What is the Moto X Play?

Pros

• Fantastic display
• Durable build
• Detailed camera
• No ugly skins

Cons

• Poor low-light photos
• Minor performance issues
• Turbo charger not included

What is the Moto X Play?Key Features: 5.5-inch 1080p display; 21-megapixel camera with dual-LED flash, 5MP front-facing sensor; 16/32GB storage; micro SD up to 128GB; 2GB RAM; Snapdragon 615 processor; Adreno 405 GPU; 3,630 mAh battery; Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n; FM radio; 169 g

Manufacturer: Motorola

The Moto X Play is the Motorola's latest mid-range device, offering up more power and a better display than the cheaper Moto G – a phone we love – but at a price that is lighter on the wallet than the incoming Moto X Style.

At £279 for the 16GB version, or £319 for the 32GB Moto X, there's certainly a lot to like here. It continues Motorola's stripped back approach to Android, ditching ugly skins for a clean, stock version of Android Lollipop with a flurry of tweaks that actually make it better.

But, it really has two main selling points – the huge battery that Moto claims should last you through two days, and a 21-megapixel camera. Having these two killer features on a mid-range smartphone could really help the Moto X Play stand out against an ever-increasing budget smartphone crowd that includes the fantastic, yet hard to buy OnePlus 2, Alcatel OneTouch's Idol 3 and Honor's 6 Plus.

SEE ALSO: 10 Best Android Phones

Moto X Play: Design and Build

If you've laid eyes on any of Motorola's devices from the past two years, then you'll instantly recognise the Moto X Play. The front is as simple and clean as you can get, a near edge-to-edge 5.5-inch display is flanked by a front facing speaker (on the bottom) and a speakerphone (on the top) plus a camera. There are no ugly brand logos, which is always a bonus.

While the high-end Motorola phones, notably last year's Moto X and the upcoming Moto X Style, have a metal rim and a multitude of leather and wood backs, the Moto X Play keeps things simple. The trim is plastic, it's pretty much the same as the Moto G, as are the volume rocker and sleep/wake button. It's the little touches that have always made me like the Moto line, the slightly bevelled standby button for instance ensures you don't accidentally hit the volume button. Something I did, and still do, whenever I pick up the HTC One M9.

On the top you'll find the headphone jack bang in the centre with the sim tray and microSD slot next to it. While I'd rather the jack was on the bottom of the Moto X Play, like it is on the iPhone 6 and Samsung Galaxy S6, this is only a minor quibble,

Motorola hasn't completely ditched its Moto Maker customisation tools for the Moto X Play, but the options are limited to choosing between a black and white front, a variety of brightly coloured back-panels and eight different accent trims. My review unit is all black, with a silver accent rounding the camera and the trademark Motorola dimple. The dimple itself isn't quite as pronounced as on previous models, but it's still a nice place to rest your finger.

The back-panels are replaceable, so if you pick up a vivid pink one and instantly feel slightly self-conscious about flashing it in public you can always pair it with something slightly more conservative, a dark blue or slate, for instance. They pop off easily and feel sturdy, much more so than similar panels from LG and Samsung. While the rubberised, plastic back lacks the premium finish, it certainly is durable. I doubt it will easily pick up any scratches or dings, and I must admit that I have dropped the phone on a couple of occasions already with absolutely no lasting damage.

For the Moto G, Motorola tightened everything up and gave it an IPX7 rating so you could drop it in depths of up to one meter of water for 30-minutes without seeing any lasting damage. This feature hasn't been carried over the Moto X Play, but the IP57 rating does mean taking it out in the pouring rain or accidentally spilling a glass of water over it won't cause it to break down and need replacing.

If you've followed the Moto X line for the past two years, you'll know one of their key selling points is their compact size. The original 4.7-inch display toting device was down right miniature for an Android phone at the time and even last year's 5.2-inch version was easily used with one hand. The same can't really be said for the Moto X Play, but I guess it just follows the trend of ever increasing phone sizes.

Dimensions wise, the Moto X Play is certainly not compact, coming in at 148 x 75 x .10.9mm. It's slightly thicker, though marginally smaller overall, than the OnePlus 2, which measures in at 151.1 x 75 x 9.9mm. Motorola's effort also tips the scales at 6g lighter (169g v 175g) than the Chinese start-up's effort.

