Motorola Moto Z2 Play review: let's play with Moto. Motorola Moto Z2 Play review - excellent autonomy and pure Android Motorola z2 play interchangeable units

Moto Mods are not a thing of the past - the topic is evolving, new modules are being developed, Motorola is already releasing the second generation of smartphones that support Mods. But modules are modules, I will talk about them in a separate article. Today we will see what it is.

Motorola Moto Z2 Play video review

Thanks to the coworking TOLOKA for the shooting location:

Equipment

Motorola Moto Z2 Play comes in a striking red cardboard box. This is the first time I really like the box of the device. It is well designed and easy to open. And in general, it is made very stylishly, so the Z2 Play captivates as soon as you take the box in your hands.

The set is quite standard: a cable and a fast charging unit, a clip for removing the SIM card slot, documentation and a nice bonus in the form of a fabric cover (or the so-called pad).

Other stylish covers can be purchased separately for about $ 15. It's nice to be able to match the design of your smartphone to, say, the color of your shoes, and removable covers will help you with that. True, they do not sit tightly enough. The overlay in my copy has a slight backlash, but due to the pettiness of the lack, the irritation from it only grows.

Design and ergonomics

The days when it was possible to express oneself with the help of the phone's appearance are long gone. It is extremely difficult to do something really new, while keeping up with modern trends. But Moto, at least somehow stands out from the general background.

The new Z2 Play is similar to its predecessorMoto Z Play first generation... But the novelty is thinner by almost two millimeters and lost 20 grams in weight. Because of this, I had to "tighten the belt" on the battery. In general, when examining the front part, you will not immediately understand which Moto you have in front of your eyes, and we are not only talking about the Play line, the smartphone looks non-standard compared to the "Chinese", but standard for the Moto brand.

First impressions of Moto Z2 Play: the case is really very thin, the metal cools the hand, the matte back is beautiful, the gloss of the glass on the front is tempting. Well what can I say? Nice, nice, I like it.

The fingerprint scanner has become a little neater, personally I prefer its rounded shape rather than the square one like last year. Above the screen there is a flash, an earpiece and a front camera, under the screen there is a fingerprint scanner and a microphone. The transition between the glass of the front part and the metal of the side faces is still a little sharp, but already better and much smoother than, say, y.

On the right side are the volume keys and the power button. The buttons are quite small, but easy to use. The left side is empty.

On the upper edge, you will find a slot for SIM cards and memory cards. It can simultaneously install two NanoSIMs and a microSD memory card. At the bottom there is a USB Type C charging connector and a mini-jack for headphones. There is a thin plastic insert along the perimeter of the rear panel, which is necessary for the operation of the antennas of the wireless modules.

The back itself is metal, matte, and well, very pleasant to the touch. The round peephole of the camera with the flash protrudes quite strongly from the body, but with the cover all its bulge disappears. Although I fell in love with the smartphone in its original form.

There is a glossy Moto logo under the camera peephole. At the bottom there are bare pins for connecting modules. In general, the design turned out to be really pleasant and stylish, despite the fact that we are facing a smartphone-constructor and its functionality still slightly prevails over the design.

Screen

Motorola Moto Z2 Play received a screen similar to its predecessor in terms of characteristics: Super AMOLED, 5.5-inch diagonal, Full HD resolution, Gorilla Glass 3. Viewing angles, contrast and color reproduction of the display are excellent. Auto brightness control works correctly, and its range is large enough both for reading books at night and for using a smartphone outside on a bright sunny day.

As with other Moto, there is an Active Display feature that activates the screen when you pick up your smartphone or swipe your palm over it. The time, date, battery charge and notification icons are displayed. I especially liked the night mode in Moto, I always have it on, I really love warm colors. Also in the settings you can play with the screen temperature, white balance and adjust the color rendition for yourself.

As for me, the screen in the Motorola Moto Z2 Play is excellent, but there is always something to strive for.

