Moto Z Play Droid review: A mid-range modular phone with a headphone jack

The Moto Z and Moto Z Force are two of Lenovo/Motorola’s finest smartphones and its Moto Mods are the best shot at making modular phones a reality (at least until Google’s Project Ara launches next year). 

Joining the Z family is the new Moto Z Play Droid, an Android device with mid-range specs, a long-lasting battery and one feature the Z and Z Force don’t have: a headphone jack. 

Works with all Moto Mods 

A Verizon-exclusive in the U.S., the Z Play Droid eschews the Z and Z Force’s rigid metal design for a glass sandwich (a booming trend in the Android world).  

It still has the same magnetic pin system protruding out of the backside for interfacing with Moto Mods. It’s fully compatible with all existing Moto Mods, like the expensive portable projector, external speaker, battery pack and the new Hasselblad True Zoom camera attachment. 

IMAGE: RAYMOND WONG/MASHABLE

IMAGE: RAYMOND WONG/MASHABLE

In my opinion, the metal pins clash with the glass back. I much prefer the cohesive coldness of the exposed pins with the striped metal on the Z and Z Force. It’s not the ugliest design by any means (I like the the glass back look). It’s just not as sleek as its siblings. 

The massive camera hump is still an eyesore, but like I said when I reviewed the Z and Z Force, it’s easily mitigated by throwing on a Moto Shell Case (sold separately) to make the entire backside flush. 

The middle sibling 

The screen’s the same 5.5 inches, but with a lower full HD (1,920 x 1,080) resolution as opposed to a sharper Quad HD (2,560 x 1,440) resolution. It’s plenty sharp with 403 pixels per inch (ppi) and you won’t find many faults looking at it, but if you’re planning on using it with VR headsets like Google Cardboard or the Homido V2, you’re going to get a subpar viewing experience. 

The fingerprint sensor works but it's no home button.

IMAGE: RAYMOND WONG/MASHABLE

Below the screen is the same squircle-shaped fingerprint sensor like on the Z and Z Force and G4 and G4 Plus. It’s super responsive and long-pressing it to lock the screen is still handy. The only downside is it’s still not a home button. Pressing it expecting it to bring you back to the homescreen is a lost cause. The fingerprint sensor is also useful for buying things with Android Pay. 

The Z Play Droid’s no powerhouse with its Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor and 3GB of RAM. While it’s not in the same league as the beefier Z and Z Force, it’s good enough to play Pokémon Go and take all the Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook you throw at it. It’s not like most people are using their phones to build rocket ships for NASA or anything. 

As always, Lenovo’s kept Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow mostly stock with a few of its own Motorola twists such as the quick camera launch (double twist gesture) and quick flashlight (double chop gesture). There’s also Moto Display, Actions and Voice, which provide a more contextually-aware phone experience. 

So much bloatware.

IMAGE: RAYMOND WONG/MASHABLE

Excessive bloatware is still an issue. Most of them are from Verizon and third-party apps you’ll want to either immediately remove or disable. Bloatware is the cost when phone makers sign a deal with the carriers and they care more about their own partnership interests than pleasing customers. You know, the people who are supposed to pay money for these things. 

Pull out the nano SIM card tray and you’ll also a find a microSD card slot to expand the 32GB of internal storage up to a theoretical 2TB (256GB cards are the largest currently available and they’re kinda pricey). 

The Z Force Droid is equipped with a 16-megapixel camera on the back with dual-LED flash, laser autofocus and phase detection autofocus. The front camera is a 5-megapixel shooter with an LED flash.

IMAGE: RAYMOND WONG/MASHABLE

The cameras have always a weak point on Motorola smartphones and while the Z Force Droid takes good photos, they pale in comparison to what Samsung’s Galaxy S7, S7 Edge and Note7 are capable of. 

For video, the rear camera can shoot 4K video at up to 30 frames per second (fps) and slow-motion video at 720p resolution at 120 fps. 

