Looking at the Moto Z3 Play, it seems to be very similar to last year"s model. Indeed, the device itself is the same size, to maintain compatibility with existing Mods, but everything else is different. Along with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 chipset, there"s now an 18:9 Super AMOLED display, and it"s the first Moto Z family device to use the wider format.
Because of this, the fingerprint sensor has been moved to the side, which seems to take some getting used to. It also has a glass back, which looks super-sexy, but it doesn"t provide wireless charging for the handset.
If you do want wireless charging, you"ll need a Mod. Mods are little accessories that clamp onto the back of the phone, and connect through the pins that you see towards the bottom. When I reviewed the Moto Z2 Force, I was skeptical of this. After all, are you really going to spend hundreds of dollars on a collection of Mods, and then carry them around everywhere?
However, I"ve come around to the idea. When I did the last review, I only had the 360-degree camera Mod. Now, I have five different Mods, such as one that adds Alexa, one with a loud speaker, a gaming controller, and a battery pack. Since I can use all of those same Mods with the new device, it"s actually pretty awesome.
The Moto Z3 Play also adds some camera features, including portrait mode in the front camera. It"s not a dual-lens though, which means that you won"t be able to adjust it and add Selective Focus or Selective Black and White. There"s also a new feature called Cinemagraph, which allows you to capture motion in specific parts of an image, leaving the rest still.
I kind of love this phone already. Check out our unboxing video:
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