Motorola Moto Z2 Play - Specifications. Review of Android smartphone Motorola Moto Z2 Play: modularity in the second generation New Moto z2

Boring! Nothing new! Just iPhone clones! In principle, this is how we can describe the state of affairs on the smartphone market - manufacturers no longer really know how to attract attention. Finding the perfect one from a bunch of faceless Chinese smartphones is like accomplishing a feat.

One has a low price, but the reliability is confusing. The other one seems to be good for everyone, but everyone I know uses the same Xiaomi, but I want something similar. At the very least, you can find the original device if you have the money.

Moto Z2 Play is just the right option for connoisseurs of pure Android and fashionable ideas. I’ll say right away that Moto doesn’t indulge in prices, the Z2 Play costs 34,990 rubles, so you can go to the comments right now and write what you think about this. Well, I’ll tell you what he can do and why he’s special.

Modules

There is a contact pad on the bottom of the case - it is necessary for working with external Moto Mods. You can buy a projector, a speaker, a camera with optical zoom, an external battery - there is a wide choice. Moreover, this year Moto also updated the accessories, but the mount remained the same, so you can move them from the old phone to the new one.

I got a battery and a speaker to study. Well, you can’t say much about the 2200 mAh battery cover, a battery is just that, a battery, the phone receives a backup power source, and the cover is also quite thin. It is held on by magnets, fixed firmly and tightly - it will not fall off, no matter how you shake the phone in your hand.

The second thing is a JBL speaker, it is powered by a 1000 mAh battery, the unit turned out to be healthy and weighty. Of course, music sounds much better than through the built-in speaker, but this comes at the cost of size. But connecting such a speaker case is quite simple - stick it to the phone, powerful sound immediately comes out, no need to call Bluetooth for help. And not every speaker can be stuffed into your pocket, but here is a ready-made solution with a stand.

The idea of ​​the modules is great, but they need to be purchased separately. I didn’t see prices for accessories on the Russian website, so I looked at how much they cost on Amazon. The speaker costs around $80, and the battery cover costs the same. But there are also mods with a camera and a projector - each costs $300, so a full set of bells and whistles will cost a pretty penny.

Thin and bright screen

The thin smartphone does not bend, it is assembled tightly and looks good, the fingerprint scanner is located under the screen and quickly responds to touches, it works perfectly and without errors. Mechanical volume and power buttons are located on the right side, everything is at hand, it’s convenient to operate - you quickly get used to the Moto Z2 Play.

A 5.5-inch screen with small frames and Full HD resolution under protective 2.5D glass with an excellent oleophobic coating and a rich picture. AMOLED was chosen for the Moto Z2 Play for a reason - it is a more modern technology, unlike LCD panels, so they were able to make a thin smartphone where every millimeter counts.

On the other hand, AMOLED is still not an acquired taste; my eyes began to ache after a long period of reading or watching videos on the phone screen. Judging by my friends, some people also suffer from this problem, others don’t care about it, it’s a subjective matter. But during normal use, when you’re not staring at your phone for hours, you don’t notice it.

Fast and pure Android

In terms of hardware, this is a typical “average” device - 4/64 GB of memory and Qualcomm Snapdragon 626. The phone runs games normally, does not overheat, there are no lags - everything is good and this is enough for a comfortable life. The only question is what geeks should do: geeks know that for the same money you can buy a Xiaomi with top-end hardware or last year’s Galaxy S7, which is very good. Why does Moto save money and not want to offer a “tasty” solution for its part? Well, Lenovo had an experimental brand ZUK, but the brand-discounter did not bring success in business, they closed the enterprise. So if you can’t wait to say that for the same money you can buy a top-end Xiaomi, you’ll be right, you can.

On the other hand, if we discard all this marketing fun and simply evaluate the device based on how it works, I have no questions about the Moto Z2 Play. A smartphone with pure Android 7.1, it is fast and without annoying third-party software. For its part, Moto has added a useful application of the same name.

Through its settings, you can activate the camera by turning the hand or turn off the ringtone when you take the smartphone in your hand. Another scenario: the phone is lying on the table, you pick it up, the backlight on the screen turns on for a few seconds, notifications are visible. It seems like little things, but convenient. You especially get used to shaking your phone before taking a photo, then you take another one and wonder why it can’t do that. Oh, sorry, this is not Moto.

The SIM card tray is located on the top end, and you don't have to sacrifice the second SIM card compartment if you decide to put a memory card in the phone. A separate slot for microSD is also provided, for which Moto is honored and praised, thank you.

While Apple talks about what a cool wireless world we have come to, where there is no need for a headphone jack, Moto looks at it differently. If you want to listen to music, please, here is a regular 3.5 mm jack on the bottom end. Comfortable!

Good camera with features

Following the fashion for selfies, Moto did not add a fancy front camera, there are only 5 megapixels, but the phone received a front flash. For my taste, this is an acquired taste - photos in low light definitely come out brighter and without so much noise, but the face comes out overexposed. The cheeks and nose shine, the skin becomes reddish. On the other hand, if you decide to go to the sea and take a romantic selfie with a girl on the beach, you will get a cool photo. A regular phone without a front-facing flash simply won’t be able to take pictures like this.

The main camera is 12 megapixels, the lens protrudes very much from the body, the edges wouldn’t peel off over time when you put the phone on a surface. Does aesthetics suffer from such a design? For my taste, no, the smartphone itself is thin, they simply couldn’t fit the module in for technical reasons.

True, when you put on some fancy “motomod”, the camera simply gets lost inside, such a combination of design and technology.

The Moto Z Play takes decent pictures, here are some examples of what its camera is capable of. Useful features include laser focusing, high-aperture optics with f/1.7, and video recording at 4K@30fps.

Thin but lasts a long time

Since the phone is thin, it means it dies in half a day and you live near the outlet? Don't make hasty decisions! I was pleased with the operating time - Moto Z Play easily withstands a working day with active use: maps for navigation, communication on Telegram, searching for something on the Internet, a couple of hours of online music on Spotify a day, a dozen photos on the camera. I went with Beeline, then I switched MTS - the phone began to work longer, so the choice of operator and the quality of the coverage area also seriously affects autonomy. Is it really possible to squeeze out 2 days? Yes, in the background there is no battery, the phone hardly discharges if there are no problems with receiving the communication signal.

The phone comes with a high-power charger - the TurboPower unit is healthy, larger than a large iPad charger. But it charges the phone by 50% in half an hour, which is very convenient. While you’re washing your face and getting ready to leave home for work, the Moto Z2 Play is ready for work and play. It’s 2017 and fast charging is no longer a new thing, but you still enjoy the practical function, especially when an iPhone 7 Plus with a battery of the same capacity is lying nearby and slowly charging.

Opinion

I tried to describe why the Moto Z2 Play is good and why they are asking 34,990 rubles for it. From the buyer’s point of view, the situation is this: the phone costs as much as a top Chinese smartphone or as last year’s Korean flagship, so why should I buy it?

Thin body, bright screen, good battery life, clean and fast Android with regular updates, excellent ergonomics, and a bunch of mods for the body kit.

Moto doesn’t impress with its top-end hardware, no, the phone pleases with its balance of qualities, and it’s not in vain that they ask for $500. Although for the same money you can buy OnePlus 5 or Xiaomi Mi 6 - the choice is quite large, especially if you don’t get hung up on buying additional motorcycle mods, the main feature of the Moto Z2 Play. Accessory mods need to be purchased separately, the concept is interesting, but requires additional costs, for everything good in our world you have to pay.