Camera

Moto Z2 Play received an updated main camera module - it uses a sensor with a resolution of 12 megapixels (f / 1.7). The front module has retained the "old" characteristics: 5 Mp, f / 2.2.

The main camera takes really high-quality photos in good daylight, which made me very happy as a lover of taking pictures everywhere, always and under any conditions. Here the color rendition is good and the detailing is not bad.

There are no bells and whistles, such as the depth of field mode in the Z2 Play, but, frankly, it's good without it. I don't really understand the hype around this feature in smartphones. After all, the bokeh effect now actually works very primitively, a similar result can be achieved with the help of simple applications for post-processing photos.

"Front-facing" in Motorola Moto Z2 Play is juicy, you won't be left without good selfies, I guarantee.

The idea of ​​a modular smartphone has been haunted by manufacturers for a long time. Remember at least the now abandoned Project Ara from Google or the LG G5. The idea was interesting, but the system turned out to be inconvenient: there are few modules, they also make sense. Even LG gave up experimenting and made the new flagship conventional, returning to monolithic bodies.

The only company that still tries to surprise with non-standard solutions is Motorola. Its modular concept turned out to be the most thoughtful and affordable. With a slight movement from a smartphone, you can make a projector, speaker, game console or pump the camera. Today, no one other than Moto can offer such opportunities.

An interesting novelty last year was the Moto Z Play: a solid glass and metal midrange, with a good camera and excellent battery life. This year we are getting acquainted with the second generation - Moto Z2 Play.

It is much lighter and thinner than its predecessor, has an improved camera and iron. At the same time, it works with both new modules and previously released ones.

Moto Z2 Play received a Sony IMX362 module with a resolution of 12 megapixels, the lens aperture is F1.7. The camera starts up quickly and focuses immediately thanks to laser and phase detection autofocus. Also, a two-color LED flash is installed to help the camera. There is no dual camera, yet this is the prerogative of the flagships.

The front camera has a modest 5 megapixel, the lens aperture is F2.2. Not the best solution for today; getting a high-quality selfie does not always come out. But there is a flash here, so in low light, the pictures are good.

Together with the smartphone, a photomodule, created jointly with Hasselblad, arrived at the editorial office. Hasselblad True Zoom module rests on a special magnetic mount and putting it on is as easy as shelling pears: you just need to put your smartphone to the module and it will magnetize itself, finding contact with a special pad. Interestingly, Hasselblad True Zoom completely covers the device's camera, so the sensor here is its own, moreover, it is back-illuminated. Its resolution is 12 megapixels and the physical size is 1 / 2.3 inches.

Of course, there is no medium-format matrix here, and it makes no sense to compare the module with the cameras of the Swedish brand. But, installed on a Moto Z-line smartphone, it turns the device into a full-fledged camera with 10x optical zoom and optical image stabilization. The equivalent focal length is 25-250mm. True, you have to pay for this with the aperture of the lens, which ranges from F3.5 to F6.5. Also worth noting is the xenon flash that the module is equipped with.

As a result, you end up with a small camera that shoots better than your average smartphone. In this case, you can continue to fully use the phone.

What you need to know about the Moto Z2 Play:

5.5-inch Super AMOLED display, 1920x1080 resolution, 401 ppi.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 626 Octa Core 2.2GHz. Not top, but it works smartly, without lags and overheating. For this, we must thank the almost pure Android 7.1.1, well optimized even for weak processors.

4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of internal storage. The latter can be expanded up to 2 TB.

Two SIM cards can be inserted into the SIM card tray at once and there is a separate slot for microSD.

The thickness of the smartphone body is only 5.9 millimeters, the weight is 145 grams.

3000mAh battery. The smartphone can withstand a working day, and if you sometimes give it a rest, it will survive until lunch the next day.

Support for modules that expand the capabilities of the smartphone. More than ten are available, including a projector, a speaker, a wireless charger, a Hasselblad photo module and others.

