Z Force or Pixel XL

[rxgadget]

Still on contact with my original Droid Turbo 64GB Ballistic Nylon phone. Contact coming due in November on one phone and December on wife's phone.
I am not planning on leaving VZW.
I know the Pixel is still in the wings and I am waiting to be able to hold one before I purchase.
I am currently on the 16GB XL plan and it saved me some money for the last 4 months. What I hate is no matter what I buy I am stuck waiting 2 years to upgrade unless I buy upfront.
Anyone using the Z Force looking towards the Pixel?
How is battery on the Force vs. using with additional modular battery. I think battery life is my primary concern over everything.

 

[sicario666]

Still on contact with my original Droid Turbo 64GB Ballistic Nylon phone. Contact coming due in November on one phone and December on wife's phone.
I am not planning on leaving VZW.
I know the Pixel is still in the wings and I am waiting to be able to hold one before I purchase.
I am currently on the 16GB XL plan and it saved me some money for the last 4 months. What I hate is no matter what I buy I am stuck waiting 2 years to upgrade unless I buy upfront.
Anyone using the Z Force looking towards the Pixel?
How is battery on the Force vs. using with additional modular battery. I think battery life is my primary concern over everything.

Battery life itself is simply amazing. With the mod it's insane. Easily 12 hours with built in battery and 24 with battery mod

 

[Connert]

I used the battery mod the first day to see how well it works and haven't used it since. I easily get through the day on the phone battery itself. I can see needing the battery mod on extremely heavy days, but those are few and far between.

I've had the Pixel XL in my shopping cart a few times and just keep closing the browser without making the purchase. With the battery life, ShatterShield, and near stock Android that is so smooth and fast I can't justify the purchase.

This Z Force is and awesome device without the mods and the mods are a very nice bonus feature.

 

[Photo_Drew]

How are you stuck waiting two years? On device payment you can upgrade whenever. It might cost you but you aren't stuck.

 

[Soundtallica]

If you can live with a slightly worse camera and aren't the heaviest of gamers, get the Z Play. It performs just as smoothly as the flagships do and gets literally double the battery life of any other phone out there. It's a lot cheaper too while still having access to all the Moto mods.

For my tastes, both of your top choices are nice phones but have some deal breakers: the Z Force lacks a headphone jack, and the Pixel lacks expandable storage.

 

[Soundtallica]

How are you stuck waiting two years? On device payment you can upgrade whenever. It might cost you but you aren't stuck.

The DPP's were introduced recently enough that some people are still running out their old 2 year contracts. My mom just came off of her last contract this month.

 

[Mike-Mike]

I loved the Nexus 6, but the only thing Nexus had over the Droid series was size. With the Force being a 5.5 and the Pixel XL being the same size, I don't even see it as a competition. Moto will be as fluid as a Nexus, and the mods and batter make it have the edge in my book

 

[YAYTech]

If you can live with a slightly worse camera and aren't the heaviest of gamers, get the Z Play. It performs just as smoothly as the flagships do and gets literally double the battery life of any other phone out there. It's a lot cheaper too while still having access to all the Moto mods.

For my tastes, both of your top choices are nice phones but have some deal breakers: the Z Force lacks a headphone jack, and the Pixel lacks expandable storage.

The Z Play is good, but it's not double the battery life of the Z Force. It's about 20% more than the Force. That said, the Z Play is a great phone and worth considering, but may not be on some folks' lists for not having the top specs.

OP: I don't know if the Pixel XL will be offered with any deals. The Z Force has several times had deals like $200 off and a free mod included. So the Force is likely a lower cost than the Pixel XL. I'd say performance is probably going to be comparable between them, and each has advantages & disadvantages. Up to you to decide what matters most to you.

 

[YAYTech]

I loved the Nexus 6, but the only thing Nexus had over the Droid series was size. With the Force being a 5.5 and the Pixel XL being the same size, I don't even see it as a competition. Moto will be as fluid as a Nexus, and the mods and batter make it have the edge in my book

Nexus/Pixel has a big advantage (to many) in fast updates & very likely longer support/updates. We also don't know yet if the Z Force will be considered Daydream VR ready once it gets Nougat. Some folks may value the Google Assistant built in on the Pixel as well.

 

[beeare]

I use the battery Mod on the Force daily. It's simply amazing. The other day I was on my phone with 4 hours SOT and 5.5 hours on phone calls after 20 hours off the charger. When I went to sleep I had just recently depleted the battery mod and had 72% remaining on the regular battery. That's a serious full day of usage and 72% left... Honestly insane! Using the Mod I generally go to bed with 30% of the Mod remaining and 80% left on the actual battery. It's a game changer. The hardest part is figuring out when to charge my phone. It also charges insanely fast, so I don't like putting it on the charger when I sleep, because with 30% on the Mod and 80% on the battery, it will be back up to full in no time, and I don't like leaving it charging while full.

 

[doogald]

OP: I don't know if the Pixel XL will be offered with any deals. The Z Force has several times had deals like $200 off and a free mod included.

The pixels have a $300 trade in for select phones and a free daydream vr headset right now.

 

[YAYTech]

Yeah, but the $300 trade in phones are very recent phones that you could probably sell yourself for more.

 

[PWav]

The rear fingerprint sensor on the Pixel would be the deal killer for me.

About a zillion times a day I unlock my phone while it's sitting on a desk or table in front of me by just reaching out and touching the fingerprint sensor. You can also lock the phone by just touching the fingerprint sensor with any finger.

Why would I want to pick up my phone first to do this?????????

 

[YAYTech]

The rear fingerprint sensor on the Pixel would be the deal killer for me.

About a zillion times a day I unlock my phone while it's sitting on a desk or table in front of me by just reaching out and touching the fingerprint sensor. You can also lock the phone by just touching the fingerprint sensor with any finger.

Why would I want to pick up my phone first to do this?????????

I've had the same thought. I can see how the rear one is handy when holding it, but there are a number of times when I'm not. I'm not sure it'd be a deal killer for me, but it would be a preference.

 

[sicario666]

In terms of vanilla android. How close to pure android is the z force?

 

[benjamminh]

In terms of vanilla android. How close to pure android is the z force?

Very close.

 

[sicario666]

Ok. I'm looking at the pixel xl now. I was watching some videos and I like what nougat looks like and functions. Just wondering how close the z week be to the pixel when we get that lovely update

 

[YAYTech]

Ok. I'm looking at the pixel xl now. I was watching some videos and I like what nougat looks like and functions. Just wondering how close the z week be to the pixel when we get that lovely update

The Z runs very very very near vanilla Android. Moto just adds what's needed for the moto-specific features, and in some cases their own launcher that can be changed. It's not clear yet if the holding the home button for Google Assistant will be a feature of 7.1+, or if that is a Pixel-specific feature, and there will be differences in in the camera apps and such, but the vast majority will be the same.

 

[rxgadget]

The DPP's were introduced recently enough that some people are still running out their old 2 year contracts. My mom just came off of her last contract this month.

I am running down on my 2yr contact on 2 lines. Then I can decide.

 

[dbregman]

In terms of vanilla android. How close to pure android is the z force?

It is very close, but with some of the great moto additions, like always listing for Google bow commands (I use 3-4 times a day), notifications on-screen, etc.