Motorola has followed up its successful new Moto X range with a fresh and unbreakable addition that has a few unique tricks up its sleeve.
Ever since Google revitalised the Motorola brand, the company has been going from strength to strength with aggressively priced and solid performing handsets. The Moto G line has long been hailed as one of the best value handsets money can buy, while the Moto X range aims at the more flagship sector. Blending premium performance with a competitive pricetag, they continue to sell very well in a crowded market. The new Moto X Force is the company’s latest edition to the range, sporting an upgraded processor and ‘shatterproof’ glass that is reportedly unbreakable. Will it be a worthy addition to the line? Let’s find out.
Design
The word “functional” springs to mind when describing the new Motorola X Force. While it won’t win any awards for attractiveness, it’s also not very ugly either. There’s an all glass front, which Motorola claims is shatterproof, while several speaker grilles flank either side of the screen. There’s two on the bottom and a larger one up top, indicating stereo sound. Oddly, out of the three speakers only one produces sound, which we can only assume is a cost-cutting measure. Physical buttons are absent, with the display housing virtual keys instead. The lack of a fingerprint sensor is an obvious omission and may disappoint some who intend to use services such as Android Pay.
On the sides, you get a sturdy piece of metal trim that goes along the edges of the device. Holding it in our hands, we never felt like it was going to break. In fact, it feels like an absolute tank. Volume and power buttons sit on the right side of the handset, with the latter getting a textured finish so it’s easier to differentiate. On the top is a headphone jack and SIM slot, which also holds a microSD tray. For connectivity, you’ll only be getting a last generation Micro USB port, which is a little disappointing, when other handsets are beginning to adopt USB-C.
On the back, our device shipped with a rugged black nylon material. There’s several other options to choose from including leather and various other textured finishes. They all help to give it some serious grip, which only adds to the overall robustness of the device. The Motorola camera sensor is once more surrounded by that metal bezel, with the logo proudly on display underneath. A dual-LED rear flash is also included to help illuminate your pictures
Camera
Shipping with the same sensor previously found in the Moto X Style, image quality is generally the same as its predecessor. This is no bad thing, as the Style already had a fantastic camera to begin with. That said, Motorola still couldn’t help themselves from adding a few extras. The rear camera on the Force includes optical image stabilisation for removing hand shake, which works really well, though from what we could tell it’s not available for 4K video.
At 21 megapixels, the sensor is capable of taking some very detailed images. We were especially impressed with the finer detail in images, which managed to come through very well on landscape and macro shots. Colour reproduction was also excellent, with plenty of vibrant imagery and a good automatic exposure. Noise was always kept to a minimum in daylight shots, helping to make this a reliable shooter in brighter weather conditions.
After such great daytime performance, low-light shooting is only average. Detail is retained well and the scene is very evenly lit but it’s all a bit dark when compared to similar devices, such as the Nexus 6P and Galaxy S6. Hopefully when the new Marshmallow update hits the device, developers should be able to make better use of the sensor with the new camera API. There’s also some pretty obvious noise in images, which is more apparent when shot in front of a white background.
The built-in Motorola camera application contains very little editing tools for manual photos, with only basic adjustments possible. Panorama and HDR modes are included for a bit of variety but other than this, there’s little on offer to tweak your photos. One thing we did like was the included exposure wheel, which functions much like the one found in Apple’s devices. Simply adjust the dial around the focus area to make fast adjustments in dodgy shooting conditions.
The five megapixel front facing camera on the Moto X Force is very good, with a nice wide-angle lens and good colour reproduction. Noise is low and the addition of an LED lamp really helps make this a brilliant device for selfies and video calling. This is a feature we always like to see included on smartphone devices, as it’s something of a necessity that is often overlooked.
Screen
The main selling point of the Moto X Force is the shatterproof screen, which is definitely more than just a gimmick. Motorola has a four-year guarantee on this device in the event that the screen cracks or shatters, which is a hell of a bold claim. After locating a loose hammer in the office, we proceeded to hit the screen several times with moderate force. The intention was never to break the device but simulate a pretty hefty fall. The result was pretty incredible, with zero marks and a perfectly functioning panel. If you’re the type of person who is pretty careless with their device, this is just about the best handset you can get aside from a specialist rugged device.
The panel itself is also no slouch, with a 5.4-inch 2560x1440 AMOLED display putting it in the same league as current flagships. This equals an extremely high 544 DPI, which is way above the print standard. As such, pixilation is a thing of the past, even at the most scrutinous of distances. Colour reproduction is generally excellent, with spot on calibration straight out of the box. There was literally no change to the image quality before and after, which is a testament to the colour tuning on this device. Viewing angles are great with the screen viewable from even the most obtuse angles, though there was a noticeable green hue that overcomes the panel from one side. We’re not exactly sure why this is but it may be due to the construction of the shatterproof glass.
