At a launch event in Sydney this morning, Motorola officially unveiled their 2017 smartphone range – headlined by the Moto Z2 Play.
Motorola Director of Marketing for Asia-Pacific Sridhar Ramaswamy was on-hand to talk up the journey that Motorola is currently making as a brand and as a business.
He says that the response by the market to the company’s rebranding has been a positive one.
Ramaswamy claims the company has seen 20% quarter-on-quarter growth in global shipments, becoming the #2 player in both the Indian and Brazilian markets.
More specifically, he says, the Moto Z family has shipped over 3 million units.
Describing the company as the #1 challenger brand, he says their goal is to become the number 3 player in the market by offering an innovative and colorful alternative to the big players. Where other companies are fighting to become the next Samsung, they’re pushing to become something altogether different but no less successful.
Positioned (at-least for now) as the current champion of range, the Moto Z2 Play is as much a successor the original Z as it is the Z Play.
15% thinner and 12% lighter than it’s precessor, the Moto Z2 Play features a 5.5-inch FHD Super AMOLED display coated in Gorilla Glass. Motorola also indicated that the device will be coated in a water resistant nano-coating that provides a level of protection equivalent to IPX2.
As previously tipped, the Moto Z2 Play will feature a 2.2Ghz Snapdragon 626 chipset alongside 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage.
Motorola are also swapping out the 16-megapixel rear shooter of the first Moto Z Play with a 12-megapixel camera with a better image sensor. They’re also downsizing the battery from the 3510mAh of the original Play to 3000mAh.
It’ll charge through a USB-C port at the bottom of the device and will feature a 3.5mm headphone jack.
Motorola is also emphasizing the “Pure Android” software experience powering the Moto Z2 Play. They say they will be releasing quarterly security updates in order to keep the device sharp and while the device will initially launch with Nougat, they indicated it would be on a fast-track to get Android O in short order once it arrives.
On the hardware side, it’ll also be compatible with any preexisting and future MotoMods. Though interestingly, Motorola’s Danny Adamopoulos said that Motorola would be guaranteeing support for MotoMods for up to three years – suggesting at some point that a major hardware redesign will be on the cards for Motorola’s modular kit.
Since the pitch for the Moto Z2 Play essentially boils down “the phone you make better with MotoMods”, the company talked up the refreshed range on offer here. Alongside returning add-ons like the Hasselblad TrueZoom camera and the revamped JBL SoundBoost speaker.
The biggest MotoMod to get an improvement here is the slim style cover. Originally a purely aesthetic add-on, the Style Shells now come in a larger range and add wireless-charging to the device when equipped.
Then, the TurboPower add-on gives you an extra 3449mAh battery to play with. It also comes equipped for 3x faster charging.
Meanwhile, the MotoMod Gamepad allows you to add more traditional controls to your mobile smartphone experience. It’s branded as part of Lenovo’s Legion-branded push into gaming and comes with a backlit logo on the reverse side. However, disappointingly, it doesn’t look like you’ll be able to tether it for use with a PC or console.
No word on any of the prototype MotoMods recently shown, nor the rumored Moto Z2 or Moto Z2 Force.
The Moto Z2 Play will be available in retail through Harvey Norman, Woolworths, Coles, Australia Post and online directly through Motorola Australia.
It’ll land with an RRP of $699 in late July.
