Moto Z Play: Long-lasting, Affordable, and Modular Too

WE LIKE THE Moto Z (go.pcworld.com/motozrev) and it’s bigger, bulkier cousin the Moto Z Force (go.pcworld.com/motozforcerev). They’re speedy, elegant phones with a good approach to modular addons—as opposed to the LG G5 (go.pcworld.com/lgg5rev), whose “take the whole phone apart” approach to modules doesn’t sit well with us.

- Jason Cross

Those other two Moto Z phones are expensive, high-end, premium devices. The Moto Z Play takes the same general concepts, and compatibility with the same Moto Mods, and brings it down to an affordable price point: about $450. And really, unless you simply need to have a phone with screaming-fast benchmark scores, this more affordable model is a better phone. Really!

Finding the sweet spot

The Moto Z aims to be so thin that you can slap a Moto Mod on the back and still have a “regular phone” thickness, and the Moto Z Force adds a shatterproof display and bigger battery. The Moto Z Play doesn’t push the envelope. It is concerned with finding the sweet spot between price and performance.

Structurally, it’s nearly identical to the Moto Z Force. It’s almost exactly the same size and thickness, with a metal band around the rim where the Force has a heavily beveled edge. I’d prefer a little more separation between the power and volume buttons on the right side, and the plastic bit surrounding the USB-C port looks a little cheap, but for a phone in this price range it looks and feels good.