GADGET GIZMO REVIEW Moto X Play

GADGET GIZMO REVIEW Moto X Play   Motorola is enjoying a lot of success with the 3 rd gen Moto G -in fact; it's the fastest selling mobile phone on Flipkart. The higher end Moto X was never as popular but there was a distinct family resemblance between the two. With the latest Moto X Play, the company wants to capture the market at both ends of the `10-20k spectrum. After using it over several days, we've come to the conclusion that it's best described as a slightly more downmarket (since it ditches Amoled in favour of LCD) but also more affordable Moto X. It's a handsome device for sure -with the trademark metal frame, curved back design and dimpled `M' logo around the back. Up front is a single piece of Gorilla Glass 3 (there's no Motorola logo, so it looks quite clean) and continuity is broken only by the earpiece and front facing speaker. The textured power button (a superb touch) and volume rocker are on the right, SIM tray and headphone jack on top and micro USB port on the bottom. The rubberised back `shell' is easily removable but doesn't give you access to anything -it's only purpose is to be swapped out for customisation. As for the device, you can choose either black or white and then further  customise using the shells. Prices for the removable shells were not announced at the time of writing. Moto says that the Play has a water repellent design (thanks to a special nano coating). However, this doesn't mean that the device is waterproof. Rather, it means that it's more likely to survive an accidental splash or a walk in the rain. Start up the phone and you'll be pleasantly surprised at the clean interface -it's as close to stock Android as possible, with a Migrate app, Flipkart app and notification customisations. As a result, the device feels super fast, despite the 2GB RAM. The camera is paired with a dual LED colour corrected temperature flash and phase detection autofocus (much faster than the norm) -you can also give the device a quick twist (like a flick of the wrist) and it starts up the camera for you. This also works from standby mode so that you can very quickly capture a photo if you see an opportunity. The camera quality is great in ample light but it starts to struggle with lots of noise in low light images. Screen quality is excellent -but obviously not as good as amoled. Battery life is very good, thanks to the large battery . It will easily last 15 hours for most users (with a screen on time of 5 hours). There's also some confusion about whether the Moto X Play is a single or dual SIM device. Moto says that this is market dependent (and that the Indian version is a single SIM phone). However, it's plain to see that there is only one version of the device: dual SIM -with the only difference between the two variants being the SIM card tray .In the SIM tray of the single SIM version, one of the SIM slots is blocked off. However, the device still has two IMEI numbers and you'll see the dual SIM settings in the software. Theoretically, if you manage to modify the SIM tray to accept two SIMs, it will work as a dual SIM phone. Given the small difference in price, it makes sense to go for the 32GB version. Given all that the device offers for the price, Moto seems to have another winner on their hands. Asus offers the closest competitor: Zenfone 2. The 32GB, 4G ready, 4GB RAM version sells for `18,999.

hitesh bhagat

ET23SEP15