In 2015, the company decided to remove the Moto X brand from the flagship segment. First, the super flagship Moto Turbo was launched and recently two new Moto X smartphones Moto X Play and Moto X Style were introduced. If seen, only Moto X Style can be considered of the flagship category. The X Play phone is a mid-range device by today’s standards. How is the performance of Moto X Play in general use? Let’s find out.
Design and display
Moto X Play is another solid and good looking smartphone from Motorola’s treasure trove. In terms of design and layout, the company has not experimented with this handset, that is, it has trusted its traditional model. The SIM-plus-microSD card tray gives a new feel. This tray has been placed on the top of the device. After removing the tray, you will find that on one side there is space for two nano SIM cards and on the other side for a microSD card. We liked this experiment. If you are one of those people who like to remove the microSD card again and again, then you should also be ready to lose the network.
The back cover can be removed. Here you will find the phone’s large battery. The lack of water resistant feature in Moto X Play is very disappointing. However, X Play has a water repellent coating.
Moto X Play comes with a 5.5-inch full-HD display which looks good and is also bright. There is no problem in using it even in bright light. Viewing angles are decent. We have no complaints about the screen of Moto X Play.
Performance and Battery Life
After spending so much money, you never want your smartphone to cause problems during day to day usage. Fortunately, we did not face any issues with the Moto X Play. The smartphone comes with a quad octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 chipset and 2GB of RAM. There were no lags in the unit we got for review. Games like Asphalt 8 ran smoothly.
The review unit had 32GB of inbuilt storage, of which 25.45GB of storage is user-friendly. A 16GB variant is also available in the market, but considering the price difference of just Rs 1,500, we would suggest you buy the variant with more built-in storage. Even if you don’t buy it, it’s not a problem, as the device also has support for microSD card (up to 128GB). Apart from this, the option of USB OTG storage expansion is also given.
We did not face any problem of the device getting too hot while playing high-end games or shooting multiple videos of 2-3 minutes continuously. However, the Moto X Play does get a little warm during daily use. The level is not disturbing, but you will definitely feel it.
The Moto X Play has a big 3630mAh battery which is one of the key features of the smartphone apart from the 21MP rear camera. During our usage, we found that the Moto X Play battery lasted for a day. By the end of the day, the battery was running out of power, as is the case with most smartphones. This was a bit surprising for us considering the size of the battery.
In the video loop test, the battery of Moto X Play gave good results. Let us tell you that we spent most of our time in places where there was a problem of network connectivity. In such a situation, the pressure on the battery increases. Due to this, the ‘mobile standby’ mode always consumed the most battery. We got this information from Android’s battery usage report. In areas with weak network, the call quality was worse than other smartphones. Looking at the poor condition of telecom network in the country, it is difficult to decide who is responsible for this? Phone or network.
Software and camera
We recently reviewed the Moto G 3rd generation smartphone and the software on the Moto X Play is pretty much in-line with the company’s budget handsets. For more details on the software features, read our Moto G (Gen 3) review.
Now let’s talk about a feature that is present in Moto X Play and Moto G 3rd Gen. Actually, we did not mention it at all in the review of Moto G’s 3rd generation device. We are talking about Moto Assist. This is Motorola’s offering in the world of virtual assistants. It can complete small tasks. Through this app, you can change the settings of notifications. While driving, it can tell you the name of the caller and SMS sender by speaking. The features of this app are a bit limited, yet many users will like it.
Moto X and X second generation were good devices but could not make their place in the market due to weak camera performance. To overcome this shortcoming, Motorola has provided a 21 megapixel camera in the new device. And its performance is also good.
The Moto X Play’s camera takes good photos outdoors or in well-lit environments. However, if you use the autofocus feature’s tap-to-click mode, the photos do tend to be a little underexposed in some areas.
In low light, the problem increases due to autofocus, sometimes the camera takes a lot of time and sometimes it even fails to focus. If you switch to tap-to-focus mode, the results are better. Overall, the performance of the rear camera is satisfactory.
The performance of the front camera is also satisfactory. The same can be said about the videos made with the rear camera. Moto X Play easily refocuses when you pan while making a video, but the blur is visible in distant subjects. You can also take photos by tapping while shooting a video. The camera app of Moto X Play is completely similar to the app of Moto G Gen 3. If you want to read about it in more detail, then you can read the review.
Our verdict
The Moto X Play is nothing spectacular, but it does its job well enough. The rating we have given the phone will tell you the same. The device doesn’t have any features that are unique. It has a bigger battery and a much better camera, both of which perform well. But it’s not so spectacular that we can call it the best device in its price range. The good thing is that the phone isn’t too weak in any department.
The Moto X Play is not great enough to make you choose it over other companies’ flagship smartphones. But it is also true that it is not a flagship device either. That responsibility rests on the shoulders of the Moto X Style. On paper, the Moto X Play is similar to the Yu Yureka Plus (Review) and costs half the price of the device. But we cannot ignore the complaints about the Yu brand’s service. Apart from this, we have said earlier that performance is more important than specifications.
Motorola’s record in terms of support and software updates is better than many companies. That’s why through Moto X Play the company is eyeing the OnePlus 2 (Review) smartphone. If you are confused between these two devices, then our suggestion would be Moto X Play. You can buy it easily and it will also cost less money.
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