Boring! Nothing new! Some iPhone clones! In principle, this is how you can describe the state of affairs in the smartphone market – manufacturers no longer really know how to attract attention. From a pile of faceless Chinese smartphones, finding the perfect one is like accomplishing a feat.

One has a low price, but confuses reliability. The other seems to be good for everyone, but with the same Xiaomi all the friends go, but I want something like that. At the very least, you can find the original device if you have money.

Moto Z2 Play is just the same option for connoisseurs of pure android and fashion ideas. I must say right away that Moto does not indulge in prices, Z2 Play costs 34,990 rubles, so you can go to the comments right now and write what you think about this. Well, I will tell you what he can do and why he is special.

Modules

There is a contact pad on the bottom of the case – it is necessary to work with external Moto Mods modules. You can buy a projector, a speaker, a camera with an optical zoom, an external battery – there is a large choice. Moreover, this year Moto also updated the accessories, but the mount remained the same, so you can rearrange them from the old phone to the new one.

I got to study the battery and column. Well, you can’t say a lot about the 2200 mAh battery cover, the battery is the battery, the phone gets a backup power source, and the cover is also quite thin. It is held on magnets, fixed firmly and tightly – it will not fall off, no matter how you shake the phone in your hand.

The second thing is the JBL speaker, it is powered by a 1000 mAh battery, the unit turned out to be healthy and weighty. Of course, music sounds much better than through the built-in speaker, but you have to pay for this in size. But such a case-column is connected quite simply – they stuck it to the phone, a powerful sound immediately went on, you don’t have to call for help from Bluetooth. And you can’t stuff every speaker in your pocket, but here is a ready-made solution with a stand-leg.

The idea of the modules is great, only they need to be bought separately. I did not see the prices for accessories on the Russian site, I looked at how much they cost on Amazon. The column comes out in the region of $ 80, the battery cover costs the same. But there are also mods with a camera and a projector – each costs $ 300, so a full set of bells and whistles will cost a pretty penny.

Slim and bright screen

The thin smartphone does not bend, it is assembled tightly and looks good, the fingerprint scanner is located under the screen and quickly responds to touch, it works perfectly and without errors. The mechanical volume and power buttons were sent to the right side, everything is at hand, it’s convenient to manage – you quickly get used to the Moto Z2 Play.

A 5.5-inch screen with small frames and Full HD resolution under a protective 2.5D glass with an excellent oleophobic coating and a juicy picture. AMOLED was chosen for Moto Z2 Play for a reason – it is a more modern technology, unlike LCD panels, so we were able to make a thin smartphone, where every millimeter counts.

On the other hand, AMOLED is still an amateur, my eyes began to ache after a long reading or watching a video on the phone screen. Judging by my friends, some people also suffer from this problem, others do not care, it’s a subjective matter. But during normal use, when you are not stupid on the phone for hours, you do not notice this.

Fast and clean Android

In terms of hardware, this is a typical “middle peasant” – 4/64 GB of memory and Qualcomm Snapdragon 626. The phone pulls games normally, does not overheat, there are no lags – everything is fine and this is enough for a comfortable life. The only question is what to do for geeks: geeks know that for the same money you can buy Xiaomi with top-end hardware or last year’s Galaxy S7, which is very good. Why does Moto save money and does not want to offer a “delicious” solution for its part? Well, Lenovo had an experimental ZUK brand, but the brand-discounter did not bring business success, the enterprise was curtailed. So if you can’t wait to say that you can buy a top-end Xiaomi for the same money, you will be right, you can.

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On the other hand, if we discard all these marketing fun and just evaluate the device based on how it works, I have no questions for the Moto Z2 Play. A smartphone with pure Android 7.1, it is fast and without annoying third-party software activity. For its part, Moto has added a useful application of the same name.

Through its settings, you can activate the launch of the camera by turning the brush or turn off the ringtone when you take the smartphone in your hand. Another scenario: the phone is on the table, you pick it up, the screen lights up for a few seconds, notifications are visible. Kinda small, but comfortable. You especially get used to shaking your phone before shooting, then you take another one and wonder why he doesn’t know how. Oh, sorry, it’s not Moto.

The SIM card tray is located on the top end, and you won’t have to sacrifice a second SIM card slot if you decide to put a memory card in your phone. A separate slot for microSD is also provided, for this Moto honor and praise, thank you.

While Apple talks about what a cool wireless world we’ve come to that doesn’t need a headphone jack, Moto sees it differently. If you want to listen to music – please, here’s the usual 3.5 mm jack on the bottom. Conveniently!

Good camera with chips

Following the fashion for selfies, Moto did not add a fancy front camera, there is only 5 megapixels, but the phone got a front flash. For my taste, an amateur thing – pictures in poor lighting definitely come out brighter and without so much noise, but the face comes out overexposed. The cheeks and nose are shiny, the skin becomes reddish. On the other hand, if you decide to go to the sea and take a romantic selfie with a girl on the beach, you will get a cool photo. A regular phone without a front flash simply cannot take pictures like that.

The main camera is 12 megapixels, the lens protrudes very strongly from the body, the edges would not peel off over time when you put the phone on the surface. Does the aesthetics suffer from such a design? For my taste, no, the smartphone itself is thin, the module simply could not be pushed in for technical reasons.

True, when you put on some kind of heaped “motomod”, the camera is simply lost inside, such a combination of design and technology.

The Moto Z Play shoots decently, here are a few examples of what its camera is capable of. Of the useful features here are laser focusing, fast optics with f / 1.7, video recording in [email protected]

Slim but long lasting

Since the phone is thin, it means that you sit down for half a day and live at the outlet? Don’t make hasty decisions! The operating time pleased me – Moto Z Play calmly withstands a working day with active use: maps for navigation, chatting on Telegram, searching for something on the Internet, a couple of hours of online music on Spotify a day, a dozen photos on the camera. I went with Beeline, then rearranged MTS – the phone began to work longer, so the choice of operator and the quality of the coverage area also seriously affect autonomy. Really squeeze 2 days? Yes, there is no battery in the background of the “zhora”, the phone almost does not discharge if there are no problems with receiving the communication signal.

The phone comes with an increased power charger – the TurboPower unit is healthy, more than a large iPad charger. But it charges the phone by 50% in half an hour, it is very convenient, while you wash your face and get ready to go from home to work, Moto Z2 Play is already ready for work and entertainment. It’s 2017 and fast charging is no longer a novelty, but you still rejoice at the practical function, especially when an iPhone 7 Plus with a battery of the same capacity lies nearby and slowly charges.

Opinion

I tried to describe why the Moto Z2 Play is good and why they ask for 34,990 rubles for it. From the point of view of the buyer, the alignment is this: the phone costs like a top-end Chinese smartphone or like last year’s Korean flagship, so why should I buy it?

Slim body, bright screen, good autonomy, clean and fast Android with regular updates, excellent ergonomics, and a bunch of body kit mods.

Moto captivates not with top-end hardware, no, the phone pleases with a balance of qualities, $ 500 is not asked for it in vain. Although for the same money you can buy OnePlus 5 or Xiaomi Mi 6 – the choice is quite large, especially if you do not go in cycles in buying additional moto mods, the main feature of the Moto Z2 Play. Fashion accessories need to be bought separately, the concept is interesting, but it requires additional costs, you have to pay for everything good in our world.

Last year I liked Moto X Play, this year I can say the same about Moto Z2 Play. And even though Motos are more expensive than analogues, they are made with love, you can feel it when you walk around with a phone and get inspired by its idea.

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