Motorola Moto Z Play preview: Moto Mods meet mega battery life

It’s the era of modular phones. And Motorola, now under control of Lenovo, is one maker at the forefront of the interchangeable accessories concept. Its Moto Z phone was joined by a Moto Z Force in the States – but we’ve seen very little in the UK and Europe.

Now that’s set to change, with the announcement of the Moto Z Play, the big battery behemoth. Its 3,510mAh cell is said to last for up to 50-hours, which is a capacity rarely rivalled in the phone market.

We were first introduced to the Moto Z Play when sampling the new Moto Mods Hasselblad True Zoom camera accessory at Lenovo’s IFA press conference. It’s an interesting magnetically-connected accessory that transforms any Moto Z into a 10x optical zoom camera equivalent. In addition the Mods family also offers JBL SoundBoost speaker and Insta-Share Projector accessories.

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The new Moto Z Play is all about longevity, but for that longer-lasting life you’ll have to forego the premier Moto Z’s slender 5.2mm design, as the Play measures a slightly thicker 7mm.

It’s a big phone, but not any means huge by today’s standards and feels just about right in the hand. Like other recent Moto Z handsets there’s also a fingerprint scanner sat front and bottom, which, from our experience, works well in other iterations. 

The Play’s 5.5-inch display delivers a Full HD 1920 x 1080 resolution, again a drop compared to the premier Moto Z, but an expected one given the cut in price. The Moto Z Play will retail for “around €499”, meaning it ought to be around the £450 mark.

Considering that price point the build quality of the phone is solid and we rather like the white and gold finish of the model we handled. It’s got a water-repellent coating too, ensuring extra durability.

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Spec-wise the Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor, arranged in eight 2.05GHz processors and paired with 3GB RAM, might not sound top-of-the-tree, but actually that arrangement will be more than capable and assist the battery longevity. 

To finish the mix the front-facing 16MP camera, complete with laser-assisted autofocus and an f/2.0 lens isn’t a million miles behind the premium Moto Z’s positioning. However, that massive protruding disc to the rear doesn’t look good at all if you’ve slipped a Mod unit off the back.

First Impressions

If longevity and affordability are high up your list, and you love the idea of buying into a modular phone, then the Motorola Moto Z Play might be the best access point into the Moto Mods family. And there’s nothing stopping you putting the Incipio OffGrid power pack Mod onto to back too, for a phone that might last for, well, forever?