But, measurements only really tell one side of the story. I can easily hold the Moto X Play in one hand, though stretching my thumb from one corner of the screen to another is just out of reach. It's also quite a dense device, there's not the hollow feeling you often get with cheaper phones and there it doesn't creak or bend when you push it hard.

Motorola's clean, simple design wins out again here and even though it's not the thinnest phone around, I'd take that extra bulk any day for the big battery tucked inside.

Moto X Play: Display

While quad-HD (QHD) panels with copious amounts of pixels are becoming more and more common at the high-end of the market, those glorious displays are yet to filter down to the mid-range. Instead, Motorola has kitted the Moto X Play out with a 5.5-inch, 1080p LCD panel with a 403 ppi (pixels-per-inch). To be honest, after using the Moto X Play I am not pining for a QHD screen at all, and if sticking with a FHD display helps keep the price low then I'm all for it.

The display is sharp, gets super bright when you need it too and nice and dark when you don't. Motorola has tended to use AMOLED panels for the previous entries in the series, and while the LCD display on the Moto X Play isn't quite as vibrant and saturated, it renders colours much more accurately and doesn't have that pinkish tinge when you turn the brightness all the way down.

Motorola has also included two screen modes, letting you tailor the settings to your tastes. You can pick between 'Normal', which should display more realistic colours, and 'Vibrant' which enhances vibrancy and colour saturation. I've switched between the two on a number of occasions and while there is a minor visible difference, it doesn't completely change the experience. I've stuck with the 'Normal' mode, simply because it rids the display of any over-saturation and it makes colours a little more accurate.

Covering the display is Gorilla Glass 3, again adding to the durable nature of the device. While Gorilla Glass is by no means scratch-resistant, it certainly helps when you accidentally put the phone in the same pocket as your keys.

Moto X Play: Battery Life

When I unboxed the Moto X Play, the phone's battery was the first thing I was curious about. The non-removable 3,630 mAh cell is bigger than almost every similarly sized device on the market, including the Galaxy S6 Edge+, Note 5, iPhone 6 Plus and OnePlus 2. This combined with its less demanding FHD display meant I had real hopes that the Moto X Play would end my ongoing smartphone battery woes – I'm yet to find a phone that can survive two days heavy use off one charge.

And for the most part it has, but don't pick this phone up expecting something that will last multiple days of heavy use.

Throughout my time with the device I've easily managed a day and a half of use. That's with multiple email accounts pulling down messages every few minutes, a load of social networking, gaming, browsing and so on. Basically doing everything you would normally do on your phone.

The battery stats showed I had unplugged it from the charger at 12pm Sunday and it ran through until 5pm Monday, with five hours of screen on time. It also lasted for 13 hours playing a looped 720p video at 75 per-cent brightness. The following days matched up, I averaged five hours of screen on time before I needed to reach for the charger and each time I didn't feel the need to plug it in overnight.

It did seem to lose battery quicker than other Android phones I've used when gaming, which is a little odd. A 30 minute session playing Monument Valley ate through 13% of the Moto X Play's life, whereas the same time on the Nexus 6 used up only 9%. It was a similar story with more intensive titles. Streaming a 52 minute HD show on Netflix used up 8%, with the brightness turned up to about 80%.

It outperforms the OnePlus 2, which we found lasted for just over a day, and Alcatel's OneTouch Idol 3, though as it has a much larger cell than those two you'd expect the increased performance.

Standby time, something I think is worse on Android than iOS, is particularly good here. Leaving the phone unplugged overnight would only result in a 5-7 per-cent loss. Pair this with the Doze tech that's coming in Android Marshmallow and things should only get better.

But, there's more to the battery in the Moto X Play than just capacity, it's the first phone to come with the new TurboPower feature that Motorola claims will juice up device faster than the competition.

The first thing to note here is that while the Moto X Play fully supports TurboPower, it doesn't actually come bundled with a charger capable of using it. That's a bit of a shame, but I assume it's a cost-cutting measure that can be forgiven. I've been using the Motorola block that came with the Nexus 6, this supports TurboPower. It's £24.99 from the Google Store, which is quite pricey.

