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The Moto Z and Moto Z Force are a compelling achievement from Motorola that represent years' worth of development and effort. I think they pay off. Motorola created its most advanced and sophisticated phones to date in the new Moto Z series and Moto Mods accessories.

By themselves, the metal-and-glass designs of the Moto Z and Moto Z Force are slim, attractive, and well-made. Each offers a good screen, quick wireless speeds, and excellent battery life. I wish call quality were better, but I've heard worse. It's a marvel to see a near-stock version of Android on a Verizon handset; I appreciate that. The camera app is good enough, and both phones take average photos for this (high) class of device. I think the iPhone 6s and Galaxy S7 are better, but the Droids are still solid.

The Moto Mods ecosystem is off to a strong start with the battery packs, speakers, projectors, and spare back plates. Motorola is already offering twice as many useful modules as the LG G5. Still, Motorola needs to convince more companies to hop aboard to expand the ecosystem as quickly as possible. It would be easy to understand if some accessory makers take a wait-and-see approach, but Motorola promises the Moto Mods template is future-proof.

As with all nice things, the new Droids don't come cheap. The Moto Z Droid Edition is $625 and the Moto Z Force Droid Edition is $720. The latter definitely provides a bump in battery life and photo quality, but comes at the expense of thickness, weight, and $100.

For Verizon-bound Android lovers who want an alternate to Galaxy handsets, the Motorola Droids are an excellent option. (Not on Verizon? Motorola says unlocked variants will become available in September or October.)

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