Last year I liked the Moto X Play, this year I can say the same about the Moto Z2 Play. And even though Moto are more expensive than their analogues, they are made with love, you can feel it when you walk around with the phone and get inspired by its idea.

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Lenovo has focused on the Moto brand and is releasing all its new products in 2017 within this division. One of them was the Moto Z2 Play, announced at the end of spring. This smartphone has become a “thinner” version with slightly updated hardware, but in the spirit of the same single modular concept.

Along with the improvements, the smartphone also received some simplifications. The first thing that catches your eye is that its battery has become almost 20% smaller. Is this reduction critical, or does the Moto Z2 Play claim to be a long-liver like its predecessor? The review will help you find out.

Frame

Since the Moto Z2 Play belongs to the modular series, this imposes certain restrictions on its design and format. All smartphones in this line have, plus or minus, the same dimensions, are equipped with 5.5" screens and differ only in thickness. In the Moto Z2 Play, the thickness was reduced, while for its predecessor this figure was 6.9 mm (except for the camera area), then for the Moto Z2 Play – only 6 mm.

The case materials have also changed; now the backrest is made of aluminum, which allows us to gain a little thickness. Now a smartphone without a case is not so slippery and easily soiled, but on the other hand, the kit still includes a carbon cover.

The front panel is made of 2.5D glass, with minimal changes in terms of layout. The most noticeable of them is the fingerprint scanner, which has changed from square to oval and enlarged. Now it matches the overall style more.

Otherwise, the smartphone differs little from the Moto Z Play. There are no touch buttons; above the screen there are sensors, a camera and flash, and a speaker slot. Again, given the format restrictions imposed by the modules, it would be strange to expect any major changes.

The back panel is made of aluminum, with a thin border. At the top there is a massive “patch” containing a camera, flash and laser rangefinder, and just below is the manufacturer’s logo.

At the very bottom there is a contact pad for connecting replaceable modules. There is also an auxiliary microphone hole near it.

The side frame of the smartphone is made of aluminum. At the bottom it is divided by a plastic insert, which houses a USB Type C port. Near it on the right there is a 3.5 mm headphone jack. Its presence is encouraging, as more and more manufacturers are switching to using a single USB connector for everything.

The top end is also symmetrically divided by a plastic insert, with a microphone on the right and a card slot on the left. It stands out, but overall the manufacturer decided to maintain symmetry: the holes for the microphone and the extractor pin are located equidistant from the center.

On the right side are two smooth volume control buttons and a power key. It has a ribbed texture, which is made for better grip on the finger.

The left side of the Moto Z2 Play is completely empty, since the SIM card slot is located at the top end.

Display

Moto Z2 Play is equipped with a 5.5" OLED display with a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels. Analysis shows that the matrix is ​​made by Samsung, as it has a PenTile RGBG structure. Due to the fairly high resolution, the subpixels are not noticeable, the picture is clear.

There is a PWM backlight control, but it is soft (without a complete dimming phase), high-frequency (more than 200 Hz) and does not cause discomfort. Complete switching off of pixels during PWM adjustment occurs only when the brightness is below 20%, but since the screen is not the brightest (about 400 cd/m2), in practice there is no need to reduce the brightness to such a threshold. Viewing angles are good, there is no color inversion.

The matrix itself is not bad, the colors are not “toxic”, close to natural. Blacks are deep, inactive pixels blend into the background of the front panel. The overall contrast is very good, as befits OLED matrices.

The sensor is covered with Gorilla Glass 3 with a good oleophobic layer. It supports multi-touch up to 10 simultaneous touches, gestures and swipes work correctly.

Hardware

Changes in the hardware of the Moto Z2 Play can be called cosmetic. The smartphone received a Qualcomm Snapdragon 626 chipset, which differs from the 625 model by 10% increased frequencies. Because of this, performance has increased proportionally: 68-70 thousand in AnTuTu, versus 62-65 in its predecessor. This is a good and economical chip, but the 630 model would have come in handy here.

In Geegbench 4 tests, with a single core load, the smartphone gives 900 points, and in multi-core computing - 4.5 thousand. This is more than its predecessor, but not by much.

Memory sizes are 3 and 32 or 4 and 64 GB of RAM and ROM, respectively. There is a memory card slot, which is separate, so in this regard the smartphone compares favorably with some competitors.

There are two SIM card slots, both Nano. The modem supports all current communication standards for Russia, including LTE Band 1, 3, 7 and 20. There is a dual-band (2.4 and 5 GHz) Wi-Fi module, Bluetooth 4.2 and a universal navigator with a compass. There is also an NFC module and a radio receiver. The set of sensors includes a fingerprint scanner, light and proximity sensors, an accelerometer and a gyroscope.

The sound in the smartphone is good, there is only one speaker, but it is loud. Although the Moto Z2 Play does not have a discrete decoder for Hi-Res formats, it produces quite pleasant sound in headphones. A distinctive feature is the presence of three microphones: front, back and at the top end.

Battery and autonomy

The battery of the Moto Z2 Play has become smaller than its predecessor, its capacity is exactly 3000 mAh. Despite the relatively small volume, economical components do their job, and the smartphone shows good battery life.

Watching a video at full brightness is possible for more than 10 hours; if you turn on auto-adjustment, you can “squeeze out” up to 17-18 hours on a single charge indoors. In standby mode, you can expect to receive up to 3-4 days of autonomy under moderate loads.

The battery supports fast charging, and the smartphone comes with an appropriate power supply. The manufacturer claims the ability to replenish the charge up to 50% in half an hour, which is close to the truth. Fully charging the smartphone takes less than 1.5 hours.

In addition to the main battery, the smartphone can be equipped with an additional MotoMods module containing a second battery. There is also a special cover panel containing an inductor for wireless charging.

Cameras

Z Play smartphones are notable for the fact that they are equipped with the same cameras as the “plus” G-series models. The Moto Z2 Play is no exception, featuring the same 12-megapixel sensor as the Moto G5 Plus.

In terms of parameters, it is close to the Sony IMX260 used in the Galaxy S7. The matrix dimensions are 1/2.5", pixel dimensions are 1.4 microns. There is Dual Pixel phase autofocus and laser autofocus. The optics have an F/1.7 aperture. The camera application interface is slightly different from the standard one.

The camera characteristics of the Moto Z2 Play are impressive and promise good picture quality, almost flagship-quality. And in some situations, the smartphone lives up to expectations, producing decent photos. Close-up photography works well, objects in focus come out clear, with good sharpness and color rendition.

The camera also provides decent image quality indoors. With a lack of light, the brightness and contrast are no longer so impressive, but the photos come out good.

With high-quality artificial light, pictures from the Moto Z2 Play camera are also pleasing. There is little noise on them, the details of objects are clearly visible.

The only scenario where the camera can fail is when shooting under bright lighting without HDR. In such cases, the device sometimes cannot correctly determine the exposure and overexposes the frame, thereby exposing it and showing insufficient dynamic range. The most illuminated places in light shades are filled with white.

The front camera of the Moto Z2 Play has a resolution of 5 megapixels and is also distinguished by the presence of enlarged 1.4 micron pixels. Its optics have an F/2.2 aperture, and the camera is equipped with a flash. The main matrix shoots video in 4K resolution, the front one – FullHD, with 30 FPS. Slow-Mo 120 FPS is available in HD resolution.

Software

Moto Z2 Play runs a pure Android 7.1 system, with an update to Android 8 planned. There is support for additional options, such as one-handed mode, gesture control. The smartphone is able to react to the approach of the owner’s hand: if you put your hand on the lying Moto Z2 Play, it will activate the screen, displaying the date, time, battery level, etc.

Moto Z2 Play works quickly, no lags or interface freezes were noticed. There is enough memory, and therefore switching between running programs occurs without noticeable delays.