This year, Motorola decided to ditch the release of a sequel to its main flagship, the Moto Z, in favor of a stripped-down successor to the Moto Z Force. And while Motorola's new flagship model is our hottest interest, in reality we expected a lot more from the new Moto Z2 Force than we received. However, the phone turned out to be pretty good! We bring to your attention our review of Motorola's new flagship device!

Unpacking the Moto Z2 Force

For the review, we received an initially unlocked Moto Z2 Force smartphone from the American operator Verizon, which, although the phone came from Verizon, comes in a standard red package. And the only thing that sets it apart from the regular version due out later this year is the Verizon logo on the packaging and body of the device.

Unlike last year's Moto Z Force, the package for Motorola's new modular phone is the simplest. The package contains the phone itself, a charger with TurboPower fast charging support, a cable for charging and connecting to a computer and a 3.5 mm - USB Type-C adapter for connecting headphones that do not have a USB Type-C connector. The replacement panel was not included in the package of the new version of the flagship.

It's especially nice that the new Moto Z Force from Verizon became the first smartphone released for the American market to receive Russian language support out of the box!

Moto Z2 Force hardware

The Moto Z2 Force looks very similar to the previously unveiled Moto Z2 Play - a 5.5-inch Super AMOLED display flanked at the top and bottom by large areas with an oblong fingerprint sensor on the bottom and front / earpiece speaker, front-facing camera and dual-tone LED flash on the top ... The power and volume buttons are located next to each other on the right. The USB-C port is at the bottom. The rear panel houses a connector of sixteen contact pads for attaching Moto Mods, a growing ecosystem of Motorola plug-in modules, the Batwing logo and a camera inscribed in a circular module that protrudes quite noticeably above the rear panel until the difference in height is leveled out using one of the replaceable decorative panels.

Moto Z2 Force specifications

The Moto Z2 Force has a few minor external differences from the Moto Z2 Play, as there is no headphone jack next to the USB-C port, in which the new Z2 Force repeats last year's controversial decision to eliminate the popular port. Instead, a 3.5mm USB-C adapter is included in the box, and don't discount the appeal of the increasingly accessible Bluetooth headphone ecosystem.

But the main thing is that, unlike the Moto Z2 Play and other devices in the Motorola line, in the design of the cases of which elements of anodized aluminum are used, the Moto Z2 Force is enclosed in a rigid aluminum case of the 7000 series.

That toughness, combined with the Deep Black matte finish, makes the Moto Z2 Force the best design and construction Z-series product to date, but the differences are so subtle that they can be easily overlooked. The most obvious visual change to the phone's design is the addition of a second main camera sensor, a popular strategy this year that we think is not entirely justified on Motorola's new flagship.

The Moto Z line was introduced before the industry transitioned to tall, narrow bezel-less screens, and as Motorola promised to be compatible with several generations of the expanding Moto module ecosystem, the overall layout of the smartphone has remained unchanged. The fingerprint sensor is spacious and fast, and can be used for navigation instead of on-screen buttons.

The Moto Z2 Force builds on the company's four years of software legacy, with a series of thoughtful additions to Android, with Moto Display as its cornerstone. Swipe your hand over your phone on the table and view incoming notifications as they appear, all without unlocking or even turning on the screen.

The new Super AMOLED display is certainly an improvement over last year, as has virtually every Motorola flagship phone launched since the Moto X launched in 2013. The display has a Quad HD resolution and is comfortable enough for use in direct sunlight.

While the Moto Z2 Force is water-repellent nano-coated, this is another phone in Motorola's lineup that isn't completely water-resistant, which could have been easily accomplished with such a rugged display and the missing headphone jack.

The main feature of Motorola phones, which have the Force brand in the name, is the ShatterShield technology, which protects the screen from damage if dropped. ShatterShield consists of five elements, starting from the very base - shock-absorbing aluminum body of the phone, the AMOLED panel is flexible and can withstand sudden impact, the touch layer has a backup to be used if the primary is damaged by impact, a polycarbonate layer is used to protect the display. and finally another layer, which also serves as protection against impact and damage, while protecting the main protective layer from scratches.

