But the battery life seems good so far. It’s a 3600 mAH battery, the largest ever in a Z phone; so it should get good battery life when paired with the 675 chip.
* The 675 chip – There has been a lot of chatter about this on the internet, by Moto owners and the “tech experts”, mostly negative. I did a lot of reading and watched some videos describing the 675 before I bought the phone. During all the hustle & bustle of setting up a new phone yesterday I did not notice one bit of lag. This thing is buttery smooth and very fast. Can it handle hard core games as well as a phone with the 855 chip? I’m sure it cannot. But the 675 seems very well equipped to run this phone and handle what I would call everyday tasks (e-mail, calls, texts, web browsing, witching videos, etc.).
* OS – it’s the same mostly stock Android that Moto is known for. It ships with Android 9 Pie. It has the Moto Launcher which is a lot like Launcher 3, with a few differences. It does still have the same Time & Weather widget that the Z2 series has. It comes with very little bloatware, way less than my Z2 Force had; so very few apps to delete or disable.
* Moto app – Bummer! Moto removed Moto Voice (with Talk To Me). So that means no Driving Mode or the other Talk To Me options. I understand why they removed Moto Voice as a whole, since it was duplicate functionality to Google Assistant. But the decision to remove Talk To Me makes no sense; there is nothing even close to compatible on the Play Store. Yes…I know that Android Auto can read texts out loud. But it’s not really “hands free” like Talk To Me is. With AA you have to keep the AA screen on and front & center and then tap the Play button to start the process. That’s not hands free. And Google Assistant hasn’t been able to Read Messages since January, lots of complaints about that on the Google Product Forum. Google announced that they plan to release an Assistant – Driving Mode this Summer, but even then I bet Moto’s Talk To Me will be light years ahead of Googles first attempt at a driving mode. Maybe Moto’s patent for Talk To Me finally ran out and they can’t use it anymore & Google took over the functionality? Maybe ? If this is a deal breaker, the Z3 still has Moto Voice with Talk To Me included (for now at least). Other than that, the Moto App still has Moto Display and Moto Actions like all previous Moto Z & other Moto phones (chop for flashlight, twist for camera, etc.).
* Screen – The screen is awesome. The 6.4” OLED is very nice, the main reason I bought this phone and didn’t keep my Z2 Force as my daily phone. I really like the extra viewing room when compared to my Z2 or Z Force. The notch doesn’t bother me at all, never has. But some hate any phone with a notch; at least Moto went with a very small notch for the front camera & sensors. See the picture attached, my Z4 next to my Z2 Force. It’s not Shattershield, we all know that, it’s Gorilla Glass. If that’s a deal breaker…..well there are no other options other than keeping a Z Force, Z2 Force or Turbo 2 running as long as possible.
* One button nav – works great; very fast, fluid & responsive just like the Z3 (and the little I tried it on my Z2). I tried it for 24 hours and switched back to the 3 on-screen buttons. I prefer those over one button nav. But if you like one button nav, this works very well.
* Camera – I don’t take a lot of pictures so I am no judge of cameras. Almost all of my pictures are of things I am tearing apart / disassembling to help me remember how to re-assemble. And I have no eye for photography so I cannot judge the camera at all. From what I have seen & read online it is very good, even in low light situations (something Moto cameras have never been good at).
* Fingerprint sensor – the optical in-screen fingerprint sensor is another feature that has received a lot of negative reviews from the “experts”. I setup 3 different fingerprints, went nice & slow and made sure to read all the on screen prompts & tips and have had no issues. Many of the apps I use have a fingerprint option and I have had no issues and no failed reads. Is it as fast as a physical button? It’s probably not. But when things like this (reading a fingerprint) happen in less than a second, how fast is “fast enough” and how slow is “too slow”? Is .5 seconds really that much slower than .3 seconds? I am not using a screen protector, so keep that in mind. Others with screen protectors have reported issues. Until screen protector companies make sure their products are compatible with in screen fingerprint sensors, be aware that they could interfere. The Verizon rep said…”do you want some screen protectors”? I asked if they were compatible with in screen fingerprint sensors, and she said….”I don’t know.” So I said no thanks. It’s Gorilla Glass so I’m not real concerned about scratching it.
* Miscellaneous – Moto brought the headphone jack back due to user requests. I had no issues without one, the USB-C dongle worked fine for me on other phones. But some really prefer a 3.5mm headphone jack so they can charge and listen to audio at the same time. It has an FM Radio app; lots of folks asked for that also. It has 128GB of internal storage. Yep, 128GB of internal on a phone less than $500; very nice.