Full specifications

Pros and cons of Moto Z2 Play

Pros:

• good autonomy;
• thin body;
• module support;
• good screen;
• decent cameras.

There are no significant disadvantages. The price of the device will not suit some, while others will complain about the narrow dynamic range of the main camera, which cannot be called bad.

Alternatives

The alternative to the Moto Z2 Play is still its predecessor, the Z Play. It is only slightly inferior in terms of performance, it also supports modules, but it is equipped with a more capacious battery and costs a little less.

Also, an alternative to the hero of the review can be called OnePlus 5. This smartphone is sold for similar money, but at the same time it belongs to the flagship category. It is equipped with more powerful hardware, two cameras, and supports HD sound. The downside is that there is no modularity and no slot for a flash drive.

In addition to the options mentioned, Xiaomi Mi Note 3, Meizu Pro 7, Huawei Mate 10 Lite can replace the Moto Z2 Play. They also do not have a modular design, but they have their advantages. For example, Xiaomi and Huawei have a full-screen design, while Meizu has a second screen at the back.

Conclusion

Moto Z2 Play is an interesting smartphone that can captivate with its thickness and module support. It is equipped with a balanced and completely modern design and has good battery life. Even if its price was around 20 thousand rubles, it would become a bestseller, one of the best middle-class devices. But since the recommended cost of the gadget is about 30 thousand, many will find it overpriced.

In general, there are no obvious reasons not to buy the hero of the review, the smartphone is good. The question is whether you are willing to pay $500 for it. Moreover, the predecessor has noticeably dropped in price. The presence of Chinese flagships also does not incline towards buying the Moto Z2 Play: if they offer a Snapdragon 835 for the same money, then you don’t really want to pay that much for the SD626. This is true only if the chipset is the main indicator. What is most important to you in a smartphone?

A thin device with an impressive appearance, good battery life and replaceable modules

Lenovo, which owns the rights to the Motorola brand, introduced this summer an updated version of its “modular” smartphone, the Moto Z2 Play, which is capable of using a variety of interchangeable panels from the Moto Mods series. Modules add new functions and capabilities to the device. For example, you can turn your smartphone into a digital camera with optical zoom or into a projector. There are quite a lot of changes compared to the previous model (Moto Z Play), and not all of them are exclusively progressive: the battery, for example, has decreased in size. Read about all the details in our review of the Moto Z2 Play smartphone.

Key Features of Moto Z2 Play

• SoC Qualcomm Snapdragon 626, 8 cores Cortex-A53 @2.2 GHz
• GPU Adreno 506 @650 MHz
• Operating system Android 7.1.1, Moto Experience
• Touch display Super AMOLED 5.5″, 1920×1080, 401 ppi
• Random access memory (RAM) 3/4 GB, internal memory 32/64 GB
• Nano-SIM support (2 pcs.)
• MicroSD support up to 2 TB
• GSM/GPRS/EDGE networks (850/900/1800/1900 MHz)
• WCDMA/HSPA+ networks (850/900/1700/1900/2100 MHz)
• LTE networks (B1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 17, 20, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 38, 41, 66)
• Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (2.4 and 5 GHz)
• Bluetooth 4.2 LE+EDR
• GPS, A-GPS, Glonass
• USB Type-C, USB OTG
• Main camera 12 MP, autofocus, f/1.7, 4K video
• Front camera 5 MP, f/2.2, fixed. focus
• Proximity sensor, lighting sensor, magnetic field sensor, fingerprint sensor, accelerometer, gyroscope
• Battery 3000 mAh
• Dimensions 156×76×6 mm
• Weight 145 g

Replaceable modules

Naturally, the Moto Z2 Play goes on sale without replacement modules. They are quite expensive and will have to be purchased separately. By this time, the manufacturer had come up with even more different modules from the Moto Mods line, here are the most noticeable of them. The Moto insta-share projector, priced at $300, allows you to turn your smartphone into a projector with a 70-inch image output, and the Hasselblad True Zoom, also for an additional $300, turns the device into a digital camera with 10x optical zoom. There's an on-ear JBL SoundBoost speaker for $70, and there's even a module with joysticks that can turn your smartphone into a gamepad. There is also a module with an additional TurboPower Pack battery and Moto Style covers that add wireless charging functionality. Support for old modules is maintained, that is, those purchased for the Moto Z Play are quite suitable for the Moto Z2 Play.

Appearance and ease of use

The design of the Moto Z2 Play is almost the same as its predecessor, however, due to some details, the appearance of the smartphone as a whole has changed so much that now, without any discounts, we can really talk about a stylish and decent-looking modern device.

The button with the fingerprint scanner on the front panel became not square, as before, but standard elongated, this instantly transformed the front panel. The back panel, instead of glass, received a matte metal surface, which also improved the appearance of the review hero and added reliability. By the way, the antenna inserts here are not made in the form of separate strips at the top and bottom, but run along the perimeter along the entire panel, it looks fresh and stylish.

You can, of course, wear this smartphone without pads, but in this form few people will like the rounded camera module that sticks out strongly and the large Moto Mods Connector contact block located at the bottom of the rear panel. On the other hand, without pads the device is so thin that you don’t want to thicken it at all.

In terms of dimensions, the smartphone is not small, but thanks to its thin profile, strongly rounded corners and smoothed ends, the smartphone lies comfortably in the hand and fits quite comfortably in clothing pockets. The matte metal surfaces are not easily soiled, the device does not slip in your hands and is held securely.

The side buttons are quite small and thin, but they have a pleasant, distinct and elastic action and are convenient to use. The usual volume rocker is divided in two here.

The entire front panel is covered with 2.5D Gorilla Glass with barely noticeable sloping edges. Sensors and a front camera peephole with its own flash, made up of two LEDs, are usually installed above the screen. However, there is no LED event indicator on the front panel.

There are no touch hardware buttons under the screen; it is suggested to use the navigation button bar on the screen itself. However, their functions can be duplicated using the central button, drawing gestures on it that perform the same standard navigation actions: returning to the previous screen, to the home screen, opening a list of running programs. “Swiping” a small button left and right is not very convenient, but there will definitely be people willing to do this.

The main speaker here is not located at the bottom end or on the rear panel, but is combined with the earpiece speaker, that is, the sound in any case comes out of the slot at the top of the front panel above the screen.

At the bottom end there is a USB Type-C connector that supports connecting external devices in USB OTG mode. A 3.5 mm audio output for headphones is also installed here - it’s nice that they didn’t sacrifice it even in such a thin case.

The top end is given over to a card slot, and it is respectful that, again, even in this ultra-thin case, the manufacturer found room for three cards (two Nano-SIM and one microSD) without the notorious “hybridity” and the need to sacrifice anything .

It turns out that everything is quite possible to place and combine, it’s just that manufacturers like Huawei, which was one of the first to use a “hybrid” connector, have no particular desire to care about user comfort. Here everything is much more convenient: both SIM cards are installed on one side of the sled, and on the other the memory card is quietly placed, and hot-swapping of cards is supported.

The Moto Z2 Play comes in only two colors: Lunar Gray, which we tested, and Fine Gold with a white front panel, which also looks quite attractive.

Screen

Moto Z2 Play is equipped with a Super AMOLED display covered with 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass with sloping edges. The physical dimensions of the screen are 68x121 mm with a diagonal of 5.5 inches. The resolution is 1920x1080, the pixel density is about 401 ppi. The frame around the screen, taking into account the rounding of the end parts of the case, is not very narrow: it is almost 4 mm on the sides, 17 mm on the bottom and top.

