Review: Motorola Moto Z3 Play
Jul 17, 2018, 11:00 AM by Eric M. Zeman
Moto z3 Play
Motorola's third-generation Z Play brings the series up to speed with its competition. This mid-range Android phone switches to a 2:1 screen shape and offers a fingerprint reader and face unlock for security. Pair these with Motorola's wide variety of Moto Mod accessories and a clean build of Android, and the Z3 Play is a flexible option for those who like unlocked phones. Here is Phone Scoop's in-depth review.
Hardware
Is It Your Type?
The Moto Z3 Play puts the right face forward with a new, taller screen shape and reduced bezels. It targets those who may have invested in Motorola's previous Moto-Mod-compatible phones and are looking to upgrade. If you're seeking an affordable device with modern appointments, the Z3 Play is a fine option.
Body
Motorola painted itself into a bit of a corner with its Moto Z series phones. Each model must maintain the same size and shape to remain compatible with the growing family of Moto Mod accessories. The Z3 Play makes just the right updates to keep pace with rivals, while appropriately sticking to its roots.
The Z3 Play is a sleek, metal-and-glass handset that looks and feels classy. It drops the aluminum rear panel of last year's Z2 for Gorilla Glass. The front and back glass panels are blended with a frame made of 6000 series aluminum. I like the rounded shape of the outer chassis. The Z3 Play is an attractive phone.
The only color option is indigo blue. It's such a deep blue that it often looks black. The blue color only truly shows itself under bright light. The paint is mirror-like in its finish. I like the overall look and effect of the phone, which is handsome and sleek. Motorola slapped just enough new paint on the phone to give it its own identity.
The phone is still large at more than 6 inches tall and more than 3 inches wide, but it's incredibly slim at just 6.75mm thick. I have no doubt that some people will be put off by the size of the phone, but it's about the same size as most other phones with 18:9 screens. The thin profile and slippery glass mean it glides into pockets easily.
There's no question the Z3 Play is a high-quality piece of hardware. The glass panels fit into the frame tightly. The components are top-notch and assembled perfectly. The Z3 Play could easily be mistaken for an expensive flagship device.
Apart from the glass backside, the biggest change to the design is the new screen shape. Motorola has finally moved on from the 16:9 shape to a 2:1 (18:9) shape. This means slimmer bezels. There is still a bit of a forehead and a bit of a chin on the Z3 play, but they are greatly reduced when compared to older Moto Z phones. The earpiece and user-facing camera are tucked into the forehead.
In order to retain the phone's footprint while increasing the screen size, Motorola was forced to relocate the fingerprint reader. Motorola's Z-branded phones traditionally have it on the front. Since it can't go on the rear, (it would be covered by Moto Mods,) Motorola put the fingerprint reader on the right edge of the Z3 Play. It was easy to find and use.
Fingerprint Reader
The other controls around the frame are also easy to find and use. The screen lock button, which has a textured surface, is perched on the left side of the device. It has great travel and feedback. Motorola opted for two separate volume keys, which are located above the fingerprint reader on the right edge. These keys have smooth surfaces and excellent profiles. Feedback is satisfying.
The USB-C port is on the bottom. There is no 3.5mm headphone jack (boo), but the phone ships with a USB-C-to-3.5mm adapter. The tray for SIM/memory cards is on the top edge.
USB-C
The rear surface its typical for a Moto Mod-compatible device from Motorola. The glass panel is perfectly flat save for the huge camera module. The module is about the size of two quarters stacked on top of one another. It has a reflective rim that sets it apart visually, if the size/shape didn't call it out enough. The way Motorola arranged the two camera lenses and flash makes the module look like an emoji winking at you.
Camera Module
The copper-colored pins and magnet for the Mod system are near the bottom edge. These are what allow Moto Mods to attach to and communicate with the Z3 Play. It's a great system that Motorola did a fine job engineering. The glass is prone to collecting unattractive fingerprints and smudges.