As I mentioned earlier, battery life is pretty good on the Z Play Droid. Motorola claims it’s good for up to 50 hours on a charge with mixed usage. As a somewhat heavy user, I got around 40 hours on a charge, but as always, if you manage your phone settings well, you can squeeze more battery life from a single charge. Besides, the Z Play Droid supports quick charging with the included Turbo Charger which gives you up to 10 hours of battery life with 15 minutes of topping off via the reversible USB-C port. 

A modest modular phone 

IMAGE: RAYMOND WONG/MASHABLE

The success of modular phones depends on two things: tons of (hopefully affordable) modules that really make investing in the modular system worth it and lots of phone options to choose from.

Adding the Z Play Droid gives Lenovo and customers three choices to pick from. If the Moto Z’s battery is too thin and the Moto Z Force’s battery is too thick and both phones' lack of a headphone jack isn’t kosher to you, then maybe the $408 (full cost, payable in monthly installments) Z Play Droid is the one for you. 

The only thing high-end about the Z Play Droid might be its metal and glass design, but that’s okay because it’s not intended to compete with the S7 and iPhone 6S. It’s the modular phone for the masses who have a tighter budget ... if you’re on Verizon or plan to switch to it. (There will be an unlocked verison of the Z Play Droid available in October for $450.)

Moto Z Play Droid

The Good

Works with all Moto Mods • Long battery life • Includes a headphone jack • Water-repellent

The Bad

Weaker performance • So much Verizon bloatware • Average cameras • Fingerprint sensor still doesn’t work like a home button

The Bottom Line

The Moto Z Play Droid is a decent addition to the Moto Z modular family, but it isn’t a groundbreaking device.

Hasselblad's camera module adds 10x optical zoom to Moto Z phones

"It’s not the camera, but the person behind the camera that makes great pictures." 

Every seasoned photographer will bestow these words of wisdom on the less financially equipped. But in the case of smartphone cameras, superior hardware really makes a world a difference if you want great photos. 

Just when I thought Motorola’s Moto Mod attachments for its Moto Z, Z Force and the new Z Play Droid couldn’t get anymore over the top, out comes the Hasselblad True Zoom. 

The Hasselblad True Zoom is an entire camera that overrides the phone’s included back camera, while simultaneously adding a physical shutter button, grip handle and 10x optical zoom. 

If you read my review of the Z Play Droid, you’ll understand that I wasn’t particularly impressed by the 16-megapixel camera. It’s fine for what it is, but it doesn’t compare to the Galaxy S7 and Note7’s back camera, which is currently the best smartphone camera. 

With the Hasselblad connected, the Z Play Droid instantly gets upgraded to a point-and-shoot-like camera. 

The module works just like all of the others. It clips on magnetically and latches into place around the bulbous Z Play Droid’s camera hump. The magnetic pins on the backside sync up to the phone and just like that you’ve got a bonafide point-and-shoot. 

I’ve tested a lot of these shutter button-and-grip handles (minus the optical zoom, unless you’re talking about Sony’s bizarre QX cameraattachment) and most of them fall short. Shoddy grips and flimsy half-baked shutter buttons and special apps are needed to work — I’ve seen them all. 

Snaps right onto the Moto Z phones.

IMAGE: RAYMOND WONG/MASHABLE

The Hasselblad works with all camera apps. Read that again: ALL CAMERA APPS. I tried a bunch of camera apps from the Z Play Droid’s stock camera app to Snapchat to Instagram and the Hasselblad works as if it’s the actual native camera on the phone. (The only thing you will have to do is update your phone’s software, which doesn’t take too long.) 

With the Hasselblad, you get a larger 1/2.3-inch sensor that’s commonly found in many point-and-shoot cameras and you trade in whatever megapixels your phone has for 12-megapixels (which, for some reason seems to be the sweet spot for resolutions on smartphone cameras these days). 

I had my worries, but my concerns quickly faded as I shot with the camera module. 

Image quality is vastly better than what the Z Play Droid’s capable of producing, with more accurate colors that aren’t as saturated (like skies), sharper details and wider dynamic range. 

IMAGE: RAYMOND WONG/MASHABLE

Just like a real camera, you can press the shutter button (love that it’s orange) halfway to autofocus and then keep pressing to take a photo. It’s not as precise as a real camera, but comes pretty close to mimicking the same process. There's also a zoom switch connected to the shutter button.

