Motorola for many years pleases users with a pleasant price and design, and most importantly, in quality, a variety of gadgets. This time they also decided to keep up with global trends and released, if not the flagship, then the Moto X Play model close to it, reviews of which indicate a good price-quality-performance ratio. But first things first.
Factory equipment
The Moto X Play LTE smartphone is delivered, despite the fact that it is far from budgetary, in a simple cardboard box. In it you can find the branded battery for charging with two outputs of different capacities, a USB cable, a paper clip, again made in the corporate style, and documents. There is no battery in the list, since it is non-removable and is already installed in the smartphone.
As many buyers of the Motorola Moto X Play note, they expected a richer package bundle for this price, but there was no case or headset in the box. Yes, and even a simple protective glass was not, however, all these accessories can be purchased separately.
Design and appearance
The smartphone received a pretty impressive size. This is due to both the large display and the rather wide frames around it. A capacious battery also makes itself felt, as a result of which the thickness of the smartphone was as much as 11 mm. Affected by these indicators and the weight of the gadget, which reached 169 grams. Not critical, but for some users it may not be quite comfortable.
Despite these indicators, you quickly get used to the Moto X Play Black smartphone, however, as with most models of this manufacturer. The phone is easy to hold, it does not slip out of your hands thanks to the rubberized back cover, which also has a nice wavy ornament.
In the factory version, the rear panel is only black or white, but additional panels are sold separately as an accessory in another seven colors, so the smartphone can be uniquely maximized.
Otherwise, the Motorola Moto X Play 16Gb gadget completely repeated the corporate design with which fans have been familiar for the past few years. Even the control elements are located exactly the same as on the previous flagship devices.
Display and Touch Panel
As in most modern middle-class devices, a high-quality display is installed here, made according to the IPS standard and received a resolution of 1920 × 1080 pixels. This is quite enough to make the picture pleasant, and pixelation does not catch the eye even with very painstaking viewing.
In addition, this matrix allows you to save battery power Motorola Moto X Play, while not bringing discomfort to the operation. The viewing angles are very wide, the colors do not change, even if you look at the display almost parallel to the phone. The brightness margin is quite sufficient for the operation of the device in very bright sunlight, but the lower threshold is a bit too big and slightly dazzles in complete darkness, you need to get used to it.
The touch panel is protected by Gorilla Glass 3, which allows you to use your smartphone without a protective film. However, it is worth remembering that the glass is scratch resistant, but can still break, so use it as carefully as possible. There is no oleophobic coating , but there were no problems removing the prints from the glass.
Sound through headphones and speakers
Despite the fact that on the front panel of the device there are two slots for speakers, in fact only the lower one is polyphonic, the upper one serves only for talking. Nevertheless, the main musical speaker pleased with its sound. This is not to say that it is perfect, but overall quite good. The volume is sufficient to hear the ringing signal in a noisy street, the sound quality does not suffer, there is no rattle.
The location of the speaker on the main front panel contributed to a more comfortable viewing of clips and listening to music. No matter how the Moto X Play smartphone is lying on a table or other surface, there are no obstacles to the sound, so it is not distorted.
In the headphones, the sound also did not disappoint. The volume is quite enough, sometimes even too much. The frequencies are disclosed quite well, there is no excess of any particular frequency. If desired, you can bring the sound to the ideal using the equalizer.
Front and main cameras
In this matter, the manufacturer decided not to be small and install the same modules as in its flagship models. The differences are due only to the capabilities of the processors. On this device, video cannot be recorded in 4K resolution, only 1920x1080, but this is quite enough for a high-quality video. Also, the frequency is reduced to 540 frames per second.
Otherwise, the indicators are quite worthy of the flagship. The main camera is the 21-megapixel module from Sony, which is enough to compete with low-cost cameras in good lighting for picture quality. But, given the low aperture of the optics of the Moto X Play 16Gb, which is inherent in any phone, noise will inevitably appear in the dark or in low light. A flash can correct this situation only at a distance of up to 2 meters, and then not completely.
The front camera is ideal for video calling. With it, you can take a selfie, but the quality here will be noticeably worse than that of the main one. Noises appear in lighting other than bright sunlight, so you should not hope for a good shot in the room.
"Iron" characteristics
The manufacturer decided not to betray the tradition of modern mid-range smartphones, so Qualcomm's Snapdragon 615 chip with 8 cores at 1.7 GHz acted as the main Moto X Play LTE processor. It has an Adreno 405 graphics accelerator, and it works in tandem with a 2 GB DDR3 RAM.
Not the most brilliant characteristics for such a price, but the solution is quite productive and energy efficient, so there should definitely not be any problems with the comfortable operation of the smartphone. To store user files, as well as system programs, a flash memory of 16 GB is provided. If it turns out to be small (and it will most likely happen if you upload videos and movies in high quality), then you can expand it using a microSD card up to 128 GB, without having to choose, as in most modern smartphones, between the second SIM card or additional memory. This moment positively distinguishes the Moto X Play model from the competition, reviews have repeatedly emphasized the benefits of this solution.
