PERFORMANCE: While the Motorola Moto G4 Play garners some high scores, many others score better. This phone could still be a good budget choice if you can get it at a good price or if you need only a basic smartphone. Ergonomics on the Moto G4 Play were very good. While not the best, the touchscreen was very good and it is easy to use. You should be able to get comfortable using this smartphone very quickly. Call quality and convenience on the Moto G4 Play were not the best but they were very good. Sound while on a call was very good in a quiet room and with background noise. Your sound quality will vary due to many factors including background noise, if you are moving between cell towers, the quality of the phone on the other end of the call, and the quality of the cell tower and antenna.
DURABILITY: After 50 drops in the tumbler, our experts rated it as excellent. The phone had some minor scratches. Overall, it was in good working condition. After our more strenuous 100 drops in the tumbler the screen and body proved they can take a serious tumble. Our experts rated it as excellent. Overall, it was in good working condition.
PORTABILITY/BATTERY: The 5-inch screen on the Moto G4 Play comes in a body measuring 5.7-inches tall, 2.8-inches wide, 0.4-inches thick, and weighs 5.1 ounces. Those measurements mean the phone is lighter than most. At 25.5 hours, it is among the longest battery lifespans we tested. It comes with a removable battery and the phone doesn't support wireless charging.
CAMERA: The Moto G4 Play has a single 8-megapixel camera. The camera does not have optical image stabilization so handheld photos in low light may be blurrier than cameras with optical image stabilization. Overall the camera performance was good, below that of many other models but still good enough for most users to capture fine still shots. Images are evaluated on high quality LCD displays. The test photos are taken in a brightly lit studio and outdoors on a sunny day. In the viewing tests the images were rated good overall. These images offer acceptable results for color quality, exposure level, sharpness, and image noise but the images are not among the better cameras on smartphones. The Moto G4 Play comes with a 5-megapixel selfie cam. Overall the selfie camera quality was good.
DISPLAY: Overall the display quality was good, The display resolution was barely high enough, close to 300dpi, so you see a smooth, but not very crisp image. The display showed some glare in daylight. Readability outdoors is a combination of brightness, measured in candelas per square meter, and reflectivity. The readability rating was good. Brightness was a high 430cd/m² and reflective glare was minimal.
