Motorola Moto Z3 and Z3 Play smartphone - advantages and disadvantages

This article is an overview of the newest smartphone of 2018, the Motorola Moto Z3, which was released a couple of months earlier than the younger model Moto Z3 Play. When the best manufacturers (and Motorola is included in the rating of quality brands) release new items, it is always interesting. Let's analyze the differences between the two models and compare them with competitors. We will show you how to choose and which one is better to buy a smartphone model.

Differences between Moto Z3 and Z3 Play

The phones are very similar. They share the same display, battery, storage, front-facing camera and body. They differ in the Snapdragon 636 processor in the Z3 and Snapdragon 835 in the Z3 Play model. The main cameras have different focal lengths, and in the older model it is more advanced. The Z3 is black and the Z3 Play is dark blue, but so dark that the color is very close to black, especially in artificial lighting.

Appearance

The smartphone has a pretty attractive appearance. Fashionable materials were used in the production. It has shimmery 0.27-inch super thin glass on the front and back and an aluminum frame on the ends. Motorola has managed to achieve a 6-inch 18: 9 aspect ratio despite the form factor constraints due to a commitment to stick to the same overall shape as previous generations of the Z series to maintain compatibility with various motto modules. Case dimensions 76.5 x 156.5 x 6.75 mm. The frames around the screen are rather narrow, although the phone cannot be called frameless. The phone is very thin and light enough, but if used with moto-modules it will add significantly in thickness and weight.

Due to screen enlargements and size restrictions, the fingerprint sensor has been moved to the right side under the volume buttons. This is somewhat unusual, and not everyone may find it convenient, but the scanner works well. There is a power button on the left side of the phone and a USB-C charging connector on the bottom. The top has a SIM / microSD slot.

The main camera is too convex, and against the background of the thin body it is striking. It is protected by glass with a three-dimensional pattern resembling a watch image.

The smartphone lacks a 3.5mm headphone jack, but it comes with a USB-C wired headset adapter. There is also no Dual Sim support.

The phone is splash-resistant, but not waterproof.

Motorola Modules

The magnetic connectors at the bottom of the back are an interface that makes it easy to expand functionality by adding motorcycle modules. These modules (or mods) make the Moto Z series unique. You can simply place such a module on the back of the Moto Z, and it is held firmly there with a magnet.

Mods make the phone thicker, but still comfortable to hold. This is why Motorola has made the Z3 so slim. There are a total of 14 mods, including a projector, stereo speakers, a Polaroid printer, a gamepad, and wireless charging. Some of the modules are really nice and handy, but some of them are just too expensive for their functionality. Moto mods are easy to use and work well, but not all of them are very useful.If you like the modularity of Motorola, then this is a good reason to choose a Motorola smartphone. But keep in mind that if you decide to switch to a different phone without the Moto Z, these mods will become useless.

Specifications

Main technical characteristics of smartphones Moto Z and Moto Z Play

Screen

The screen is made using AMOLED technology, 6-inch diagonal, aspect ratio 18: 9, resolution 2160 x 1080 pixels. The monitor has very rich colors, near perfect blacks, and is very sharp at 402 pixels per inch. This is worse than the Quad HD of the Samsung Galaxy S9 (570 ppi), but it is on par with the Oneplus 6 (the same 402ppi). Viewing angles are excellent and the screen is very bright, allowing you to see information even in the sun. You can adjust the color temperature and saturation of the screen according to your preference.

operating system

Motorola's Android version has always been clean and the Moto Z3 is no exception. The phone runs modern Android 8.1 and it's almost stock Android. Motorola hasn't redesigned the operating system, but it has added the Moto app. This allows you to turn on the Moto display, which warns of notifications, as well as enable gestures to control your phone. Double rotation of the device will launch the camera, shaking will activate the flashlight. It is a convenient and quick way to access these functions. Moto Voice also lets you control your phone with your voice, but it's more common to use Google Assistant, which is also available.

Motorola has its own gesture navigation system that you can turn on. It's an elongated panel at the bottom of the screen. It's easy to use, gives you more screen space and works well.

There is also a face unlock function that works quickly and clearly even in low light conditions.

Performance

The biggest difference between the Z3 and the Z3 Play is the processor. The Snapdragon 636 1.8 GHz processor in the Z3 Play is quite nimble, but the Snapdragon 835 2.45 GHz processor along with 4 GB of RAM in the Z3 takes Motorola's Z-series to the next level and delivers even more power. It's still not as powerful a processor as the 2018 flagship phones LG G7 ThinQ and Samsung Galaxy S9 with Snapdragon 845, but it can handle almost all modern applications. The Z3 Play is fine for watching videos and playing games, and the Z3 is great for active games.

Apps launch quickly and run fast and multitask. Everything scrolls smoothly, scrolls, switches. The smartphone does not slow down anywhere, even in the younger version of the Z3 Play.

Here are some Moto Z3 benchmarks:

• Antutu 3DBench: 199,100;
• Geekbench 4 processor score: 1,901 single core 6,217 multi-core mode;
• 3DMark: 2.705.

