I enjoy mountain biking off-road and often in areas with no cellular. Sometimes I ride in areas with many established trails that cross each other and navigation would help. I looked into bike navigation but they have small screens, are costly, and many of the features are redundant with my Garmin fenix 6x Pro Solar watch. I also never trade in my old smartphones so I have several fairly recent ones laying around. I decided to use my old Motorola Z4 smartphone as a biking navigation using. First I needed a real robust mount. I started on Amazon and found this one.
It grabs all 4 corners and locks in place.
I cleared and reset the phone, removing all unnecessary apps to minimize battery consumption. I also put it in airplane mode, and keep WiFi and Bluetooth off to save power. The Moto Z4 I am using also supports MotoMod batteries, of which I have a few. I am using the 2200mAh unit primarily and I can hot swap in others if it gets low on the trail (which is unlikely). I could also connect the phone to the USB port in the bike display to keep it charged if I wanted. I removed the SIM card as well so it would not search for cellular even out of airplane mode. Then I installed Google Maps, Trailforks, Garmin Explore, and GAIA maps. All of these offer offline maps of bike trails. There are many others too. So far I found GAIA to be the best for bike navigation as it can ever store satellite maps offline.
Here is how I organized the home screen.
Here is what GAIA maps looks like.
Here is a video showing the use of this riding some trails.
This first ride was on a pretty easy trail. I have yet to test it on harsher rides but so far it seems solid. I am of course by no means the first person to do this. I wanted to use an old phone, and not my current phone, just in case that mount breaks or I crash the bike. Also, I didn't want to drain the battery on the phone I use normally since I want to be able to make calls, or message through my Garmin satellite messenger in case of trouble.
A few months ago I upgraded my aging Moto Z2 Play with the new Moto Z4 (unlocked). I chose this device for several reasons:
Industry best total battery life (when used with battery mod)
Supports Moto Mods
Reasonable price and value for the money
They also threw in the Moto 360 camera with it and I always wanted one of these
Decent cameras with good features
I would consider this an upper mid-range phone. It's not a true flagship device but it is not priced like one either. My daughter got one a couple months before I did and she liked it too. My experience with it so far has been very good. I have been impressed with the cameras, and overall performance is good. I like the in-display fingerprint sensor even though it is much slower than the one on the Z2 Play. It is nice having almost no bezels and the larger display.
I did have to open up the headphone port and charging port on this rim with a file bit other than that it works great and lets you use most mods while this rim is in place. It also fixes the minor annoyance where the Z4 body is just a bit narrower so the mods slightly hang over the edge. The only mod that does not work with it is the 360 camera. I just modified the 360 camera (quick job on the table saw) to make it fit.
I would like to discuss battery life as this is one of the most important features for me. Moto Mod batteries have a mode called "efficiency mode" that optimizes maintaining the phones internal battery to keep it at 80% extending its life. I have 2 Moto Mod batteries: The Moto Power Pack and the Moto Turbo Power Pack. I always have one of them on the phone. For normal daily use, I use the smaller Moto Power Pack. When I go on trips or will be using more battery, or going longer between changes, I will use the larger Moto Turbo Power Pack. Switching is of course super easy and does not require turning OFF the phone. You simply pull one off and snap the other one on. These batteries also protect the camera since the battery has a hole leaving the camera recessed. The batteries also have a great rubbery back surface making it easy to hold the phone securely and they don't show finger prints at all. I never really need to charge during the day. Even with heavy use I can go all day no problem. I generally have 80% phone, and 50% to 80% of the mod battery at the end of a typical day. When traveling, I will sometimes carry my other battery so it is available just in case I do get low. The mod batteries are super thin and fit easily into a pocket.
When I went looking for a new smartphone my top considerations were this Z4 and the new Pixel 3a XL. The deal breaker for the Pixel for me was the small battery. The Z4 by itself has 100mAh less battery but then you add the mod with 2200mAh to 3500mAh to that and the capacity is much more. The pixel also lacks expandable memory that the Z4 has. The Z4 has a very slightly better processor too. The Pixel is only $25 less (comparing full original retail prices). The Z4 also has a slightly larger screen. One of the things that interested me in the Pixel over the Z4 was the cameras, which are rated very well on the Pixel. Here is an article comparing these 2 devices, and another here, and yet another here.. Another family member got the Pixel 3a XL at about the same time. I will be honest both phones get great pictures and I can't see a big difference between them. Motorola phones have almost completely stock Android too so even that is very similar, mostly identical really. 5G support was not even a passing thought for me. I live in a smaller town that does not have it anyway and I get crazy fast speeds on 4G already.
