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Verdict and competition
Everything adds up on the Moto Z2 Play. If you disregard the innovative Moto Mods tech, this is a solid mid-range phone that offers great battery life, good build quality and decent performance.
If you used the Moto Z2 Play without any of the extra modular features you’d likely enjoy it, and it would suit you for most everyday tasks.
But the Moto Mods offer impressive extra functionality, and we’d recommend buying some along with your phone.
The JBL Sound speaker or an extra battery Mod give you features unheard of in most other high-end devices, and they’re just downright cool.
Who’s it for?
If you’re looking for the next big thing in smartphone tech, the Moto Z2 Play could be the device for you. It’s the kind of phone you can show off to friends, family and even strangers with its easy to use but downright impressive modular functionality.
As the cheapest of the modular Motorola phones it could be just the ticket if you're looking for an affordable upper-mid-range handset.
On the other hand the Honor 9 and OnePlus 5 are both fantastic phones that sit around the same price point as the Z2 Play; however, they don’t come with the same modular technology, so that’s something you’ll want to weigh up.
Should you buy it?
If you’re looking for something different to everything else on the market right now, the Moto Z2 Play is the phone for you.
But Moto Mods aside, this is a phone that comes with a good camera, some of the best battery life on the market, a fingerprint scanner and every other feature you’d want from a mid-range phone in 2017.
First reviewed July 2017
The competition
Not sure if you want to buy the Moto Z2 Play? Here are the alternative phones you may want to take a look at.
LG G5
LG may have abandoned its modular ambitions with the LG G6, but the G5 from 2016 may suit you if you’re looking for a phone that offers something different.
Its modular elements are more limited and difficult to use compared to the Moto Z2 Play’s, and now the price of the LG G5 has dropped it will cost you a similar amount to the Z2 Play.
We cited the strong screen, super performance and useful wide-angle camera as some of the main reasons to buy the LG G5.
OnePlus 5
A little more expensive and not as innovative as the Moto Z2 Play, the OnePlus 5 is still a fantastic phone that’s worthy of your attention.
It comes with a much better camera than the Z2 Play’s, so you may feel it’s worth spending a little extra money to get what is phenomenal picture quality.
It’s also one of the most powerful phones on the market, and some people are likely to prefer the premium design of the OnePlus 5 over the less-stylish Moto Z2 Play.
Read our review of the OnePlus 5
Moto Z Play
We particularly liked the Moto Z Play compared to the more expensive Moto Z products, and now that it’s even cheaper it may be a good alternative to the Moto Z2 Play.
It’ll come down to the price, though, and you may want to get this phone if you can find it on sale for a fair bit less than the Z2 Play.
However, if there’s not much in it price-wise, some minor improvements make the Moto Z2 Play the better choice.
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