Outdoor readability is very good, with high maximum brightness that is easily viewable under bright conditions. You should be able to comfortably get by using the device both indoors and outside.
Performance
With a Snapdragon 810 and 3GB of DDR4 memory, the Moto X Force has exactly the same specifications as the Nexus 6, which we reviewed last issue. As such, performance is excellent and the stock Android operating system only helps things further. We were surprised to see that the Moto X Force scored significantly higher than its Google competitor, with 4618 for multi-core and 1326 single-core. This is a very high score that even places it above the Galaxy S6 Edge.
Asphalt 8: Airborne ran buttery smooth on the new device with zero lag whatsoever, even on the highest settings. Even better, we never experienced any heat issues while putting it through the 30-minute intensive gaming session. For general UI browsing, the Moto X Force gives you pretty much the best experience you can currently get on Android right now. App switching is immediate, with only a slight delay from opening to usage. While you won’t get the performance benefits included in the Marshmallow update, Lollipop is now a mature and stable release with little realworld difference to its newer sibling.
Software
A highlight of Motorola devices since their acquisition (and subsequent sale) by Google has always been the inclusion of stock Android; the Moto X Force is no different. Shipping with Android 5.1.1 out of the box, it could be a little disappointing to some that the newest Marshmallow OS isn’t included. This isn’t a major issue as Motorola has confirmed that the device will receive the newest version in a later update – likely released sometime in January. With that aside, the OS is equal to any other Motorola handset running stock Android. You won’t be getting the benefits of Marshmallow-specific features such as Doze and Memory Monitor, but you will get the performance benefits that were introduced at the beginning of Lollipop.
Motorola has once more included their own Moto application, which is similar to the version last seen on the third generation Moto G. It essentially acts as a hub for the various deeper features buried within the handset, allowing you to create certain profiles for working, sleeping and driving. There’s also a basic glance function allowing you to see application notifications while your device is sleeping, plus various gesture functions that can be used to activate certain features. These can, of course, all be controlled via voice commands which are detailed within the app itself.
Battery
The battery in the Moto X Force is an incredible 3,760 mAh, which is bigger than every other comparable device on the market. Motorola proudly boasts that the device is capable of getting two solid days of battery life; we found this to be spot on in testing. If you’re frugal, it could probably manage an extra half day on top, which is truly an excellent result. After 30 minutes of intense gaming on Asphalt 8: Airborne, the overall life only fell by 13%. This is the best result from any phone we’ve tested thus far.
Motorola has decided to opt for its own version of fast charging in the Force, with the company implementing ‘Turbo Power’ into the device. Using the included charger, it’s possible to fully charge the device in just over an hour. Those who only have enough time for a quick charging session will also be happy to know that it reaches over 50% in under 30 minutes, which is again faster than any other device we’ve tested. The only caveat is some moderate thermal issues, as the Force does seem to get pretty toasty when charging in Turbo Power mode.
Conclusion
The Moto X Force is a substantial upgrade over the previous flagship, the Moto X Style. The shatterproof screen really is more than just a gimmick, while the device as a whole is built like an absolute tank. Internal hardware is excellent, with improvements to all the right areas making this one of the most powerful handsets you can currently buy. The added optical image stabilisation on the camera is the icing on the cake, making an already great shooter even better. Add to this a mammoth battery and if you’re not the type of person bothered by aesthetic style and fingerprint sensors, this is probably the most complete handset currently available. Did I also mention it’s slightly cheaper than its competitors?
VERDICT
If you’re the type of person who isn’t bothered by design or flashy features, the Moto X Force could well be the perfect phone. It feels like it’s built to last, while the battery life and performance are both excellent. Even the camera manages to excel, producing great images in daytime scenarios and acceptable ones under low-light. As a purely functional handset, this may well be the best device we’ve ever reviewed.
SPEC
OS: Android 5.1.1 (upgradable to v6.0 Marshmallow)
Processor: Snapdragon 810
Screen: 5.4 inches
Resolution: 2560 x 1440 pixels (540 ppi)
Memory: 3 GB RAM
Storage: 32GB
Micro SD compatible? Yes, up to 200GB
Rear camera: 21MP
Front camera: 5MP
Video: 4K
Connectivity: 3G, 4G LTE
Dimensions: 150 x 77 x 9.2 mm
Weight: 169g
Battery: 3,760 mAh