Motorola Moto X Play review: Crowd pleaser

16 October, 2015
The Moto X Play is the balancing act between the Moto G and Moto X Style with a tendency to aim high instead of settle for less. At 5.5 inches in diagonal its display still puts it in phablet territory, leaving the Moto G (3rd gen) to cater to compact phone lovers.

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  • L
  • LLL
  • tDD
  • 17 Oct 2015

Good review article.
I would like for GSMA to provide a panorama sample, add it into the article, if you don't mind.

However I feel Motorola takes the simplicity of the camera app a little bit too far. I want more choices of resolution, e.g 13MP and 8MP, since some times I record paper text or announcements and they do not need 21MP worth of detail that takes a lot of space. I hope a future update would take care of this. Video department too.

That said, good review and good phone.

    • D
    • AnonD-431150
    • HDK
    • 17 Oct 2015

    Gsmarena ends the review with the sentence: "Now, there are rivals, but show us the one, which can beat all of the above?" You're bad, cos you make me want it :-) Actually I was discouraged by the last news about Motorola's commitment to update and therefore waiting for Nexus 5x review. But Nexus has never been good in battery life. So Moto X Play wins!

      you see even with generous size of battery...cannot last 2 days with moderate usage......what happen with world nowadays?

        • D
        • AnonD-445968
        • P%u
        • 17 Oct 2015

        It is finally available in the Philippines for a price of Php 18,500...according to sources. Waiting till Christmas Sale to buy it in Manila ;)

          • D
          • AnonD-264433
          • uuW
          • 17 Oct 2015

          This....is One of the bestest review i have read in recent times by gsma...superb with a surprize and nice cameo of xperia z5 ...i m sold with it...

            • D
            • AnonD-455466
            • 8UH
            • 17 Oct 2015

            I also ordered it 2 days ago in Brazil, via Moto Maker. The delivery will take some long days, estimated of 20 days, but I'll wait anxiously. By the way, reading this review, that was the right choice for the money...

              • D
              • AnonD-265900
              • NmR
              • 17 Oct 2015

              Well done with the camera. This phone is a budget phone that can fight high end phone in the camera area and the battery area. Still Motorola come out with super screen for a 5.5 inch. Very nice phone and nice review too!

                • ?
                • Anonymous
                • t7X
                • 17 Oct 2015

                "In the first comparison shot, the Xperia's rendition has left almost the entire sky clipped to white, while the Moto X Play has managed to salvage more color. Sony's take on noise reduction leaves unpleasant artefacts in the sky too, which you can see in the second shot. Mind you, it's pixel-peeping territory, where we're observing all that."

                how stupid could this comment get? of course they were not taking photos of the exact same scene. just look at the clouds. there are already more clouds in the sony shot. how could the sony camera show the same blueness when white clouds have already dominated the sky?

                  • ?
                  • Anonymous
                  • t7%
                  • 17 Oct 2015

                  The Best Bang for the Buck. A very competitive and reliable option. Just stellar

                    • B
                    • Body150165
                    • U$Q
                    • 17 Oct 2015

                    I just wonder why the chip producers combine a capable CPU with a poor GPU. Only their top models are matched with nice GPUs. The SD615 would be much more acceptable of they combined it with -let's say - Adreno 418 (the one from the SD808). Sad to see this.

                      • D
                      • AnonD-455423
                      • Q{4
                      • 17 Oct 2015

                      I got the quick charger with my Moto X Play in Canada. Puts the phone into Turbo Charge mode.

                        LOL! This is weird! Motorola is sure as heck back in the game I am sure. This is a 300 bucks phone, and those camera images are really sharp! The shocking thing was the display section for me, really? From one of the worst OEM for display they managed to bring a good (or great?) IPS panel on this? First time finished reading of a Motorola phone since then damned X 2013.

                        Hmm!

                          • D
                          • AnonD-205566
                          • 8FZ
                          • 17 Oct 2015

                          83 hours. 83 hours? Yes, 83 hours with that huge battery. Oh well.
                          Seems like a great phone overall though! That audio output quality really surprised me, and it looks like it has a great screen as well.
                          I was still expecting like 110hs battery life, but what the hell.

                            Anonymous, 16 Oct 2015The battery life is extremely disappointing for its battery... moreThere is nothing else with better battery under $300 brand new.

                              • b
                              • bug
                              • spk
                              • 16 Oct 2015

                              Umbilical Noose, 16 Oct 2015At least they are updating their devices. Better late than ... moreNot really. About half if those that got an upgrade are stuck with 5.0. Weirdly enough, my dual-sim G is one of them, when it could have benefited from the 5.1's built-in dual-sim support. On top of that, it took them about 9 months to push all updates. And I'm not talking about the carrier branded models.

                              The phones are still great value, but their updating sucks.

                                • ?
                                • Anonymous
                                • Jiy
                                • 16 Oct 2015

                                Got phone. Never laggs.. Never 9/10 slightly lower fps on GPU games but that was expected

                                  • D
                                  • AnonD-265341
                                  • pjG
                                  • 16 Oct 2015

                                  Great phone! Really impressed with the camera!

                                    Anonymous, 16 Oct 2015Great phone. But you have to ask yourself if the software w... moreAt least they are updating their devices. Better late than never. Most of the capable Moto devices are on 5.1.1.

                                      • ?
                                      • Anonymous
                                      • 43@
                                      • 16 Oct 2015

                                      Great phone. But you have to ask yourself if the software will ever be updated. If that's something that is important to you, look elsewhere. As of late, Moto has one of the worst track records in the business.

                                        Hookar, 16 Oct 2015What all do you want in 300$? A fingerprint scanner? Stereo... moreYou are comparing features like 2k display and 128gb internal storage to stereo speakers? Seriously?