Moto Z2 Force review: Nothing less, nothing more

Telephony

The Moto Z2 Force's dialer is simple and clean. There are only three tabs: favorites, call history, and contacts. The dial pad is accessed by the blue button at the bottom. From here, you can use alpha-numeric input of the dialer to search for a name.

Dialer: Favorites • Call history • Contacts • Pad

The dialer has an integrated call blocker, which can be found in the dialer's Settings. Our AT&T review unit also featured video calling, though it can only be used to call other AT&T subscribers.

In-call screen • Dialer settings • Call settings

Do Not Disturb mode settings can be found under "Sound" in the Settings app. Here, you can fine tune which calls or notification have priority. You can also set rules for when the phone should automatically go into Do Not Disturb mode.

Sound settings • Do Not Disturb settings

Loudspeaker

The Moto Z2 Force's loudspeaker output has improved over the Moto Z's. Despite there only being one speaker on the Z2 Force, it's amply loud enough for everything. The loudspeaker also doubles as the in-call receiver, so it's a front-facer - great for watching videos.

The speaker opening on the Z2 Force is physically smaller than the last iteration. Moto however has worked on improving the speaker volume and quality, and it shows. Loudspeaker tests show an improvement of about 4 or 5 decibels across the board.

Motorola has been making radio equipment for decades, so if anyone knows how make a speaker ring piercingly loud, it's Motorola.

Speakerphone test	Voice, dB	Pink noise/ Music, dB	Ringing phone, dB	Overall score
Samsung Galaxy S8+	68.5	69.4	71.6	Good
Lenovo Moto Z Droid	64.5	66.2	81.8	Good
Apple iPhone 7 Plus	68.3	72.2	72.9	Good
Lenovo Moto Z Force Droid	69.5	68.0	77.6	Good
Xiaomi Mi 6	66.1	69.0	84.1	Very Good
OnePlus 5	69.2	72.9	77.5	Very Good
Google Pixel	74.0	68.3	78.0	Very Good
HTC U11 (Theater)	69.2	72.7	78.4	Very Good
HTC U11 (Music)	68.7	73.0	79.1	Very Good
Huawei P10	67.7	70.0	83.6	Very Good
Lenovo Moto Z2 Force	68.2	70.2	86.1	Very Good
Google Pixel XL	73.4	72.1	84.1	Excellent

Dynamic range has also improved on the Z2 Force. We were able to hear a fairly wide range of bass tones and treble instruments. There was no sign of distortion even at maximum volume. There's a lot of depth in the sound, but it still feels on the tinny side, which is normal for any smartphone's loudspeaker, particularly with the side of the opening. The sound is quite good considering the side of the port.

The Z2 Force got a "Very Good" score in our loudness test. There are definitely louder smartphones, but you'll surely be satisfied with the volume and depth of sound at this price point. Oh yeah, and the front-facing speaker is an added bonus.

Solid audio quality

The Moto Z2 Force performed as expected in the first part of our audio test. The smartphone had perfectly clear output with an active external amplifier and above average loudness as befits a flagship.

When headphones come into play the volume drops to just above average, but quality degradation is very limited. The extra stereo crosstalk is barely notable, and a tiny bit of intermodulation distortion creeps in, but that was undetectable outside the lab. A nice showing overall.

Test	Frequency response	Noise level	Dynamic range	THD	IMD + Noise	Stereo crosstalk
Moto Z2 Force	+0.03, -0.01	-93.0	93.2	0.0032	0.0082	-94.1
Moto Z2 Force (headphones)	+0.18, -0.03	-93.1	93.3	0.038	0.116	-78.7
OnePlus 5	+0.03, -0.01	-94.1	94.1	0.0010	0.0070	-94.2
OnePlus 5 (headphones)	+0.15, -0.08	-94.0	94.0	0.0033	0.139	-59.9
HTC U11	+0.05, -0.11	-94.1	94.1	0.0017	0.0067	-94.5
HTC U11 (headphones)	+0.05, -0.02	-93.7	93.8	0.0018	0.105	-53.7
Samsung Galaxy S8	+0.04, -0.00	-92.5	92.5	0.0016	0.0072	-92.8
Samsung Galaxy S8 (headphones)	+0.03, -0.03	-92.3	92.3	0.0056	0.060	-77.2
Sony Xperia XZs	+0.01, -0.02	-93.5	93.3	0.0042	0.0092	-92.7
Sony Xperia XZs (headphones)	+0.12, -0.32	-92.6	93.2	0.0072	0.219	-67.0
LG G6	+0.01, -0.02	-93.3	93.3	0.0059	0.0095	-94.4
LG G6 (headphones)	+0.01, -0.02	-93.4	93.4	0.0067	0.020	-56.3
Huawei P10	+0.01, -0.04	-93.0	94.8	0.0019	0.0080	-93.5
Huawei P10 (headphones)	+0.25, -0.02	-92.7	93.0	0.192	0.175	-59.5
Apple iPhone 7	+0.06, -0.10	-92.4	92.3	0.0015	0.0093	-80.9
Apple iPhone 7 (headphones)	+0.03, -0.11	-92.3	92.3	0.0011	0.012	-77.0

Motorola Moto Z2 Force frequency response

You can learn more about the tested parameters and the whole testing process here.