Smartphone manufacturer Motorola has made a big statement of intent with the introduction of modularity as it re-enters the Kenyan market.
The firm that is now a subsidiary of Chinese multi-national tech firm, Lenovo, has been on a hiatus from the region losing ground to competitor brands.
With its return, Motorola is keen on wresting market share by bringing the first device in the country whose components can be separated and reassembled to the user’s preference.
Motorola has made modularity a reality in the country, a phenomenon that up until now has been a social media craze in the Kenyan market.
The notion that form follows function is embodies in the Moto Z, the flagship billed as the world’s slimmest premium smartphone measuring less than a centimetres in thickness.
And this will go a long way in keeping the device to a manageable size and weight with due consideration to the detachable elements included in the Moto Mods Family.
With the proliferation of the smartphone in the digital age, a user’s contextual preferences on a day to day basis make market fertile for the Moto Z’s modularity.
On an outdoor excursion for instance, the need for a good camera, with plenty of space and a good battery supersede all other considerations for a mobile device.
As such, the Mod Family includes a Hasselblad True Zoom camera extension which offers 10X Optical Zoom and a Xenon flash to capture sharp images even in undesirable low light situations.
This component will excite photography enthusiasts with its manual controls, RAW format shooting and Hasselblad’s Phocus software for streamlined editing.
If a user’s preference is crisp sound, the JBL Soundboost will offer powerful stereo sound for music and video playback. With its own built-in battery, the Soundboost guarantees 10 hours of playback without depleting the phone’s own charge.
Craving a movie, music video or pictues without straining to watch it on the phone’s screen? No sweat, the Insta-Share Projector clasps on to the Moto Z with a kickstand to boot guaranteeing vivid images projected up to 70 inches on any flat surface. The projector too has its own battery guaranteeing hours of playback.
Perhaps a user wants a quick recharge after hours of exploring the device’s features on offer; the TurboPower™ mod delivers 8 hours of charge within 15 minutes. The device however boasts a 30 hour run time meaning a user can go a full day without needing to recharge.
The device itself speaks to durability being engineered using military aircraft-grade aluminum and stainless steel.
As a standalone, the Moto Z’s 5.5” Quad HD AMOLED display promises to deliver vivid images. Adding to the arsenal of top notch features, the smartphone is equipped with a powerful Qualcomm® SnapdragonTM 820 processor, 4GB of RAM and 32 GB or 64 GB of storage inside. The storage is upgradeable via a microSD card up to 2 TB.
Moto Z has a high-resolution 13MP primary camera with optical image stabilization and laser autofocus. The secondary 5MP camera includes a wide-angle lens and an extra flash on the front camera to ensure users look their best, even in low light.
The smartphone comes with a water-repellant coating, which shields the phone from rain, splashes or spills that might come in its way.
In keeping with the market’s security trend the Moto Z comes with a fingerprint reader which requires just a touch to instantly wake up the phone.
“This is just the beginning of showcasing what Lenovo will bring to the East African market. We plan on rolling out more smartphones from the Moto family enabling Kenyans to have a different smartphone experience,” said Danish Oyugi, Country Manager for Lenovo Kenya.