Accordingly, the Moto Z Play smartphone can be called a replacement for the Moto X Play. We got a chance to spend some time with this phone at the IFA event this year and ah, this phone has been launched in India. Now it remains to be seen how this phone competes in the market.
Moto Z Play design and build
The Moto Z Play smartphone is not as slim as the Moto Z phones in the Z series. But actually this is a good thing. We would personally recommend getting a smartphone that is more secure and can easily fit in your pocket. And being thick means that it has good grip in the hands while holding it in the hand and while typing. However, we did have a bit of a problem with the length of the phone as it is not easy to fit it in most pockets. With the Style Shell back cover, the phone feels like it is without a cover and due to the glass rear cover, the phone slips a lot from the hand. A style shell also comes with the phone.
Due to the aluminum body, Moto Z Play feels like a rugged phone. The build quality of the phone is excellent. We liked the design of Moto X a lot but the design of Z Play is also not bad. The buttons given in the phone work well but feel a little small. Lenovo has tried to differentiate between the other buttons and the power button but it would have been better if they had been placed in a different place or in a different size.
There is a SIM tray on the top and users can use two nano SIMs and a microSD card up to 2TB. The phone has a USB Type-C port and a 3.5mm headphone jack at the bottom. The phone sports a 16-megapixel rear camera at the rear with a laser autofocus sensor and dual-tone LED flash module. The lens comes with a embossed lens on the front and a style shell to protect from scratches. There is no speaker grill in the phone as the earpiece also acts as a loudspeaker.
The 5.5 inch Full HD Super AMOLED display provides vibrant colors and sharp text. The phone can be read well even in sunlight. Apart from this, we did not face any problem in the touch of the phone and it works well. There are onscreen buttons for Android UI navigation and just below the screen there is a fingerprint sensor that can be used to lock or unlock the phone. The fingerprint sensor works well although sometimes it fails to identify the fingerprint.
Upon purchasing the Moto Z Play, customers will get a USB Type-C cable, 15-watt wall charger, headset, SIM projector, and a guide. The quality of the headset that comes with the phone is not very good for a premium smartphone and its quality could have been better.
Moto Z Play specifications and features
Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor has been given in Moto Z Play. Asus ZenFone models, including the ZenFone 3 (ZE552KL) we recently reviewed, also have the same processor. We think it’s easy to find the flagship Snapdragon 820 processor in most phones these days. But ultimately what is more important than the numbers is how the phone has been optimized. Although the processor given in Z Play is not as powerful as the Qualcomm flagship processor given in Moto Z, but multitasking can be done easily with it.
With 3GB of RAM, the software performance of the Moto Z Play is decent. Talking about statistics, Moto Z Play performs well. The gaming performance in this smartphone is excellent and the phone works well.
Talking about other specifications, the phone has 32 GB inbuilt storage, Bluetooth 4.0, dual band Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, NFC and USB OTG. Supports 4G in both SIM slots. There is no separate information about VoLTE support in the phone. Apart from this, there is no FM radio and the absence of Wi-Fi 802.11 ac is also disappointing.
Like the Moto Z and other Moto smartphones, Android offers a great experience. You can do multitasking without any problem in animations in the phone. On average, 1.1 GB of RAM remains free all the time. Apart from Moto Mods and Moto apps, Android Marshmallow works just like any other Nexus phone. Gesture based actions can be done from the Moto app.
You can toggle Moto Actions using hand gestures to operate the camera, flash light, etc. Swiping up from the bottom brings the screen to one-handed mode. The Moto Display lets you see the time at first glance and also provides notifications when the phone is in standby.
moto z play performance
It’s hard to complain about app performance on Moto’s premium smartphones, and nothing has changed on the Moto Z Play either. The general performance of the phone is fast and this smartphone runs cool even during active usage. Moto Z Play gets a little hot while charging but there is no overheating in the phone while playing games and using the camera. All the mods that work with the Moto Z work with this phone too. And it feels like an expensive Moto Z.
Multimedia playback on the Moto Z Play is very good thanks to the great display and good audio. Audio settings can be set separately for speakers and headphones. High-resolution videos and 4K video files also play well. Sound is also good. The earpiece speaker produces good sound without any hiccups. The earpiece speaker provides excellent sound and there is no problem even at high volumes.
Moto Z Play has a 16-megapixel camera with PDAF and laser autofocus. In daylight, landscape photos are captured with good detailing and color production. The focus on the phone is fast and although we sometimes had trouble locking the focus on the subject during close-up shots.
Macro photos look very good. Detail is reduced in landscape photos in low light. Overall, the photos are good if you don’t crop them too much. If you go to Settings and manually tweak the Pro Mode, you may get better results.
Video recording is very good during Full HD and 4K. Slow motion videos recorded at 120 frames per second and 720 frames per second are also good. The camera app is basic but popular shooting modes like Professional and Panorama capture good photos. Good selfies can be taken from the front camera in good lighting and the front flash works well at night. The rear dual-tone flash performs well in a small room.
Battery life is another feature of the Moto Z that performs very well. The 3150 mAh battery lasted 17 hours and 4 minutes in our video loop test. During normal usage, the phone could easily last for one and a half day. Moto’s TurboPower feature provides quick charging, which charges the phone up to 26 percent in just half an hour.
our decision
Priced at Rs 24,999, the Moto Z Play smartphone takes on our current favorite OnePlus 3 phone. Apart from this, Asus Zenfone 3 and Honor 8 smartphones are also great all-rounders. The Moto Z Play delivers in every department and is a very good all-rounder. Talking about the price, a more powerful processor could have been used in this phone and the absence of Wi-Fi 802.11 ac is also a big drawback. Apart from this it is also a little heavy. However, for us the extra weight and thickness of the phone is not a problem but for some people the length of the phone may be a problem.
Moto Z Play has a unique feature which other smartphones in this range do not have and that is its support for Moto Mods. If you are thinking of investing money in this ecosystem then it will be a great decision. And the Moto Z Play is not expensive either.