Motorola has today announced the availability of its flagship Moto Z smartphone in Pakistan. A formal launch event was held in Karachi, where Lenovo the parent company of Motorola showcased the new smartphone along with Moto Mods.

Debuted last year, the all premium Moto Z is a unique modular smartphone with magnetic snap-on accessories called Mods.

A stripped down version, Moto Z Play was also showcased today, however it will be available in the coming days.

Moto Z at a Glance:

  • 5.5-inch AMOLED screen, QHD resolution 535 ppi with Gorilla Glass
  • Water resistant nano-coated body, Magnetic connector Moto Mods-compatible
  • Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 dual-core 2.15 GHz Kyro & dual-core 1.6 GHz Kyro Adreno 530
  • 4GB of RAM, 32 or 64GB of internal storage, microSD up to 2TB
  • 13-Megapixel camera, f/1.8 aperture, 1.12-µm pixels, OIS, laser autofocus, dual-tone LED flash, 1080p video @ 30 or 60fps, 4K @ 30fps.
  • 5-Megapixel front-facing camera with wide angle, front-facing LED flash
  • Home button Fingerprint sensor, 4GLTE, NFC and USB Type-C
  • 2,600 mAh battery, Moto 15W Turbo Charger USB
  • Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow Operating System
  • Free Moto Style Shell

Moto Mods to Make it Better:

The Moto Mods Family includes the JBL SoundBoost speakers so users can take the party with them. The Insta-Share Projector so they can share content as and when they want. Power packs from Incipio so consumers are never out of battery, and the Hasselblad True Zoom, that will enable aspiring photographers to capture precious moments on the go.

Telenor Customers can get special offers:

Co-launched in partnership with Telenor, the Moto Z smartphone will be available with specific prepaid and postpaid plans. More details will be available at Telenor website in the coming days.

Pricing and Availability:

The Moto Z is priced at Rs. 75,000 and comes with a free Moto Style Shell. Those who pre-ordered will get one of the Mods for free, but others will have to buy them for:

  • Moto Insta-Share Projector Mod: Rs. 39,500
  • Incipio offGRID Power Pack Mod: Rs. 8,650
  • JBL SoundBoost Mod: Rs. 12,500
  • Hasselblad True Zoom Mod: Rs. 29,500

The Moto Z Play edition will be priced at Rs. 50,000 and the same Modes can be used with it as well. These phones are offered with one year local warranty and will be available across Pakistan.

Hello Moto! You’re Not So Affordable:

Motorola’s comeback to Pakistan is definitely a welcome sign, however these flagship devices aren’t well suited for Pakistan market.

The Moto Z is a great smartphone concept, but other than its Mods, the hardware specifications fail to impress.

The Mods are quite expensive and to be very honest, most of the flagship phones today provide much better functionality by default.

Furthermore, Pakistani customers are quite budget conscious. While Motorola enjoys some kind of brand recognition in Pakistan, most of the users would opt for more established brands like Samsung and Huawei.

Not to mention in this price range, you can get an iPhone 7 as well and “pretend to be a cool person”.

Mid-range Could be the Winner For Motorola:

If Motorola really wants to take a share in this market, they have to launch more and more affordable (mid-range) devices.

The Moto G and E series could get much better sales if the pricing and after-sales support is done right.

I do hope that Lenovo won’t repeat the same mistakes, but launching flagship devices with sky-high prices clearly shows that they didn’t do the homework well.

What are your thoughts about this “Expensive” re-entry of Motorola phones in Pakistan? do share in the comments below.