It's definitely worth finding a compatible charger though, because the speed increase is massive. With TurboCharging enabled, I managed to jump from 0% to 50% in just over 30 minutes. I got a full charge in an hour. It's perfect for a quick top-up and just like Qualcomm's Quick Charge, a feature I would struggle without now.

On the whole, the battery is impressive. Especially with the addition of TurboPower. But it doesn't quite match Motorola's lofty claims and my own high expectations.

Moto X Play: Performance

Powering the Moto X Play is Qualcomm's Snapdragon 615 processor, paired with 2GB of RAM and an Adreno 405 GPU. While far from cutting edge, that processor is a 64-bit octa-core chipset comprised of dual quad-core Cortex A53 processors and it provides the power for a number of phone vying for that £250-300 space.

The set-up is certainly capable of handling basic to mildy demanding tasks, but it does end up struggling in some surprising ways.

Running the Geekbench 3 benchmarks, it scored 1,802 on multi-core tests and 568 on the single-core versions, falling behind the older Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3 (2,058) which also runs on the same processor. It also falls well below flagship devices like the Samsung Galaxy S6 (4,547) and HTC One M9 (3,959), though both of these run on much more powerful chipsets. Testing with it AnTuTu, the Moto X Play scored 26,545 which puts its below the Nexus 5 and Samsung Galaxy S5.

But, benchmarks can only really tell you half the story. General day-to-day performance is far more important, especially for a mid-range handset that isn't out there to disrupt the big boys.

Initially, I didn't run into any lag, whether I was browsing Chrome, knocking out an email or even playing addictive, yet hardly processor intensive, games like Monument Valley or Two Dots. Apps opened up fast, swiping through homescreens was smooth and in places where lag is often present, such as swiping down the notification tray or opening up the app drawer, the Moto X Play continued to performe fine.

That isn't to say everything to do with performance was stellar. Like we mentioned in our Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3 review, which runs on the same chipset, strange quirks and misplaced lag are fairly common. Opening up the multitasking overview often stalled for a second or so, as did waiting for the keyboard to show in the Messaging app. These instances were infrequent, but annoying nonetheless.

For gaming, we put it to the test with Real Racing 3 and Dead Trigger 2, two of the more graphically demanding games on the Google Play Store. The Moto X Play was capable of running both of them smoothly, with no frame drops or stutters in sight. In 3D Mark using the Sling Shot ES 3.0 test, it scored 217, a fairly low score but slightly better than Alcatel One Touch's Idol 3 (175) and the Vodafone Smart Prime 6 (173).

Middling benchmark scores aside, the Moto X Play is a fine, if not standout, performer. Don't come here expecting Samsung Galaxy S6 like performance at a bargain price, but there's more than enough grunt under the hood for the majority of users.

Moto X Play: Camera

Along with the battery, Motorola has high ambitions for the camera on the Moto X Play. And if you can take a look through the specs, you would probably think it had done a great job.

The 21-megapixel rear sensor is a massive step-up from the usual 13-megapixels that are common in this price-range, and the f/2.0 aperture should in theory help it capture acceptable low-light pictures. Situated under the camera is a CCT (colour correlated temperature) two-tone flash for capturing softer skin tones without causing blow-outs.

Right, first things first. The camera on the Moto X Play is fast. You can quickly jump straight into shooting mode by shaking the phone and focusing was accurate and locked on to our target almost instantly. It lacks any sort of laser auto-focus (AF) system, like the OnePlus 2 and LG G4, but that doesn't seem to make much of a difference.

Another handy addition is the auto HDR (high dynamic range) mode, which intelligently switches mode depending on your surroundings. This means you don't need to either leave HDR on all the time, which can lead to blown-out and oddly coloured shots when the conditions aren't right, or manually toggle it on and off every time you take a shot.

If you're shooting during the day, with good light and capturing still subjects – think landscapes, portraits and macro shots – the Moto X Play is very impressive. Pictures are absolutely packed full of detail and you can zoom right in without running into any sort of distortion.

Take the below example of the Olympus camera, you can clearly make out the intricate detailing on the plastic body and the circular pattern on the jog dial. Detail is certainly not an issue here.