It's pretty good technology considering Motorola has a four-year warranty against damage to the display, but the top layer you mostly interact with is essentially a screen protector that you can peel off and replace if necessary. But since it's plastic and not glass, it's not very comfortable to use, making the Moto Z2 Force's display one of the most scratch-sensitive displays out there.

Motorola recommends using screen protectors to prevent scratches and this may be the only option as Motorola has decided not to sell the $ 29.99 screen protector kit as it did for the previous two generations.

Even before the phone went on sale, Motorola had to defend itself against claims that the Moto Z2 Force is more prone to scratches than previous models, probably because in an attempt to minimize the distance between the finger and the display, it reduced and therefore weakened the protective layer. ...

The Moto Z2 Force is much thinner than its predecessor - 6.1mm compared to the first version's 7mm - and weighs 20 grams less, which isn't bad either. This is a prettier phone, especially in the Super Black matte version. But it is possible that if Motorola had kept the thickness of the original and the size of the battery, it might not have had to compromise on the thickness of the display.

However, this subtlety brings some benefits. The Moto Z2 Force has a lightweight feel that the previous version lacked and overall the phone feels like a thin and light plate of glass and metal.

Of course, the main selling point of choosing a phone from the Moto Z line is the growing ecosystem of modules, to which a 360-degree camera has recently been added. Lots of extra batteries, speakers, GamePad - Motorola's modular platform offers a huge selection of add-ons.

I also think it's important this time to pay attention to the criticism directed at Motorola that the company deliberately lowered the battery capacity and, as a result, the battery life, both on the Moto Z2 Play and the Moto Z2 Force, in order to nudge people to buy additional battery modules. While this seems like a valid argument at first glance, I must point out that Motorola wants to increase sales of phones in the first place, because the modules do not work separately from them.

There are many studies that claim lighter phones sell better than heavier ones, mainly because it, especially on phones with large screens, reduces hand fatigue and makes it easier to use the phone with one hand. To make the phones lighter, Motorola had to reduce the size of the battery, which resulted in a slimmer and more ergonomic phone.

Yes, Motorola wants to boost module sales, and extra batteries sell better than other modules, but there is no reason to assume that the company has decided to sabotage its flagship phone and worsen the attitude of its main fans for this. Instead, Motorola took a calculated risk: alienating the few people who chose the Z Force because of its powerful battery in order to appeal to a much wider audience.

Moto Z2 Force software

The Moto Z2 Force has identical software to the Moto Z2 Play and pretty much every Motorola device running Android 7.1.1. It is lightweight and clean, similar to stock Android.

A cornerstone of Motorola's software strategy is the Moto app, which gives you access to display settings, gesture settings and voice control settings, the fundamentals of which have not changed in four years.

Features like the Moto Display have evolved along with the phones themselves, offering new features. This year's version of Motorola's mobile notifications added images so that Twitter notifications will display an account avatar in addition to the content. And if Android notifications have the option to, say, reply or archive that notification, that can also be done from the lock screen.

Moto display is the best form of notification on any Android phone. Given the tough nature of Lenovo's influence, we are delighted that it allowed Motorola to keep the Moto Display intact.

Likewise, Motorola's popular gestures - Moto Actions - a hack to turn on the flashlight and twist your wrist to quickly load the camera - are still supported after all these years and are just as useful as ever. For us, they are as inextricably linked to the Moto brand as the Batwing logo. Developed under the leadership of Google, and under the leadership of former Motorola chief and current head of Google's hardware division, Rick Osterloch, these features have been imitated by other manufacturers and even Google!

New addition - Navigation by touching the scanner removes the on-screen buttons in favor of gestures that are read with a fingerprint scanner.

Another very handy addition is Moto Voice and Show Me, which allows you to use voice control on your phone. Suffice it to say, for example, “Show me the weather,” and even from the lock screen, the phone opens the weather widget for a few short seconds before returning to idle state. Show Me My Day does the same for showing scheduled appointments on your calendar.

