Playtime.
We've reached the point
in smartphone development where it takes a lot to make a phone stand
out from the crowd. Because come on... they are all, pretty much,
rectangular slabs of black glass. So, when something unique does come
along, boasting actual physical uniqueness and interest – not just
higher internal specs – we get excited. Hence our joy in reviewing
the Motorola Moto Z Play.
From the outside this
is very much a normal high-end and modern smartphone: it runs Android
Marshmallow, has a 5.5 inch 1080p AMOLED screen, 3GB of RAM, a 16MP
main shooter, and everything thing else you'd expect from a
smartphone that will set you back £370 out of contract.
Aesthetically speaking,
the Motorola Moto Z Play is a good looking phone, with a softly
curved top and bottom and gentle rounded edges. The bumper is smooth
aluminium, and the volume and sleep/wake buttons are both on the
right-hand side. Other than that there is the standard headphone port
on the bottom and a USB-C charging port. Because that's a thing these
day, did you know?
We so desperately want
to push on to tell you about the back of the device, but first... In
use, the Motorola Moto Z Play is a joy yo use, feeling quick and
smooth with whatever we threw at it. The 1080p screen is bright and
crisp, there is a front-facing flash next to the 5MP selfie cam (yes,
a selfie flash!), and the fingerprint scanner is the quickest and
most accurate of any phone with one that we've ever reviewed –
better even than the iPhone 7. There is 32GB of storage built in,
expandable with the Micro SD port which shares the space with the SIM
card. And hey, the damn battery lasted two whole days between charges
– we kid you not. So, what's going on at the back?
Well, that textured
plate at the rear pops off...
...revealing a still
very attractive face with a weird connector point at the bottom. This
is where the Moto Mods attach, and it is with these optional add-ons
that the Motorola Moto Z Play becomes so much more exciting than any
normal smartphone.
Moto Mods are, in
essence, magnetically attaching pieces of hardware that fulfil a
specific task, either one that the phone cannot normally do (like a
projector), or to augment something it can (like an extra battery
pack). These Mods are made both by Lenovo (who own Motorola these
days) and other companies such as Hasselblad and JBL. We were sent
four to try out, each very different from the next.
JBL Soundboost Speaker
This Moto Mod is
probably the most obvious: phone speakers are rubbish, so improve on
that. The JBL Soundboost does just that, snapping on to the Motorola
Moto Z Play and featuring big and chunky grills.
The quality of the
actual sound reminded us of a mid-sized Bluetooth speaker, something
along the lines of this. Room-filling... yes, but party
get-starting... perhaps not. But still, we've yet to see a speaker
this thin that can confidently reproduce bass like that. The JBL
Soundboost Speaker includes a kickstand to prop it all up and neatly
offer you your phone's screen, so definitely more of a personal music
device. Oh, and it includes a battery that will boost the Moto Z
Play's by an extra ten hours! Nice.
Incipio Offgrid
Powerpack
You've had your speaker
augmentation, so now here is your battery's. The Offgrid snap-on is
not only the slimmest of the Moto Mods we reviewed, but it also
provides an additional 22 hours of battery life from a 2220mAh
battery, as soon as you attach it to the phone. Bare in mind that the
Moto Z Play is already boasting two days of life, and this pushes you
to three! Three effing days, guys! It's like it's 2001 again!
There's not a great
deal more to say about this one, but it is rather clever in how it
trickle feeds the juice to the phone, optimising when it is most
important to do so. One slight annoyance is that it can only be
charged when it is attached to the phone, and we would have preferred
an extra USB-C port on this to charge separately. Still... THREE
DAYS!
Hasselblad True Zoom
If we're being honest,
and we rarely aren't, the True Zoom Moto Mod was the one that really
caught our eye... and yet ended up not being out favourite (that is
still to follow). This one snaps on to the Moto Z Play and turns the
phone into a compact camera. 'But it already has a camera', we hear
you cry, and yes it does – a very good one, in fact.
But the Hasselblad True
Zoom adds a 10x optical zoom, a whopping great flash, the ability to
capture images in RAW format, and physical shutter and zoom buttons
that you'd normally only find on cameras. And a carry case, to boot –
just like an actual camera. Snapping shots is real joy with this
thing attached, and the whole package feels natural in your hands –
something that using a phone for photography rarely does. Mind you,
it's bloody pricey, and many might be eyeing up a compact DSLR for
about that much!
Moto Insta-Share
Projector
And here is our
favourite Mod – a projector. That actually surprised us, as we've
never been big fans of projectors on The Test Pit. However, that
changed the moment we snapped this bad boy onto the Moto Z Play and
hit Netflix. Using the built-in stand you can project an impossibly
bright and clear image of up 70 diagonal inches (!), and all from a
pin-point of a lens.
The Insta-Share
Projector even knows the orientation of your device, and will adjust
the picture angle accordingly. This means there are no Star Wars
intro crawl-like perspective issues – just a perfectly rectangular
screen. Find a white wall (or ceiling), hit the lights, and it's
movie time.
Seriously, this is so
much fun, and we found a great use for it was at night. Tilted back,
it can project onto the ceiling, and the dial on the front of the
unit can be used to get the perfect focus. Then just hook up a pair
of Bluetooth headphones to the Moto Z Play, and lay back in bed. This
is a truly awesome addition to any phone, and the fact that it just
snaps right on and can still fit in your pocket may also sway the
business lot with their many presentations. However...
cough-£250-cough!
Even without any of the
Moto Mods, the Moto Z Play is still a very good phone with high
specs, which (from the deals we've seen in the UK) won't smash the
crap out of your bank account each month. And... if you love your
music, go for the speaker Mod. If you go camping a lot, go for the
battery Mod. If you love photography... etc etc. There could be
something for you here, and as more Mods are released in the future,
the Motorola Moto Z Play could present you with a more specialised
and bespoke device. Not many phone makers can offer that.
£299
JBL Soundboost Speaker
£69.98
Incipio Offgrid
Powerpack £59.99
Hasselblad True Zoom
£199.99
Moto Insta-Share
Projector £249.98
Available from www.amazon.co.uk