Lenovo EA

The Motorola brand is not new in Kenya, but it has been really long since we saw these devices on the shelves. Starting with the Moto Z and Moto Z Play, Lenovo, through its subsidiary Motorola, hopes to recapture its smartphone market locally, betting on Nostalgia and brand recognition. At an event today, Lenovo officially introduced the Moto Z and Z Play to the Kenyan market and the phone would be available at various stores through their distributor, Krishna International.

Speaking to Techweez, the technical product manager at Lenovo East Africa, King’ori Gitahi, said that he believes that the Moto Z and Moto Z Play, offer a lot more than similar phones (that sometimes cost even higher) at the same price range. He also stated that the smartphone market was big enough to accommodate everyone, and was not really worried about the competition.

King'ori - Lenovo EA
King’ori Gitahi – Technical Product Manager at Lenovo East Africa

Mr. King’ori also mentioned that Lenovo is very passionate about innovation and the company is open to supporting local innovation through their Moto Mods Developer platform. With the Moto Mods, consumers can transform their Moto smartphone by adding features that otherwise are not available on your standard smartphone.

The Moto Mods range include the JBL SoundBoost speakers, an external loudspeaker retailing for KES.15,000, the Insta-Share Projector which retails for KES.26,000 will enable content sharing and projection of the screen upto 70″, power packs from Incipio to extend your battery life (KES.15,000), and the Hasselblad True Zoom (Retails for KES.26,000), that will enable one to shoot more like a professional with its 5x optical zoom.

The Moto Z comes with a 5.5″ QHD AMOLED display, Snapdragon 820, 4GB RAM, 32/64 GB internal storage, a 13MP main camera, 5MP front camera and no headphone jack! The Moto Z Play, comes with a 5.5″ Full HD Super AMOLED display, Snapdragon 625, 3GB RAM, 32/64 GB internal storage, 16MP main camera and a 5MP front camera and yes, you have the 3.5mm headphone jack with this one. Below is a complete list of specifications:

Moto ZMoto Z Play
Display5.5" (2560*1440) QHD AMOLED covered in Gorilla Glass 45.5" (1920*1080) FHD Super AMOLED covered in Gorilla Glass 3
ProcessorQualcomm Snapdragon 820Qualcomm Snapdragon 625
Memory4GB RAM with 32/64 GB internal3GB RAM with 32/64 GB internal
Micro SD supportYes, upto 256GBYes, upto 256GB
CameraMain: 13 MP with f/1.8 aperture, laser autofocus, OIS, and dual-LED flash

Front: 5 MP, f/2.2, 1.4 µm pixel size, LED flash
Main: 16 MP with f/2.0 aperture, phase detection and laser autofocus, dual-LED flash

Front: 5 MP, f/2.2, 1.4 µm pixel size, LED flash, 1080p
BatteryNon-removable Li-Ion 2600 mAh battery capable of fast chargingNon-removable Li-Ion 3510 mAh battery capable of fast charging
SoftwareAndroid OS, 6.0.1 (Marshmallow) upgradable to 7.0 (Nougat)Android OS, 6.0.1 (Marshmallow) upgradable to 7.0 (Nougat)
FeaturesFingerprint reader, USB Type-C 1.0, Moto Mods compatibleFingerprint reader, USB Type-C 1.0, Headphone jack, Moto Mods compatible

The Moto Z, which is the premium of the two, will be retailing at KES.69,999 while the slightly less spec’d Moto Z Play will be retailing at KES.54,999. If you think these prices are too high, Lenovo says that the less expensive mid-ranger Moto G4 Plus is already in the market, the recently announced Moto G5 and G5 Plus will be coming some time Mid-May and they are also expecting the entry-level Moto E series to make its way into the market.

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14 COMMENTS

  1. Moto Z is Lenovoing and corrupting the Motorola brand. Anyway you are late in Kenya. Where is Moto G, Moto X. Style…?

    • Not really…I have using Motorola since ’05…bloggers and reviewers are not always accurate
      Bro Moto X style is outdated..have a look at the Z then comment

      • I ordered Moto X Pure via Moto Maker and prior to that I have owned first Gen Moto G. Of both I can say, on popularity and value for money for such markets and US too. Moto Z cannot touch. Even the price point. Lenovo is burying the good old affordable Motorola.

  2. So the Moto z was released 6 months ago…
    Now they come.id rather import.moto z is around $500 n Moto z play $400 on amazon

  3. First, those prices… Gah. Not that the phone isn’t well crafted, but it’s going head-to-head with Xiaomi Mi Note 2 that has an SD821, and a headphone jack.

    Secondly, Nokia are back. With (promisingly) better prices. With pure (and promisingly updated) untouched Android. And a 3310 for the throwback party.

    Had it been 6 months ago, when the Zees were the rave, maybe (but those prices still…)

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