Gaming phone on the cheap: Motorola Moto Z
Recently I saw someone post something about the Asus ROG Gaming phone and I realized, after looking it up, that it was a device I had looked at some time ago when I was lamenting the fact that I was going to have to ditch my Windows phone after Microsoft killed the platform. It looked like a really good device with the exception of the price and the lack of financing options. I just can't bring myself to dish out close to $1k for a phone, but I can bring myself to dish out $500 for a phone if I can do it 50$ at a time.
Unsure if I wanted to go the Android or iPhone route I decided to pick up a cheap Motorola phone from the local Walmart to get a feel for the Android operating system, since I had originally gone from the old Windows Phone 3.1 OS directly into the more modern Windows Phone OS and had never experienced Android at all. This particular phone was on clearance for $40 and I figured that a throw away would be a good way for me to get an idea of the ecosystem and help me decide which OS I wanted to invest it.
I was blown away.
For a $40 dollar phone, that retailed for double that, the thing felt solid as a rock. At least as solid as my last WinPhone, a Nokia Lumia. I loved the little thing and with addition of a very nice and inexpensive case by Poetic Cases, I grew to like not only Android but Motorola as well. Impressed with this lower end budget model I decided to take the plunge and buy a more expensive and feature rich device from them.
The Moto Z has been out for a while, and by the time I got around to looking at it Motorola was already on the Z3. Looking back, I remember seeing the Moto Z when it first hit the scene because of its unique and defining feature: Attachments! In what is certainly the coolest thing to hit cellular phones the Moto Z line of devices allows special Moto Mods to be connected to the back via some powerful magnets and large connector.
When I first saw the Moto Z I was still using, and in love with, my Windows phone, but I remember thinking that if there was any other phone that would make me turn away from my beloved Lumia the Moto Z would be it.
Well, lo and behold just as I started searching for a new device the Moto Z3 was released and at a slightly discounted price. It seemed like the perfect timing for me and I picked one up along with a few of the Mods.
Here are the specs on the device. A word of note, as of the writing of this post the Moto Z4 has been released, so I am one phone model behind.
OS: Android™ 8.1, Oreo (stock, since updated to 9.0)
Processor: Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 636 (1.8ghz octa-core CPU)
GPU: 850 MHz Adreno 509 GPU
Internal Storage: 64GB
External Storage: Up to 2TB microSD
Battery: 3000 mAh, non-removeable
Display: 6.01", Full HD+ (2160x1080) OLED, 18:9 ratio, Corning Gorilla glass 3
Ports: USB type C
Body: 76.5 x 156.5 x 63.75 mm, polished aluminum frame (deep indigo blue)
Rear Camera: 12MP, dual camera, up to 4k Ultra HD video @ 30 fps
Front Camera: 8MP, 84 degree wide angle, up to 1080p @ 30 fps
Audio: Front port speaker, NO HEADPHONE JACK, USB-C to 3.5mm converter included
Network: Unlocked for all major carriers, LTE 4G (5G Moto Mod available), Nano SIM (dual SIM available), 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac 2.4 + 5 ghz WiFi, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, BEIDOU, NFC capable
Now that all of THAT is out of the way lets talk about why we are here.
MOTO MODS AND GAMING
As mentioned above the flagship feature of the Moto Z are Moto Mods, of which there are many. I personally own the Moto Speaker, Power Pack (external battery), Hasselblad True Zoom camera lens, Moto Style shell (wireless charging via Qi) and the Moto Gamepad mod.
All of the mods are great, and I certainly plan on getting more, but the Gamepad mod is the real focus of this post. As with all of the mods this one snaps onto the back of your phone via magnets and the connector. The gamepad itself has an internal battery that keeps it charged for up to eight hours on its own, after which it will start to consume battery power directly from the phone, if I remember right. The pad has all the buttons you have come to know and love from your standard gamepad including left and right analog sticks (with L1 and R1 button), cross pad, a/b/x/y/start/select buttons AND EVEN L/R SHOULDER AND L/R TRIGGER BUTTONS! Yes! You can't tell from the above image but the shoulder button actually consists of two halves with the upper half being the shoulder button and the lower half being the trigger button! In addition there is both a standard 3.5 mm headphone/headset jack and a USB-C connector on the bottom of the mod. Best of all is that the device connects via a physical connection through the connector on the back of the phone so no pairing, no Bluetooth, it literally becomes part of the phone!
Gameplay-wise my experience with my Moto Z3 has been stellar! When it comes to mobile games I've never experienced a moment of slowdown in any and every game I have installed has its graphical settings at max, when settings are available. If the game supports controllers then you're all set up!
(For the information of you, the reader, understand that I don't play Fortnite or PUBG, so I cannot tell you what kind of experience you may have from the Moto Z.)
The real test, however, has come in the form of emulators, and so far I have had nothing but good experiences with all of the ones I have installed. My NES and SNES emulators run completely free of slowdown or issues, but these are fairly innocuous emulators and they run well on pretty much anything with halfway decent specs. However, my PSP emulator (ppsspp) is another story. With a lot more configuration options and requiring a lot more power, how does the Moto Z stand up? Great! Every game I have played through PPSSPP runs flawlessly, though it did require a bit of fiddling around with the graphical and timing settings to get it to that point. I've ran through Dissidia 012, FF7 Crisis Core, Parasite Eve: Third Birthday and others, and very rarely do I run into a situation where the game slows down or runs poorly.
Where the gamepad also shines is when using the Steam Link app, available on Android in the Play Store. The app allows you to stream games from your Steam box (be it a PC or Laptop running Steam) directly to your mobile device, be it a phone or tablet, across your local network. With the game pad attachment you're all set to go! Simply start up the app, connect to your primary Steam machine and voila! The app starts up in Big Picture mode making game selection and startup a snap, and your fully functioning controller makes any game you play using a controller easily accessible and usable!
Using Steam Link I've successfully played Marvel vs. Capcom 2, Street Fighter V, Senran Kagura: Peach Beach Splash - even Final Fantasy 14!
Admittedly playing an MMO is a little difficult, as the Steam Link app has a weird soft keyboard that doesn't seem very effective and it doesn't appear that you can just use the Android keyboard for typing input.
I picked my Z3 up for around $499, got one free Mod (the external battery) and picked up the charging plate and speaker Mods while I was at it. All in all I spent less than $800 out the door. I picked up the gamepad and camera Mods refurbished from eBay for around half the price of new ones.
Now, the Asus ROG phone does have some pretty cool features, but there's also a big difference in cost. As far as playing on a monitor goes, well, you can always stream the display from the Moto Z to any Chromecast enabled TV or monitor, which isn't the greatest, but it does work. In addition you always COULD bluetooth connect an Xbox One or PS4 controller to the Moto Z and, using the projector mod, play something on the wall at relatively low resolution, but still, for a multiplayer game it might be just the thing!
Also, using the Mixer app in the Play Store you can play and stream directly from your phone to your Microsoft Mixer channel, which is great for when you want to do some emulation gaming or stream any of the wacky mobile titles out there.
If your looking for a decent phone for gaming but don't want to dish out a ton of cash try the Motorola Moto Z. It was a much greater bargain that I had originally though, and its versatility is unmatched!
If you have questions or comments, or want me to post any pictures or video of my own phone in action just let me know in the comments.