The Moto Z Play has arrived in the UK, offering most of the great features of the Moto Z flagship phone (including the Moto Mods accessories) at a more affordable £369 asking price. Here’s our Moto Z Play unboxing and hands-on review, plus our reviews of two of the launch Moto Mods: the projector and the battery pack.
The Moto Z was another solid all-round flagship phone from Lenovo/Motorola, and one of the first phones to offer full modular expansion (along with LG’s G5). The Moto Mods are certainly one of the more enticing features, with the ability to snap all kinds of extra gadgets onto the phone; these include a nifty portable projector and a battery pack for boosting the Moto Z’s portability.
Of course the Moto Z wasn’t perfect and it was also quite pricey, which is where the Moto Z Play comes in. By paring down some of the specs but maintaining the coolest features, such as that Moto Mods expandability, the Moto Z Play offers an enticing all-round experience at a slimmer cost – just £369 here in the UK.
Here’s our full Moto Z Play unboxing, hands-on review and our thoughts on two of the Moto Z Play’s Moto Mods. Namely, the projector and Incipio’s battery pack.
Moto Z Play unboxing and hands-on review
The Moto Z Play sports the same slightly chunky 5.5-inch design of the original Moto Z, with a smooth and rounded metallic edging plus a textured backing that pulls off when you wish to attach one of the optional Moto Mods. It’s not the most attractive handset design and the phone is quite hefty, but the Moto Z Play is no beast either. It feels reassuringly rugged and is quite comfortable to clutch.
That 5.5-inch Full HD Super AMOLED display isn’t as sharp as the Moto Z’s screen, but it’s still pleasingly bright and produces quite punchy colours. Viewing angles are solid. If you want to carry around lots of media, the 32GB of storage can be quickly expanded with a microSD memory card.
Performance so far seems smooth enough, with Android Marshmallow running perfectly well. The lack of a heavy overlay is likely the main reason for this, with nothing to bog down the mid-range but still quite capable Snapdragon 652 processor. You get 3GB of RAM too, which helps to keep apps running well.
The 16-megapixel camera on the back is an easy-to-use snapper. You can shoot pictures pretty much instantly thanks to the quick laser and phase detection autofocus, while photos come out nice and crisp. However, low light so far seems to be its nemesis. You can also shoot up to 4K resolution video.
Check back soon for our full Moto Z Play review and here’s our Moto Z Play unboxing and hands-on review video.
Moto Z Play mods unboxing and review
Two of the launch Moto Mods that are compatible with the Moto Z Play are the Moto projector and Incipio’s battery pack.
The projector is a capable mini device which clips neatly onto the back of the Moto Z Play and beams the screen onto any flat surface. You get a focus wheel built into the edge, while cornerstone tweaking can be done through the phone itself.
Brightness is respectable considering the size of the projector, as is clarity. You can prop it up to almost any angle with the stable stand.
Setup is also pleasingly simple. Just snap the projector onto the Moto Z Play and the setup screen pops up on the phone automatically, teaching you how to use the projector. With that done, you’re good to go.
Incipio’s 2220mAh battery pack is also well crafted. It doesn’t add too much bulk to the back of the phone, while offering close to a full day of extra use when attached. Definitely a much better solution than your usual mobile battery packs, which have to be attached via the USB port and then are left dangling free.
Check out our unboxing, setup and review video below to see the Moto Z Play Moto Mods in action.
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