In synthetic tests, the Motorola Moto X Play 16Gb smartphone did not show any unique results, rather mediocre values for this price segment. So, Antutu gives out about 42,000 points, depending on the firmware version.
When testing with real applications, there were no problems. The smartphone easily copes with working in several messengers at the same time, while simultaneously allowing you to keep a browser with several tabs and a video player in your memory. It seems to be coping with heavy games without too much difficulty, but in this case it’s better to close extra programs to free up more space in the RAM.
Software
As in the rest of the smartphone line-ups from the manufacturer, the Moto X Play 16Gb gadget received pure Android with a minimum set of additional functions. Thanks to this, the system turned out to be lightweight and energy efficient. Most devices are supported at a high level, so despite the fresh operating system version 6.0.1 out of the box, you can expect a large number of updates. It is not excluded that upgrading the version to a more relevant one, so fans who are always with the latest software at the moment can safely take this device.
Battery and autonomy
The gadget is equipped with a fairly tenacious battery with a capacity of 3630 mAh. And, if for flagship models this indicator may seem small due to rather demanding iron nutrition, then in this model everything turned out just fine. A processor with relatively low power consumption and an economical screen allow you to use your smartphone throughout the day, loading it as much as possible and not worrying that the charge will not last until the evening.
Included with the Moto X Play device, which is only positive about autonomy, there is a charging unit that can charge the gadget's battery from 0 to 100 percent in 3.5 hours. However, this time can be reduced by three times, and spend a little more than an hour on a full charge, because the device supports the quick charge function. True, for this you will have to spend money on an additional accessory called TurboCharger. Given the cost of the smartphone, however, it is strange that this option is not included in the package.
Positive sides according to user reviews
Since the smartphone appeared on sale only in the summer of 2016, there are not so many reviews about it. But of those that are at the moment, it is already possible to add a clear picture that pleases the eye of a lover of quality technology. So, among the strengths of the Moto X Play model, reviews of which are just beginning to appear on the network, we can note:
- The main camera with a resolution of 21 MP and high-quality optics. In terms of creating high-quality images and recording video in its price segment, the smartphone is practically unrivaled. Its only drawback may be called, perhaps, an insufficient aperture for shooting at night, but given that in our hands we have the moto X Play 16Gb smartphone, and not the camera, this moment is inherent in all devices with a small matrix size.
- Nice design. As with most gadgets from this manufacturer, the smartphone is pleasing to the eye and pleasantly lies in the hand. It also attracts a number of additional options that allow you to personalize your gadget. For this, for example, you can purchase a suitable Moto X Play case, which will emphasize your style and increase the safety of using the gadget.
- Good autonomy. A capacious battery, paired with low-consuming hardware, allows you not to think about the presence of an outlet throughout the day, even with the active use of Moto X Play. Performance characteristics were not affected at all. And if the smartphone is used only for short calls, then it can last for up to 3 days without recharging.
- Display and high quality sensor. A high-quality picture and excellent sensitivity of the sensor paired with its high strength are exactly what you need for comfortable use of the smartphone without worries about scratches. If you are interested in color accuracy, you can find more than one Moto X Play review in the network, which shows the results of tests of the display matrix, from a laboratory point of view.
As you can see, a smartphone can satisfy the needs of even the most demanding users. However, even in such seemingly ideal models there are drawbacks.
Negative points based on reviews
Most of the negative aspects do not relate to performance, but still do not honor the manufacturer, although in most cases you can close your eyes to them. Among them are the following:
- Poor starter kit. The lack of additional components in the box option was an unpleasant bonus for many buyers. The smartphone has a large number of branded accessories, but you will have to buy them all separately. And this taking into account that they can not always be found on sale, in most cases you will have to order blindly through the Internet. Given the fact that the price is not so low on the Moto X Play, the kit could have included at least blocks and a cable for accelerating battery charging.
- Pretty high cost. If you buy a smartphone Moto X Play not according to the exchange program from the manufacturer, the cost may seem overpriced. If you do not take into account the camera, similar models from other manufacturers can be purchased almost half the price, so in most cases this model is suitable for acquisition by fans of the company.
- A small amount of internal memory when taking into account such characteristics, as a result of which its expansion is simply necessary.
Otherwise, users are happy with everything, and you can ignore such shortcomings, which practically do not affect performance.
Conclusion
The smartphone is a high-quality and productive solution for solving all everyday tasks related to communication and communication. You should not expect fantastic performance from him, but he copes with all applications without much difficulty. The good autonomy and nice design of the Moto X Play model, a review of which makes it possible to draw conclusions about the smartphone, can attract those who do not want to face the face of business partners.
Slightly overpriced, as for the Moto X Play model, the price will not allow you to purchase a smartphone at a low income level, so this model will be optimal for business, however, it can be a great gift for a loved one. The choice of intended use of this model is truly unlimited, so it all depends on you, desire and affordable budget.