Here are the results in the same Moto Z3 Play benchmarks:

• In Antutu 3DBench: 110.949;
• Geekbench 4 processor: 1,299 single core; 4,903 multi-core mode;
• 3DMark: 754.

Autonomy

The battery life of the 3000mAh battery is not bad. The phone lasts 7 hours, 35 minutes when streaming video over the LTE network at maximum brightness. That's more than the Oneplus 6 (5 hours, 49 minutes), although both are far from top-end phones like the Galaxy S9 (which lasted over 10 hours in the same test). If you need more autonomy, then you can use one of the Power Pack mods.

Many people will have enough battery life, but not everyone. For those who are used to loading the smartphone to the fullest, the standard package includes an additional 2200 mAh battery module. It clips on, like all motorcycle mods and, oddly enough, it makes it even more convenient to hold the phone. There is no fear that it will slip out of hand.

15W adapter supports fast charging. Wireless charging isn't built-in, but it's available, again, with an add-on mod.

Cameras

Let's figure out what characteristics the main and rear cameras have. Let's see how the device takes pictures, including how it takes pictures at night.

Main camera

The Moto Z3 has a dual main camera - with a 12MP f / 2 aperture lens and an additional 12MP monochrome lens. The Z3 Play features a 12MP f / 1.7 aperture lens paired with a 5MP lens for depth of field and background blur.

The camera app launches quickly and the shutter button is quick to respond. Daylight photos look good - excellent sharpness, detail and vibrant natural colors. The smartphone handles high-contrast scenes very well thanks to its high dynamic range (HDR) feature. Color fidelity is good, but details can sometimes look a little overloaded and the camera often overexposes slightly.

The Z3, like the Z3 Play, shoots with dignity in imperfect, but sufficient lighting conditions. But in low light, problems begin: automatic focusing is unstable, details are fuzzy, and a lot of noise appears.

In portrait mode, the device makes a lot of mistakes in detecting the edges around the subject in order to blur it. As a result, not only the background is often blurred, but, for example, hair.

There are several other interesting features in the camera app. Spot Color highlights one color of your choice in the photo and turns all other colors into monochrome. A new mode called Cinemagraphs lets you capture 10 seconds of video, select one part of the frame where you want to keep motion, and the rest looks like a still photo. An interesting feature, but the quality of the final result is not very good. There's also the option to go straight from the camera to YouTube Live.

The video is of good quality with high resolution 4K.

Selfie camera

The 8MP front-facing camera is quite common. She takes good selfies in good lighting. The screen acts like a flash in low-light conditions, so low-light selfies look decent too. Portrait mode often performs even better than portraits on the main camera.

Sample photos

Wireless interfaces

The Moto Z3 supports LTE channels as well as dual band Wi-Fi, NFC and Bluetooth 5.0 for wireless listening on multiple audio devices at the same time. There is GPS, FM radio.

In addition, a 5G Moto Mod has been announced, which will allow Z3 owners to use 5G internet. The device's built-in 4mm antennas ensure stable, interference-free 5G signal reception. There is a 2000 mAh battery inside the 5G Moto Mod. The 5G Moto Mod also has its own SIM card inside and two modems: Qualcomm X24 and X50. On 5G networks, it will be able to support 5Gbps speeds. In 4G LTE zones, the X24 modem should increase the speed to 2Gbps, which is higher than the x16 modem built into the phone can achieve.

Sound

The sound quality during the conversation is decent. The sound is clear, noise cancellation removes most background noise with little distortion. The dual speaker delivers good loud calls, but average music playback quality.

Comparison with other popular models

Which model is better to choose? There is no single answer. It depends on what the selection criteria are. The popularity of models is influenced by both characteristics, and how much a smartphone costs, and the strength of the brand. The Motorola brand, despite all the complexity of its history, is still popular. But how much does each of the models cost? The Moto Z3 and Moto Z3 Play are inexpensive, but they're certainly not budget smartphones either. The average price of the Z3 in the US was $ 480, while the Z3 Play was even more expensive at the start of sales - $ 500. It is difficult to say where it is profitable to buy these models in Russia, while they are still scarcely represented here.

Comparing the Moto Z3 to the Essential Phone, the choice is not in favor of the former. The Essential Phone has a more interesting design, better performance, and better cameras.

Outperforms Moto Z3 and OnePlus 6, almost identical in price. It has a newer Snapdragon 845 processor and better cameras.

As for the higher price category, there are even more options. These are the Galaxy S9, the iPhone X, and the LG G7 ThinQ. They are all better than the Moto Z3 in terms of specs, not to mention the Moto Z3 Play.

Bottom line: advantages and disadvantages of Motorola Moto Z3 and Z3 Play

• good AMOLED screen;
• slim body;
• good performance (especially in the Moto Z model);
• high capacity battery;
• a camera that shoots well in sufficient light;
• clean new Android 8.1.

• too protruding camera;
• the camera shoots poorly in low light.

US media reviews of these models as they enter the local market have been moderately positive. The Motorola Moto Z3 is one of the first phones to launch in 2019 on the US 5G network. This is its main remarkable feature. Otherwise, it is a solid smartphone with good but not outstanding specs that takes advantage of Moto Mods technology.