Motorola has today taken the wraps off the successor of its wildly popular smartphone — Moto Z2 Play, which once again brought the concept of modular devices to the forefront. The original device, launched earlier last year, revived the mobile industry’s hope for modular devices and Motorola is continuing to adopt a similar strategy with this year’s upgrade as well. In addition to the new device, Motorola is also debuting a completely new set of Moto Mods as well.
The Moto Z2 Play is not the company’s flagship device but is considered a midrange device, which packs some decent internals and features to make it an attractive buy for the average consumer. The second-generation Z Series phone singles out quirks of their first device, thus, making it even thinner, lighter and faster than before.
Unlike the previous-gen Z Play, the new device has gotten rid of the glass back in favor of a complete aluminium build. The said device is also noticeably thinner and would feel great to hold in the hand. It is only 5.99mm thin, which is super sleek than one could as for in a phone, which even includes everyone’s favorite 3.5mm headphone jack. Yes, the usage of space on the inside seems to be oddly perfect on this device.
The sturdy aluminium build of the device packs inside a 5.5-inch Full HD Super AMOLED display with a crisp resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. The Moto Z2 Play is powered by a 2.2 GHz octa-core Snapdragon 626 processor, coupled with Adreno 506 GPU, and two different RAM and storage variants — 3GB and 32GB, 4GB and 64GB. The memory is also expandable up to 2TB with the use of MicroSD card.
As for the optics, the Moto Z2 Play includes a 12-megapixel rear snapper with a f/1.7 aperture, which is a slight downgrade from the previous 16-megapixel, but the performance of the newer lens it much better. The camera now also has dual auto-focus, second-gen laser autofocus, and a dual-LED flash. The camera bump on the rear remains. The front camera is a measly 5-megapixel coupled with LED flash for bright selfies.
It runs on the latest flavor of Android — Nougat 7.1.1 and is bringing along a Night Display feature and redesigned fingerprint reader for your convenience. Though you should not expect features like water and dust resistance at the price point of this very smartphone. It packs a USB Type-C port for charging and data transfer needs, while also bringing along other connectivity options as well.
However, not everything is exceptionally good about this smartphone. The Moto Z2 Play may be easier to hold or use due to its new sleek build but the company has compromised on the battery front to make this possible. The previous model included a huge 3,510 mAh battery whereas the newly unveiled device brings along only a 3,000 mAh battery pack — which seems like a big disappointment. The company touts that the device can last up to 30 hours but that doesn’t like a possibility with that big 5.5-inch screen.
You may not have to worry about the same even if you’re a power user and still needed to carry around a power bank to top up your phone with some extra charge. The company has not debuted the Moto Z2 Play but has also launched four new Moto Mods with the said device as well. These include the JBL SoundBoost 2, the Moto TurboPower Pack, Wireless Charging Shells, and the Moto GamePad. You will have to shell out $39.99/piece for the charging shells while rest of the new Moto Mods will set you back by $79.99
As for the pricing, the Moto Z2 Play has been priced at $499 — a decent price for a swanky new modular device that fits perfect in the hands. This sleek and gorgeous smartphone will be available for purchase from Verizon or unlocked from Motorola’s official website this summer. It’ll be available in two color variants — Grey (with black front panel) and Gold (with white front panel).
