Now the company has taken a step forward and launched a more affordable variant of Moto Z, Moto Z Play. Has presented it. This phone also has a modular design like the Z but its specifications are like those of a mid-range smartphone. Moto Z The Play was introduced at IFA 2016 and we got a chance to spend some time with it.
Modular Design
The biggest feature of the Moto Z Play is that it comes with Moto Mods. Moto Mods are optional accessories that can be added to a smartphone to make it more functional. The new Moto Z Play also supports Moto Mods. The Moto Mods offered by the company work on both these devices. Lenovo has promised that these Moto Mods will work with the next three generations of Moto Z.
As of now, there are four Moto Mods available for purchase in the market. These include the Hasselblad True Zoom Mod that was launched with the Moto Z Play. Attaching the Moto Mod to the Moto Z Play is extremely easy and we really liked this feature. You don’t need to open the phone or change anything. Just touch the Mod on the rear of the phone and it will attach like a magnet.
Detaching the Mod from the phone is equally easy. All you need to do is pull the accessory out. The connectivity of the Mod is also very good. We attached the JBL SoundBoost while music was already playing on the phone and the Z Play detected it instantly and in a few minutes the phone switched to it without us having to do anything. The same applies to the other Mods as well and they can also be attached and detached from the rear in the same way.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor
While the Moto Z and the US-spec Moto Z Force are powered by Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 820 processor, the Moto Z Play is powered by the Snapdragon 625 processor, which is the same processor that powers Asus’ Zenfone 3 series phones. The Moto Z Play comes with 3GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage (with microSD card support) and runs Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow. We can’t say if this phone will perform like the Moto Z or not, but it is definitely very affordable.
This phone has a lower resolution screen than the Moto Z. The phone has a 5.5-inch Full HD Super AMOLED screen. At this density, while the pixels are not visible, there is a noticeable difference between the screens of both phones. However, comparisons aside, the Moto Z Play has a good screen.
16 megapixel camera
Moto Z Play has a 16 megapixel rear and 5 megapixel front camera. Both the cameras have flash. The rear camera supports hybrid autofocus and up to 4K resolution video recording. The camera performance is quite similar to the camera of Moto G4 Plus. G4 Plus also has a 16 megapixel rear camera.
The device has a 3510mAh battery which is slightly bigger than the Moto Z. Motorola claims that the phone can be used for up to 45 hours of mixed usage but we will reserve our decision on this until the full review process is done. The phone comes with a turbo charger which the company claims can charge the battery for 8 hours of use in 15 minutes.
The Moto Z Play supports Nano SIM cards and Motorola has not yet revealed if its dual SIM variant will be launched in India. We expect the dual SIM variant of the Moto Z Play to be launched in India. The phone has a fingerprint sensor, a USB Type-C port, a 3.5mm audio jack, and a liquid-repellent nano-coating. However, the specifications of this phone for the Indian market have not been revealed yet. But this phone can be launched for less than Rs 30,000. Lenovo can launch Moto Z Play and Moto Mod and Style Shell along with Moto Z in India.