Again, colour accuracy and saturation were spot-on with daylight shots. The greens of the shrubs and purples of the flowers are represented accurately, not too bright or overly colourful, just right. Really impressive.

Things take a bit of downturn when you start shooting moving subjects. I found even the slightest hint of movement threw the sensor off and the results were more often than not out of focus. If you're trying to capture the kids playing sport and even a live football match, then results are definitely going to be varied.

The most disappointing part of the camera though, is the low-light shooting. As you can see from the images below, pictures taken in less than ideal lightning don't come out very well at all. Detail is completely missed, the focus is off and the results aren't even worthy of Snapchat. These examples weren't even shot in a really dark room, there was a smattering of light and I was expecting far better results.

The lack of OIS (optical image stabilisation) could be one of the problems here, as it the seemingly slow shutter speed. Don't expect the built-in Night Mode to help your churn out better results, this seems to just up the exposure level a bit and leads to noisy, grainy shots.

I've never been a big fan of flashes on smartphones, but at least the dual-LED set-up here performs better than single LED offerings. You need to use it sparingly and carefully though. I didn't get good results when trying to take portraits with the flash, as skin tones become far too bright and unrealistic. But landscapes were marginally better. Only use the flash if you really have to.

Another let down is the camera app itself, which actually tries to be even more simple than Google's stock option. It does away with the shutter button entirely as tapping anywhere captures a picture. If you're unfamiliar with this, like I was, you'll end up taking a load of photos when you just meant to be focusing.

Under the focus ring is an exposure slider which lets you make your shot brighter or darker. The rest of the options are hidden behind a menu, accessed by a swipe in from the side. Here you can alter your image size - either 21-megapixel at 4:3 or 16-megapixel at 16:9, choose your flash and enable auto HDR.

When there's plenty of megapixels in the camera, I like to see a far larger array of manual options in the app. Even an option to turn off tap to shoot would be nice.

On the front is the now standard 5–megapixel selfie shooter. The sensor used here lets in plenty of light and captures enough detail. But it's nothing special. Video is capped at 1080p, no 4K here sorry, and slo-mo, while a nice feature, is limited to 540p.

Moto X Play: Software

Android was once the ugly rival to Apple's iOS. It lacked the sheen, polish and visual flourishes that made iOS a joy to use and even just to look at. That all changed with Android 5.0 Lollipop and the introduction of Material Design.

Now, Google's operating system in my opinion looks and works much better than iOS. From the notification panel and its straightforward organisation to the swathes of customisability and well designed stock apps, Google just got it right with Lollipop. And even though the likes of Samsung, Sony and to an extent HTC have all scaled back their horrendous skins, the changes they make to Android are still detrimental. That's why I really appreciate Motorola's approach to software on the Moto X Play.

Instead of covering Android with a skin, the Moto X Play runs a near stock build of Lollipop 5.1.1, with just a few tweaks and extra apps that actually improve on Google's offering.

The best addition is Moto Display – an updated lock screen that lights up with incoming messages and lets you quickly scan through multiple notifications without unlocking the device. It has been one of Motorola's standout features in recent years and while the lack of an AMOLED panel does reduce the battery saver benefits of the feature, I'm glad it's been kept around.

Another feature making its return is Moto Voice, though it's nowhere near as highly billed as it was on previous versions. It works in the same way though; you teach the phone your voice by saying a number of phrases and then it should respond only to you when you call out, for instance, 'Hey Moto X'.

I had real trouble getting the phone to recognise my voice, having to retry the set-up process on numerous occasions before it finally let me in. It works now though and I can finally ask it to send a messages or answer simple questions without having to repeat myself multiple times. As it works without the screen being on, it's great to ask it to set an alarm for the morning when the phone is charging and you've already gotten into bed. Lazy yes, but handy.

Motorola's suite of services, all bundled under in the single Moto app, is rounded off with a handy Migrate tool to transfer data from your old phone and Assist, a sort of powered-up profile switcher. Stock Android's current lack of a decent 'Do Not Disturb' mode makes this all the more necessary. You can set the phone to automatically alter settings depending on the time or what you have in your calendar. This lets you do things like turn off all sounds and notifications off between midnight and 6am or when you've labelled something in your Google Calendar as a meeting.

