Last year saw Lenovo bring the Moto range of smartphones to South Africa, in the form of the Moto Z and Moto Z Play [review], to name a few models. We’ve got a new crop of Moto phones this year though, with the Moto Z2 Play arguably leading the charge.
Now, Lenovo’s South African representatives have confirmed to Gearburn that the Moto Z2 Play will indeed be coming to the country. In response to a query, the representative said that the device “will be available in SA very soon”.
The representative added that they didn’t have an “exact date” as yet. We’ve enquired about availability and pricing and will update the article when we receive a response.
The Moto Z2 Play will indeed be coming to South Africa, but what about the all-important price?
In any event, the original Moto Z Play came in just under the Moto Z flagship, featuring a full HD screen and a super-efficient Snapdragon 625 chip instead of the Moto Z’s 1440p display and Snapdragon 820 processor.
Still, we mostly enjoyed the Play, owing to its lengthy battery life, solid performance and Moto Mod add-ons. In saying so, camera performance could be much better and the price left a lot to be desired.
This year’s model packs a slightly upgraded Snapdragon 626 chip, 3GB/4GB of RAM and a 12MP f/1.7 main camera. The Z2 Play also delivers a Huawei and Meizu inspired UI, allowing you to use one button for all navigation gestures [back, home, multitasking].
Update: Lenovo’s marketing agency has confirmed that the device will be coming to South Africa before the end of August.
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Network GSM / CDMA / HSPA / EVDO / LTE GSM / HSPA / LTE 2G bands GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 - EMEA, USA GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 - SIM 1 & SIM 2 [dual-SIM model only] CDMA 800 / 1900 - USA 3G bands HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100 - EMEA, USA HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100 CDMA2000 1xEV-DO - USA 4G bands 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 13 - USA 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 19, 20, 28, 38, 40, 41 Speed HSPA 42.2/5.76 Mbps, LTE-A [3CA] Cat9 450/50 Mbps HSPA, LTE Launch Announced 2016, June. Released 2016, September 2017, June Status Discontinued Available. Released 2017, June Body 155.9 x 75.8 x 7 mm [6.14 x 2.98 x 0.28 in] 156.2 x 76.2 x 6 mm [6.15 x 3.00 x 0.24 in] 163 g [5.75 oz] 145 g [5.11 oz] Build Glass front [Gorilla Glass 3], aluminum back, aluminum frame SIM Nano-SIM Single SIM [Nano-SIM] or Dual SIM [Nano-SIM, dual stand-by] Splash and dust resistant Display Type AMOLED Super AMOLED 5.5 inches, 83.1 cm2 [~70.3% screen-to-body ratio] 5.5 inches, 83.4 cm2 [~70.1% screen-to-body ratio] Resolution 1440 x 2560 pixels, 16:9 ratio [~535 ppi density] 1080 x 1920 pixels, 16:9 ratio [~401 ppi density] Protection Shatterproof Corning Gorilla Glass 3 Platform OS Android 6.0.1 [Marshmallow], upgradable to Android 8.0 [Oreo] Android 7.1.1 [Nougat], upgradable to Android 9.0 [Pie] Chipset Qualcomm MSM8996 Snapdragon 820 [14 nm] Qualcomm MSM8953-Pro Snapdragon 626 [14 nm] CPU Quad-core [2x2.15 GHz Kryo & 2x1.6 GHz Kryo] Octa-core 2.2 GHz Cortex-A53 GPU Adreno 530 Adreno 506 Memory Card slot microSDXC [dedicated slot] microSDXC [dedicated slot] Internal 32GB 4GB RAM, 64GB 4GB RAM 32GB 3GB RAM, 64GB 4GB RAM eMMC 5.1 Main Camera Modules 21 MP, f/1.8, 1.12µm, PDAF, Laser AF, OIS 12 MP, f/1.7, 1/2.55", 1.4µm, Dual Pixel PDAF, Laser AF Features Dual-LED dual-tone flash, panorama, HDR Dual-LED dual-tone flash, panorama Video 4K@30fps, 1080p@30/60fps, HDR 4K@30fps, 1080p@60fps, 720p@120fps Selfie Camera Modules 5 MP, f/2.2, 1/4", 1.4µm 5 MP, f/2.2, 1/4", 1.4µm Features LED flash Dual-LED dual-tone flash Video 1080p@30fps 1080p@30fps Sound Loudspeaker Yes Yes 3.5mm jack No Yes Comms WLAN Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct Bluetooth 4.1, A2DP, EDR, LE, aptX 4.2, A2DP, EDR, LE, aptX Positioning GPS, GLONASS GPS, GLONASS NFC Yes Yes Infrared port No No Radio No FM radio USB USB Type-C, OTG, magnetic connector USB Type-C 3.1, OTG, magnetic connector Features Sensors Fingerprint [front-mounted], accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass Fingerprint [front-mounted], accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass Moto Mods snap-on accessories Moto Mods snap-on accessories Battery Type Li-Ion 3500 mAh, non-removable Li-Ion 3000 mAh, non-removable Charging 15W wired 15W wired, 50% in 30 min [advertised] Stand-by Talk time Up to 30 h [3G] Misc Colors Black/Gray, Black/Rose Gold, Black/Gold, White Lunar Gray, Fine Gold, Nimbus Blue SAR 1.30 W/kg [head] 1.20 W/kg [body] SAR EU 0.67 W/kg [head] 1.68 W/kg [body] Models XT1710-09, XT1710-10, XT1710-07, XT1710-07, XT1710-01, XT1710-02, XT1710-08 Price About 270 EUR About 230 EUR Tests Performance Basemark OS II 2.0: 5395 Basemark X: 36405 GFXBench: 3.8fps [ES 3.1 onscreen] Display Loudspeaker Audio quality Battery [old]