Moto Z2 Play 32GB

If you’re upgrading from the Moto Z Play, then you might get a sense of Déjà vu when you first look at the Z2 Play but before you shun Moto for being uncreative, allow me to make a case for the smartphone. Seeing how the average shelf life of an affordable Android smartphone is anywhere between 1-2 years, the similar design language retains the universality for Moto mods. Therefore, buyers won’t have to constantly reinvest in new mods even when a newer version of the Z Play comes out. That’s not to say that the Z2 Play is a carbon copy of its predecessor as there are some differences in design here and there. For starters, the glass back from the Z Play is now gone and instead, the Z2 Play has been constructed entirely out of metal.

The Moto Z2 Play comes with a 12MP rear camera with f/1.7 aperture and a 5MP selfie-shooter with f/2.2 aperture. Going by the spec sheet alone, the Moto Z2 Play’s rear facing camera might seem as a downgrade when compared to its predecessor, which came with a 16MP primary camera. However, we here at 91mobiles have proved it time and again that the pixel count is merely a small cog in an otherwise big machine. There’s a lot that goes behind the scenes after you press the shutter button which needs to be taken into account when considering the camera prowess of a smartphone.

The Moto Z2 Play boots Android v7.1 Nougat from the get go and unlike some other manufacturers, the software onboard the Z2 Play is mostly stock. Matter of fact, besides Google’s essential suite of applications, the smartphone comes with just two pre-installed apps from Moto which is great as you won’t have to manually uninstall duplicate apps when you get the phone. Moreover, as is with most other Moto handsets, the Z2 Play also supports the company’s famed Moto Actions which are a bunch of gestures which can be invoked by the flick of a hand. For instance, you can double karate-chop the phone to turn on the flashlight or twist it twice to switch on the camera and they work flawlessly.

The Moto Z2 Play ships with a Snapdragon 626 processor which works in tandem with 4GB of RAM. The smartphone gets 32GB of onboard storage which can be further expanded up to 256GB via a microSD card. On paper, the specs of the Moto Z2 Play pale in comparison with flagships like the OnePlus 3T (review) and even the substantially cheaper Lenovo Z2 Plus (review), both of which come equipped with better Snapdragon processors. However, as I mentioned earlier, Moto’s Z2 Play (and the Z series in general) will retain support for Moto mods even in the future and therefore, you could upgrade your phone’s features down the line if you deem fit. Having said that, the Moto Z2 Play is an excellent performer and in all honesty, I wasn’t expecting the smartphone to fare as well as it did. My primary smartphones have been the OnePlus 3 (review) and the LG G6, both of which employ higher-end processors than the Z2 Play. I was expecting the smartphone to stutter every once in a while, but the Z2 Play handled everything like a champ which goes on to show that while specs do matter, it’s equally important for the software to be optimised to work well with the hardware. I am certain that had the Z2 Play been running on a bloated OEM skin, the smartphone’s performance wouldn’t be as good as it was with stock Android. Jumping in and out of apps was buttery smooth and I faced no instance of lag, even whilst intensive games. I tested the smartphone across a myriad of games such as Clash Royale and Asphalt: Street Storm, but the Z2 Play managed to hold its own. Even unoptimised games like AfterPulse ran fairly well on the smartphone with some occasional instances of frame drops. As I mentioned earlier, there are plenty of smartphones in the market which will offer you a much better configuration than the Z2 Play. However, if you have your mind set on the smartphone, I would like to assure you that the handset is perfectly capable of gaming and running day-to-day tasks without any hiccups.