Mod Contacts
Motorola did not fully waterproof the Z3 Play. Like many Moto devices, the Z3 Play has a nano-coating sprayed onto the internal components that protect it from light rain and splashes, but not submersion. Also, let's not forget that glass breaks. Many Moto Mods will protect the rear surface by default, but won't protect the front.
The Z3 Play is just about exactly the update I was hoping Motorola would give us. It was critical for Motorola to advance to the 2:1 screen, and the device is put together well.
Screen
The Z3 Play jumps from the 5.5-inch, 16:9 display of last year's Z2 Play, to a 6.01-inch, 18:9 display, all while keeping the chassis the same size and shape. This means a huge reduction in the forehead and chin, giving the phone a screen-to-body ratio of 79%. This puts it in line with competing phones.
The screen is an AMOLED panel will full HD+ resolution (2,160 x 1,080). The resolution works well and everything on the screen is nice and sharp. My eyes didn't see any individual pixels. The screen pumps out plenty of light and was easy to view under a bright sky. AMOLED screens offer better contrast than LCD screens, and in that respect the Z3 Play's display delivers. Blacks look great.
Despite the AMOLED display, the phone is not compatible with Google's Daydream VR system due to the mid-range processor. That's a shame.
You can take control of the display's color profile, blue light filter, and other options via the settings menu, to make the experience more your own.
Signal
Motorola sells the phone unlocked with excellent support for US networks. It covers all the major LTE bands for AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon, and their prepaid subsidiaries. I tested the phone on Verizon and AT&T and the phone performed incredibly well. (The phone is certified to run on Verizon's network.)
The Z3 Play performed on par with most other devices I've tested on AT&T and Verizon, meaning it connected calls on the first dial and maintained those calls across miles of highway driving. LTE data performance was very good. Speeds were more than adequate to browse the web, search Google, swipe through social media, and more. Streaming standard definition video and audio from services such as YouTube and Spotify worked well with little buffering. Switching to high definition content introduced more buffering, though that's fairly normal for mid-range phones.
Sound
The earpiece above the screen is for both normal and speakerphone calls. It handles regular phone calls far better than other recent offerings from Motorola. Calls were clear and loud. I had no trouble hearing calls in coffee shops or other semi-noisy spaces. The Z3 Play did well on city streets and in the car, too. Clarity was quite good and voices sounded warm and present. Those I spoke to through the Z3 Play said my voice came across "very good".
The speakerphone delivered similarly clear and loud calls. I was able to use the Z3 Play everywhere I took it without compromises.
Ringers and alerts are fantastically loud, and the vibrate alert gets the job done.
It's not the best at blaring music, but that's what Moto Mods are for.
Battery
Despite measuring less than 7mm tick, the Moto Z3 Play has a 3,000mAh battery. That's on par with many flagships. The phone on its own can push from breakfast to bedtime, though just barely. I never had the phone call it quits before the end of the day; that's a good thing.
You can take advantage of software tools to manage battery life and put Motorola's TurboCharging to use for rapidly replenishing the battery. The phone doesn't support wireless charging on its own, but a Moto Mod accessory adds that capability for a bit more cash.
Motorola sells a Moto Mod with a 2,220mAh battery of its own, and it can recharge the Z3 Play rather quickly. Some Z3 Play kits include the battery Mod in the box. Together, the combined 5,220mAh of the Mod plus built-in battery can deliver nearly two days (40 hours) of battery life.
Bluetooth, GPS, NFC, WiFi
The Z3 Play's secondary radios mostly get the job done. I'm happy to report that the Z3 Play has Bluetooth 5.0 aboard, though it is limited to the normal A2DP profile and doesn't seem to include any advanced codecs, such as aptX. The phone connected to accessories, including headphones and speakers, just fine. Phone calls pushed through headsets were good, and music sent to Bluetooth speakers was passable. Calls I made through my car's hands-free system were very good.
The GPS radio paired well with Google Maps and handled real-time, voice-guided navigation without breaking a sweat.
The Z3 Play has NFC aboard, which helps when pairing with some accessories and making payments with Google Pay. Moto Mods will get in the way, however, which means you'll have to remove most Mods to perform tap-and-go actions.