You can adjust the display brightness manually or use automatic settings based on the ambient light sensor. The AnTuTu test diagnoses support for 10 simultaneous multi-touch touches.

A detailed examination using measuring instruments was carried out by the editor of the “Monitors” and “Projectors and TV” sections Alexey Kudryavtsev. Here is his expert opinion on the screen of the sample under study.

The front surface of the screen is made in the form of a glass plate with a mirror-smooth surface that is scratch-resistant. Judging by the reflection of objects, the anti-glare properties of the screen are no worse than those of the Google Nexus 7 (2013) screen (below, simply Nexus 7). For clarity, here is a photo in which a white surface is reflected in the switched off screens (on the left - Nexus 7, on the right - Moto Z2 Play, then they can be distinguished by size):

The screen of the Moto Z2 Play is slightly darker (brightness according to photographs is 111 versus 112 for the Nexus 7). The ghosting of reflected objects on the Moto Z2 Play's screen is very weak, indicating that there is no air gap between the layers of the screen. Due to the smaller number of boundaries (glass/air type) with very different refractive indices, such screens look better in conditions of intense external illumination, but their repair in the case of cracked external glass is much more expensive, since the entire screen has to be replaced. The outer surface of the screen has a special oleophobic (grease-repellent) coating (very effective, noticeably better than that of the Nexus 7), so fingerprints are removed much easier and appear at a lower speed than with regular glass.

With manual brightness control and when the white field was displayed in full screen, the maximum brightness value was approximately 415 cd/m², the minimum was 3.3 cd/m². The maximum brightness is not very high, but you need to take into account the good anti-glare properties of the screen and the fact that as the white area decreases, the brightness of the white areas increases slightly. As a result, readability during the day in the sun is at a fairly good level, and the reduced brightness level allows you to use the device even in complete darkness without any problems. There is automatic brightness adjustment based on the light sensor (it is located to the right of the front speaker slot). In automatic mode, as external lighting conditions change, the screen brightness both increases and decreases. The operation of this function depends on the position of the brightness adjustment slider. If it is 100%, then in complete darkness the automatic brightness adjustment function reduces the brightness to 110 cd/m² (too much), in an office illuminated by artificial light (about 550 lux) it sets it to 280 cd/m² (normal), in a very bright environment (corresponds to lighting on a clear day outdoors, but without direct sunlight - 20,000 lux or a little more) increases to a maximum - up to 415 cd / m² (to the maximum, as needed). If the brightness slider is at 50%, the values ​​are as follows: 13, 120, 415 cd/m² (suitable), if at 0% - 3.3, 15, 415 cd/m² (the first two values ​​are rather low). From our point of view, the automatic brightness adjustment function works adequately.

Only at low brightness levels is there significant modulation with a frequency of 239.7 Hz. The figure below shows the dependence of brightness (vertical axis) on time (horizontal axis) for several brightness values:

It can be seen that at maximum and average brightness the modulation amplitude is small, so there is no visible flicker. However, with a strong decrease in brightness, modulation appears with a large relative amplitude. Therefore, at low brightness, the presence of modulation can already be seen in a test for the presence of a stroboscopic effect or simply with rapid eye movement. Depending on individual sensitivity, this flickering may cause increased fatigue.

This screen uses an AMOLED matrix - active matrix organic light-emitting diodes. A full-color image is created using subpixels of three colors - red (R), green (G) and blue (B), but there are half as many red and blue subpixels, which can be referred to as RGBG. This is confirmed by a fragment of a microphotograph:

For comparison, you can see the gallery of microphotographs of screens used in mobile technology.

In the fragment above you can count 4 green subpixels, 2 red (4 halves) and 2 blue (1 whole and 4 quarters), and by repeating these fragments, you can lay out the entire screen without breaks or overlap. For such matrices, Samsung introduced the name PenTile RGBG. The manufacturer calculates the screen resolution based on the green subpixels; based on the other two, it will be two times lower. The location and shape of the subpixels in this option is similar to the option in the case of the screen of the Samsung Galaxy S4 and some other newer Samsung devices (and not only) with AMOLED screens. Of course, there is some unevenness of contrast borders and other artifacts. However, due to the very high resolution, they have a minimal impact on image quality.

The screen has excellent viewing angles. True, the white color, when deviated even at small angles, acquires a slight blue-green tint, and at some angles turns a little pink, but the black color remains black at any angle. It is so black that the contrast setting is simply not applicable in this case. When viewed perpendicularly, the uniformity of the white field is good. For comparison, here are photographs in which the same images are displayed on the screens of the Moto Z2 Play and the second comparison participant, while the brightness of the screens is initially set to approximately 200 cd/m², and the color balance on the camera is forced to switch to 6500 K.

There is a white field perpendicular to the screens:

Note the good uniformity of brightness and color tone of the white field.

And a test picture:

According to visual assessment, the colors of the tested screen are oversaturated and unnatural; the color balance of the screens varies noticeably. Recall that photography can not serve as a reliable source of information about color rendering quality and are provided for illustrative purposes only. The photo above was taken for the profile Bright in the screen settings (it is selected by default), there are two of them:

What happens when you choose the second one is shown below.

Color saturation has become closer to normal.

Now at an angle of approximately 45 degrees to the plane and to the side of the screen:

It can be seen that the colors have not changed much on both screens and the brightness of the Moto Z2 Play at an angle is noticeably higher.

And a white field:

The brightness at an angle for both screens has noticeably decreased (to avoid strong darkening, the shutter speed has been increased compared to the previous two photos), but in the case of the Moto Z2 Play the drop in brightness is much less pronounced. As a result, with formally the same brightness, the screen of the Moto Z2 Play visually looks much brighter (compared to LCD screens), since you often have to look at the screen of a mobile device from at least a slight angle.

Switching the state of the matrix elements is performed almost instantly, but at the turn-on (and less often off) edge there may be a step with a width of approximately 17 ms (which corresponds to the screen refresh rate). For example, this is what the dependence of brightness on time looks like when moving from black to white and back:

In some conditions, the presence of such a step can lead to plumes trailing moving objects, but in normal use these artifacts are difficult to see. Quite the contrary - dynamic scenes in films on OLED screens are distinguished by high clarity and even some “jerky” movements.

The gamma curve, constructed using 32 points with equal intervals based on the numerical value of the shade of gray, did not reveal a blockage either in the shadows or in the highlights. The index of the approximating power function is 2.22, which is close to the standard value of 2.2, while the real gamma curve almost does not deviate from the power dependence:

By default, the color gamut is very wide:

The component spectra (that is, the spectra of pure red, green and blue) are very well separated:

Note that on screens with a wide color gamut, without appropriate correction, the colors of regular images optimized for sRGB devices appear unnaturally saturated.

When selecting a profile Ordinary coverage is compressed to sRGB boundaries:

The gray scale balance is acceptable. The color temperature is slightly higher than the standard 6500 K, and the deviation from the blackbody spectrum (ΔE) remains below 10 units over most of the gray scale, which is considered normal for a consumer device. At the same time, color temperature and ΔE change little from shade to shade (except for the darkest ones) - this has a positive effect on the visual assessment of color balance. However, choosing a profile Ordinary the balance worsens, as the spread of ΔE values ​​increases:

(The darkest areas of the gray scale can in most cases be ignored, since color balance there is not very important, and the error in measuring color characteristics at low brightness is large.)

