SpecEagle review · Motorola

Moto Z Play review: Three-day battery champion with Moto Mods.

SpecEagle Editorial·Sep 2016·$449
Overall
68/100
Class rank
#2 of 47
Tier
Mid-range
Buy?
Look elsewhere
The verdict, up front

The endurance Mod.

Moto Z Play was the battery king of the Moto Z line — the efficient Snapdragon 625 and 3510 mAh cell delivered two to three days of real use, while keeping Moto Mods compatibility at an affordable $449.

01Display

78/100

At 78/100 this is one of the strongest display showings among mid-range phones of 2016 — 11 points above the cohort average.

TypeSuper AMOLED
Size5.5 inches
Resolution1080 x 1920 px

02Camera

66/100

At 66/100 this is one of the strongest camera showings among mid-range phones of 2016 — 6 points above the cohort average.

Main16 MP, f/2.0, PDAF + laser AF
Selfie5 MP wide
Video4K30

03Performance

62/100

62/100 puts it above the 56-point average for mid-range phones of 2016.

ChipsetSnapdragon 625 (14nm)
GPUAdreno 506

04Battery

88/100

At 88/100 this is one of the strongest battery showings among mid-range phones of 2016 — 21 points above the cohort average.

Capacity3510 mAh
Charging15W TurboPower
ModsCompatible with all Moto Mods

05Build

74/100

74/100 puts it above the 68-point average for mid-range phones of 2016.

What works
  • Legendary battery life — easily two to three days
  • Affordable Moto Mods entry point
  • AMOLED + 3.5 mm jack
What doesn't
  • Snapdragon 625 modest
  • Glass back attracts fingerprints
  • Camera average in low light
Cross-shop it against
Honor 8
$400 · score 70/100

How this review is built: every section score, spec row and comparison on this page comes from SpecEagle's tracked catalogue — scores weight measured specs against the 47-phone cohort of mid-range devices released around the same time. We don't publish invented lab anecdotes. Spot an error? .