Moto Z Play Droid First Impressions
Before you read any farther you need to know that I am sort of a Moto fanboy. I’ve been using Motorola (now Lenovo) Android phones since the 2010 Droid X. I’d be happy to blather on about every Moto device I’ve had and the merits of each. I won’t, but I’d love to. I liked the Moto G4 and Moto G4 Plus that I recently reviewed. Those are good phones at great prices. But the Moto Z Play Droid is the phone I’ve been waiting for. It’s the phone that’s fired my fanboy imagination. It seems like it ticks the right boxes of price, features, battery, performance, and style. It feels like it could be The One. Is it? I’m not sure just yet as I’ve only been using it for a couple of days. But it might be. Read on for my early impressions.
I recently had the opportunity to review the BLU Vivo 5R. I noted at the time that as soon as I pulled it out of the box my wife was impressed by its looks. Enter the Moto Z Play Droid and a similar, but stronger, reaction. She actually took the phone from me and declared that she wanted one to replace her aging iPhone 6 Plus. The phone Lenovo provided is the white and gold model. It’s visually striking and features gold metal trim around a white face and a white glass back. I found he phone sort of awkward to hold in its natural state due to a completely flat back. Fortunately, Lenovo included a Moto Style Shell that magnetically attaches to the back of the phone to give it a better hand feel.
The phone is running Android 6.0.1 with the July security updates. Performance seems snappy thanks to the mid-tier Snapdragon 625 on board. The screen is a 5.5 inch 1920×1080 SAMOLED. I’ve been generally happy with this resolution and the screen gives favorable first impression. More time is needed to see how it looks outside and in other environs.
The Moto Z Play is off to a good start in the Daniels house. Its an attractive phone that I’m enjoying and has made a convert of my wife. I haven’t had any time to try the Hasselblad True Zoom camera attachment that Lenovo also provided. I’ll cover that and other Moto Mods in detail in the full review. It’s available for $408 from Verizon or directly from Lenovo.
