Motorola Moto Z Play review: Plans | Pricing | Specs

Name: Motorola Moto Z Play
Brand: Motorola

Alex Kidman

Last updated: Apr 4, 2019

We still love the idea of a modular smartphone, and Motorola has made the best stab at it that we’ve seen so far. The Moto Z is a more powerful phone, but it works in the same way with the mods as the cheaper Moto Z Play.

Moto Mods improvements.
Good battery life.
Fair mid-range performance.
Low-key Android.

Mods are an untested commodity.
Terrible button/fingerprint positioning.
Chunky design.
No contract options.

5.5 inches

Display size

1080 x 1920px

32GB

Internal storage

16 MP

Rear camera

3,510 mAh

Battery size

Finder rated as Good vs similar phones

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Display

Display Size

5.5 inches

Resolution

1080 x 1920px

Pixels per inch (PPI)

403 ppi

Camera

Rear camera megapixels

16MP

Rear camera aperture size

f/2.0

Video recording

Front camera megapixels

5MP

Front camera aperture size

f/2.2

Physical Dimensions

Dimensions

156.4mm x 76.4mm x 7mm

Weight

165g

Connectivity

NFC

Yes

Wi-Fi

802.11 a/b/g/n

Network category speed

N/A

Power, storage and battery

Processor

Snapdragon 625

RAM

3GB

Operating system

Android 6

Internal storage

32GB

External storage support

Up to 2TB

Battery capacity

3,510mAh

Device features

Headphone jack

Yes

Fingerprint sensor

Yes

Water resistance rating

N/A

Wireless charging

Launch price (RRP)	$699
Launch date	2016-09

Alex Kidman

A multi-award winning journalist, Alex has written about consumer technology for over 20 years. He has written and edited for virtually every Australian tech publication including Gizmodo, CNET, PC Magazine, Kotaku and more. He has also been the Editor of Gizmodo Australia, PC Mag Australia, CNET.com.au and the Tech and Telco section at Finder. Alex has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of New England and a serious passion for retro gaming.

Where to buy

What's in this review?

Design
Camera
Performance
Battery life
Verdict
Pricing and availability
Specifications

It’s pretty common for mobile manufacturers to follow up a hero device with a slightly lower-cost option. It’s why there are so many Samsung "Galaxy" phones in a given year, but only one Galaxy S9.

Sometimes, the lower-cost option comes along at the same time as the hero phone, and that’s precisely what Motorola has done with the Moto Z Play. It’s a slightly lower-specced version of the Motorola Moto Z in a thicker frame with a lower price point.

Design

Moto Mods support at a cheaper price point than the Moto Z.
Chunky design may not appeal to those with smaller hands.

Like the Moto Z, the Moto Z Play is compatible with Motorola’s "Moto Mod" accessories. These are a range of magnetically attached add-on devices such as cameras, speakers and projectors that substantially increase the capabilities of the core phone. Impressively, there’s no penalty in terms of Moto Mod operation for choosing the Moto Z Play over the Moto Z. What that means in practical terms is that while the Moto Z Play is undoubtedly mid-range, with the right Moto Mod you can effectively make it quite a premium phone.
That said, Moto Mods have unfortunately proven a non-starter since their unveiling. The Moto Mod line-up hasn't grown since its debut in 2016, and this ultimately prevents the concept from reaching its full potential.
The Moto Z Play's core hardware has a few issues as well. We’re still befuddled as to who in Motorola thought it would be a good idea to put the fingerprint sensor in the home button space, but not have it act as an actual home button as well. That’s a software button above the fingerprint sensor, and we absolutely guarantee that you will hit one when you mean to hit the other, over and over again.
Where the Motorola Moto Z is beautifully sleek, it does have to be said that the Moto Z Play is quite a lot of phone to hold in your hand, even if you’ve only got the basic back case in place. Adding a mod turns it into a really solid brick of a thing to have in your hand, let alone your pocket.
The Moto Z Play fares better on the software front. Motorola typically plays it very light in terms of its custom Android interface, and the Moto Z Play is no exception. If you’re a fan of the basic material design look, the Moto Z Play will appeal alot.

Camera

Solid mid-range camera hardware should be sufficient for general photography.
Camera pundits can upgrade further with the Hasselblad camera mod.

