Today is an exciting day. I have received a new phone to review. One that comes with a very bold claim. It apparently has a shatterproof screen. Yes, I’m talking about the new Moto X Force.
This is a phone that, at first glance, looks unassuming and mild-mannered. However, under the utilitarian exterior lies a beast that will not suffer from those nasty “smashed screen” issues seen on inferior devices. I likened the phone to the Incredible Hulk as it will take a beating and then come back for more.
I have seen some fairly hefty abuse being thrown at this phone and, whilst I will not be going over the top with my testing, I will expose it to some day-to-day clumsiness to see what it will cope with. I don’t do this for my own fun, but for you, our dear reader (okay maybe a bit of fun for me too!)
Before we get into to all that though, let’s unbox this beast and see what liver under that hardy screen…
As you can see from the video, this thing is not going to win any beauty pageants any time soon, but boy does it feel solid. The specs, however, are singing the “flagship” song so let’s have a little look at them…
Specifications
Display: 5.4” AMOLED, 1440p Quad HD (2560 x 1440), 540 ppi, ShatterShield™
Processor: Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 810 processor with 2.0 GHz Octa-core CPUs (MSM8994) Adreno 430 @ 600 MHz GPU Natural Language Processor Contextual Computing Processor
Memory (RAM): 3GB (LPDDR4 with 64-bit access)
Storage (ROM): 32GB/64GB6, microSD Card support (up to 2TB)3
Dimensions:Height: 149.8 mm (5.90 inches), Width: 78 mm (3.07 inches), Curve: 7.6 mm – 9.2 mm (.30 inches – .36 inches), Weight 169g (6.0 oz)
Battery: 3760 mAh, TurboPower™ for up to 13 hours of power in 15 minutes of charging, Supports PMA and Qi wireless charging (wireless charger sold separately)
Water Protection: Water repellent nano-coating
Networks: 4G LTE (Cat 4), UMTS / HSPA+, GSM / EDGE
Bands: XT1580 -GSM / GPRS / EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz), UMTS / HSPA+ (850, 900, 1700, 1900, 2100 MHz), 4G LTE (B1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 17, 20, 25, 28, 40)
Wi-Fi: 802.11a/b/g/n/ac 2.4 GHz + 5 GHz with MIMO
Bluetooth version 4.1 LE
Rear Camera: 21 MP, f/2.0 aperture, Phase Detect Auto-Focus (PDAF), Closed loop processing, Colour Correlated Temperature (CCT) flash with dual LEDs, Quick Capture, Tap (anywhere) to capture, 4X digital zoom, Burst mode, Night mode, Auto HDR, Panorama, Drag to focus & exposure ,Video Stabilization, 1080p HD video (30fps), 4K video (30fps), Slow Motion video, Video HDR (1080p and 4K)
Front Camera: 5 MP, f/2.0 aperture, Wide-Angle lens, 1.4um pixel for better low light, Night mode, Flash
Connectivity: Micro USB, 3.5 mm headset jack
Speakers/Microphones, Front-ported loud speaker, 5-Mics with active noise cancellation support
NFC
Sensors: A-GPS,Acceleromter, Ambient Light, Gyroscope, Hall Effect, Infrared, Magnetometer, Proximity
Operating System: Android™ 5.1.1, Lollipop
Colour: Black Ballistic Nylon
Moto Maker: Choose from a variety of materials, colours, accents and more.
Here are some pictures of the device in all its glory.
This thing certainly packs a punch and has the brass knuckles to back it up in a rugged phone game of top trumps. How does it deliver in day to day use? We will find out in due course over the next week or so. Will it buckle under the pressure of being used by Mr Clumsy (that’s me by the way)? What is the battery life gonna be like and how does that rear facing shooter perform?
We’ll be answering all these questions and more besides very soon.