The dual-band WiFi radio delivered speedy app downloads and perfect HD video streams at home.
Software
Lock Screen
The Z3 Play includes Motorola's most advanced lock screen behaviors. As always, the lock screen is managed via the Moto app. Moto Display is what Motorola calls its "ambient display."
With Moto Display turned on, the screen will wake regularly with incoming notifications. They flash on the screen briefly before going away. Missed it? Wave your hand over the screen and the Z3 Play will wake again to show you the clock and your notifications. This feature relies on a clever ultrasonic sensor to detect when your hand moves over the device.
The Z3 carries over Motorola's gesture-based UI for interacting with lock-screen information. For example, touch-and-hold the screen to see the most recent notification, touch and swipe up to see all notifications, touch and swipe down to dismiss notifications, or touch and swipe sideways to ignore them. It becomes old hat quickly enough.
If you press the screen lock button, the display wakes fully to show the clock, wallpaper, and notifications listed below the clock. There are shortcuts to the Google Assistant and camera on this screen, though these can't be customized.
The Z3 Play's fingerprint reader, positioned on the right edge, performed perfectly. It was a breeze to train, and consistently recognized my thumbprint on the first touch. I like this updated position very much. While righties can rely on their thumb, lefties will be best served using their index finger.
The Z3 Play also includes a Face Unlock tool. You'll need to spend a moment or two training the Z3 Play to recognize your face through the user-facing camera. I ran into a few hiccups setting it up, but eventually got it working. The Face Unlock tool, which must be backed up by a secondary method (PIN, pattern, password), is not as fast as the Face unlock tool of the iPhone X or OnePlus 6. You'll need to enter your alternate security method if the face unlock fails. The face unlock is really fast, though its security isn't as solid as a PIN or password.
Home Screens
The Z3 introduces new — and wholly optional — interface gestures on top of the Android 8 Oreo foundation. Out of the box, the standard home, back, and multitasking buttons appear at the bottom of the screen. You can totally go old school and use these if you prefer. Alternately, if you wish, you can turn on the Android 9-inspired, single-button UI. When activated, a single "pill" appears at the bottom of the screen. Touch it quickly to go home, swipe it left to go back, swipe it right to switch apps, and press/hold it to open the Google Assistant. It takes a day to get used to, but is so fast once you develop the muscle memory for it. I dig.
The home screen panels are as flexible as ever. The panels accommodate shortcuts, apps, widgets, and the like. I enjoy Motorola's combined clock/weather widget. The Z3 Play includes a personalized Google feed as the left-most home screen panel. This shows you local weather, calendar appointments, travel times to work/home, and so on. You can turn this off if you want to.
The app drawer, notification shade, Quick Settings tools, and main settings screens are all stock Android. Apps are listed alphabetically in the drawer, with five app suggestions lining the top. The app drawer doesn't support folders, nor does it allow you to hide apps. (Thankfully there's no bloatware.) There are no themes or other fancy interface tricks on board.
Moto Actions are hand gestures that serve as shortcuts for some tasks. For example, drag three fingers down the display to take a screenshot, make a chop motion with the phone twice to turn on the flashlight, pick it up to stop ringing, and much more. The Voice Assistant is there, too, for your spoken commands. These are all easy to customize via the Moto App.
As for horsepower, the Moto Z3 Play has a Snapdragon 636 processor with 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage. The 636 delivered smooth performance across the board. I didn't see or experience any hiccups or sluggish behavior form the Z3 Play while I evaluated it.
Camera
The Z3 Play's camera is one of the most feature-rich to come from Motorola, particularly considering this phone's price point. The best, fastest way to open the Z3 Play camera app is Motorola's age-old, wrist-twisting gesture. You can also launch the camera from the lock screen shortcut. The camera opens in a blink.
The controls along the left edge let you adjust HDR (on, off, auto), flash (on, off, auto), timer, and live photos, as well as turn on manual mode.