The textured, rubberized grip is a nice touch, too. I’m really happy it’s not just a blocky hunk of plastic grafted onto the front. It feels good in the hand.

Nice grip.

IMAGE: RAYMOND WONG/MASHABLE

Like pretty much all smartphone cameras, the Z Play Droid’s camera doesn’t have optical zoom. It’s difficult to put optical zoom on a smartphone because of the added bulk on the back. And the digital zoom is almost always terrible. At its highest magnification, the image becomes so blurry that there might as well be no digital zoom to begin with. 

IMAGE: RAYMOND WONG/MASHABLE

Optical zoom, on the other hand, physically magnifies an image through actual lens elements instead of relying on software. And the Hasselblad’s 10x zoom is a real winner when compared to your phone’s digital zoom. You can also toggle on a 4x digital zoom for a maximum 40x zoom, but let’s just pretend that doesn’t exist because of how crummy it looks beyond the 10x optical zoom.

Here are some shots I took with and without the Hasselblad with the Z Play Droid (click to enlarge): 

Hasselblad 10x optical zoom

IMAGE: RAYMOND WONG/MASHABLE

Z Play Droid 8x digital zoom

IMAGE: RAYMOND WONG/MASHABLE

Not only does the Hasselblad allow farther zoom, but it also retains image quality with crisper details thanks to its f/3.5-f/6.5 aperture. 

Here are some more comparisons (click to enlarge): 

Hasselblad 10x optical zoom

IMAGE: RAYMOND WONG/MASHABLE

Z Play Droid 8x digital zoom

IMAGE: RAYMOND WONG/MASHABLE

Hasselblad 10x optical zoom

IMAGE: RAYMOND WONG/MASHABLE

Z Play Droid 8x digital zoom

IMAGE: RAYMOND WONG/MASHABLE

The larger camera sensor also has a wider lens for a wider field of view from its 25-250mm focal length (35mm equivalent) range.

Hasselblad True Zoom

IMAGE: RAYMOND WONG/MASHABLE

Moto Z Play Droid

IMAGE: RAYMOND WONG/MASHABLE

As for low light, the Hasselblad's a mixed bag. It's barely better than the Z Play Droid and image noise a real problem. The Z Play Droid actually exposes the image better in low-light situations as you can see below.

Low light: Hasselblad vs. Moto Z Play Droid

IMAGE: RAYMOND WONG/MASHABLE

IMAGE: RAYMOND WONG/MASHABLE

And while you’ll almost never see me shooting with a flash on, the powerful Xenon flash (I had one of these bright babies on my ancient Sony K810i candy bar phone years ago) is bright enough to blind or provide suitable fill flash to brighten up the shadows (yes, using flash when there’s plenty of light can be good thing). 

Xenon flash.

IMAGE: RAYMOND WONG/MASHABLE

Stabilizing the optical zoom and keeping all the images tack-sharp is built-in optical image stabilization and electronic image stabilization for when it’s shooting video. 

The Hasselblad records video, but it’s capped at 1080p full HD resolution at 30 fps, which is a downgrade from the Z Play Droid’s max 4K recording, but honestly, I could care less since the screen's not 4K and I don't have a 4K TV at home.

Sony RX100 point-and-shoot next to the Moto Z Play Droid with the Hasselblad True Zoom attached.

IMAGE: RAYMOND WONG/MASHABLE

I’m usually not fond of camera attachments. I’m a bit of a purist when it comes to mobile photography. For a long time, I stuck to only using the my phone’s built-in camera and the power of editing with apps to craft photos I felt would provoke some kind of feeling (good or bad), pushing the limitations of the camera with atypical composition and aesthetics before posting to Instagram. 

My Instas didn’t get many likes and I didn’t care. I knew that I had pored over a certain photo with the love and care of a creator and artist. I knew how maddening it was to create each photo to be something more than just a fleeting snapshot and the painstaking process of adjusting each setting and importing into and exporting it out of several apps just to get it until it felt "right" to share publicly. 

The process of mobile photography is me putting my undivided love for the craft and "starving for my art" so to speak.