Moto Z2 Play Verizon has 32GB storage, 3GB RAM, and Verizon's bloatware. It retails for $408. We got it with a special discounted Kate Spade battery mod. We bought this one in August
Moto Z2 Play unlocked has 64GB storage, 4GB RAM and no bloatware. It retails for $499 but I got it on sale for $349. We bought this one in December.
Battery Life and Battery Mods
I have read several early reviews of these devices complaining that they shrunk the battery. Apparently these people have not actually used these devices daily long enough. Battery life is never a problem. First of all, these are not really meant to be used without a mod attached. They feel ridiculously thin and they are slippery without a mod attached. They also look silly with no mod. The obvious mod to get is a battery mod. I bought the basic 2200 mAh battery mod for $37 at Best Buy on sale (regularly $49.99). With the mod attached the phone feels about the right thickness and the mod has a great grip. Now the phone has 3,000 mAh internally and with the 2,200 mAh mod you now have a total of 5,200 mAh which is much more than the vast majority of phones out there. The battery mod features a special efficiency mode which helps use the phones battery in a way that preserves its life. It uses the phones battery first until it gets to 80% state of charge, then it uses the mod battery to 0%, then switches back to using the phone battery. At the end of a typical day both batteries are at about 80%. I have had days where it barely used the mod. This phone is very efficient with its energy use! I was shocked how little battery it used even with heavy use. I just purchased the Moto Turbo Power Pack mod for $79.99 and got a free Insta-Share projector mod free. This Moto Turbo Power Pack has 3,490 mAh. That makes the total battery capacity a whopping 6,490 mAh on a phone that is very battery efficient. I don't think there is a better device for battery life. Those articles complaining that this phone lost battery life are nuts. Also, I keep seeing articles complaining that phone manufacturers are too focused on thin and not enough on battery life apparently don't understand this device. With this Moto Z2 you can have it your way. Want thin, remove the mod. Want battery life, you have many to choose from. You can switch in an instant. It is the best of both worlds. Also, you can swap out the mod while the device is powered in a second with no interruption.
There are many battery mods to choose from. You can get inexpensive ones. You can get them with wireless charging. You can get them with Quick Charge. You can even get designer battery mods such as the Kate Spade mod. More may come in the future as well.
Other thoughts on battery life
I did some basic extrapolation based on my battery use. I estimated I could go over 4 days without plugging in using the 2,200 mAh battery mod. The 3,490 mAh battery mod would take it to about 6. This is with my typical use.
Batteries do degrade over time. The best way to maintain a phone battery is keep it between 60% and 80% state of charge. I also suspect that quick charging has a negative impact on the durability of the battery. The great thing about the Moto Mod battery system is that the mod battery is taking the biggest hit. You deep cycle it the most meaning it will be the first to degrade. When this happens you simply by a replacement battery mod and snap it on. No installation required.
The other thing to consider is how quickly you can charge this up. The Motor Turbo Power Pack quick charges using Qualcomm Quick Charge 3 or USB-C. It has its own USB-C port so you can plug it into one charge and the phone into another at the same time. The combination can charge at 30W. This means you can get a bunch of added time with only a short charge. Say you are in an airport between flights and you want another 8 hours of battery, you can quick charge them both and get that in less than 10 minutes.
Display
I am very happy with this display. My last phone was a Moto X Pure which was LCD. Its great being back on AMOLED! So much crisper. Colors are deeper.
Speed
So far this has been very snappy. We have had the Verizon edition since August with a very heavy user and it is still snappy.
Software
One of the reasons I keep coming back to Motorola is because they use vanilla Android without all the nasty pointless skins and bloatware that others pile on top. The unlocked Moto Z2 has only a few very useful Motorola features such as Moto Display, Moto Actions, and Moto Voice. The reviews on Motorola devices often rightfully praise this aspect, as do I. The Verizon locked Moto Z2 Play does have Verizon bloatware and that is unfortunate. The very first thing you will want to do with the locked version is replace the launcher. I use the Google Now Launcher.
Other Mods
Other than batteries the only mod I bought was the Insta-Share Projector. Well, I actually got it from with the Moto Turbo Power Pack mod which I paid $79.99 for. That was a great deal as this Insta-Share mod usually costs $299 by itself. I made a short video about this mod.
When I first saw this mod it seemed like it may have occasional uses but probably not worth the price. It is actually pretty neat. I could see many uses for someone wanting to present to a small group. It is much thinner than I had expected. When you attach it to the phone, you can still slip you phone into your pocket fine. It is less bulky than I would have expected. In that video I am projecting about 75" diagonal I would guess. I have the room lights dim, as you normally would for a projector. It does chew up its battery fairly fast but you can plug it in for longer presentations or movies.
