Motorola Moto Z4

The Moto Z4 sports a 6.4-inch screen with a resolution of 1080 x 2340 pixels and a 19.5:9 aspect ratio. An octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 675 processor powers it.

The phone supports a single nanoSIM. It runs on Android v9.0 (Pie) and comes with 4GB RAM and 128GB internal storage, expandable up to 2TB. The battery capacity is 3600mAh. It comes with fast charging support.

The phone boasts of a 48MP rear camera and a 25MP selfie camera. It includes sensors like Fingerprint Sensor, Ambient Light Sensor, Proximity Sensor, Accelerometer, Compass, and Gyroscope. Also, it supports Face Unlock.

There are two colour variants for the Moto Z4 –  Flash Grey and Frost White. In India, the phone is priced at around Rs. 35,000.

In recent years, Motorola has opted for the glass-and-metal combination. And Moto Z4 isn’t an exception. The Moto Z4 resembles the Moto Z3 and Z3 Play. It flaunts a glass front and back with a metal casing sandwiched in between. The back panel has a smooth matte finish. The built seems to be quite compact and snug. Contrary to the latest trend, the phone is slightly thicker with curved sides. The rounded edges and curved sides entail that the Moto Mods don’t sit flush with the body, unlike the previous Moto models.  

At the back, there’s a single 48MP camera with dual LED flash. The right side holds the volume and power buttons. On the left, there’s a tray for a single nanoSIM and a microSD card. The bottom portion has a speaker grille, a USB Type-C port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack (something that was missing in the prior Moto Z models).

The front display has a tiny notch on top and a small chin. Apart from this, the phone is practically bezel-less, thereby getting an 85% screen-to-body ratio. The little notch holds the  25MP selfie camera.

The Moto Z4 sports a 6.4-inch OLED screen with a resolution of 1080 x 2340 pixels. It has a pixel density of 403 PPI. There’s a Corning Gorilla Glass v3 to protect it from scratches and accidental damages. Although it has a lower resolution than many other flagship phones in this same price bracket, the display has excellent colour reproduction and great viewing angles. The brightness levels automatically get adjusted when you’re outdoors. Thus, you can view the display content with ease even under daylight.

The vast display is excellent for consuming video content, reading, and of course, gaming. Thanks to the vibrant and crisp colour reproduction, the Moto Z4 offers a pleasant viewing experience. The OLED screen has an in-display fingerprint sensor which isn’t exactly smooth. Motorola would have done a better job to include the fingerprint sensor on the back panel.

The Z4 incorporates an octa-core (2 GHz, dual-core, Kryo 460 + 1.7 GHz, hexa-core, Kryo 460) Qualcomm Snapdragon 675 processor. Coupled with 4GB RAM, the processor promises to deliver a decent and lag-free performance. And it stands true to its claim.

While the midrange processor isn’t as snappy and fast as the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 (as seen in OnePlus 6T) or 855, it is energy-savvy and performs smoothly. The phone can perform everyday tasks like calling, texting, video streaming, etc., without any glitch or lag whatsoever. When it comes to gaming, the phone can handle graphics-intensive games like Asphalt and PUBG quite well, although we recommend that you opt for the medium setting.

Coming to the OS, the Moto Z4 runs on Android v9 (Pie) which is clean and bloatware free. You get the stock Android experience. So, there’s hardly anything to complain about here.

Instead of keeping up with the trend of dual cameras, Motorola used a single 48MP lens with dual LED flash. Other phones that feature a 48MP rear camera are Xiaomi Mi 9, OnePlus 7, and Honor View 20. The rear camera is AI-enhanced with Quad Pixel technology (it combines four pixels into one). The always-on Quad Pixel feature of the rear camera delivers 12MP images by default. Also, it helps capture impressive images, even in low-light settings.

In daylight settings, the rear camera can capture vivid and detailed images. The AI is adept in simulating a depth effect. For low-light conditions, the camera has a dedicated Night Vision Mode. It keeps the noise level to a minimum and captures detailed images even in the dark. However, you must know that the Night mode isn’t at par with that of Google Pixel phones – sometimes it produces photos with over-saturated colours.

As for the 25MP selfie camera, the photos captured in favourable light settings have the right amount of detail and look vibrant. Like the rear cam, the selfie camera uses AI as well to create depth effects successfully. Also, a noteworthy feature of the selfie cam is that it offers a better background contrast than the Moto Z3. In dimly-lit environments, the camera delivers decent images that will suffice for your social media needs.

The Moto Z4 packs in a 3,600 mAh battery – the biggest battery yet to power any Moto Z phone. Thanks to the low-res display and the energy-efficient processor, the battery can last an entire day on a single charge. But mind you, that’s only for light to medium usage. For users who engage in heavy gaming or video streaming for long hours, the battery charge will drop faster than usual. The good thing is that the Z4 comes with a 15-watt Turbopower fast charger.

Connectivity options on the phone include Wi-Fi 802.11, a/ac/b/g/n 5GHz, Bluetooth v5.0, NFC, USB Type-C, FM Radio, GPS with A-GPS and Glonass, and 2G/3G/4G support.

In a market flooded with mid-range phones, the Moto Z4 seems to get lost easily. While it does opt for the notch-display and AI-configuration camera in line with the latest trends, there’s nothing that we haven’t seen before. Especially with Chinese smartphone giants like Xiaomi, Honor, Vivo, and OnePlus in the scene, it’s hard to imagine who’d give the Moto Z4 a chance. If you are willing to shell around 35k for the phone, you could check out the Honor 20 Pro, the Mi Mix 3 5G, and the OnePlus 6T.