The Moto Z2 Force may have downgraded specs in the US
The US version of the rumored Moto Z2 Force will reportedly get worse specs than its global counterpart.
Looking forward to the Moto Z2 Force? You may want to save up for a plane ticket too. The US version of Motorola's next-gen modular phone could have worse specs than the global version, including less RAM and less internal storage, according to VentureBeat.
Motorola will reveal a new phone on July 25 and various clues suggest it could be the Moto Z2 Force -- the follow-up to last year's Moto Z Force.
The Moto Z line is Motorola's attempt to make modular phones work, and while others like Google's Project Ara and the LG G5 have fallen short Motorola has stood its ground, pledging to release 12 Moto Mods a year.
Last month Motorola continued the Moto Z legacy when it released the Moto Z2 Play, and if the rumors are true another Z2 phone could be on its way.
The bad news
Although last year's Z Force was supposed to be the more heavily specced phone of the Moto Z lineup, the Z2 Force could fall short on specs, especially in the US. The global version of the Z2 Force is reported to get 6GB of RAM, says VentureBeat, citing leaked Moto marketing material, while the US version will be stuck with 4GB. The US version is also said to get 64GB of internal storage while the Chinese version gets 128GB.
To make matters worse all versions could get a 2,730 mAh battery, which is a significant drop from its predecessor's beefy 3,500 mAh cell. The report claims that this may have been done to make the Z2 Force thinner, to make up for the added bulk from Moto Mods. Still, a battery downgrade is always disappointing.
The silver lining
On the flip side the Moto Z2 Force may still see some improvements. The phone could be powered by the Snapdragon 835 chip, which is an upgrade from the Snapdragon 820 chip in last year's Z Force.
Adding to the upgrade list, VentureBeat also claims that the Moto Z2 Force may get dual 12-megapixel rear cameras, which would make it the first Moto Z phone to rock a dual-camera setup. To add some weight to this rumor, last week Motorola posted pictures of a dual-camera Moto Z phone on its website before quickly taking them down. Perhaps this was a sneak peek at the Moto Z2 Force.
How will it shake out? Will the upgrades be enough to cancel out the downgrades? We should find out on July 25.
Motorola did not immediately respond to a request for comment on this story.