I have seen too many reviews of the Moto Z phones that almost make fun of the mods, and ignore them being an integral part of this phone product line. The Moto Z is not meant to be used without a mod attached in my opinion. Any review that complains about the slippery back or exposed connector just don't get this product line at all. In my opinion all the reviews should have included at least a basic battery mod since this is likely how nearly all users will actually use this device. With a 2,200 mAh battery mod attached, this phone feels about right as far as thickness and grip. It does make it a bit heavier than most but then again its packing some serious battery power too. Personally I like the weight as it feels quality and I can easily tell its in my pocket so I don't leave it places on accident.
Update 3/2019: This thing is still working great. Battery life seems the same as new. I don't have to think about charging. I am in the habit of charging each night and I never need to charge any other time. The phone is still snappy and glitch free.
Comparison to Moto X Pure
Both of these phones replaced Moto X Pure. By 18 months the Moto X Pure had terrible battery life and it became very laggy at times. Even after 12 month there was a noticeable performance loss and battery life loss. We could not make it past lunch time without charging. Those devices had a Snapdragon 808 processor and the Moto Z2 Play has a 625. It seems like there are huge battery efficiency gains in the 625 versus the 808. The phone performs far better too. The software and OS are also upgraded on the Moto Z2 Play. I waited forever to get Android 7 on my Pure. I finally just side-loaded it one day but it did not perform better.
There are many Android devices out there today. This article will focus on tablets and phones. Android is an operating system, similar to Windows or Linux. However, Android does allow a significant amount of customization by the manufacturer who are creating an Android build for a device the sell. Unfortunately device manufacturers can't seem to leave a good thing alone. They put what is called "skins" on Android that make it look and act very differently. Some of these include:
Amazon Fire OS
HTC Sense
Samsung Touch Wiz
For the most part, these modified Android versions are much worse than the proper Android which leads to a poor user experience, crashing, delayed updates to new operating systems, and inconsistency between devices. I have been an Android user since the very first Motorola Droid came out in 2009. I also had one of the first official Android tablets the Motorola Xoom. When I try to use a Samsung or LG device, I have a hard time finding things. The settings are all different. Too much just looks and works differently. As an app developer, I have also run into many issues caused by the customs versions of Android.
In addition to the custom operating system, they also create their own custom apps for email, calendar, phone dialer, contacts, file backup, device backup, etc. None of these work nearly as well as the Google apps. In the case of devices branded and sold through a cellular provider (the vast majority) it gets even worse. Far worse. Now the cellular provider really pollutes the device with a bunch of really awful software like their own versions of device backup, app stores, file storage, etc. This adds yet another layer of terrible software on top of terrible software that really hurts the user experience and makes updates drag on for eternity, if ever.
So, how do we make things better.
When you first get your new device make sure you log into it with your Gmail account that you create, preferably ahead of time. Do not log into the cellular provider backup or file storage accounts. Skip those steps. Do not have the cellular store try to copy your contact in either. They generally make a mess of it. Their generic contact converters seem to always mess up copying fields from your current contacts. If you have a non-smart phone you can use BitPIM to extract your old contacts. Then upload them to Gmail using a PC and clean up any issues. Use the PC to add new contacts as well. Once you have your Gmail contacts correct, they can sync to the phone. You can then manage them on the phone or the PC.
If your phone or tablet has a confusing home screen and interface, install Google Now Launcher right away. I recently bought a Lenovo tablet and the first thing I noticed was the terrible home screen. Installing Google Now Launcher made a huge difference.
Disable and uninstall all the bloatware and terrible device manufacturer and cellular provider software that you don't want or is redundant with the Google apps like mail, calendar, backup, etc. You do this by going to Android settings, finding "apps" in the list and selecting it. This should list apps on the device. Be careful to ensure you are seeing all apps, not just the ones you added. You do this by scrolling to the right. You will see the tabs change from "downloaded" to "running", to "all". Make sure it is in then "all" tab. Scroll down to the apps you don't want and select them one at a time. For each app, click the "uninstall" button if it is available. If "uninstall" is not available but "disable" is then disable.
Now install the right apps. I prefer all the Google apps for most things.
Google Calendar
Google Maps
Google Drive and the related Docs and Sheets
Google Photos
Gmail or Google Inbox
Google Hangouts
Google Translate
Google Play Music
Google Play Newsstand
Google Play Movies & TV
Google Play Books
Google text-to-speech
Google Camera
Now disconnect all the older bloatware apps and connect the Google apps instead. Start with calendar. The other calendars are mostly junk as you store much of your calendar locally and they often don't connect or sync correctly with Google calendar. Open Google Calendar and make sure you are logged in and that the local calendar is not the default calendar. Use your google calendar for all appointments. This way everything in synchronized in the cloud and you can manage it both with a PC and the phone. You can also easily connect to other calendars such as school, clubs, etc.
