Unlocked Motorola Moto Z and Moto Z Play now available to pre-order in the US

Motorola Mobility is getting ready to start selling unlocked versions of the Moto Z Droid and Moto Z Play Droid in the US. Simply called Moto Z and Moto Z Play, the unlocked phones can now be pre-ordered via Amazon and Best Buy, and, as previously announced, they will be released in October.

The unlocked Moto Z costs $699.99, and should be launched on October 2. The unlocked Moto Z Play is cheaper ($449.99), but it looks like it won't start shipping before October 20. While the two phones' prices are similar on Amazon and Best Buy, we have to mention that Best Buy is currently offering a free Incipio offGRID 2220 mAh Moto Mod Portable Charger with all Moto Z Play pre-orders.

Unlike their Droid counterparts, which are exclusively available on Verizon Wireless, the unlocked Moto Z and Moto Z Play will work on AT&T and T-Mobile. You're out of luck if you're planning to use the handsets on Sprint, since they are not CDMA devices.

Both the Moto Z and Moto Z Play run Android 6.0 Marshmallow, and will be updated to Android 7.0 Nougat, though we don't know exactly when. You can find out more about the two devices by checking out our Moto Z review and Moto Z Play review (these are the Droid variants, but they're pretty much similar to the upcoming unlocked models).