'ZDNET Recommends': What exactly does it mean?
ZDNET's recommendations are based on many hours of testing, research, and comparison shopping. We gather data from the best available sources, including vendor and retailer listings as well as other relevant and independent reviews sites. And we pore over customer reviews to find out what matters to real people who already own and use the products and services we’re assessing.
When you click through from our site to a retailer and buy a product or service, we may earn affiliate commissions. This helps support our work, but does not affect what we cover or how, and it does not affect the price you pay. Neither ZDNET nor the author are compensated for these independent reviews. Indeed, we follow strict guidelines that ensure our editorial content is never influenced by advertisers.
ZDNET's editorial team writes on behalf of you, our reader. Our goal is to deliver the most accurate information and the most knowledgeable advice possible in order to help you make smarter buying decisions on tech gear and a wide array of products and services. Our editors thoroughly review and fact-check every article to ensure that our content meets the highest standards. If we have made an error or published misleading information, we will correct or clarify the article. If you see inaccuracies in our content, please report the mistake via this form.
Motorola Insta-Share Projector, First Take: Big-screen Mod for your Moto Z
Smartphone makers have to work hard to differentiate their handsets these days. Usually the clever features they come up with reside on the handset itself, but that's not always the case.
Last year we saw the LG G5 include add-on modules such as a camera grip with and extra battery, an audio booster and a battery expansion module. The new LG G6 doesn't support expansion, though, while Google has abandoned its modular Project Ara. So are modular smartphone fans left with just the well-intentioned and long-lived eco-friendly Fairphone 2?
Well, no. Lenovo, owner of the Motorola/Moto brand, thinks it can make a success of modular, and any phone in its Moto Z line can be expanded with what it calls Moto Mods. When I met with Lenovo recently to talk about the new Moto G5 handset, we also discussed Mods, which the company said it will support on future Z-series handsets.
There are several Mods available. The Incipio offGrid Power Pack (£59.99) adds up to 20 hours of battery life, the JBL SoundBoost Speaker (£69.98) improves sound output and has its own 10-hour battery pack, and the Hasselblad True Zoom (£199.99) is a 10x optical zoom camera. Top of the Mod range is the Moto Insta-Share Projector, which will set you back £249.98.
I was loaned all bar the camera to try, along with a Moto Z Play. My main interest is in the projector.
The 50-lumen Insta-Share Projector clips onto the back of a Moto Z handset, adding 120g to the smartphone's weight. It includes its own 1,100mAh battery, which drains first before moving on to the Moto Z's battery.
Like all the Moto Mods, the Insta-Share Projector connects to the back of a Moto Z using magnets. These are strong enough to keep it in place during use, and a bay of contact points caters for data sharing between the Mod and the handset.
The Insta-Share Projector is not a small unit: it measures 74mm by 153mm by 11mm and weighs 120g. The build is solid, however, and includes a metal kickstand. A drawstring bag is provided, which should help protect the projector screen and handset contact points in transit.
Top ZDNET Reviews
Insta-Share Projector (left) and Moto Z Play (right), showing the connection contacts.
The projector incorporates a separate 1,100mAh battery that's rated for an hour of projection time. This is used before it starts draining the Moto Z handset's battery. There's a charge light on the flat face of the projector that fits to the back of the phone, which indicates charge level when the projector is being charged away from a handset. It can't be seen when handset and projector are joined, but the connectors support passthrough charging, and when this is taking place an on-screen notification reports the charge level.
This really is a 'plug and play' solution. Just attach the projector to the Moto Z and switch it on, and it works. The projector will cast an image measuring up to 70 inches across the diagonal onto any available surface. It isn't hugely bright, but its 50 lumens proved enough for my use cases. Output was acceptable in dimly lit rooms, and better still in dark rooms. Colours aren't particularly vibrant or bright -- but having said that, I've seen professional presentations with much worse image quality.
The projector's built-in kickstand is very sturdy.
Focussing is easily adjusted via a wheel to one side of the projector, and the unit itself is turned on and off with its own switch. The fold-out kickstand is very sturdy indeed, holding the handset at the desired angle.
Sound output from the Moto X Play's speakers could be better, but that's a handset issue, not an issue with this Mod. The only real problem I had with the projector itself is that the only way to alter the size of what's being projected is to move the whole setup closer to, or further away from, the projecting surface. In some situations this could prove to be a hassle.
Still, I found it easy to share YouTube videos, images and web content with other people during the test period.
At £249.98 (inc. VAT) -- plus the cost of a Moto Z handset, of course -- the Insta-Share Projector is by no means a snip. But if you need to do regular presentations and don't want to carry a lot of kit around, the combined cost might be worth considering.
Read more reviews
- VRS Design cases for the Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus: Style and protection at reasonable prices
- Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus case roundup: Speck, Tech21, and Caseology
- Lenovo Miix 510 review: An affordable homage to the Surface Pro 4
- Samsung Galaxy S8 review: Near-perfect comeback leaves competitors in the dust
- Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus review: Stunning large display, balanced design, and advanced technology