Another option of course is to just buy a Nexus device to begin with and all of this is already taken care of for you. I prefer Motorola devices. The newer (Google ownership and after) are much cleaner than most so it is as close to a Nexus you can get short of a Nexus. Now you can get the Nexus 6 which is both Nexus and Motorola. Motorola finally started bypassing the carries all together. Now you can get the 2015 and up Moto-X and other models direct from Motorola, unlocked, and bloatware free.
One other issue with the user experience is push notifications. I guess this is a personal thing but there are very few push notifications I want. Nice thing about Android is you can block apps from pushing notifications to your notification bar, beyond just the settings in the app itself. There are several apps I do block because they misuse it. In order to block an app from notifying, go to settings, then apps, then select the app of interest. This is the same place we were above to disable and uninstall. This time though just un-check "show notifications". That app can no longer put stuff on the notification bar. Great feature.
I actually don't have Facebook app installed. Facebook is the kind of app that abuses push notifications and it has other issues. I do use Facebook however. I just have a shortcut on my home page that is a bookmark to the website. Most people cant even tell the difference. My home screen button looks the same as the app. When you click the shortcut the website loads a mobile optimized page that looks nearly identical to the app. The beauty of this is that Facebook cannot run in the background chewing up battery and data, and it can't pester you. Chrome browser added the ability to do push notifications in web apps in 2015. However, when you first load the page the web app will ask if you want push notifications. You can say no here. To add a web app to your home screen in Chrome (on Android or desktop) use the menu and click the "add to homescreen".
Believe it or not Microsoft of all companies have made some good Android apps and services lately. Some of these may rival Google. In some cases I have both. I use both Google Drive and One Drive for instance.
I started using Waze for navigation. It has a fantastic crowd sourced traffic data that is unrivaled. It is also owned by Google by the way.
The new Google Photos includes free backup of all your photos (up to 16MP) and videos (up to 1080p). That is the best deal out there. They also have a PC app to back up everything from your PC too. You do have the option to backup larger photos and videos but that will cost Drive space. 16MP and 1080p is very good size, and happens to be equal or larger than most phones will shoot anyway.
I use Hangouts for SMS, MMS, and Hangouts IM, voice calls, and video calls. It works great and free all over the world (except China where nothing Google works). When I travel in and outside the US I can connect WiFi at my hotel and call home for free. Very nice. I have all my messaging in one place too. Skype will do about the same except for SMS/MMS so it is another good option.
I like both Google Play Newsstand and Google News & Weather. I read the news on both these apps every day. With Newsstand, you can even connect to subscribed papers and magazines. I subscribe to the Wall Street Journal via Newsstand for instance.
Google Play Music is also a great app. It lets me use my music library both in the cloud and on the device to create instant mixes. This is great for long trips where you don't want all kinds of strange music you don't like from a Pandora or the like since you can have Google Music use only your music for the mix. It also has ad free streaming if you want it.
I use My Tracks to track my bicycle rides. The only issue I have with it is the calorie estimator. So, I also use Cardio Trainer. I run both apps at the same time on the same device. The only issue is you can only connect your heart monitor to one of them at a time.
I finally completed the TK30 Bluetooth car kit install in the 2007 XJ8L. I mounted the unit where the ash tray used to go. The install was easy since I bought that adapter harness. I also added some Infinity tweeters in in the dash in the factory locations while I was at at. Sound and functionality is OK. Nice unit on first look.
Update
After having this in the car over a year I now hate it. The software is terrible. "music" disappeared from the menu. The unit locks up and must be disconnected. I finally just wired both ignition sense and battery power to ignition so every time the car is shut off the until will restart and clear the lock up. Called Motorola but they just brand this device and no longer support it. Tried software updates and device resets several times. Got various results but problems still exist.
One of the most worthless features is the contacts download. I really wish I could turn that OFF. I did reject the request to download on the phones at least. It would be dangerous to scroll through the contacts with the TK30 while driving. Stupid! Voice commands are really the only way to go while driving and the phone does a great job at that. Unfortunately you can't get to the phone commands without scrolling through menus on this stupid TK30. Very frustrating. Dangerous in fact.
I will never use a TK30 again. Don't buy this device! Tell your friends not to as well. I have had many Motorola T605 car kits and those work great. Use that instead.