Let's summarize. The screen does not have a very high maximum brightness, but has good anti-glare properties, so the device can be used outdoors even on a sunny summer day without any problems. In complete darkness, the brightness can be reduced to a comfortable value. It is acceptable to use a mode with automatic brightness adjustment, which works adequately. The advantages of the screen include an effective oleophobic coating and acceptable color balance. At the same time, let us recall the general advantages of OLED screens: true black color (if nothing is reflected in the screen), good uniformity of the white field, noticeably less than that of LCDs, and a drop in image brightness when viewed at an angle. Disadvantages include an excessively wide color gamut and screen flickering that appears at low brightness. For users who are particularly sensitive to flicker, this may cause increased fatigue. The color gamut can be brought closer to the standard one, but at the cost of deteriorating color balance. However, overall the screen quality is high.

Camera

The front camera of the Moto Z2 Play remains the same: the matrix has a resolution of 5 megapixels, the size of an individual pixel is 1.4 microns. A wide-angle lens with an f/2.2 aperture and a fixed focus noticeably distorts the proportions, making it difficult to obtain an undistorted self-portrait from arm's length. But this is a tribute to fashion; selfie cameras are now made so that a group fits into the frame, and not just one person. But on the front panel there is its own multi-colored dual LED flash. And the resulting image is quite detailed and sharp.

The main camera uses a module with a 12-megapixel matrix and a lens with a maximum aperture of f/1.7, equipped with fast laser and phase detection autofocus with Dual Pixel technology for faster focusing. A new type of laser autofocus allows you to focus at a distance of up to 5 meters. The pixel size is still the same 1.4 microns. There is a bright dual multi-colored LED flash.

The camera is rich in capabilities: there are gesture controls, manual mode, and the ability to adjust the exposure while shooting. The Professional mode displays arc-shaped sliders with variable values ​​for shutter speed, light sensitivity (up to ISO 3200), manual focus, white balance, and exposure compensation scale.

The camera can shoot video in a maximum resolution of 4K (30 fps), as well as 1080p at 60 fps, but it’s worth considering that stabilization does not work in these two modes - only in the usual 1080p (30 fps) and lower. In general, the camera copes well with video shooting: sharpness, color rendition and detail are normal, there are no artifacts in the image, the video is smooth, without noticeable jerks. The sound is also recorded with high quality, the noise reduction system copes with its tasks.

• Video No. 1 (30 MB, 3840×2160@30 fps, H.264, AAC)
• Video No. 2 (23 MB, 3840×2160@30 fps, H.264, AAC)
• Video No. 3 (40 MB, 1920×1080@30 fps, H.264, AAC)
• Video No. 4 (40 MB, 1920×1080@60 fps, H.264, AAC)
• Video No. 5 (40 MB, 1280×720, slo-mo)

	The car numbers are clearly visible.
	The camera copes with macro photography.
	Good detail in the field of the frame and in the plans.
	Good sharpness in distant shots.
	You can notice slight sharpening on the branches.
	The text is well done.
	A slight blur is noticeable on the left side of the frame.
	Good sharpness and moderate dynamic range in HDR mode.

The camera came out good, almost flagship. It has moderate software processing, an excellent HDR mode, and a clearly good module: the matrix handles small details, the optics almost do not spoil the edges of the image, although from time to time the pictures come out blurry for some unknown reason. That is why the camera is slightly below the flagship level, but otherwise there is practically nothing to complain about. It can be argued that the camera will cope well with various subjects.

Telephone and communications

The Qualcomm X9 LTE ​​modem supports LTE Cat.13 (maximum download speed up to 300 Mbit/s) and LTE Cat.7 (maximum upload speed up to 150 Mbit/s). A lot of 4G LTE FDD and TD bands are supported (B1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 17, 20, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 38, 41, 66), in their including all 3 ranges used in Russia (3, 7 and 20). Within the city limits of the Moscow region, the device behaves confidently, and the quality of signal reception is not satisfactory.

The smartphone also supports both Wi-Fi bands (2.4 and 5 GHz), and has Bluetooth 4.2. You can organize a wireless access point via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth channels. There is NFC with support for Mifare Classic, that is, the device works with an application for travel documents. The USB Type-C connector supports connecting external devices in USB OTG mode.

The navigation module works with both GPS (with A-GPS) and the domestic Glonass, but without the support of the Chinese Beidou. During a cold start, the first satellites are detected within the first minute. Positioning accuracy is average. A magnetic compass, necessary for navigation programs, is present.

The platform can support both SIM cards in 3G/4G mode simultaneously in active standby mode. That is, the second SIM card can work in 3G for voice communications, even if a card from a different slot is assigned to transmit data in 4G. The interface allows you to select a specific SIM card for voice calls and SMS in advance. The cards operate in Dual SIM Dual Standby mode, there is only one radio modem. Also, for the convenience of users, the manufacturer has added several ready-made operating modes for the two cards.

Software and multimedia

The software platform uses the latest version of Android 7.1.1 with the proprietary Moto Experiences interface, which is closer to the stock version of Android, both in appearance and in organization, than all versions of Lenovo’s own shell. Lenovo Moto smartphones resemble pure Google phones more than most of their competitors.

Added support for gestures, the ability to reduce the entire working area of ​​the screen for ease of control with the fingers of one hand, and a multi-window operating mode. When you reach out to the device lying on the table, it immediately displays basic information in monochrome on the locked screen (date, time, remaining charge percentage). The interface as a whole is simple and calm in design, easy and fast to use. There are practically no third-party programs; everything you need is implemented here using Google Apps.

To listen to music, use the standard Google Music player with equalizer settings. The device sounds good both in headphones and in speakers: the sound volume is enough for any environment, the sound is clear and loud, but not of the highest quality.

FM radio available. It’s interesting that you can try to use it without headphones connected as an external antenna, but you won’t be able to catch anything this way. There was no built-in voice recorder in the device.

Performance

The Moto Z2 Play hardware platform is built on a single-chip Qualcomm Snapdragon 626 system made using 14-nanometer technology. Let us remember that the previous Moto Z Play ran on the Snapdragon 625. The Snapdragon 626 includes eight 64-bit ARM Cortex-A53 cores with a frequency of up to 2.2 GHz; the Adreno 506 video accelerator with a core frequency of up to 650 MHz is responsible for graphics processing. The amount of RAM is 4 GB, and the built-in flash memory is 64 GB. Of these, about 50 GB of storage and approximately 2.5 GB of RAM are initially free. There is also a version of the smartphone with 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of flash memory.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 626 is a platform designed for mid-range smartphones. This is a fairly recent chip, introduced in October 2016 and replacing the Snapdragon 625. Essentially, the difference lies in the increased core frequency (from 2.0 to 2.2 GHz), but there are also less noticeable changes - for example, a radio signal amplifier has appeared for TruSignal antenna. Thanks to the 14 nm process technology, this SoC has good performance with low power consumption.

In both complex and graphics tests, the SoC Snapdragon 626 demonstrates not top-end results, but quite satisfactory for any task. The performance is sufficient for recording and playing video with resolutions up to 4K UHD and demanding games. Mortal Kombat X is played by a smartphone without the slightest slowdown.

Testing in comprehensive tests AnTuTu and GeekBench:

For convenience, we have compiled all the results we obtained when testing the smartphone in the latest versions of popular benchmarks into tables. The table usually adds several other devices from different segments, also tested on similar latest versions of benchmarks (this is done only for a visual assessment of the obtained dry figures). Unfortunately, within the framework of one comparison it is impossible to present the results from different versions of benchmarks, so many worthy and relevant models remain “behind the scenes” - due to the fact that they once passed the “obstacle course” on previous versions of test programs.

Testing the graphics subsystem in gaming tests 3DMark, GFXBenchmark and Bonsai Benchmark:

When testing in 3DMark, the most powerful smartphones now have the ability to run the application in Unlimited mode, where the rendering resolution is fixed at 720p and VSync is disabled (which can cause the speed to rise above 60 fps).