I still try to do more with less with my mobile photography because I feel it really pushes me to think outside of the box — there’s nothing more dull than seeing 50 Instagram or VSCO accounts that all have the same aesthetic — but I’ve slowly warmed up to adding mobile lenses to push my creativity further. 

I like the Hasselblad True Zoom. Shooting with it reminded me of Samsung’s short-lived Smart Cameras, only you know, without the detachable design. 

But despite enjoying the Hasselblad True Zoom, I don’t think it’s the mod for everyone for the same reason why I would not tell any sane person to buy the DxO One camera attachment for iPhone: it’s really expensive at $500.

The Hasselblad is $300 from Motorola ($250 if you buy from Verizon). For that money, you might as well buy an RX100 (even the original one) or save a little more and upgrade to an mirrorless camera like Sony’s A5100, which remains one of the most affordable cameras out there. Both cameras even have a screen that flips upwards for high-res selfies, something the Hasselblad doesn’t improve at all (unless you have the rear camera flipped towards you, but then you can’t see yourself). 

And when you factor in the fact the module doesn’t have a built-in battery of any kind, which means it’s sucking up power from whatever Moto phone it’s attached to, it’s even more of a deal breaker.

Hasselblad True Zoom Moto Mod

The Good

The 10x optical zoom is incredible (for a phone) • Better image quality than your phone’s camera • Works with pretty much all camera apps • Nice shutter button and grip •Powerful Xenon flash

The Bad

Really expensive • Doesn’t improve your phone’s front-facing camera

The Bottom Line

Companies keep trying to take mobile photography to the next level with camera add-ons like Hasselblad’s True Zoom, but they’re always too expensive to be worth considering.

Yelp review recounts hilarious encounter with kids at a laser tag arena

Yelp is an endless stream of customer experiences. Every now and then you get a truly entertaining story.

In May, Yelper GT W. left a hilarious review of Asheville’s Fun Depot, which details his experience playing laser tag with his two friends. It should be noted, all three men were fully grown adults.

"Came here for laser tag as a group of three young adults," GT wrote on Yelp. "Not surprisingly, our group was heavily outnumbered by 15 small children."

GT then explains that the group offered to take some of the kids on their team, but the children had a different plan in mind. 

"Nope. "KIDS VS. GROWNUPS!!!" was the endless chant," GT explains.

 As you could imagine, the group didn't hold back (look at the evil dude in the center) and the kids lost pretty hard. The final score was a cool, 73,700 to -1,100, but according to a Reddit comment from GT, the kids didn't seem to mind. 

Someday those kids will learn that laser tag is not a game. 

Beats co-creator's new Bluetooth headphones are weird-looking but sound great

"That’s a lot of wires for a pair of wireless headphones," was my first thought when I unboxed the $199 Roam Ropes USA Bluetooth headphones.

For Steven Lamar, a co-creator of Beats, the development of Roam Ropes is a personal journey. 

Lamar lost his spouse to brain cancer and wanted to try something that limits how much time a smartphone is near our head. Scientific research remains inconclusive and there is no consensus on any of the potential carcinogenic nature of cellphones, according to theNational Cancer Institute.

But with Roam Ropes, Lamar wanted to solve the problem of usability and mobility. 

"You might have some Beats around the house, but all day, every day use? I’m probably not going to use my headphones. And when I’m traveling, they are just a pain in the ass," Lamar told Mashable. Earbuds have their own issues of becoming tangled, hurting or a general lack of quality.

The patriotic edition of Roam Ropes, available via pre-order on Kickstarter, that will be worn by Olympic athletes in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil are worn like a necklace with a pendant hanging from the center. Roam Ropes is also available in a white, black or a "Stand Up to Cancer" orange edition if you don’t want the red-white-and-blue color scheme of Ropes USA.   

IMAGE: CHARLES POLADIAN/MASHABLE

Roam Ropes comes packaged with nearly every possible combination of earbud tip or clip to fit every ear canal imaginable. Large or small, Roam Ropes has you covered. 

Ropes includes a travel pouch, a small charging cable and a cable adapter when you don’t want to use the Bluetooth or amp. 

