All things considered, the Motorola Moto X Play turned out as compelling in reality as it is on paper. The midranger with some flagship aspirations has a lot to offer for just$300. And you would think some serious compromises must have been made, but in fact the Moto X Play has no area where it really disappoints.
It all starts when you fire up that wonderful display. It’s all it takes to quit mourning Motorola’s choice to abandon AMOLED and go for an IPS display. The FullHD 5.5-inch panel is sharp enough, has accurate color rendition and is bright on its own, and even brighter when the sun shines into it.
One of its main selling points is battery. The 3, 630mAh powerpack provides long hours of use and supports quick charging, too.
There’s a great camera on board too. The images from the new 21MP Sony-made unit are high on detail, with true-to-life colors and the camera is very fast at taking shots. The 4fps burst mode at full resolution is mighty impressive too. Motion capture is less impressive - the Moto X Play can’t shoot 4K video, and 1080p output isn’t the most detailed either, but it’s usable.
We like the minimalist software package. Google’s apps offer all the necessary features and Chrome and Gmail are the de facto standards for their respective tasks so why add bulk? And whatever you find missing you can always download off the Play Store - beats having to hide and/or disable preinstalled apps. Not to mention the potential for timely updates, afforded by using near stock Android.