Motorola Moto X Play - Specification and Impression

Motorola just announced its new lineup on 28 July 2015, and the phones are Moto X Style (aka Moto X 3rd gen), Moto X Play and Moto G 2015. Among these three, I'm quite intrigued with Moto X Play. It's essentiall a mid-range phone and the specs really ticked off many of the checklists of my dream phone. Let's see the specifications in a glance:

• Qualcomm MSM8939 Snapdragon 615 (Quad 1.7GHz + Quad 1.0Ghz, 64-bit)
• 2GB RAM
• 16/32GB extendable with microSD
• 5.5" 1080p display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3
• 148 x 75 x 10.9 mm, 169g
• 21MP back camera + 5MP front camera
• 3630mAh battery
• Optional Dual SIM
• Water repellant nano-coating (IP52 certified)

Simple, elegant design. The back design is quite unique.

Snapdragon 615 might not be top of the line unlike Snapdragon 810 (infamous for overheating issue), but a 64-bit and octa-core chipset will be a great update from my current LG Optimus G Pro. Moto X Style comes with Snapdragon 808, but honestly I don't need over-powerful chipset as basically Snapdragon 615 is sufficient enough to run any current graphically-intense games. With rooting, use of optimization apps (Greenify, Clean Master, SD Maid, fstrim, etc) and almost-vanilla Android, it will be a smooth sailing for Moto X Play.

MicroSD. Just few days or hours ago before Motorola's annoucement, OnePlus announced the supposedly '2016 flagship' killer in the form of OnePlus Two. And bummer it doesn't have a microSD slot. It's a personal preference but let me tell you this, microSD makes flashing custom ROM easier. I don't have to re-copy all files everytime I flash my phone. So for Nexus phones which is built with flashing ROM in mind, it's a bit weird not to have microSD slot.

5.5 inch display is all rage these days. I think it's the most optimal screen size for a phone without going into the phablet territory. The resolution meanwhile is playing the game here. Flagships keep going for higher resolutions to become more outstanding. Honestly I also think that 1080p is the most optimal resolution for a 5.5 inch. 2K? 4K? Sorry but I don't have magnifying glass around to peek into those pixels everytime I use the phone. Heck I might even be satisfied with 720p.

A quantum leap in resolution technology. Yea right.

Talking about screen size and resolution, it will always link to one major thing, the power consumption. So when Moto X Play was announced with a huge 3630mAh battery, it was a godsend. I mean Moto X Style with 5.7" and 2K display (2016p) but with 3000mAh battery? I think the designers might have accidentally put the wrong battery onto the wrong model. But it's a damn good mistake. I don't think Moto X Style will be within my budget anyway.

What else I haven't talk about? Ah the camera. 21MP is actually a bit overkill for me. Heck I'm still using 6MP on my 10MP Panasonic LX7. There's not much information about the camera. But DxOMark ranks Moto X Style camera just behind Samsung Galaxy S6 and level with Samsung Galaxy Note 4 says something about the new camera on Motorola. Hopefully nothing much is sacrificed from the camera on Moto X Play.

Shut up and take my money!

Moto X Play's dimension is 148 x 75 x 10.9 mm, and it's actually quite small for a 5.5 inch phone. In comparison, LG G3 (the smallest 5.5 inch phone until now is measured at 146.3 x 74.6 x 8.9 mm). The width and height difference is minimal. However Moto X Play is a bit on the thick side, probably due to the huge battery. The back is curved anyway, so it's not entirely 10.9mm.

And last but not least, it is IPX certified! I've been looking at water resistant phones for the longest time, and before the announcement of Moto X Play, I was looking at either Samsung Galaxy S5 or Sony Xperia Z2. Why water resistant you say? Just check the below video out.

Isn't it cool to be able to use your phone in the rain? Moto X Play is certified as IP52, and according to IP Code table,
5 - Dust protected and
2 - Dripping water when tilted up to 15°.
I believe it will be able to sustain rain, but I don't think it will be able to survive a dunk into a pool of water.

Motorola haven't announced the price of Moto X Play yet, but definitely it will be cheaper than any of the flagships phones. Even if it is priced slightly higher than OnePlus Two (16GB cost around USD329), I will still go for Moto X Play. Can't wait for it to come out and see some good reviews hopefully!