The latest in Lenovo’s mod-driven lineup is the Moto Z3 Play, which will be available at Sprint and U.S. Cellular carriers in the US for $499 this summer. The Z series remains one of the only smartphone lines that has been successful with a mod strategy.
Lenovo credits the fact that mods don’t affect user experiences and don’t require users to power down device to use mods as part of its success. There are currently 14 Moto Mods on the market and they are all compatible with the Moto Moto Z3 Play. The device has been designed with forwards and backwards compatibility for all current and future mods and will bundled with a 2,000MAh extended battery mod in the US and a speaker mod for international markets.
Moto Mods
The Moto Z3 Play is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 chip, allowing for CAT 12 LTE speeds. It runs a fairly pure version of Android 8.0.1 Oreo, though Lenovo has already introduced a new navigation style called One-Nav. Similar to the pill scroll mechanism Google recently showcased as part of Android P, the Moto Z3 Play has a horizontal scrolling bar at the bottom of its display. Users can swipe right to go back a page, swipe right to access recents and tap once to go home. Moto Z3 Play is set to have software support for both Android P and Android Q, but there is currently no timeframe for the updates.
Once updated to Android P, users will have the option to select the Android P pill style navigations, Lenovo’s One Nab or the basic three button navigation.
Design wise, the Moto Z3 Play is available in a Deep Indigo color option and has dimensions similar to its Moto Z2 Play predecessor to maintain mod compatibility. At 76.5 x 156.5 x 6.75 mm and 156 g the device is designed for light and easy handling, with 2.5D glass on the front front and back. It’s frame is made of 6000 series polished aluminum.
The Moto Z3 Play includes some of the latest smartphone trends, including a rear fingerprint scanner and the removal of the headphone jack in favor for USB-C audio compatibility. The device retains its power button, which has been moved to the left side of the phone, while the volume rocker is on the right.
Moto Z3 Play camera features
The Moto Z3 Play camera introduces some features that are new to the Z line. It’s cinemagraph mode allows users to create stylized images and slo-mo gifs. Both the front and rear support portrait mode. The rear camera is a dual set up with a 12-megapixel, f.17 aperture lens and a 5-megapixel depth lens. The front-facing camera is 8-megapixels. The device maintains some common gesture controls, such as twist to turn on camera.
Lenovo has also dabbled in mixed reality, adopting the Google Lens standard to allow users to identify and pull up information on their surroundings through the Moto Z3 Play camera view finder.
The Moto Z3 Play features a 3,000MAh built in battery with turbo charging capability, which allows for 7 hrs of power power gained in a 15-minute charge. The device includes 4GB of RAM and will be available in 32GB and 64GB storage options.
