The Moto Z2 Play is the successor to the Moto Z Play that was launched last year along with Moto Z. The phone supports the Moto Mods just like its predecessor. The company also launched a series of Moto Mods along with this phone. The major highlights of the phone are its good battery life, stock Android experience, and the Moto Mods. Given the price, the phone tries to fill the gaps left in between Moto’s premium and budget segment. Here’s our full review of the phone.

Moto Z2 Play Coverage

Moto Z2 Play With Moto Mods Support Launched In India For Rs. 27,999

Moto Z2 Play Specifications

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Physical Overview

Coming to the build quality of the phone, the Moto Z2 Play feels great and is solidly built. The device comes with an all aluminium body. Motorola has not made any big changes to the design of the smartphone in comparison to the Moto Z Play.

There are some minor changes in the device, like the design of the fingerprint scanner on the front is now rounded are visible. Also, the Z2 Play measuring 6 mm in thickness is slimmer than the previous model that was 7mm.

On the back, there is a camera bump that makes it easier to pick up the phone when it is placed on flat surface.

Moto has retained the 16-pin connector at the rear to support Moto Mods. The pins are made of 23-karat gold to prevent corrosion and scratches.

On the front, at the top, the selfie camera is positioned along with proximity, ambient light sensor, a recessed earpiece and a dual tone flash.

Below the display, there is the fingerprint sensor and a microphone for calls.

At the top, there is the SIM tray along with a secondary microphone.

The USB Type-C port and 3.5mm audio jack are placed at the bottom. Overall, the design and build quality of the phone remains mostly unchanged from its previous model.

Display

The Moto Z2 Play features a 5.5 inch Full HD Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 1080 x 1920 pixels. The display is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3. The display comes with a pixel density ~401 PPI. The display is bright and the colors are vibrant with good viewing angles. The display performs decently in sunlight The display comes with huge bezels at the top and bottom.

Camera

The Moto Z2 Play comes with a 12 MP primary camera with an f/1.7 aperture. The company has added a dual autofocus system. The device comes phase detection and laser detection autofocus. It also features a dual tone dual-LED flash for improved low light images.

The camera works really quick and the shot is taken almost immediately thanks to the touch to focus and capture feature. The company has also added a professional mode that allows users to play with shutter speed, focus, white balance and the ISO settings. The front camera of the phone is also impressive. The front camera sports a 5 MP sensor with an f/2.0 aperture with a dual tone dual-LED flash. In terms of video recording, the main camera can shoot 4K video at 30 fps, while the front camera can record 1080p videos.

Hardware and Storage

The phone is powered by an octa-core Snapdragon 626 processor clocked at 2.2 GHz. The chipset is coupled with 4GB RAM. The phone houses 64GB internal storage which is expandable up to 256GB via microSD card. The device features a 4G-enabled dual Nano-SIM slot along with a dedicated microSD card slot.

Software and Performance

The phone runs Android 7.1.1 Nougat out of the box. And the best part about the smartphone is the stock Android approach that the company has adopted for all its phones. When it comes to the OS and the overall experience of the software, it does not have any issues. Coming to the overall performance, the smartphone is quite smooth and snappy. You may not experience any lag or freezing even during heavy usage of the phone.

Benchmarks

Battery

The best thing about the Z2 Play is its battery life. The Moto Z2 Play comes with a 3,000 mAh non-removable battery with Turbocharge support. Although the battery is smaller than the one on its predecessor, it performs very well. The smartphone can easily last for a day on moderate usage. The usage includes extensive gaming, constant emailing, browsing, and listening to music etc. One thing to note that the phone heats up a bit when charging with the Turbo-Charger. In terms of connectivity, it comes with Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi hotspot, Bluetooth v4.2, NFC, a 3.5 mm headphone jack and a Type-C USB 3.1 port.

Pricing and Availability

The company has priced the Moto Z2 Play at Rs 27,999 in the Indian market. The price range of the Z2 Play places it among the premium devices with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 626 processor. The phone is available on Flipkart.

Verdict

With Moto Z2 Play, the company focuses on the overall user experience instead of following the rat race to pack phone with the latest specifications. So, if you want stock Android experience with great battery life and don’t care that much about the latest specs and flagship devices, you can go with the Moto Z2 Play. The addition of Moto Mods support adds a unique selling point to the device. That said, the price is a little on the higher side.