Is it worth buying Moto Z Play Droid from Verizon now?

[rxgadget]

My middle school age Son dropped his LG G3 32GB phone in a puddle and rice barely saved it.. it started with making the phone react as if headphones were plugged in all the time so you could not hear to talk to anyone. Yes we use it as a phone.. 2 days later​ the headset works but now the display blacks out randomly.
I don't want a phone less than 32GB this prefer an SD card option.
I have liked at a lot of phones and know I don't want a 2017 phone and the Galaxy S7 is out of the budget and his needs..
I looked at buying a used Moto Z Play Droid on Swappa and it is selling about $50 to $75 less than a brand new one on Verizon.

Please tell me your thoughts..

 

[jbird68]

I love my Z Play. Battery is great. It has the gorilla glass. I just bought a cheap case for it with a belt holster. I upgraded from a droid mini. Only 1 time was I disappointed. I went on a short business trip about 2 hours away. I didn't bring my charger with me because the battery had been so good at lasting all day. But for some reason I was at about 50% by the time I got to my destination. By the time I got home I was at about 5%. I guess going out of my area the phone was looking for Wi-Fi connections. Since I've been home it had been great again. Weird because I had another 6 hour road trip and the battery lasted all day. Anyway it's been a great phone so far. For the $50-$75 price you posted, I would not be afraid to jump on that.

 

[dby2011]

I would get a 32gb Moto G5 Plus for your son. It's $229 brand new and has the same CPU as the Z and still good battery life. I'm sure your son does not need NFC or Moto mods. I don't think the additional money for the Z Play is worth it. The new G5 Plus works fine with Verizon.

 

[rxgadget]

I would get a 32gb Moto G5 Plus for your son. It's $229 brand new and has the same CPU as the Z and still good battery life. I'm sure your son does not need NFC or Moto mods. I don't think the additional money for the Z Play is worth it. The new G5 Plus works fine with Verizon.

I forgot about the G5 Plus.. I will have to look at that.. thanks thanks for the idea

 

[xeene]

Also check Amazon. They have refurbished(returned) phones for hundreds less then new. I bought my z play there brand spanking new but marked refurbished for $300 several months ago.

 

[udazavlanje]

I would get a 32gb Moto G5 Plus for your son. It's $229 brand new and has the same CPU as the Z and still good battery life. I'm sure your son does not need NFC or Moto mods. I don't think the additional money for the Z Play is worth it. The new G5 Plus works fine with Verizon.

Well, Verizon every few week runs promotions for Z Play - last one was 10/mo.(ended 2 days ago) w/o trade in and usually they give you 100$ off when eligible for upgrade. So, in both cases you might end up paying either the same amount or 70$ more which is well worth it. Yes they do have the same processor, but Z Play is way better from almost every aspect.

VZW Moto X DE/N7

 

[udazavlanje]

I just got another Z Play and the Rep on the phone granted me the promotional price even though it ended few days ago. As of now it's 17$ / mo. and when said that I just missed the 10$ / mo. promotion she said that I can still get it at that price if I was to place an order with her.
At 240$ nothing beats this phone, period.

VZW Moto X DE/N7

 

[Ry]

At $408, it's still a good phone. But with deals putting this phone at $240, I'd wait for another sale.

 

[udazavlanje]

True. They will be free on 2 year agreement as they already were.The problem is that my wife's phone became inoperable and I wasn't willing to turn it in (for replacement device) without full data recovery and complete wiping. You can go without a reliable phone with great battery only for so long. XPE is dying way too fast on her and I can't tolerate my spare OG X any longer

VZW Moto X DE/N7

 

[mojo rising]

You are probably better off buying the phone off Swappa. Verizon's sales practices are mis-leading in that you think that you are paying $204 instead of $408 but the savings comes in the form of a statement credit over 24 months. If your son drops the phone in a puddle and it breaks the phone, it will not be active on the account and the credit will end. Plus, you are paying sales tax on the $408.

It's a good phone. The camera is bad.

Verizon states that that don't have contracts but if your phone is not active on the account for 24 months, or you pay it off, then the discount/promotion ends. So you have to keep the phone for 24 months or face a penalty based on how long you had the phone. Seems the same to me.

 

[BigCTM]

The camera is actually not bad. I have taken some amazing pictures with it. Don't buy it for the camera but it can take some solid pics.

 

[jbird68]

I've been using my phone to take pictures for work instructions at work. They upload to my Google photos and then I can crop them and re-download then to my PC . No need to transfer using a SD card reader. Pictures are actually pretty good and show the details very well.

 

[mojo rising]

I admit that I did take one of the best pics that I have taken with it. In the desert next to a still Jeep Renegade during a sunset. If I sent it to Jeep, it would be on their ads. The Google photos edit effect helped.

That was a still picture with no movement and controlled light. The phone is less expensive because it compromised on the CPU and the camera processor. It can get away with using a cheaper processor as a CPU because it uses pure version of Android and has less bloatware.

The cheaper camera processor is a hindrance when in real world scenarios where you want to take a picture of something that is moving or the light isn't perfect. The Google photo app is a great solution.

 

[rxgadget]

I am wondering now if the Moto G Plus is possible

 

[dby2011]

I'd get the Moto G5 Plus for sure. The 32gb Amazon version is less than $200. Middle school kid doesn't need much more then what that offers.

 

[rxgadget]

I'd get the Moto G5 Plus for sure. The 32gb Amazon version is less than $200. Middle school kid doesn't need much more then what that offers.

Will it work on Verizon if I buy unlocked? I can't get an answer from best Buy or Verizon when I am them if the phone has all the CDMA zones other Verizon phones have.

 

[udazavlanje]

Will it work on Verizon if I buy unlocked? I can't get an answer from best Buy or Verizon when I am them if the phone has all the CDMA zones other Verizon phones have.

yep. I tested it for a day and it was working perfectly fine. just swap your sim card-that simple. if your old phone doesn't have a nano sim you will have fun get it from Verizon an
d activate it. in that case you might hit some bumps (some ppl had problems activating factory unlocked phones on VZW before) but in the end it will work out fine.

 

[dby2011]

I'm not so sure now, been reading a lot of posts that people are having calling quality issues on Verizon. Apparently the G5 does not work well with HD calling and you have to turn that feature off. You may just want to get a Z Play from Verizon.

 

[dby2011]

I admit that I did take one of the best pics that I have taken with it. In the desert next to a still Jeep Renegade during a sunset. If I sent it to Jeep, it would be on their ads. The Google photos edit effect helped.

That was a still picture with no movement and controlled light. The phone is less expensive because it compromised on the CPU and the camera processor. It can get away with using a cheaper processor as a CPU because it uses pure version of Android and has less bloatware.

The cheaper camera processor is a hindrance when in real world scenarios where you want to take a picture of something that is moving or the light isn't perfect. The Google photo app is a great solution.

On a side note, how do you like your Jeep Renegade? I am considering one.