Motorola Moto X Force review: Handle without care

Performance

The Moto X Force packs a hefty punch with the Snapdragon 810 v2.1 chipset. The Adreno 430 pairs very nicely with the latter for a smooth UI experience. Sure, there is the newer and cooler Snapdragon 820 chip, but let's not forget that the Moto X Force originally launched late last year when the 810 was still Qualcomm's greatest mass-production SoC around.

So, the Moto X Force offers an octa-core processor with 4x Cortex-A53 @ 1.5GHz and 4x Cortex-A57 @ 2.0GHz. There are also 3 gigs of RAM.

GeekBench 3 single-core score put the Moto X Force around the bottom of the chart as it tests a single Cortex-A53 core, which is quite outdated.

GeekBench 3 (single-core)

Higher is better

• HTC 10
  2368
• LG G5
  2328
• Xiaomi Mi 5
  2305
• Samsung Galaxy S7
  2170
• Huawei P9
  1819
• Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+
  1490
• Huawei Nexus 6P
  1363
• Motorola Moto X Force
  1273

The multi-core performance is on par with the last year's Exynos chips, but behind the S820 phones (Mi 5, G5, HTC 10). The custom Kryo cores inside those are paying off (remember, there are only four of those in a Snapdragon 820, while the Snapdragon 810 is an eight-core main processor).

GeekBench 3 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• Huawei P9
  6558
• Samsung Galaxy S7
  6360
• LG G5
  5362
• Xiaomi Mi 5
  5358
• HTC 10
  5257
• Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+
  5158
• Motorola Moto X Force
  4693
• Huawei Nexus 6P
  4539
• LG V10
  3607
• LG G Flex2
  3604
• Moto X Pure Edition
  3433
• Motorola Moto X Play
  2608

The compound AnTuTu benchmark puts the X Force on par with the Nexus 6P, which runs on the same chipset. The latest crop of flagships does noticeably better though.

AnTuTu 6

Higher is better

• HTC 10
  154031
• LG G5
  134541
• Samsung Galaxy S7
  132084
• Xiaomi Mi 5
  131758
• Huawei P9
  98069
• Huawei Nexus 6P
  89345
• Motorola Moto X Force
  87290
• Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+
  83167
• LG V10
  67547

We see the same results in the compound BaseMark OS II 2.0 test. The Moto X Force is around the bottom, on par with the S810-powered G Flex2 and Galaxy S6's Exynos. The latest flagships are faster by a significant margin.

Basemark OS 2.0

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Mi 5
  2180
• Samsung Galaxy S7
  2128
• Huawei P9
  2068
• LG G5
  2065
• Huawei Nexus 6P
  2040
• HTC 10
  1839
• Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+
  1789
• LG G Flex2
  1726
• Motorola Moto X Force
  1669
• LG V10
  1383
• Motorola Moto X Play
  809

There is a newer generation of Adreno GPU already, which is better equipped to handle Quad HD resolution. Still the S810's Adreno 430 model is quite a powerful and snappy GPU and will handle the graphic-demanding tasks with ease.

The offscreen test reveals the 30% raw power gap between the Adreno 530 (Mi 5, HTC 10, G5) and the Moto X Force's Adreno 430.

GFX 3.1 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• HTC 10
  31
• LG G5
  30
• Xiaomi Mi 5
  30
• Samsung Galaxy S7
  28
• Motorola Moto X Force
  20
• Huawei Nexus 6P
  17
• Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+
  15
• Moto X Pure Edition
  10
• Huawei P9
  10
• LG V10
  10

When it comes to onscreen Quad HD resolution, the Adreno 430 is actually very close to what the G5 and HTC 10 score with the newer Adreno 530. The Mi 5 is on top because it runs on 1080p resolution.

GFX 3.1 Manhattan (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Mi 5
  29
• Samsung Galaxy S7
  15
• LG G5
  15
• HTC 10
  15
• Motorola Moto X Force
  12
• Huawei P9
  11
• Huawei Nexus 6P
  11
• Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+
  6.6
• LG V10
  5.7
• Moto X Pure Edition
  5.6

The BaseMark X puts the X Force on par with the HTC 10 and the Galaxy S6 edge+, which is odd, but proves the GPU is very capable. BaseMark ES 3.1 GPU test also shows a better result than the Nexus 6P, and not far behind the Mi 5.

Basemark X

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Mi 5
  33110
• Samsung Galaxy S7
  32345
• LG G5
  29456
• HTC 10
  28882
• Motorola Moto X Force
  26697
• Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+
  26333
• Huawei Nexus 6P
  22825
• LG G Flex2
  19360
• Huawei P9
  16942
• LG V10
  15161
• Moto X Pure Edition
  14598
• Motorola Moto X Play
  5032

Basemark ES 3.1 / Metal

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy S7
  732
• LG G5
  587
• Xiaomi Mi 5
  580
• Motorola Moto X Force
  525
• Huawei Nexus 6P
  504
• Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+
  348
• Huawei P9
  341
• LG V10
  297

The good news is the Motorola Moto X Force and its Snapdragon 810 provide a flagship-grade performance even though it's not chart topping. There isn't a single task the Force can't handle, and all available games to date will run hassle-free.

Android Marshmallow runs butter-smooth, too, so there is nothing to worry about either.

The Snapdragon 810 chip was plagued by overheating issues, and while it is now in its second (improved) revision, those are still possible. Luckily, the Moto X Force handles thermal distribution very well and there is no throttling even when the phone gets hot.

And the bad news is, the Moto X Force indeed gets hot when under pressure. Its metal frame and ballistic nylon rear cover get uncomfortably warm. But that's it - there is no overheating or performance throttling.