Smartphone Motorola Moto Z3 and Z3 Play - advantages and disadvantages

This article is an overview of the latest smartphone of 2018, 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 ranking of quality brands) release new products, it is always interesting. Let's analyze the differences between the two models and compare with competitors. We will show you how to choose, and which is better to buy a smartphone model.

Differences between Moto Z3 and Z3 Play models

The phones are very similar. They share the same display, battery, storage capacity, front camera, and body.They differ in the Snapdragon 636 processor in the Z3 model and the 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, while the Z3 Play is dark blue, but so dark that the color is very close to black, especially in artificial light.

Appearance

The smartphone has a rather attractive appearance. Fashionable materials are 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 been able to achieve the 18:9 aspect ratio of the 6-inch screen despite form factor limitations due to the commitment to stick to the same general shape as previous generations of the Z series in order to maintain compatibility with various Motto modules. Case dimensions 76.5 x 156.5 x 6.75 mm. The frames around the screen are quite 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 a lot of thickness and weight.

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

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

The smartphone lacks a 3.5mm headphone jack, but comes with a USB-C adapter for a wired headset. 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 the functionality by adding motor 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 firmly held there with a magnet.

Mods make the phone thicker, but it's still comfortable to hold. That's why Motorola made the Z3 so thin. There are a total of 14 mods, including projector, stereo speakers, Polaroid printer, gamepad, 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 liked the modular principle of Motorola, then this is a good reason to choose a Motorola smartphone. But you need to remember that if you decide to switch to another phone without Moto Z, these mods will become useless.

Specifications

Main technical characteristics of Moto Z and Moto Z Play smartphones

Screen

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

Operating system

Motorola's version of Android has always been clean, and the Moto Z3 is no exception. The phone runs on 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 alerts you to notifications, as well as enable gestures to control your phone. Double rotation of the device will launch the camera, shaking will activate the flashlight. This is a convenient and fast way to access these features. Moto Voice also lets you control your phone with your voice, but it's more familiar to use Google Assistant, which is also available.

Motorola has its own gesture-based 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 real estate, and works well.

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

Performance

The most significant difference between the Z3 and Z3 Play is the processor. The Snapdragon 636 1.8 GHz processor in the Z3 Play is fast enough, but the Snapdragon 835 2.45 GHz along with the 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 LG G7 ThinQ and Samsung Galaxy S9 phones, which have a Snapdragon 845, but it is able to handle almost all modern applications.Z3 Play is quite suitable for watching videos, for games, and Z3 is great for active games.

Applications launch quickly and work smartly and in multitasking mode. Everything smoothly scrolls, scrolls, switches. The smartphone does not slow down anywhere, even in the younger version of Z3 Play.

Here are some tests of the Moto Z3:

• Antutu 3DBench: 199.100;
• Number of points in Geekbench 4 processor: 1,901 single-core; 6.217 multi-core mode;
• In 3DMark: 2.705.

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

• Antutu 3DBench: 110.949;
• Geekbench 4 CPU score: 1,299 single core; 4.903 multi-core mode;
• In 3DMark: 754.

autonomy

The 3000 mAh battery life 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), though both are far from top-end phones like the Galaxy S9 (which lasted over 10 hours on the same test). If you need more autonomy, then you can use one of the Power Pack mods.

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

The 15W adapter supports fast charging. Wireless charging is not built-in, but it is available, again, with an additional 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 12-megapixel f/2 lens and a secondary 12-megapixel monochrome lens. The Z3 Play features a 12MP f/1.7 lens paired with a 5MP lens for depth of field and background blur.

The camera app launches quickly and the shutter button is responsive. Photos in daylight 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 accuracy is good, but details can sometimes look a little overexposed, and the camera often overexposes slightly.

The Z3, like the Z3 Play, shoots decently in conditions of imperfect, but sufficient lighting. But in low light, problems begin: auto focus is unstable, details are fuzzy, and there is a lot of noise.

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

There are a few other interesting features in the camera app. The Spot Color feature highlights one color of your choice in a 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 leave motion, and the rest looks like a still photo. An interesting feature, but the quality of the final result is not very good. There is also the option to go directly from the camera to YouTube Live.

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

Selfie camera

The 8-megapixel front camera is quite ordinary. 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 the portraits of the main camera.

Photo examples

Wireless interfaces

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

In addition, a 5G Moto Mod has been announced that will allow Z3 owners to use the 5G Internet standard. Built-in 4mm antennas ensure stable 5G signal reception without interference. 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. In 5G networks, it will be able to support 5Gbps speeds. In 4G LTE areas, 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 a conversation is decent. The sound is clear, noise cancellation removes most background noise with little distortion. The dual speaker provides good loud calls, but average music playback quality.

Comparison with other popular models

Which brand of models is better to choose? There is no definite answer here. It depends on what the selection criteria are. The popularity of models is influenced by the characteristics, how much the 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 model cost? Models Moto Z3 and Moto Z3 Play are inexpensive, but they are certainly not budget smartphones. The average price of the Z3 in the US was $480, and 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 little represented here.

If we compare Moto Z3 with Essential Phone, then the choice will not be in favor of the first. The Essential Phone has a more interesting design, better performance and a better camera.

Wins against Moto Z3 and OnePlus 6, almost the same price. It has a newer Snapdragon 845 processor and better cameras.

As for the higher price category, there are even more options. This is the Galaxy S9, and the iPhone X, and the LG G7 ThinQ. All of them are better than the Moto Z3 in terms of performance, not to mention the Moto Z3 Play.

Results: advantages and disadvantages of Motorola Moto Z3 and Z3 Play

• good AMOLED screen;
• thin 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 does not shoot well in low light.

American media reviews of these models when they entered the local market were restrainedly positive. The Motorola Moto Z3 is one of the first phones to launch in 2019 on 5G in the US. This is its main notable feature. Otherwise, it's a solid smartphone with good but not outstanding specs that allows you to take advantage of Moto Mods technology.