Motorola pioneered the modular phone. The Z2 Play is a good sampler
Bangalore, August 20 2017: Like a chameleon changing its colours, Motorola's recent phones can modify themselves for multiple roles. This has been possible ever since the company launched the modular phone concept some 9 months ago. The recently launched Moto Z2 Play is a good example of how this works.
The basic phone is a 5.5 inch full HD display device with 4 GB RAM and 65 GB storage that can be expanded to an unbelievable 2 terabytes with external storage. The only catch is I am not aware of a 2 TB micro SD card that one can actually buy. 1 TB cards were announced last year -- but they are still not easy to get in India. Global e-bay sites offer it for the equivalent of Rs 3000.
The front( selfie camera) is fairly modest: 5 MP, but it compensates with a nice wide angle lens and dual LED flash. The rear shooter is 12 MP with some very recent laser autofocus technology that makes for very sharp focussing even in semi dark conditions. Weighinh 145 grams, the Z2 Play is very thin, less than 6 mm and the 3000 mAh battery while not the largest that can be found in similar-class phones, is OK for a day's typical usage.
Moto has incorporated its own voice system that will speak out useful inforamation ... like Siri does on iPhones.
The real differentiator with this phone is that it is compatible with Motorola's Modular add-ons. That means you can clip on a projector; an enhanced JBL SoundBoost 3 watts twin speaker with its own battery pack and a kick stand; additional battery pack or a superior Hasselblad camera system which brings 10x zoom capability & a zenon flash system.
I think, the real differentiator will be the InstaShare projector, that lets you project stills or video to 70 inch diagonal size. It has its own 11 mAh battery to sustain a 1 hour show. If you shoot full HD 1080p video with the Z2 Play, as you can, it may be worth your while to project it and view on a big screen, rather than watching video on a 5.5 inch screen. One needs to budget for these accessories: the projector add-on mod costs just under Rs 20,000. The Hasselblad True Zoom costs Rs 22,956.
The Moto Z2 Play phone costs Rs 27,999 ( details here) but to really stretch its capability to full potential, you need to clip on some of the Mod accessories. ANAND PARTHASARATHY