Motorola expands Mods portfolio with full QWERTY Keyboard & a health monitor

Motorola is expanding its Moto Mods portfolio with the addition of two new Mods for the Moto Z lineup- a slider QWERTY keyboard, and a monitor that tracks heart rate, blood pressure, and more.

The two new mods are a result of an Indiegogo challenge by Motorola that invited developers to create functional and innovative mods for the Moto Z family. Under the ‘Transform the Smartphone Challenge’, Motorola, Lenovo and Verizon teamed up with Indiegogo to give developers the chance to create new Moto Mods.

Motorola's Moto Mods are a clever take on the modular smartphone concept. Compatible with Motorola's Z series of devices, they simply snap onto the back of any Moto Z smartphone and add new functionality. Even though the reception to Moto Mods has been lukewarm at best, Motorola is not close to giving up on the concept. The company recently launched three new Moto Mods in India along with a service to rent them at Rs 399 a week.

Let's start with the keyboard. Livermorium Keyboard Moto Mod is a full QWERTY sliding keyboard and tilts the screen up at a 60-degree angle. It has sperate number row, shortcuts for different utilities as well as Android navigation keys. Furthermore, the keys are backlit, so they are visible in the dark. It packs 1700mAh battery, which adds up to 15 hours of extra standby time for Moto Z series.

Vital Moto Mod first, on the other hand is equipped with advanced health monitoring sensors that makes it capable of accurately measuring five key vital signs such as heart rate, respiratory rate, Pulse Ox, core body temperature, and even accurate systolic and diastolic blood pressure from your finger.

The Lenovo Vital Moto Mod will be available for purchase in April for a price of $395 (roughly Rs 25,200) and the Livermorium Slider Keyboard Moto Mod will be available for a purchase in Winter 2018 for $99 (roughly Rs 6,300). Moto Mods are currently compatible with the Moto Z, Moto Z Play, Moto Z2 Play, Moto Z Force Droid, and the Moto Z2 Force Edition.