Moto Z2 Force review: Nothing less, nothing more

Synthetic benchmarks

Like the majority of 2017's flagship smartphones, the Z2 Force packs a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 CPU. Where the Snapdragon 820 used a souped-up quad-core CPU (two performance cores + two efficiency cores), the SD 835 uses four performance cores clocked at up to 2.45GHz and four efficiency cores running up to 1.9GHz.

However, what attributes to the faster CPU's improved power efficiency over the Snapdragon 820/821 is the 835's 10nm process. It contains a more powerful CPU in a smaller footprint, resulting in improved battery life.

Snapdragons aside, the Moto Z2 Force posted quite well across the board. We've got a decent variety of CPUs in the batch: The Exynos 8895 represented by none other than the Galaxy S8, as well as the Snapdragon 835 version of the S8+ (along with the HTC U11). We're also looking at the Kirin 960 in the Huawei P10 Plus, and, of course, the Apple iPhone 7 Plus' A10 Fusion chip.

Motorola's software has always been well optimized and the Moto Z2 Force is no exception. In GeekBench, the scores are well within other smartphones with the same processor. In GeekBench 4 (not 4.1) results, you can see the clear distinction between the Snapdragon 820/821 and Snapdragon 835. You can also spot the iPhone 7 Plus' A10 Fusion in the single-core score, whose Twister cores remain champs on their own.

GeekBench 4.1 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy S8
  6656
• Motorola Moto Z2 Force
  6629
• OnePlus 5
  6604
• HTC U11
  6393
• Samsung Galaxy S8+ (SD 835)
  6301

GeekBench 4.1 (single-core)

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy S8
  1991
• OnePlus 5
  1932
• HTC U11
  1919
• Motorola Moto Z2 Force
  1915
• Samsung Galaxy S8+ (SD 835)
  1832

GeekBench 4 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• OnePlus 5
  6404
• Motorola Moto Z2 Force
  6278
• Samsung Galaxy S8
  6175
• HTC U11
  6125
• Samsung Galaxy S8+ (SD 835)
  6106
• Huawei P10 Plus
  5821
• Apple iPhone 7 Plus
  5664
• OnePlus 3T
  4364
• Google Pixel XL
  4152
• Lenovo Moto Z Droid
  4130
• Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (S820)
  4128

GeekBench 4 (single-core)

Higher is better

• Apple iPhone 7 Plus
  3473
• OnePlus 5
  2031
• HTC U11
  1993
• Motorola Moto Z2 Force
  1986
• Samsung Galaxy S8
  1945
• Huawei P10 Plus
  1937
• Samsung Galaxy S8+ (SD 835)
  1915
• OnePlus 3T
  1890
• Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (S820)
  1696
• Lenovo Moto Z Droid
  1694
• Google Pixel XL
  1507

In overall performance, the Z2 Force took the lead only behind the iPhone 7 Plus. The OnePlus 5 trails close behind and the OnePlus 3T scored atop the other competitors, even besting both versions of the Galaxy S8. The Moto Z Droid is just ahead of the OnePlus 3T with the Google Pixel scoring dead last here.

Basemark OS 2.0

Higher is better

• Apple iPhone 7 Plus
  3796
• Motorola Moto Z2 Force
  3609
• OnePlus 5
  3601
• Samsung Galaxy S8
  3376
• Samsung Galaxy S8+ (SD 835)
  3319
• HTC U11
  2970
• Huawei P10 Plus
  2940
• Lenovo Moto Z Droid
  2690
• OnePlus 3T
  2678
• Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (S820)
  2352
• Google Pixel XL
  2281

AnTuTu 6 shows a pretty nice curve with the scored of devices. The OnePlus 5 likely dominated the charts thanks to its whopping 8GB of RAM. Otherwise, the U11 trails just behind with the iPhone 7 Plus unable to break 175k. The Huawei P10 Plus scored last in this round.

AnTuTu 6

Higher is better

• OnePlus 5
  180331
• Motorola Moto Z2 Force
  178674
• HTC U11
  177343
• Apple iPhone 7 Plus
  174987
• Samsung Galaxy S8
  174435
• Samsung Galaxy S8+ (SD 835)
  168133
• OnePlus 3T
  165097
• Lenovo Moto Z Droid
  151619
• Google Pixel XL
  141186
• Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (S820)
  132849
• Huawei P10 Plus
  126252

Now we arrive at gaming performance. GFXBench puts the devices through graphic-intensive tests to see where the phones top off in the number of frames per second the phone can crank out.