Best of all, because Moto remembers your voice, you can use the Show Me feature to safely bypass the lock screen, quickly accessing the app you want. This can avoid a lot of unnecessary movement in a day.

Moto Z2 performance and battery life

Powered by the latest Snapdragon 835 processor and 4GB of RAM, the Moto Z2 Force is about as powerful as the Galaxy S8 or OnePlus 5. The phone runs really fast. The Motorola Launcher is designed with the same code as the Pixel Launcher, so it's not only fast but also energy efficient.

We used the phone for about a week before preparing this review and are impressed with its performance. While we had few complaints about the Snapdragon 626 chip on the Moto Z2 Play, there are clear distinctions between a mid-range chip and a top-end processor, and the highlight is load times. Apps open instantly, and animation almost never slows down.

There has been a lot of buzz about the 22% drop in battery capacity compared to the Moto Z Force, but I can assure you that this was not an issue. I have never been able to drain my phone below 10% for a full day. While the 2,730mAh battery is significantly lower than the 3,500mAh of its predecessor and nearly every flagship on the market, Motorola has done an excellent job optimizing the system for the new Qualcomm chip.

In the meantime, there are several Moto Modules available to extend the battery life even further, including the new Turbopower Pack, which has a 3490mAh battery that charges the phone 50% in 20 minutes. You probably won't need an extra battery, but it's nice to know that such an option is available.

Moto Z2 Force supports gigabit speeds, and, despite the fact that we had an unlocked model from Verizon in our tests, we managed to achieve speeds up to 50 Mbps on Megafon networks, both for reception and transmission.

Moto Z2 Force cameras

Considering that this is the first Motorola phone to have a dual main camera, it can be forgiven for not taking full advantage of its capabilities.

To begin with, the main camera of the Moto Z2 Force has two 12MP sensors from Sony - the IMX386 model with 1.25 micron pixels - one color (Bayer) and one monochrome (Clear). In fact, the latter sensor does not have the ability to detect color, but by removing this layer, it is able to capture three times as much light. Together, the sensors are supposed to be combined to allow for sharper photos during the day and better low-light photos at night.

Qualcomm, which developed this technology, named it Clear Sight.

Unfortunately, none of the dual camera lenses have received optical stabilization, which means that Motorola's camera is trying to shorten the shutter speed, which leads to poor quality in low light.

Daylight results are much better and allow for absolutely stunning photographs. Despite narrowing the aperture down to f / 2.0, up from f / 1.8 in the Moto Z Force last year, the camera delivers beautiful depth of field - even without additional effects.

As for the other benefits of the second sensor and lens, there is real information from the dual-sensor camera that allows you to play with depth of field and focus after the photo is taken. And because the phone has a monochrome sensor, the new Motorola gives you the ability to capture fantastic black and white photos in virtually any light.

The problem is that Motorola could have done much more by fully realizing the capabilities of the industry-leading IMX386 sensor. Instead, she decided to ditch the optical stabilization that was present in last year's Moto Z flagships, in favor of a dual camera with questionable benefits.

The ability to replace the background of images, or make it monochrome, leaving the foreground in color, is certainly interesting, but we think it is more of a marketing gimmick.

And of course the lack of optical stabilization affects the phone's ability to shoot great video despite 4K support.

Final thoughts on the Moto Z2 Force

Earlier this year, when Motorola launched the Moto Z2 Play, it was obvious that it was a great phone, but not the best sequel to the Moto Z Play. With the release of the Moto Z2 Force, it's clear that the company has decided to combine the best aspects of Moto Z and Moto Z Force in one device. Last year, when we launched the Moto Z and Moto Z Force, we often noticed that when choosing between the two, buyers often chose the lighter and thinner Moto Z, leaving the Moto Z Force to a small number of connoisseurs who were looking for this particular device. ... Despite the same display diagonal, the Moto Z Force often felt too heavy and unwieldy.

