We took the Moto Z Play out for an unboxing and a first look. Here is what think about the phone so far.
Moto Z Play Specifications
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Moto Z Play Unboxing
Moto Z Play Box Contents
Handset2-Pin ChargerUSB Type-C cableEarphonesWarranty cardSAR InformationBack coverSIM ejection tool
Moto Z Play Photo Gallery
Moto Z Play Physical Overview
The Moto Z Play comes with a very unique looking smartphone, thanks to its distinctive design, a camera hump and the magnetic dots near the bottom. Lenovo has designed it such that the phone can be used with MotoMods like the Hasselblad True Zoom. Although the Moto Z Play is a mid-range smartphone, its design makes it look like a high-end one. The Moto Z Play comes with a 5.5 inch full HD display. The phone’s dimensions are 156.4 x 76.4 x 7 mm and it weighs 165 grams. The front of the phone features the display with a new “moto” logo just above it. Above the logo, there’s an earpiece. On either side of the ear piece, you will find the flash and the front camera.
The bottom of the phone features the fingerprint sensor button. Note that it cannot be used for anything except fingerprint – it doesn’t work as a home button. The phone comes with on-screen navigation buttons.
Coming to the backside, you will find the 16 MP camera and the dual LED flash near the top. Just below the sensor, there is a Moto logo again, apart from the circular M logo in the middle.
Towards the bottom part, you will find the 16 magnetic connectors that are used by MotoMods for connecting to the phone.
On the right side of the phone, you will find the volume rockers and the power button. The left side is bare.
On the top, you will find the SIM card and microSD card slot. You will also find a secondary mic for noise cancellation.
The bottom of the phone houses the USB Type C reversible connector and the 3.5mm audio jack.
Display
The Moto Z Play comes with a 5.5 inch Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 1080 x 1920 pixels. It comes with a pixel density of ~401 PPI. The display on this device is good in terms of color reproduction, sharpness and brightness. Thanks to the AMOLED technology, you will also get to enjoy infinite contrast. The Moto Z Play is one of the few non-Samsung phones to feature a Super AMOLED display. While the basic AMOLED tech remains the same across all AMOLED panels, the Super AMOLED panels are better than regular ones in terms of reflection. In other words, sunlight visibility should be very good on the Moto Z Play.
Camera Overview
The Moto Z Play comes with a 16 MP camera on the back along with dual LED flash. It comes with f/2.2 aperture, 1.3 µm pixel size, phase detection and laser autofocus. It can record videos up to 2160p @ 30 FPS. On the front, you get a 5 MP camera along with an LED flash. The camera features an f/2.2 aperture, 1.4 µm pixel size and can record videos up to 1080p.
Moto Z Play Camera Samples
Gaming Performance
The Moto Z Play comes with an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor and Adreno 506 GPU. It also comes with 3 GB RAM. To test normal day to day gaming performance, we played NFS No Limits, Nova 3 and a couple of light games. The gaming experience was good initially, and the AMOLED panel makes it even better. There were no lags or hiccups in the game-play but the phone was heating up while gaming on a stretch. Although the heating was not extreme but it was a lot considering what other smartphones offer these days. The battery drainage was well under control. I noticed just 4% of battery drop in 25 minutes while playing NFS No Limits.
Benchmark Scores
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Conclusion
The Moto Z Play is one of the better mid-range smartphones out there. While it may be a little costlier compared to some competing devices, the MotoMods feature gives the phone an edge over others. The 5.5 inch Super AMOLED full HD display is also helpful. The Moto Z Play also comes with near stock Android, and it runs on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow. The Nougat update is also being worked upon as we speak, making the phone a really good option at Rs. 24,999.