Aside from these additions, everything else is pretty much what you'd get on one of Google's own Nexus devices. There's, thankfully, a complete lack of bloatware, very few remodelled applications - just the camera and a separate gallery app - and just the usual array of preinstalled Google applications.

Another bonus of having a Nexus-like experience is that you'll be one of the first in line to get Android 6.0 Marshmallow when it lands later in the year.

Moto X Play: Call quality and speaker performance

You'd be forgiven for thinking, as I did, that the two speaker grills on the front of the device were in fact dual front-facing stereo speakers. However, they're not. Instead, the bottom one acts as the speaker and the top one takes is the microphone for phone calls. That minor disappointment aside, the speaker is actually much better than most other phones in this price-range.

First off, it's front facing so the sound is directed straight at you and doesn't get blocked by stray hands when you're watching a movie or YouTube video. So many phones, like the iPhone and lots of Samsung devices, still use down or back facing speakers and you have to manoeuvre your hands around them to ensure the noise fully comes through. Well done Motorola for not falling into this trap.

Even though it's a single speaker, it has plenty of oomph and gets quite loud, though I found that distortion become quite common when you jacked it up to full volume. Keeping it down to a mid-way point gave it plenty of clarity and while I wouldn't recommend ditching your Bluetooth speaker, it's certainly good enough for the odd internet clip. There isn't a phone out there, even HTC's well regarded BoomSound, with speakers that are good enough to listen to music through.

Call quality, a feature that is still wildly important yet often underrated, is stellar on the Moto X Play. I've been using the device on Three's UK network and found call quality to be excellent, with plenty of volume and voices were easily heard.

Moto X Play: Everything else – storage, connectivity

Unlike the recently announced OnePlus 2, a device that sits in the same price bracket as the Moto X Play, Motorola has decided against replacing the ubiquitous microUSB port with a USB-C version here. While it might be quite so forward thinking, for me it's a plus. USB-C is the future, but there aren't enough devices that use it yet for it to be a valid feature on a smartphone. All your microUSB cables become redundant and it lacks basic features like Quick Charging.

With the base model, you'll get 16GB of storage. Though only 11GB of that is available for your use. I'd recommend laying down an extra £30 and going with the 32GB model, even just for that bit more breathing space. I installed my regular slew of apps, a couple of games and some Spotify playlists and now i'm left with a mere 1GB free.

There is a microSD slot too, so even if you pick up the 16GB option you can supplement it with anything up to a 128GB card. I've been using the review unit with a speedy SanDisk Extreme 64GB card and I haven't had any problems, even playing games from the card doesn't cause any slow-down and deteriorate performance. You can move apps to the card easily, automatically save all your media to it and use it as your main point of storage.

LTE/4G support is included for speedy data-connections when you're away from home, while dual-band (important if your home router splits the signal into 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands) a/b/g/n Wifi takes care of things when you're all connected up at home.

NFC is included, a feature left out by some similarly priced phones including the OnePlus 2, and even if you don't use it for much more quickly hooking up a Bluetooth speaker currently, the introduction of Android Pay later in the year should finally make it a vital feature. Apple Pay showed that mobile payments can easily be widely accepted and hopefully Google's interpretation can work just as well.

Should I buy the Moto X Play?

If you want a well built smartphone with a fantastic display, great daylight camera and true all-day battery the Moto X Play is a fine choice. It just makes the package even sweeter that it can be had for £279.

Motorola has continued its impressive run and with the Moto G setting new standards for the low-end, I think the Moto X Play can do exactly the same for the mid-range.

Instead of trying to pack the phone with new features like OnePlus 2 did with USB-C and a figerprint scanner, Motorola has ensured all the most important parts are the best they can be. From the camera, to the battery and the screen. Adding in TurboPower capabilities just adds to the package. It's just a shame you have to buy the compatible charger separately.

Yes, there are some annoying performance niggles and the low-light camera performance isn't good, but that doesn't stop me recommending the Moto X Play.

Verdict

With a fantastic display, detailed camera and a battery that can last all day, the Moto X Play continues Motorola's impressive run of smartphones.