Back in August, Lenovo announced the Moto Z3, promising that it would be the first phone that's upgradeable to 5G. As part of that announcement, the 5G Moto Mod was unveiled; that's the accessory that will enable 5G on the device. Pricing and availability are still unknown, but it should be coming soon, as Motorola today is releasing Android Pie for the Moto Z3. And with that update comes support for the 5G Moto Mod.
The accessory includes a Snapdragon 855 chipset, a Snapdragon X50 5G modem, and a Snapdragon X24 4G LTE modem, and it supports download speeds of up to 5Gbps. Motorola did say that it will be available within the first half of this year.
The handset itself only has a Snapdragon 835 chipset, a choice that was meant to lower the price of the Moto Z3. Combined with the 5G Moto Mod, which we still don't know the price of, this should result in a more inexpensive 5G phone than competitors are offering.
This update also includes security patches that date through January 1, 2019. And of course, there are all of the benefits of Android 9.0 Pie, which include redesigned Quick Settings, better ways to manage notifications, and more. Motorola says that after you install the update, you'll notice changes like adaptive battery, adaptive brightness, a rotation key, dual SIM settings, more ways to take screenshots, new emojis, and more.