Overall, we really liked the new Moto Z2 Force. I love how responsive it is and how responsive it is to the fingerprint sensor, as well as little things like the front-facing flash that aren't found on other devices. And of course, how easy it is to add extra features to the Moto Z2 Force with Moto Modules like the Moto 360 Camera or GamePad.

Hello friends! In June, Motorola introduced the Moto Z2 Play, a mid-range smartphone with a surprisingly thin body and an interesting modular system. The device will soon be on sale, and why you should pay attention to it - we will now tell you.

Appearance

The first thing that attracts attention is the small thickness of the Moto Z2 Play - only six millimeters. This is less than most flagships of the current year, but the smartphone belongs only to the middle segment. The previous model, the Moto Z Play, was also slim (7mm), but the updated model stands out in this regard.

A touch button with a built-in fingerprint scanner is located under the screen, at the same time it can be configured to recognize gestures. In the upper area, in addition to the front camera window and the sensor eye, there is a flash note - selfie lovers will be pleased. Some manufacturers make imitation of face illumination through a white screen, but the flash is still much more effective.

On the right side, we see separate volume buttons and a power key, and the left side is completely deaf. It is interesting that the power button is ribbed - you can immediately feel it to the touch. A tray for SIM cards and microSD storage is accessible from the top.

I am very pleased with the presence of two slots for SIM-cards and flash drives: as a rule, in smartphones, you have to choose between two SIMs or SIM + microSD, but here you don't need to compromise. At the bottom there is a USB Type-C 3.1 standard, as well as a 3.5mm headphone jack.

The main photomodule is enclosed in a beautiful ring, but not even this unit attracts attention, but a panel with golden dots in the lower area of ​​the back cover. This is an interface for connecting external modules. The company offers standalone gadgets called Moto Mods, which we'll cover in more detail below.

The smartphone is available in three colors - silver, gold and dark gray. Note that the colors are not flashy and look restrained, so even the golden version can be bought without fear.

Display

It is impossible to see the pixels in normal use cases. Even holding the smartphone close to the eyes, it is not immediately possible to distinguish between the "squares". The display has good brightness, and the colors are juicy - thanks to AMOLED for that. The tones, by the way, are not vyvyglazny, which was found in similar matrices several years ago. The problem has long been resolved, and the advantages of the technology over IPS are tangible.

Hardware and system

In benchmarks, the updated hardware proved to be more than worthy. Yes, the results are more modest than the flagship devices - but the Moto Z2 Play is in a different niche and comes in a different price range.

Testing, by the way, showed that the system copes well with heavy loads: in "heavy" games, such as Real Racing 3, the smartphone behaves decently. It's time to ask the question whether it is worth paying twice as much for flagships, which are better only on paper, but in reality show a comparable speed of work.

Moto Z2 Play is equipped with an NFC chip. The device works perfectly with the Android Pay service and supports Mifare contactless cards - you can replenish your Troika account without standing in a queue, and also pay for public transport using your smartphone.

The smartphone, which is nice, immediately runs on the current version of Android 7.1.1 Nougat. A distinctive feature is that the system is "clean" - no shells. Android is presented here as intended by its developers, and this is the best option.

When setting up the device, the system offers to install a number of applications, but if you don't want to, you can simply refuse - no obligation. This is very pleasing against the background of some manufacturers who immediately litter the user's new phone with a mass of programs of dubious necessity.

Motorola has added an application to the Moto Z2 Play with the uncomplicated name Moto. It contains a number of additional features that make it easier to use your smartphone. In practice, they make everyday operations more comfortable and enjoyable. For example, with an incoming call, you can take the gadget in your hand, and the melody will fade away - after all, you already saw the call, so you no longer need to ring. Or turning on the flashlight by shaking the phone - it turns out not only quickly, but also effectively.

Another beautiful feature is called Moto Display. She is responsible for viewing notifications on the locked display. The screen will flash if you just swipe your hand over it, at the same time you can quickly reply to the message.