Questionable design

As I walked away from my desk, I realized I made a terrible mistake. Spotify was on and my headphones were still connected to my phone. I stopped in my tracks as I waited for gravity to tug the headphones from my ears as the phone crashed to the ground. It never happened because I was wearing the Roam Ropes. 

IMAGE: CHARLES POLADIAN/MASHABLE

That sense of freedom is startling at first, but easily becomes habit afterward. Walking around an apartment with your phone nowhere to be found, bike rides and anything else you can imagine are much easier and more comfortable with Bluetooth headphones. The headphones fit comfortably and the sport clips provide more security if you are more active. 

Roam Ropes’ design appears to be, at best, a fashion statement or, at worse, a completely counterintuitive eyesore. We’re supposed to want customization, mobility and flexibility in 2016, not a mess of wires and a pendant dangling from your neck when you’re listening to some music. 

Much like Beats, Roam Ropes wins you over by the end. The pendant won’t be for everyone, but it sits pretty comfortably tucked underneath your shirt. The EQ Engine sits flat and its silhouette is non-existent unless you wear tighter shirts. While riding a bike or grabbing a lunch with a friend, I forgot all about the Roam Ropes around my neck. 

The magic EQ pendant

IMAGE: CHARLES POLADIAN/MASHABLE

Ergonomics aside, the most striking thing about Roam Ropes is the pendant, or EQ Engine, which acts as the heart of the earphones and distinguishes these headphones from others on the market. 

Housed in the thin rectangle is an amplifier, equalizer, Bluetooth and battery. Think of the EQ Engine as the powerhouse of the Roam Ropes.

The EQ Engine has decent battery life and it takes around a 15-minute charge for one hour of playback. The charging cable that comes with the Roam Ropes is really short, which means you won’t be able to listen to the headphones while they charge.

Customized music experience

IMAGE: ROAM ROPES

IMAGE: ROAM ROPES

Coupled with the Roam EQ app, you can completely customize your listening experience based on your own preferences. If you want the vocals front-and-center, there are preset modes that can do that, or you can fiddle around to find the sound you like best. There are also plenty of options for the bass lovers in the room. 

"I wanted to create functionality with the audio because everybody hears differently and I don’t think any one sound profile from any engineer at Bose or Beats or Sony really fits all listeners," Lamar said. 

I liked having the option to add some warmth to music or make a song brighter. The enhancements were never overpowering with added bass giving more body to a song instead of a muffled thump.

Bluetooth is the future

IMAGE: CHARLES POLADIAN/MASHABLE

Roam Ropes is facing a lot of competition from more expensive Bose and Sennheiser offerings to more affordable headphones from the likes of Skullcandy, Phlaton, Jabra and Plantronics. 

There are more minimalist earphones, but Roam Ropes is a nice alternative to the larger over-the-ear headphones or the plastic collar-style earphones.

There’s a lot to love if you’re an audiophile. Even the earpiece has a level of quality above the retail price, according to Lamar. 

"The drivers in these earbuds are the same ones Shure puts into their $1,000 earbuds," Lamar said. The Roam creator even said Ropes bested the $299 Bose QC20 in a side-by-side comparison.

Bluetooth headphones are taking over the market, according to the latest NPD data. Bluetooth headphones bested non-Bluetooth headphones for the first time in June with 54 percent of headphones sold. The wireless headphone is also seeing a tremendous growth of 42 percent year-over-year for the first six months of 2016 compared to a paltry 7 percent year-over-year growth for non-Bluetooth headphones. 

And with new smartphones ditching the headphone jack, Bluetooth will be the better option for pretty much anyone who doesn't want to deal with dongles.

Roam Ropes is a worthy entry into an increasingly strong lineup of wireless Bluetooth options. The design is a bit divisive, and there are other options to consider for around the same the price, but Roam Ropes does not disappoint when it comes to the audio.

Roam Ropes USA Bluetooth headphones

The Good

Great customization for earbuds and audio • Sound quality lives up to price

The Bad

Design isn't for everyone • Lots of quality options at similar price or cheaper • Short charging cable included

The Bottom Line

Despite solid audio that lives up to the $199 price, all anyone will want to talk about is that weird pendant.