Moto Z2 Play review (display)
The Moto Z2 Play might share a screen diagonal with its more-expensive Z2 Force sibling, but this is where the similarities end in the display department. The two clearly employ very different panels, but thankfully both of our favorite OLED variety. Mid-rangers that punch above traditional LCD constraints are always a pleasant sight.
The Super AMOLED branding suggest Motorola did some shopping over at Samsung's for the particular panel. While some might miss the QHD resolution, we think FullHD still looks perfectly sharp across a screen with a 5.5-inch diagonal. Plus, lower resolution typically means better graphics performance and improved power efficiency. These traits fit in perfectly with the efficient Snapdragon 626 chipset in the Z2 Play as well. But more on that in a little bit.
As far as numbers are concerned, the Moto Z2 Play managed a solid 432 nit max brightness in our tests. This is noticeably brighter than the Z2 Force in normal lighting conditions, but also far from what the Z2 Force can output in auto overdrive mode when bright light is available (559nits).
This appears to be one significant difference between the pair of panels, or perhaps their respective controllers - the Z2 Play never actually managed to shine brighter than 432 nits. It does have a light sensor and a properly functioning one, judging by its readings. Auto brightness also works as expected. It is just that there is no overdrive mode. Even so, these numbers constitute an improvement over the original Moto Z Play. We also had no real trouble using the Z2 Play outdoors, thanks to its very impressive 4.459 sunlight legibility rating.
In terms of color reproduction, Motorola's clearly worked towards a vibrant "OLED"-ish color palette more than anything else. The Z2 Play comes with two color modes - standard and vibrant, neither of which is really calibrated against sRGB. In our test with a colorimeter at max brightness, both exhibited an average deltaE of about 4.8 and a maximum of about 10.
Setting the panel to 200 nits doesn't improve things notably. Since the Z2 Play doesn't offer any manual color correction, you are pretty much stuck with a consistent color deviation and especially punchy reds no matter what you do. That being the case, vivid mode seems to be the best choice, since it at least boosts the other colors and brings them closer to the hot, fiery reds.
The Super AMOLED branding suggest Motorola did some shopping over at Samsung's for the particular panel. While some might miss the QHD resolution, we think FullHD still looks perfectly sharp across a screen with a 5.5-inch diagonal. Plus, lower resolution typically means better graphics performance and improved power efficiency. These traits fit in perfectly with the efficient Snapdragon 626 chipset in the Z2 Play as well. But more on that in a little bit.
As far as numbers are concerned, the Moto Z2 Play managed a solid 432 nit max brightness in our tests. This is noticeably brighter than the Z2 Force in normal lighting conditions, but also far from what the Z2 Force can output in auto overdrive mode when bright light is available (559nits).
This appears to be one significant difference between the pair of panels, or perhaps their respective controllers - the Z2 Play never actually managed to shine brighter than 432 nits. It does have a light sensor and a properly functioning one, judging by its readings. Auto brightness also works as expected. It is just that there is no overdrive mode. Even so, these numbers constitute an improvement over the original Moto Z Play. We also had no real trouble using the Z2 Play outdoors, thanks to its very impressive 4.459 sunlight legibility rating.
In terms of color reproduction, Motorola's clearly worked towards a vibrant "OLED"-ish color palette more than anything else. The Z2 Play comes with two color modes - standard and vibrant, neither of which is really calibrated against sRGB. In our test with a colorimeter at max brightness, both exhibited an average deltaE of about 4.8 and a maximum of about 10.
Setting the panel to 200 nits doesn't improve things notably. Since the Z2 Play doesn't offer any manual color correction, you are pretty much stuck with a consistent color deviation and especially punchy reds no matter what you do. That being the case, vivid mode seems to be the best choice, since it at least boosts the other colors and brings them closer to the hot, fiery reds.
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