When writing text on the go, holding the smartphone with one hand, you can reduce the displayed surface of the application with one movement of your finger (from bottom to top) to make it easier to enter a message.

Finally, the camera is activated by a spectacular gesture - you need to rotate twice with the brush while holding the Moto Z2 Play.

Camera

Shooting in daylight is excellent: the system selects the color balance well, and you almost never need to tinker with the settings. You can even play with macro photography: the smartphone quickly focuses, including on objects that are almost "in front of his nose."

The front camera has also become better: it still has 5 megapixels, but the aperture is already equal to f / 2.0 instead of f / 2.2. The flash is equipped with two LEDs.

Working hours

If you change the gentle mode of use to a more active one, you will get about a day of work. In the “all the money” scenario, from morning to evening, a smartphone should be enough in any case. Of course, there are craftsmen who will land the battery in five to six hours, but in real life we ​​put off the smartphone for other things at least for a while.

But Motorola has taken care of the users who are constantly using the smartphone. One of the additional modules is the Moto Turbopower Pack with an additional 3490 mAh battery. By attaching it to your smartphone in a second, you will get about a day of additional battery life. Let the Moto Z2 Play become thicker because of this device, but it will also ask for an outlet every 2.5-3.5 days with moderate use.

Moto Mods family

The Moto Gamepad turns your smartphone into a full-fledged pocket-sized game console - like the PlayStation Portable or the latest Nintendo Switch. There are two sticks, a D-pad, a set of action buttons and bumpers on the top. And since games require a lot of energy, the mod has a built-in 1035 mAh battery so that additional controls do not take away the smartphone's charge. The Moto Gamepad's battery lasts for up to eight hours of play - handy on long trips.

The JBL Soundboost 2 speaker mod will eliminate the need to buy a portable speaker. Music of excellent quality (JBL, after all) will fill a rather large room, and if you are going for a picnic, then the mod will not take up much space: you attach it to your smartphone in one touch, and you're done. In addition, the JBL Soundboost 2 is well prepared for outdoor activities - the speaker is not afraid of sudden rain or splashing from the pool. The built-in battery lasts for 10 hours of playback. At the same time, the device can be used for hands-free conversations.

The Moto Z2 Play uses high-quality optics, but if you're serious about photography, you need something more impressive than a standard camera. For example, the Hasselblad True Zoom mod. The gadget provides 10x optical zoom and has a xenon flash. Pictures can be saved in RAW format, which is what you need for subsequent processing in graphic editors. With the attached mod, the smartphone feels like a real camera in the hand - the ergonomics are at a high level, you can grip the device with your palm, and not hold it on the thin edges, as is usually the case with mobile photography.

Perhaps the most unusual mod is the projector. It transmits the image to any surface at an angle of up to 70 degrees, and the built-in battery will provide an additional hour of using the most interesting mod. There are a lot of opportunities: from a spectacular presentation of presentations to atmospheric gatherings over a fire while watching films displayed on the wall of a tent or hut.

In addition, there are many panels with beautiful prints (wood or leather) to help make the Moto Z2 Play more personal.

Conclusion

Is it worth then overpaying one and a half times for flagship pipes? When, say, you need an improved camera, you can spend a few thousand rubles on an additional module for the Moto Z2 Play, rather than choosing a more expensive smartphone. Motorola allows you to customize the gadget to suit your specific needs. But it is much more important that without modules, a smartphone is perceived as an independent device, and not a blank for installing additional blocks.

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

One has a low price, but reliability confuses. The other one seems to be good for everyone, but all the acquaintances walk with the same Xiaomi, but I want something like that. At the very least, you can find an original device, if you have money.

Moto Z2 Play is just the same option for connoisseurs of pure android and fashionable ideas. I must say right away that Moto does not 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 in general and why he is special.

Modules

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

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

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

The idea of ​​the modules is great, but you need to buy them separately. I did not see the prices for accessories on the Russian site, I looked at how much they cost on Amazon. The column comes out in the region of $ 80, the same is the cost of the battery cover. 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.