	Moto Z2 Play (Qualcomm Snapdragon 626)	Asus Zenfone 3 (Qualcomm Snapdragon 625)	HTC One X10 (MediaTek Helio P10)	Honor 6X (HiSilicon Kirin 655)	Xiaomi Redmi 4X (Qualcomm Snapdragon 435)
3DMark Ice Storm Sling Shot ES 3.1 (more is better)	470	466	421	378	292
GFXBenchmark Manhattan ES 3.1 (Onscreen, fps)	7	6	5	5	10
GFXBenchmark Manhattan ES 3.1 (1080p Offscreen, fps)	6	6	5	5	4,5
GFXBenchmark T-Rex ES 2.0 (Onscreen, fps)	23	22	17	19	26
GFXBenchmark T-Rex ES 2.0 (1080p Offscreen, fps)	23	23	17	19	16

Browser cross-platform tests:

As for benchmarks for assessing the speed of the javascript engine, you should always make allowance for the fact that their results significantly depend on the browser in which they are launched, so the comparison can only be truly correct on the same OS and browsers, and this is possible during testing not always. For Android OS, we always try to use Google Chrome.

AndroBench memory speed test results:

Thermal photographs

Below is a thermal image rear surface obtained after 10 minutes of battery testing in the GFXBenchmark program:

Heating is higher in the upper right part of the device, which apparently corresponds to the location of the SoC chip. According to the heat camera, the maximum heating was only 35 degrees (at an ambient temperature of 24 degrees), which is relatively little.

Playing video

To test the omnivorous nature of video playback (including support for various codecs, containers and special features, such as subtitles), we used the most common formats, which make up the bulk of the content available on the Internet. Note that for mobile devices it is important to have support for hardware video decoding at the chip level, since it is most often impossible to process modern options using processor cores alone. Also, you shouldn’t expect a mobile device to decode everything, since the leadership in flexibility belongs to the PC, and no one is going to challenge it. All results are summarized in a table.

According to the testing results, the smartphone played all test files in the MX player without any problems - albeit in SW mode. The smartphone does not have its own video player, and the device plays videos through the gallery without AC3 support, that is, without sound. But it’s unlikely that anyone will watch videos on a smartphone this way; you’ll still have to download a third-party player.

Further testing of video playback was performed Alexey Kudryavtsev.

We were unable to test the hypothetical support for MHL or SlimPort (Mobility DisplayPort) adapters due to the lack of an adapter option that connects to the USB Type C port. Therefore, we had to limit ourselves to testing the display of video files on the screen of the device itself. To do this, we used a set of test files with an arrow and a rectangle moving one division per frame (see “Method for testing video playback and display devices. Version 1 (for mobile devices) Red marks indicate possible problems associated with the playback of the corresponding files.

According to the frame output criterion, the quality of playback of video files on the screen of the smartphone itself is good, since in most cases frames (or groups of frames) can (but are not required) be output with more or less uniform alternation of intervals and without skipping frames. When playing video files with a resolution of 1920 by 1080 (1080p) on a smartphone screen, the image of the video file itself is displayed exactly along the border of the screen, one to one in pixels, that is, in the original resolution. On the test worlds, the features of PenTile screens appear: the vertical world through the pixel is in a grid, and the horizontal one is slightly greenish. At the same time, the described artifacts are absent in real footage. The brightness range displayed on the screen corresponds to the standard range of 16-235: all gradations of shades are displayed in shadows and highlights.

Battery life

The non-removable battery installed in the Moto Z2 Play has a smaller capacity than the Moto Z Play, only 3000 mAh. However, even with such a battery, the smartphone demonstrates more than decent, very impressive battery life results. And this is surprising, because the thin beauty initially does not at all create the impression of a device capable of long-term operation without recharging. In real conditions, the Moto Z2 Play, even under high load levels, can easily last a whole day without recharging.

Testing has traditionally been carried out at the usual level of power consumption without using power-saving functions, although the device naturally has them.

Continuous reading in the FBReader program (with a standard, light theme) at a minimum comfortable brightness level (brightness was set to 100 cd/m²) lasted until the battery was completely discharged for more than 18 hours, and when continuously watching videos in high quality (720p) with the same brightness level via a home Wi-Fi network, the device operates for almost 14.5 hours. In 3D gaming mode, the smartphone was able to exceed the 8-hour mark, but this result highly depends on the specific game.

From an incomplete network adapter with a maximum output current of 1.5 A 5.2 V, the smartphone is charged within 2 hours 10 minutes with a current of 1.5 A at a voltage of 5.2 V. Wireless charging is not initially supported, but for its implementation there is a corresponding pad from Moto Mods series.

Bottom line

Not the brightest, but large and economical AMOLED display, satisfactory speaker sound, good cameras, ample communication capabilities, quite a decent fresh mid-level Qualcomm hardware platform and a very decent level of autonomy, unexpected for such a thin and light device with an elegant appearance - these are the main advantages new items called Moto Z2 Play. A smartphone priced at about $500 belongs more to the top segment, and there is someone to compete with - there are better screens and more powerful processors. However, what cannot be taken away from the hero of this review is its charm: you simply don’t want to let go of the very thin metal body with pleasant dimensions and comfortable weight. Well, those who like experiments and upgrades are given such a wide field of activity in the form of a whole set of replaceable modules that there is simply no alternative to it on the mobile market now.

The package includes a smartphone, a fast charging hub, a USB Type-C cable, a decorative panel, a set of instructions and a paper clip for removing the SIM card cradle.

On the Internet we found photos of different packaging of the Moto Z2 Play, as well as sets with headphones. Apparently, the manufacturer has provided for variability in configuration.

Design and ergonomics

On the front of the Moto Z2 Play, everything is pretty standard. The manufacturer's name is displayed under the speaker; all other elements have a functional purpose.

The smartphone is catastrophically thin: its thickness is only 6 mm. If we consider the Moto Z2 Play as a standalone device, this solution does not benefit it: the sharp edges of the device feel unpleasant in the palm, and the camera cheekily protrudes an additional 2-3 mm.

This nuance is forgivable, because we have a construction set in our hands, and the smartphone body is just the basic filling. We try to try on the decorative socket that comes with the kit - and here we are faced with a mistake from the developers. She wobbles and fidgets.

Above the screen there is a flashlight, speaker, camera and motion sensor. According to the creators, the sensor should identify the user’s approach to the gadget and turn on the backlight on the locked screen. In fact, it works haphazardly and without obvious patterns. On the top edge there is a cradle for two SIM cards and microSD. You don’t have to choose between a memory card and a SIM card; you can connect everything at once.

Let's go lower: on the right side there are three mechanical keys. The power button is ribbed and easy to touch.

Below the screen there is a black dot microphone and a One Button Nav touch key - a multifunctional and customizable analogue of Home.

On the back of the smartphone there is a contact pad for modules, the Motorola logo and a seemingly gigantic camera eyepiece. But the solution with the antenna looks quite stylish: it beautifully and unobtrusively frames the body. On the bottom edge there is a Type-C socket and a mini-jack.

The Moto Z2 Play is available in two colors: Lunar Gray and Fine Gold. Both options look decent and are suitable for both men and women.

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Display

The smartphone has a 5.5-inch Super AMOLED screen with a resolution of 1,920 × 1,080 pixels. There were no complaints about the display: it does not give off much green tints (which is a problem with many AMOLED screens) and is bright enough for use in the sun.

The smartphone is protected from scratches and grease stains by third-generation Gorilla Glass with an oleophobic coating.

