In the battle of the Android flagships, one name is conspicuous by its absence. That name of course is that of Motorola. The self-professed inventor of mobile telephony, Motorola was given step-motherly treatment by Google, before being hived off to Lenovo for 1/6th of what it had been bought for. But that’s old hat, cut to 2015, Motorola, or Moto as it is better known today, is one of the strongest brands in the lower and mid-range segments, with its E, G and X series, really giving the big boys and the Chinese makers a run for their money.
Over the past year or so, the mid-range market has clocked the most impressive number of launches and as such is the new battlefield for the smartphone makers to compete for attention. In a market that has no clear winner, Moto has made quite a significant impact with its ‘American’ pedigree and this lineage is further enhanced with the Moto X Play.
Staying true to its design language, the Moto X Play, looks little different from its G counterpart. A rubberized back promotes better grip, while the contoured locking and volume buttons are well placed on the right. The bezel adds a touch of style. All in all quite a well-designed package for the price it commands.
Moto’s latest handset Moto X Play, is a fitting competitor in the mid-range category. This category off late has become the fiefdom of the new Chinese players including Huawei, ZTE and others. In order to be able to combat these new kids on the block, Moto has added some pretty nifty specs to this new beast, like a mammoth 3630 mAh battery, a 1.7 GHz 64-bit Octa-Core Snapdragon processor, a 2GB RAM, a 5.5 inch IPS LED screen, a 21 MP, full HD rear camera and a 5MP front snapper for your selfie addiction.
Considering that Moto is the manufacturer of the latest Nexus series of smartphones, the same stock Android experience is translated to the Moto X Play, which will come as great news to pure Android fans. Equipped with the latest iteration of the world’s most popular OS, the Moto X Play has a few interesting additions from Moto, including Moto Assist, Display and gesture controls. Other than that however this is as close to stock Android as any phone can get!
The Moto X Play will be available in two variants, a 16GB variant priced at Rs. 18,499 and a 32GB variant at Rs. 19,999, both models feature microSD card support.