The Moto Z2 Force topped out on all offscreen tests, which objectively puts the Moto Z2 Force at the top of the other smartphones. That's only if you compare apple to apples, though. Since phone displays come with varying resolutions, the one with a higher resolution would require working with more pixels, thus scoring a lower frames-per-second.

The Exynos Galaxy S8 was able to beat the Z2 Force in only one test by one point: 3.1 Manhattan on-screen test. Considering the S8 has a resolution only slightly higher than QHD (because of pixels added in the 2:1 display), the Exynos 8895 is a gamers dream. Otherwise, the phones that scored higher all did so because they only render at 1080p resolution.

GFX 3.0 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• Motorola Moto Z2 Force
  61
• OnePlus 5
  60
• Apple iPhone 7 Plus
  60
• HTC U11
  60
• Samsung Galaxy S8+ (SD 835)
  57
• Samsung Galaxy S8
  50
• Lenovo Moto Z Droid
  49
• OnePlus 3T
  49
• Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (S820)
  49
• Google Pixel XL
  47
• Huawei P10 Plus
  28

GFX 3.0 Manhattan (onscreen)

Higher is better

• OnePlus 5
  56
• Apple iPhone 7 Plus
  56
• OnePlus 3T
  48
• Motorola Moto Z2 Force
  40
• Samsung Galaxy S8
  36
• HTC U11
  35
• Samsung Galaxy S8+ (SD 835)
  34
• Lenovo Moto Z Droid
  31
• Google Pixel XL
  30
• Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (S820)
  29
• Huawei P10 Plus
  19

GFX 3.1 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• Motorola Moto Z2 Force
  42
• OnePlus 5
  41
• HTC U11
  41
• Samsung Galaxy S8+ (SD 835)
  39
• Apple iPhone 7 Plus
  39
• Samsung Galaxy S8
  36
• OnePlus 3T
  33
• Google Pixel XL
  32
• Lenovo Moto Z Droid
  32
• Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (S820)
  32
• Huawei P10 Plus
  19

GFX 3.1 Manhattan (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Apple iPhone 7 Plus
  42
• OnePlus 5
  40
• OnePlus 3T
  33
• Samsung Galaxy S8
  23
• Motorola Moto Z2 Force
  22
• HTC U11
  19
• Samsung Galaxy S8+ (SD 835)
  18
• Lenovo Moto Z Droid
  18
• Google Pixel XL
  17
• Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (S820)
  16
• Huawei P10 Plus
  12

GFX 3.1 Car scene (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• Motorola Moto Z2 Force
  25
• Samsung Galaxy S8
  25
• OnePlus 5
  24
• HTC U11
  24
• Samsung Galaxy S8+ (SD 835)
  23
• OnePlus 3T
  20
• Google Pixel XL
  19
• Lenovo Moto Z Droid
  19
• Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (S820)
  18
• Huawei P10 Plus
  12

GFX 3.1 Car scene (onscreen)

Higher is better

• OnePlus 5
  24
• OnePlus 3T
  20
• Motorola Moto Z2 Force
  15
• Samsung Galaxy S8
  13
• HTC U11
  13
• Samsung Galaxy S8+ (SD 835)
  12
• Lenovo Moto Z Droid
  12
• Google Pixel XL
  11
• Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (S820)
  10
• Huawei P10 Plus
  9

Finally, we make it to Basemark X. Like Antutu 6, we can see somewhat of a curve here as well. The Galaxy S8 (Exynos) is the clear first of the pack. Just below it is the OnePlus 5, and then comes the Moto Z2 Force. After seeing these comparisons, we can say that the top three Android performers are the Exynos-flavored Galaxy S8, OnePlus 5, and the Moto Z2 Force.

Basemark X

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy S8
  42370
• OnePlus 5
  38844
• Motorola Moto Z2 Force
  38615
• HTC U11
  38399
• OnePlus 3T
  36958
• Lenovo Moto Z Droid
  36322
• Samsung Galaxy S8+ (SD 835)
  34951
• Samsung Galaxy S7 edge (S820)
  32160
• Google Pixel XL
  30861
• Huawei P10 Plus
  30602

The Moto Z2 Force is no slouch in performance. We're also glad that the Snapdragon 835 isn't as prone to heat as the Snapdragon 820 was. The Snapdragon 835 is more efficient during use thanks to its 10nm process. By contrast, the Snapdragon 820 used a 14nm one.

The phone never hesitates with tasks, and Moto's lightly-flavored Android skin has worked in its favor ever since the days of the original Moto X.