Camera

The main camera with a 12 megapixel matrix resolution is equipped with a dual CCT flash that adjusts to the color temperature of the environment. In the previous version of the designer from Motorola, the rear camera had a resolution of 16 megapixels, but had worse aperture performance. The aperture value of the Moto Z2 Play lens is f/1.7 versus f/2.0 for the predecessor camera.

Operating the camera is quite easy even in manual mode. Sometimes it comes in handy: the automatic white balance periodically misses the mark. There were no other complaints about the operation of the automation. Sometimes there is a software glitch found in Android devices.

The front camera with a resolution of 5 megapixels and an f/2.2 aperture allows you to take good pictures, and a powerful flashlight will help in low light. A nice bonus: the selfie camera can take slo-mo videos and photos in manual mode.

The video capabilities of the Moto Z2 Play are not far behind the flagship ones: the smartphone can shoot FullHD video at 60 FPS and 4K at 30 FPS. There is a stabilization function.

Performance and memory

The Moto Z2 Play has an octa-core Snapdragon 626 processor clocked at 2.2 GHz and Adreno 506 graphics at 650 MHz. The Geekbench 4 performance test showed a weak score of 914 points in single-core mode and an average score of 4,628 points in multi-core mode, beating the Meizu Pro 6 Plus and Google Pixel XL.

We tried playing heavy games on the Moto Z2 Play: several versions of Asphalt and Modern Combat. No lags or FPS drops were noticed.

Moto Z2 Play smartphones are available with two storage and RAM options: 32/64 GB and 3/4 GB, respectively. The microSD slot supports cards up to 2 TB, so the amount of internal memory is not so important here.

Battery

The battery capacity has decreased compared to the previous version of the device and is now 3,000 mAh, which is equivalent to two days of operation with moderate use of the smartphone.

The Moto Z2 Play includes a TurboPower high-power charger that charges the gadget from zero to 50% in half an hour. In addition, among the “mods” there are several options for portable batteries that can be easily attached to the body of a smartphone. All this makes the Moto Z2 Play an ideal phone in terms of battery life.

Moto and One Button Nav

The smartphone runs on bare Android 7.1.1. Nougat. The good news is that there are no unnecessary add-ons and a minimal set of applications, most of which are really needed. All the individual features of the gadget lie in one of them - the Moto application.

Moto features are divided into three segments: Actions, Display and Voice. “Display” lets you customize lock screen notifications and evening screen colors, while “Voice” is an advanced version of OK Google.

The most interesting thing lies in the “Actions” tab: gesture commands are included here, some of which are really convenient. For example, you can program the camera to turn on when you swipe your smartphone twice, or set the flashlight to turn on when you swipe twice.

The One Button Nav button deserves special attention. Firstly, it has a correctly working fingerprint sensor built into it. It works instantly and always - there is no need to resort to a classic password code. Secondly, the button can be programmed to command Back, Home and Multitasking, which means that the classic navigation bar at the bottom of the screen can be abandoned.

Modules

The smartphone itself may seem inconvenient, ugly and unreasonably expensive. But if you know about the full potential of the Moto Z2 Play, then it becomes clear why it is too thin, why the developers allowed themselves to make such a protruding camera and, in the end, why it costs $500.

Verdict

It’s difficult to formulate a clear opinion about the Moto Z2 Play. It is quite expensive, not the most convenient and in terms of characteristics it is clearly not flagship. But there is a reason why the Moto Z family of smartphones find their users. This is the fascination of operation.

Gadgets are purely utilitarian products that help us solve problems. We do not seek to explore them, reducing the process of use to a set of simple learned actions. The modular system of Moto Z offers an alternative and many scenarios: today you are a semi-professional photographer, tomorrow you are the center of a music party, and the day after tomorrow you are the owner of your own cinema.

Smartphones from the Moto Z series are capable of awakening the passion of a collector in the user and making him feel the joy of buying a device not at once, but over and over again with the acquisition of each new module.

And finally, the Moto Z2 Play is a decent smartphone that offers all the key features of modern devices. If you don't like phones with the letter i and their countless clones, take a look at the Moto Z2 Play - a smartphone from people who know how to take risks, for people who know how to have fun.

Moto Z is the top series of Motorola's Moto product line, which first appeared last year. It is logical that this year the time has come for the heirs of last year’s models. In this review, we'll introduce you to the Moto Z2 Play, the successor to the Moto Z Play, which was the most affordable model in the lineup. The Moto Z2 Play has gone up a bit in price, bringing the device closer to the top models on the market. The changes compared to its predecessor lie primarily in the design, which is now based entirely on metal. In addition, the device has a thinner profile. The overall dimensions and 5.5-inch screen were retained because, like all other products in the Moto Z line, the Moto Z2 Play is compatible with the so-called Moto Mods, which we will talk about below. The smartphone also has a new processor, a new camera and a new battery, and all this, of course, will pass our tests.

Motorola Moto Z2 Play price

The current average price of a smartphone is 27,000 - 28,000 rubles. More expensive than the Samsung Galaxy A5, but also more interesting.

Construction and design

At first glance it looks similar to its predecessor from last year, but in fact has some key design differences. For example, the glass back has been replaced with metal. Glass or metal is of course a matter of taste (I personally am for metal), but in any case, the Moto Z2 Play looks stylish and, unlike glass, does not collect fingerprints on the body. The thickness of the smartphone is reduced and is only 6 millimeters. The reduction also affects the weight of 145 grams, which is unusual for a 5.5-inch smartphone.
Some people might not like that the rear camera is sticking out again, and it's quite noticeable. However, if you add a Moto back cover, that camera protrusion won't bother you much. Also on the back of the smartphone there is a dual LED flash, a Moto logo and a 16-pin area at the bottom, which is needed to connect Moto modules. On the front side there is a dual LED flash, which should appeal to selfie lovers. Next to the flash are the front camera, proximity and light sensors, a speaker and a small inscription below it. Also in front, but at the bottom, there is a fingerprint sensor and a conversational microphone.

Although the smartphone is very thin, everything you need is on the sides. On the right side there are three identical physical buttons, the first two are for audio controls and the third is the power button, which has a rough surface to differentiate it from the others. All of them provide convenient device management. Below you'll find a standard headphone jack, as well as a USB Type-C charging port. At the top there are two nano SIM slots and a separate slot for microSD memory cards. There is a second built-in microphone on this side.

Moto Mods

One of the highlights of the entire Moto Z line is the ability to add various Moto modules, and this is done extremely simply thanks to the already mentioned 16 pins on the back of the smartphone and powerful magnets. You can attach or remove modules with absolute ease, and there is no serious danger of them accidentally falling out. These modules can range from various back panel covers to change the appearance of your smartphone, or various enhancements such as an additional speaker, a projector(!) or an additional 360-degree camera. Motorola promises that it will create more modules that will be compatible with all Moto Z models, including future ones. However, each of them costs a lot, so creating a superphone will not particularly please your wallet. Below we offer you a short video in which you can see how Moto Mods are connected to last year’s Moto Z, and how simple and fast it is.

Screen

The screen size of the Motorola Moto Z2 Play is 5.5 inches, just like other Moto Z models. The resolution is 1920 x 1080 pixels, which, despite the screen size, will give you a good picture. The pixel density is around 403 pixels per inch. Another notable advantage of the smartphone is the Super AMOLED matrix, which guarantees a high level of contrast and excellent performance outdoors under the rays of the sun. Plus, the screen can boast wide viewing angles as expected. In the display settings menu, in addition to the standard ones, you will also find the ability to switch to a more saturated color mode.

