Moto X Play: Various Reviews

[Brian Stewart1]

Re: Question for Moto X play user?

i can confirm no raw support in third party camera app as well

but i'm sure it can be added.. (samsung added it to the s6 / edge - via a software update)..

I too was waiting for the style but the price of the play and the battery life it was hard to say no..

so far i'm very happy

 

[syspry]

Finally got around to checking out a store demo and I can't say I was impressed. The chassis felt very much like it was saying "cheap feeling plasticky Chinese budget phone. The textured back wasn't nice, it felt like the older cheap feeling plasticky Samsung frames we all used to criticize. It was toy-ish. Same goes for the buttons. Overall it just didn't feel solid to me at all. Even other plastic polycarbonate phones like the nexus 6 from pre-lenovo Motorola days had a better quality feel.
On the software side I'll refrain from judging based on a store demo. My final impression left me with the feeling that if Matel had made the chassis instead of loenovorola I wouldn't notice the difference.

 

[leetrevor81]

I just got mine today, to me it feels like a really solid well built phone. Obviously it's not glass or metal all over, but theres no creeks, the plastic doesn't push in like old samsung phones, the plastic back feels really nice to hold, and grippy (not slippery like some metal/glass phones) and the edges don't feel plasticky to me, even if they are. I'm also quite fond of the way it looks. Yes the buttons move, but it doesn't bother me, I've had a lot of phones that have slightly loose buttons. They feel fine and are nice and clicky.

Also on the build, i'm really impressed how small this phone is for a 5.5 inch screen phone. It is pretty much the same size as my oppo r7 (5 inch screen), it's BARELY wider and taller. Obviously the oppo is a lot thinner, but because the sides of the moto x play are slimmer, it doesn't feel thick holding on to it

 

[aldo82]

Finally got around to checking out a store demo and I can't say I was impressed. The chassis felt very much like it was saying "cheap feeling plasticky Chinese budget phone. The textured back wasn't nice, it felt like the older cheap feeling plasticky Samsung frames we all used to criticize. It was toy-ish. Same goes for the buttons. Overall it just didn't feel solid to me at all. Even other plastic polycarbonate phones like the nexus 6 from pre-lenovo Motorola days had a better quality feel.
On the software side I'll refrain from judging based on a store demo. My final impression left me with the feeling that if Matel had made the chassis instead of loenovorola I wouldn't notice the difference.

Each to their own. Personally, apart from the buttons, I'm really pleased by the build quality. It feels solid and I don't care that it uses plastic over more high end materials.

My previous phone was a one m8 and I actually prefer the moto X play build to that. It's much more grippy and I don't have to baby it so much. Much more practical to use. And the firm factor of the x play is great, fitting a large screen into such a small body.

But I am disappeared by the buttons and only wish moto would've out a little more thought into this area. They work fine but rattle all the time and it annoying. The nexus 5 is a good example of a phone with cheaper build materials but that used good quality buttons and that made a lot of difference

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[rowanparker]

Is anyone else finding the play a little tricky to hold on to? It just seems to slide out of my hand with the back providing significantly less friction than say my Nexus 5. Just me? I've ordered a case now (the bugdroid one from cruzerlite).

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[thespinner]

I solved both the slipperiness (although I didn't find the phone that slippery, I was just worried about dropping it) and the rattling buttons with a cheap, simple case the covers the back of the phone.

Regarding the lag/stutter I haven't found it that noticeable or annoying, but I guess everyone's perception is different - and what phone you came from might be a factor. Today I did notice the animations slow in Todoist. So I tried a trick I remember seeing on an MKBHD video. Enable developer options and then change each of the following options to 0.5 (from 1.0):
- window animation scale
- transition animation scale
- animator duration scale

Early days but it solved the slow animations in Todoist.

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[aldo82]

Is anyone else finding the play a little tricky to hold on to? It just seems to slide out of my hand with the back providing significantly less friction than say my Nexus 5. Just me? I've ordered a case now (the bugdroid one from cruzerlite).

Posted via the Android Central App

It's not as grippy as I expected but having come from a one m8 which is like a bar of soap I find it fine. Defo much grippier than that! Wouldn't want to use a case as it would make it too big

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[aldo82]

I've just put Nova on and whilst I like the Google now launcher, Nova is definitely noticeably smoother so as I've read someone else point out, there is definitely some software optimisation that can improve the lag on this phone

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[Javier P]

I'm using Nova as well and works fine. Play with the speed and animations settings in look & feel until you find the best combination for you.

 

[Cakefish]

I've just put Nova on and whilst I like the Google now launcher, Nova is definitely noticeably smoother so as I've read someone else point out, there is definitely some software optimisation that can improve the lag on this phone

Posted via the Android Central App

That was me

Nova is definitely smoother.

Unfortunately I love the Google Now launcher too much to give it up. Google Now is great. I mostly use it to gather interesting internet articles about a variety of things. It does this job very well.

 

[aldo82]

Android authority opinions with review to come http://www.androidauthority.com/two-weeks-motorola-moto-x-play-642032/ seem to match my conclusions

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[leetrevor81]

Android authority opinions with review to come Two weeks with the Motorola Moto X Play - Android Authority seem to match my conclusions

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I disagree with this review in a few areas. Firstly the review states the X Play is 7.9mm, (maybe it's 7.9mm on the sides and 10.9mm at it's thickest point? or maybe just a typo)

I've found the performance to be really smooth and fast, especially compared to the skinned oppo r7 with the same processor, which I owned briefly. The update to the google app has gotten rid of any 'laggy' animations using the launcher for me.

I like this screen, I still have the nexus 6, and I am preferring the more true to life colours on the Play and find brightness is good (I only have my brightness at about 40%)Outdoor visibility is so much better than the nexus 6. Viewing angles are a lot better than the Nexus 6 as well, as on an angle there is colour shifting with the Nexus 6. I'm sure the X Play screen isn't as good as the note and s6, but I think it's great

 

[Javier P]

And another disagreement.

"The other thing that is very frustrating is the inability to touch to focus on a subject".

That's not exactly true. You can easily enable the manual focus and drag to the subject.

 

[aldo82]

I would agree that the screen is much better than the review makes out. I'm really happy with it and it has the best outside visibility of any phone I've owned. I agree with what it notes about the perfomance issues.

You can drag the focus point once switched on so the review is a bit misleading but I don't find it as intuitive as pressing the area you want to focus on like pretty much every other camera app out there

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[duckson]

Coming from the Nexus 5 the screen is excellent in my view, cant understand their negative feedback in the review for that at all!
Although saying that mine tended to dim a little or the brightness change when using it and so i started using the app 'Velis Auto Brightness' with the screen set as 'TFT Normal'. So much better with this app installed and i notice the brightness only rarely goes over 50% and its usually at 20-30%.
The screen on time isnt that much of a drain on the battery i find, certainly nothing like the Nexus 5!

 

[aldo82]

Coming from the Nexus 5 the screen is excellent in my view, cant understand their negative feedback in the review for that at all!
Although saying that mine tended to dim a little or the brightness change when using it and so i started using the app 'Velis Auto Brightness' with the screen set as 'TFT Normal'. So much better with this app installed and i notice the brightness only rarely goes over 50% and its usually at 20-30%.
The screen on time isnt that much of a drain on the battery i find, certainly nothing like the Nexus 5!

I have never seen screen at the top of battery stats on this phone, even when I've pushed the usage really high. That is in contrast to evey other phone I've had. Just shows if they could reduce the drain from some of the background activities (marshmallow will help) this phone will last and eternity!

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