Motorola today introduced its new smartphone line, the Moto Z, which will offer add-on "Moto Mod" units that can transform the devices into movie projectors, boom boxes, and battery banks.
Unveiled at the Tech World expo hosted by Motorola's parent company, Lenovo, the phones will arrive in the US this summer as "Droid Edition" models, sold exclusively through Verizon.
The base Moto Z Droid Edition model has a 5.5-inch quad HD display, a 13-megapixel rear-facing camera with optical image stabilization and 5-megapixel front-facing shooter, and a 2600 mAh battery that can be recharged to deliver eight hours of power in 15 minutes. It runs a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor and includes 32GB of storage. There's also USB-C and microSD (up to 2TB) support and a fingerprint reader.
The Moto Z Force Droid Edition Force adds a shatterproof display and bumps the rear camera up to 21 megapixels and the battery to 3500 mAh for 15 hours of battery life in 15 minutes of charging. Other specs are the same.
Pre-orders for both Z Droid phones will start in July, though pricing was not announced. The base Z Droid will be offered in black with lunar gray accents or white with gold accents, while the Z Force Droid will be available only in black and lunar gray.
An unlocked Moto Z will go on sale in the fall.
The unique Moto Mod add-on units, meanwhile, are high-tech cases that bring a splash of designer style to the Z Droid lineup, in addition to adding functionality. Pricing for the initial three Mods was not announced.
The Moto Mod speaker, called the SoundBoost, is made by JBL. It has a kickstand to prop the phone up, a built-in battery that will last for up to 10 hours, and can provide amplified sound for speakerphone calls.
The Mod projector also includes a kickstand and built-in battery, and it can project the phone's display on 70-inch surface. Finally, there are a pair of power banks, branded with TUMI and Kate Spade logos. Once snapped on, they add up to 22 hours of battery life.
Motorola's Mod development kit will enable third-party manufacturers to build custom Mod attachments.