Slim and bright

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

5.5-inch screen with small frames and Full HD resolution under a protective 2.5D glass with an excellent oleophobic coating and a juicy 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 for everybody, my eyes began to ache after long reading or watching a video on the phone screen. Judging by my acquaintances, some people are also tormented by this problem, others do not care about it, the matter is subjective. But during normal use, when you don’t stumble in the phone for hours, you don’t notice it.

Fast and clean Android

In terms of hardware, this is a typical "average" - 4/64 GB of memory and Qualcomm Snapdragon 626. The phone pulls 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 Xiaomi with top-end hardware or last year's Galaxy S7, which is very good. Why does Moto save money and does not want to offer a “tasty” solution on its part? Well, Lenovo had an experimental brand ZUK, but the brand discounter did not bring success in business, they turned the company down. So if you can't wait to say that you can buy a top-end Xiaomi for the same money, you will be right, you can.

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

Through its settings, you can activate the launch of the camera by turning the brush 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 is activated on the screen for a few seconds, notifications are visible. Sort of little things, but comfortable. Especially you get used to shaking your phone before shooting, then you take another and wonder why he can't do that. Oh, sorry, this is not Moto.

The SIM card tray is located at the top, and you don't have to sacrifice a second SIM card compartment if you decide to put a memory card in your phone. A separate slot for microSD is also provided, so for this Moto honor and praise, thanks.

While Apple talks about what a cool wireless world we've come to that doesn't need a headphone jack, Moto looks at it differently. If you want to listen to music, please, here's a regular 3.5 mm jack on the bottom. Comfortable!

Nice camera with chips

Following the fashion for selfies, Moto did not add a fancy front camera, there are only 5 megapixels, but the phone received a front-facing flash. For my taste, this is an amateur thing - pictures in poor lighting definitely come out lighter and without so much noise, but the face comes out overexposed. The cheeks and nose are shiny, the skin turns 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. An ordinary phone without a front-facing flash will simply not be able to take it off.

The main camera is 12 megapixels, the lens sticks out very much from the body, the edges would not peel off over time when you put the phone on the surface. Does aesthetics suffer from such a design? For my taste, no, the smartphone itself is thin, the module simply could not be crammed for technical reasons.

However, when you put on some fancy "motomode", the camera is simply lost inside, such a combination of design and technology.

The Moto Z Play shoots decently, here are some examples of what its camera is capable of. Of the useful functions here are laser focusing, high-aperture optics with f / 1.7, video recording in [email protected]

Slim but long lasting

Since the phone is thin, then it sits down in half a day and you live by the outlet? Don't make hasty decisions! The working time pleased me - Moto Z Play calmly withstands a working day with active use: maps for navigation, communication in 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 moved "MTS" - the phone began to work longer, so the choice of the operator and the quality of the coverage area also seriously affects the autonomy. Really squeeze 2 days? Yes, there is no battery in the background of the "zhora", the phone hardly discharges, if there are no problems with the reception of the communication signal.

The phone comes with increased power charging - the TurboPower unit is healthy, more large iPad charging. But it charges the phone by 50% in half an hour, it is very convenient, while you wash and get ready to go from home to work, Moto Z2 Play is already ready for work and entertainment. It's 2017 and fast charging is not a novelty anymore, but you still enjoy the practical function, especially when the iPhone 7 Plus with a battery of the same capacity is lying nearby and slowly charging.

Opinion

I tried to describe what the Moto Z2 Play is good for and why they ask for 34,990 rubles for it. From the buyer's point of view, the alignment is as follows: the phone costs like a top-end Chinese smartphone or like last year's Korean flagship, so why should I buy it?

Slim body, bright screen, good autonomy, clean and fast Android with regular updates, excellent ergonomics, and a bunch of mods for a body kit.

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

Last year I liked the Moto X Play, this year I can say the same about the Moto Z2 Play. And even if Moto is more expensive than analogs, but made with love, you can feel it when you walk around with a phone and get inspired by its idea.

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