Specifications Motorola Moto Z2 Play

operating system	Android 7.1.1 (Nougate), planned update to Android 8.0 (Oreo)
CPU	Qualcomm Snapdragon 626 MSM8953-Pro (8-core, 2.20 GHz, Cortex-A53)
RAM	4 GB
Inner memory	64 GB
GPU	Adreno 506
Screen	5.5" Super AMOLED capacitive multi-touch screen with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 and 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution
Connection	Bluetooth v4.0, A2DP, LE, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, GPS, A-GPS
Cameras	main 12-megapixel with autofocus, dual LED flash, front 5-megapixel
Additionally	dual SIM smartphone (Nano-SIM, dual standby) microSD memory card slot, supports up to 256 GB USBType-C 1.0 Reversible Connector, Magnetic Connector, USB On-The-Go speaker Geo-tagging camera, touch focus, face detection, panorama, auto-HDR accelerometer proximity sensor fingerprint sensor
Battery	3000 mAh
Dimensions	76.2 x 156.2 x 6 mm
Weight	145 g

Battery

Unsurprisingly, the battery in the Motorola Moto Z2 Play has a slightly lower capacity than its predecessor, since the smartphone is thinner. In the case of the 2017 model, we are talking about a 3000 mAh battery, compared to 3510 mAh for last year's model. However, this does not always guarantee a big difference in battery life. To test the smartphone's battery life, we conducted five endurance tests that include phone calls, Wi-Fi and 3G surfing, video viewing and 3D gaming. To make a fair comparison with other competing models, we also set the following settings: screen brightness 120 cd/m2, Wi-Fi disabled, GPS, 3G and Bluetooth disabled (except for the 3G surfing test).

Battery testing, comparison with Samsung Galaxy A5 2017 and Moto Z Play

Phone conversation

Internet surfing with Wi-Fi

For testing, we use our script, which automatically turns over 70 web pages.

Internet surfing with 4G

In this test we are using the same script again, but this time we are connecting via a 4G connection.

Watch video

Here we are using HD 720p movie.

3D games

We play Epic Citadel. In general, as you can see, the Motorola Moto Z2 Play “can”. In almost all respects, it outperformed last year’s model, and what’s most interesting, it confidently outperformed its competitor in the 2017 Samsung Galaxy A5 (also a very interesting phone, but more “conservative”)

Software

Motorola Moto Z2 Play runs on the Android 7.1 Nougat operating system and comes with a clean version without an additional proprietary shell. However, there are many additional applications beyond the standard Google package.

Performance

The Motorola Moto Z2 Play is powered by the Snapdragon 626, which boasts a 14nm process (not the most advanced in 2017, but not the oldest either). It has eight Cortex-A53 cores clocked at 2.2GHz, which is the main difference from the Snapdragon 625-based Moto Z Play. The chip has an X9 modem that powers Cat. 7 LTE, or in other words, download speeds of up to 300 Mbps and upload speeds of up to 150 Mbps. The Snapdragon 625 also supports Wi-Fi 802.11ac, NFC, Quick Charge 3.0 Fast Charge Technology, Full HD, up to 24 megapixel camera and 4K video recording. Graphics are processed by the Adreno 506 chip. RAM is 3 GB. In terms of battery life, the chip appears to be quite efficient based on battery test results. The internal memory is 32 GB, with 13 GB occupied by operating system files. There is also a microSD slot supporting cards up to 256 GB.

CPU testing

Geekbench 3.0 (multi-core)

Geekbench 3 is a cross-platform benchmark from Primate Labs designed to measure chip performance in real-world scenarios, loading both single-threaded and multi-threaded processes.

Vellamo 3 Metal

Vellamo is a qualitative test developed by Qualcomm specifically to test the computing capabilities of chips.

Vellamo 2 Metal

What can we say about the processor testing results? Nothing incredible, it’s clear that this is a medium-power chip, which is far from the flagships, even last year’s.

Graphics chip testing

GFXBench 2.7 (T-Rex, Offscreen)

GFXBench 2.7 is a heavy-duty cross-platform 3D benchmark test that supports Android, iOS and even Windows operating systems.

GFXBench 3.0 (Manhattan, Offscreen)

The Manhattan 3.0 benchmark is based on ES 3.0/GL 4.1 and uses deferred rendering and multi-resistant target (MRT). It also includes complex effects such as shadow depth map, masking effect, post-processing effects, occlusion query and animated volumetric light shafts.

3DMark (Ice Storm Unlimited)

3DMark uses fixed interval frames and displays the same frames for each test on each device. It runs at 720p resolution (regardless of the specific device resolution). Graphics testing is similar to CPU testing. The results are average, even far from last year’s flagships, but the Motorola Moto Z2 Play is not inferior to competitors such as the 2017 Samsung Galaxy A5.

Operating temperature

After testing compute and graphics performance, we measure case temperature, which shows how hot the device gets after heavy 3D gaming workload. After several hours of gaming, we check the maximum temperatures in three different areas on the back of the smartphone. The hottest spot was in the chamber area, where the temperature reached 32.1 degrees. This, of course, is nonsense. Let me remind you that the body temperature is 36 degrees and the phone could simply be heated by hands. Thus, we can safely say that the Moto Z2 Play does not have any overheating problems. This is also facilitated by the metal body of the smartphone.

Camera Motorola Moto Z2 Play

The main camera of the Motorola Moto Z2 Play now has a resolution of 12 megapixels, as opposed to the 16 megapixels of its predecessor. However, it has an f/1.7 aperture that provides 25% more light. There's also dual-LED flash and laser autofocus to consider. When it comes to modes and settings on the Moto Z2 Play, there aren't many, but you will find HDR, Panorama, a few standard settings, and a Pro mode that lets you customize things like white balance, ISO, and other settings that will appeal to enthusiasts. Last but not least, the smartphone can record 4K videos at 30fps as well as slow-motion videos. The front camera has a resolution of 5 megapixels (which is not a lot by modern standards, take the same) and is equipped with a dual LED flash. It has an f/2.2 aperture and 1080p HD video recording.

Examples of photos taken on Motorola Moto Z2 Play

Conclusion - does it make sense to buy?

Moto Z2 Play is a worthy successor to the Z Play smartphone. It will amaze you with its extremely thin profile and all-metal construction. The main camera protrudes noticeably, but this is to some extent understandable given the thickness of 6 mm. It is also possible to add Moto Mods, which can change the appearance of the smartphone or give it capabilities that cannot be obtained from other smartphones, such as a projector or a 360-degree camera. This is a 2017 model, so it is not surprising that the smartphone is equipped with a USB Type-C port, a fingerprint sensor and the Android 7.1 Nougat operating system, with an update to Android 8 Oreo also planned. There are also special Moto applications with various functions that improve and facilitate the use of the device. The model's battery is 3000 mAh, but the smartphone surprised us with its rather good battery life. The smartphone has good performance thanks to the Snapdragon 626 mobile chip, while maintaining a low body temperature after prolonged use. The camera has an upgrade of 12 megapixels and an f/1.7 aperture. Photos taken with a smartphone are quite good.

Pros of Motorola Moto Z2 Play

• Stylish metal design and 6mm thickness
• Ability to add various Moto Mods
• Fingerprint sensor and USB Type-C port
• Long battery life
• Pure Android 7.1 Nougat + a few extra Moto features
• Low case temperature after prolonged load
• 12-megapixel camera with f/1.7 aperture, laser autofocus and 4K video recording

Minuses

• Very protruding camera
• Increased cost compared to its predecessor

Review from the owner of Motorola Moto Z2 Play, opinion about Moto Mods

Finally, we suggest you look at this interesting review from the owner and his opinion about Moto Mods.