Interestingly, Motorola has equipped the Moto Z Play with a slightly more powerful rear camera than its pricier sibling the Moto Z, opting for a 16MP sensor instead of a 13MP one. There is a trade-off here, though, with the Moto Z's camera sporting a larger f/1.8 aperture compared to the f/2.0 aperture on the Moto Z Play. This means the Moto Z Play is marginally less capable in low-light conditions, but can produce sharper images when the lighting is right.
Around the front, the Moto Z Play sports the same 5MP, f/2.2 sensor as the Moto Z. It also features a wide-angle lens supporting an 85-degree field of view, allowing you to cram more people into your impromptu selfies.
Beyond the hardware, Motorola has outfitted the Moto Z Play with all the camera features we've come to expect from modern smartphones. This includes phase-detection autofocus, HDR support, a panorama mode, a burst-shot mode, slow-motion video recording and a slew of professional settings for folks who know their way around a DSLR.

Performance

Decent mid-range power delivers solid performance in general use.
Performance in 3D games is a little on the low side.

The Moto Z Play is most definitely the lower performance of the pair of Moto Z phones, and it shows in day to day use and in benchmark terms. Here’s how the Moto Z Play compared using Geekbench 4’s CPU test:

Handset	Geekbench 4 CPU Single Core (higher is better)	Geekbench 4 CPU Multi Core (higher is better)
Apple iPhone 7 Plus	3,374	5,649
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge	1,359	5,333
Samsung Galaxy S7	1,378	4,718
Apple iPhone SE	2,449	4,171
Apple iPhone 6s	2,465	4,052
Google Pixel XL	1,629	4,051
Motorola Moto Z	1,477	3,853
Sony Xperia XZ	1,636	3,604
Google Nexus 6P	1,293	3,594
Motorola Moto X Force	1,352	3,581
Motorola Moto Z Play	799	2,648
Sony Xperia X	1,122	2,626
Motorola Moto G Play	522	1,334

It’s not quite as rosy a story for 3D performance. Here’s how the Moto Z Play compared against a range of mid-range phones, as well as its more expensive sibling:

Handset	3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited Result
Motorola Moto Z	25,629
Google Nexus 6P	24,703
Sony Xperia Z5	19,197
Alcatel IDOL 4S	18,186
Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge Plus	17,981
Huawei Mate 8	17,947
HTC One X9	16,877
Sony Xperia X	16,648
Motorola Moto Z Play	13,958
Sony Xperia XA	11,173
Oppo R9	11,053

Battery life

Plenty of battery capacity and a low-power processor allow for easy all-day battery life.
Light phone users can even get multiple days of use out of a single charge.

The Moto Z Play has a much thicker frame and heavier carrying weight than the Moto Z, and while that’s less fun in a style sense, it allows Motorola to throw in a sizeable 3,510mAh battery. Combine that with the lower power Snapdragon 625 processor in the Moto Z Play and it should have quite exceptional battery life.
We’d love to be able to present you with a comparative table here as we usually do in our phone reviews, but despite repeated attempts running Geekbench 3’s older battery life test, something in the Motorola Moto Z Play’s software crashed the test every time. Based on observations it should head to a 10-12 hour battery life under that test at least, and possibly a bit more, putting it in the upper echelon of phone batteries. In more anecdotal testing, single day life is a doddle and we’d have no hesitation in saying that two days is entirely feasible even with a moderate workload.

Verdict

A more accessible take on the modular smartphone that doesn't quite live up to its potential.

We still love the idea of a modular smartphone, and with the Moto Z Play Motorola has made the best stab at it that we’ve seen so far. Sure, the Moto Z is a more powerful phone, but it works in the same way with the mods as the cheaper Moto Z Play, so there’s a strong argument if you like the modular approach to opt for this particular phone.
That being said, you have a lot of choices in the mid-range space, and at $699, it’s not even all that far from some of the discount prices we’ve seen for some of this year’s flagship phones. The most obvious competitor device would be the LG G5, which has similar modular accessories, but a much more annoying battery removal system for implementing them. You could also consider other mid-range devices such as Sony’s Xperia X, Telstra’s Signature Premium or Huawei’s P9 smartphones.

Pricing and availability

Price: RRP $699
Where to buy: Amazon | eBay

Specifications

Display

Display Size

5.5 inches

Resolution

1080 x 1920px

Pixels per inch (PPI)

403 ppi

Camera

Rear camera megapixels

16MP

Rear camera aperture size

f/2.0

Video recording

Front camera megapixels

5MP

Front camera aperture size

f/2.2

Physical Dimensions

Dimensions

156.4mm x 76.4mm x 7mm

Weight

165g

Connectivity

NFC

Yes

Wi-Fi

802.11 a/b/g/n

Network category speed

N/A

Power, storage and battery

Processor

Snapdragon 625

RAM

3GB

Operating system

Android 6

Internal storage

32GB

External storage support

Up to 2TB

Battery capacity

3,510mAh

Device features

Headphone jack

Yes

Fingerprint sensor

Yes

Water resistance rating

N/A

Wireless charging

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Motorola Moto Z Play review: Plans | Pricing | Specs