The manual mode hands you control over focus, white balance, shutter speed (up to one-third of a second), ISO, and exposure. Using the easy-to-tweak dials, you can play with the various settings to get the results you want. As per usual, this is something that takes a bit of practice to use effectively.
A selector next to the shutter button lets you access other shooting modes. These include portrait, cutout, spot color, cinemagraph, panorama, slow motion, timelapse, text scanner, YouTube Live, and face filters. We've seen all these features before on other phones, and the Z3 Play does an admirable job with them.
The portrait mode uses the two-camera system to create bokeh-style photos. Your subject has to be within a few feet, and the background has to be at least several feet further away. The mode works well and performs faster than I've seen on other Motorola phones.
The cutout tool works similarly. Put something in the viewfinder and make sure there's some distance between it and the background. The phone then focuses on the subject and entirely removes the background. You can then add another photo to serve as the background if you want to fool around some.
With spot color, you select the color in the viewfinder you want to keep. Then everything else in the photo turns black and white. It's fun for making subjects pop in an image, like an orange sports car.
Face filters are here to enhance your selfie game. They include options like sunglasses, unicorns, rainbows, and space helmets.
The text scanner is for scanning text, such as restaurant menus and business cards. It's a simple text scanner. It will take text and turn it into a PDF or text file. It doesn't do anything to help you search or translate with that text.
YouTube Live is a simple way to sign into your YouTube account and tap into YouTube's existing real-time live streams. You have to set it up properly with your Google credentials the first time, but after that it works seamlessly.
The video camera includes its own tools: time-lapse and face filters. They work well.
The Z3 Play's processor and RAM combo handle the camera app with no issue. The app runs smoothly all the time.
Photos/Video
The Z3 Play's main camera has a 12-megapixel sensor and f/1.7 aperture.
Considering the Z3 Play's price point, the phone does a very good job at taking photos. It's not the best camera I've reviewed this year, but it produces results commensurate with its status as a mid-range phone. That means photos are sharp, color is good, and exposure is accurate …most of the time. I saw a fair mix of soft, skewed, and poorly exposed shots. A little bit of knowledge goes a long way in minimizing the outliers.
The portrait and other modes produce results that are inline with what I've seen from other cameras in this price range.
The 8-megapixel selfie camera does a fine job. The Z3 Play doesn't have a dedicated flash like some other Moto phones do, but it still performs passably in low light. The selfie cam also has some beautification tools that you can adjust manually or leave on auto. The results vary.
As for video, the Z3 Play can snag 4K video and does a good job of it. Exposure and color are improved with video when compared to the camera, and sharpness is quite good. The Z3 Play does well in all but the worst lighting conditions.
I'd be happy if the Z3 Play were my main shooter for daily photography, but I might opt for dedicated equipment for vacations, weddings, and other special events.
Wrap-Up
The Motorola Moto Z3 Play is a solid contender in the $500 range. It covers the basics and then some, while offering flexibility thanks to the selection of Moto Mods accessories.
The Z3 Play may be about the same size/shape as last year's phone, but it has a brand new screen, reduced bezels, and a more modern look. The new button placement — including the side-mounted fingerprint reader — works well, and Motorola made the right choice in including support for memory cards and USB-C. The screen looks great; call/data performance is up to snuff; and battery life is good even without the included Moto Mod battery accessory.
Motorola's variation of Android is one of the best, thanks to its light touch and usable enhancements. The camera software is powerful, and the image quality matches the phone's price point well.
Speaking of which, Motorola sells the Moto Z3 Play unlocked for $499. You can find it from $449 if you poke around. The phone comes with either the extra battery or the stereo speaker. I say go for the battery and live it up.
In the $500 space, few phones offer as much value as the Motorola Z3 Play, particularly if you're looking for an unlocked phone with support for Sprint/Verizon.
About the author, Eric M. Zeman:Eric has been covering the mobile telecommunications industry for 17 years at various print and online publications. He studied at Rutgers Newark and University of Kentucky, and has a degree in writing. He likes playing guitar, attending concerts, listening to music, and driving sports cars.
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