3 hours ago
2
ZDNET's cardinal takeaways
- The Moto G Play (2026) is Motorola's latest fund phone, priced astatine conscionable $180.
- It offers bright, colorful visuals, an awesome artillery life, and almighty speakers that marque the telephone large for movie watching.
- However, its low-resolution surface and anemic camera show successful low-light environments clasp it back.
Follow ZDNET: Add america arsenic a preferred source on Google.
Even though we're inactive successful 2025, Motorola isn't slowing down. The institution has kicked disconnected its 2026 lineup, starting with the Moto G Play. I antecedently covered the announcement of these fund handsets and noted however overmuch they resembled past year's lineup. After spending a week investigating the Play, it's wide to maine that similarities tally deeper than appearances.
Also: The 10+ champion aboriginal Black Friday telephone deals to drawback now
Internally, the Moto G Play has overmuch of the aforesaid hardware arsenic the 2025 Moto G, portion introducing lone a fewer meaningful improvements. Sharing definite strengths isn't needfully a atrocious thing, but successful this case, the overlap feels excessive due to the fact that galore of the aforesaid weaknesses are back. Although I volition accidental that it is priced better.
Best mobile deals of the week
Deals are selected by the CNET Group commerce team, and whitethorn beryllium unrelated to this article.
If it ain't broke, don't hole it
Similar to the 2025 Moto G, the Moto G Play features a 6.7-inch touchscreen and a bladed furniture of faux leather connected the back, providing a soft, premium feel. This material, combined with the rounded edges, makes the mobile instrumentality a well-built telephone that's comfy to hold. The surface itself is simply a mixed bag. It runs astatine a humble HD+ solution (1,604 x 720 pixels). As a result, on-screen items look somewhat blurry astir the edges, and games deficiency good detail.
Also: The apical 10 phones readers bought successful 2025 (no. 1 amazed each of us)
However, the show makes up for this deficiency of precocious prime successful different areas. Colors are vibrant, brightness peaks astatine 1,000 nits for wide outdoor viewing, and the 120Hz refresh complaint makes scrolling buttery smooth. Even thing arsenic elemental arsenic browsing the net for Black Friday deals felt large connected this panel.
Complementing the show are a brace of Dolby Atmos speakers delivering amazingly affluent audio for a fund phone. The dependable output adjacent has a spot of punchy bass and depth, outperforming what I get from my pricier OnePlus 13R. What's absorbing to maine is that the Moto G Play isn't being marketed arsenic a "mini movie theater", but it manages to execute the aforesaid goal. It's an fantabulous telephone for streaming and consuming media.
Powering the Moto G Play is the MediaTek Dimensity 6300 SoC (system-on-a-chip) paired with 4GB of RAM, which tin beryllium expanded to 12GB utilizing the RAM Boost diagnostic for improved performance. When the 2026 lineup was announced, I afloat expected Motorola to determination up to the newer Dimensity 6400 chipset. However, it appears the institution adopted the "if it ain't broke, don't hole it" attack and stuck with the 6300. To beryllium fair, it inactive performs beauteous well.
The SoC handles astir apps without issue. Jumping betwixt Chrome, YouTube, and the camera app felt seamless. Streaming movies connected Netflix went disconnected without a hitch. Performance did falter successful the look of demanding mobile games. I tested titles similar Honkai: Star Rail and Genshin Impact to spot if this exemplary could grip the games amended than the 2025 instrumentality did; unfortunately, it didn't.
If anything, it got worse. The mobile instrumentality stuttered much often portion moving the games, and adjacent froze a fewer times, though I judge the poorer show is owed to the graphical load. Recent updates person ballooned the record sizes for the 2 titles.
However, if the crippled is little demanding, things are overmuch better. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: a 2D side-scroller disposable done Netflix's arcade service, ran perfectly. It's wide that Motorola's latest telephone is designed for casual entertainment, alternatively than dense gaming.
Improved camera
One country wherever the Moto G Play saw large changes was its camera system. On paper, it whitethorn look similar a downgrade compared to the erstwhile model, but I really liked it more. The rear camera present features a 32MP sensor, down from 50MP, portion the beforehand camera is equipped with an 8MP lens.
One of my main complaints astir the 2025 Moto G was its inclination to oversaturate colour successful photographs, making them look overly agleam and unnatural. That contented has been addressed connected the Moto G Play, with the instrumentality present producing amended color-balanced images. The telephone does conflict successful low-light environments. Photos taken nether those conditions grounds noticeable noise, particularly erstwhile zoomed in. It doesn't ruin the shot, but the quality compared to daylight photos is significant.
Under optimal lighting conditions, the pictures taken by the Moto G Play look fantastic. I took the smartphone to my section parkland and beach, wherever I took galore photos during the midday and sunset hours. Everything looked great; pictures came retired highly detailed. Below is 1 of the pictures that I took with the Moto G Play.
Our website compresses images, truthful the prime whitethorn not beryllium the aforesaid arsenic erstwhile viewed connected a phone. Still, I deliberation it looks large and showcases what the Play is susceptible of.
As for camera features, the Moto G Play keeps astir of what the 2025 Moto G had, though immoderate of them aren't listed connected Motorola's website. Burst Shot, for example, is present. It's activated erstwhile you clasp down the shutter button. Tools similar the Assistive Grid and Leveler are back, arsenic well. The lone existent omissions look to beryllium the small extras, similar the barcode scanner and Face Touch.
Battery beingness is besides rather solid. During testing, I utilized the exemplary arsenic my superior device, watching videos, making calls implicit WhatsApp, and browsing the internet, among different activities. Motorola's telephone managed to past good implicit 24 hours connected a azygous charge. Recharges are a small slow. After being plugged successful for 30 minutes, it went from a dormant artillery to 25%, which is decent erstwhile successful a pinch, but obscurity adjacent a full-day battery.
ZDNET's buying advice
The Moto G Play presently retails for $180 done Motorola's website, Amazon, and Best Buy. It comes successful a azygous color, PANTONE Tapestry (a grayish blue). I'd urge this fund smartphone to anyone successful the marketplace for an affordable, dependable mobile device. It delivers astir the aforesaid acquisition arsenic past year's model, each astatine a little cost.
If you're consenting to wage a more, see the Moto G Stylus. It comes with a 6.7-inch AMOLED Super HD touchscreen and a 50MP Sony LYTIA 700C camera.
English (US) ·