Motorola Moto X Play review: Crowd pleaser

Synthetic benchmarks

The Motorola Moto X Play is part of the middle tier of Motorola's 2015 lineup. As most such phones this year it means a Snapdragon 615 chipset. It features a dual quad-core CPU with the one cluster of Cortex-A53 cores clocked at up to 1.65GHz, the other at 1.11GHz. Adreno 405 is in charge of graphics and there's 2GB of RAM on board.

Qualcomm's chip in the upper midrange is so ubiquitous and we've seen it so many times that we didn't expect any surprises. The octa-core CPU is in the middle of the bunch of similarly equipped devices - the Oppo R7 Plus leads the way, with the Galaxy A7 also ahead of the Moto X Play. The Xiaomi Mi 4i and vivo X5Max are trailing in this test.

GeekBench 3

Higher is better

• Meizu MX5
  5110
• OnePlus 2
  4429
• Sony Xperia C4 Dual
  4242
• Sony Xperia C5 Ultra
  4226
• LG G Flex2
  3604
• Moto X Pure Edition
  3433
• Oppo R7 Plus
  3204
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (S615)
  2880
• Motorola Moto X Play
  2608
• Alcatel Idol 3 (5.5)
  2451
• Asus Zenfone 2 ZE551ML review
  2423
• ZUK Z1
  2341
• Xiaomi Mi 4i
  2336
• vivo X5Max
  2291
• Moto G (3rd gen) 2GB of RAM
  1589

Overall performance in Antutu, on the other hand, is towards the top of the Snapdragon 615 bunch. The R7 Plus is an inch ahead of the Moto X Play, both comfortably in front of the Mi 4i. The Galaxy A7 scores noticeably lower here. The Atom-powered Zenfone 2 ZE551ML posts a higher score and the Xperias C4 and C5 Ultra perform even better.

AnTuTu 5

Higher is better

• Moto X Pure Edition
  50629
• Meizu MX5
  48915
• LG G Flex2
  47680
• OnePlus 2
  47207
• Sony Xperia C5 Ultra
  46502
• Sony Xperia C4 Dual
  46307
• ZUK Z1
  43088
• Asus Zenfone 2 ZE551ML review
  42301
• Oppo R7 Plus
  37750
• Motorola Moto X Play
  37020
• Xiaomi Mi 4i
  34491
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (S615)
  31436
• Alcatel Idol 3 (5.5)
  29907
• vivo X5Max
  29630
• Moto G (3rd gen) 2GB of RAM
  24293

Not quite the same results in Basemark II 2.0, though. The overall score of the Moto X Play is on par with the Galaxy A7, but both show modest numbers. Mediatek-powered Xperias are a notch higher in the charts, and the Oppo R7 shows that the Snapdragon 615 is capable of more than the Moto X Play delivers.

The CPU parts of the benchmark see the Moto X Play post some better numbers. In single-core performance it's tied with the Oppo, somewhat behind the selfie-obsessed Xperias. The Galaxy A7 trails here too. All eight cores thrown into battle, the Moto X Play climbs higher, but differences between the S615 devices are minimal. The Zenfone 2 with just four cores is understandably weaker in this test.

Basemark OS 2.0

Higher is better

• LG G Flex2
  1726
• OnePlus 2
  1622
• Meizu MX5
  1252
• ZUK Z1
  1178
• Asus Zenfone 2 ZE551ML review
  1090
• Oppo R7 Plus
  968
• Sony Xperia C4 Dual
  939
• Sony Xperia C5 Ultra
  931
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (S615)
  813
• Motorola Moto X Play
  809
• vivo X5Max
  656
• Xiaomi Mi 4i
  296

Basemark OS 2.0 (single-core)

Higher is better

• LG G Flex2
  5597
• OnePlus 2
  5301
• Meizu MX5
  3262
• Xiaomi Mi 4i
  3008
• Sony Xperia C4 Dual
  2900
• Sony Xperia C5 Ultra
  2872
• Oppo R7 Plus
  2707
• Motorola Moto X Play
  2687
• vivo X5Max
  2580
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (S615)
  2480
• Asus Zenfone 2 ZE551ML review
  2203
• ZUK Z1
  1871

Basemark OS 2.0 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• Sony Xperia C4 Dual
  24035
• Meizu MX5
  22976
• Sony Xperia C5 Ultra
  21809
• LG G Flex2
  18856
• Motorola Moto X Play
  17226
• OnePlus 2
  16798
• Oppo R7 Plus
  16784
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (S615)
  16640
• Xiaomi Mi 4i
  13521
• ZUK Z1
  10490
• Asus Zenfone 2 ZE551ML review
  8565
• vivo X5Max
  8327

The Adreno 405 is no graphics powerhouse, and is a lot better suited to 720p displays. If you're not into demanding 3D gaming on your mobile though, it does just fine with 1080p screens. In Basemark X, S615-equipped smartphones are spaced pretty tightly in the 4800-5000 range, though the X Play is towards the top. Only the Oppo R7 Plus shows a meaningful advantage.

The Zenfone 2 ZE551ML with its PowerVR G6430 scores markedly higher, as do the assorted higher-end Adrenos in the 800-series Snapdragons.

Basemark X

Higher is better

• OnePlus 2
  21937
• LG G Flex2
  19360
• Moto X Pure Edition
  14598
• ZUK Z1
  13596
• Asus Zenfone 2 ZE551ML review
  12565
• Meizu MX5
  10403
• Sony Xperia C5 Ultra
  5695
• Oppo R7 Plus
  5349
• Motorola Moto X Play
  5032
• Alcatel Idol 3 (5.5)
  4953
• vivo X5Max
  4893
• Xiaomi Mi 4i
  4875
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (S615)
  4802
• Moto G (3rd gen) 2GB of RAM
  1866

There's a very obvious divide between the various chipsets in the results of GFXBench. The Moto X Play is in the lower tier with the rest of the S615s and amongst them it's decidedly average. The Zenfone 2, Meizu MX5 (with a different PowerVR GPU), and Moto X Pure/Style (Adreno 418) occupy the middle ground, and the S810 with the Adreno 430 is on top. Oddly, the ZUK Z1 with the older gen S801 and Adreno 330 rules the intense Manhattan benchmark.

GFX 2.7 T-Rex (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• LG G Flex2
  49
• OnePlus 2
  48
• Moto X Pure Edition
  34
• Asus Zenfone 2 ZE551ML review
  27
• Meizu MX5
  27
• ZUK Z1
  27
• Sony Xperia C5 Ultra
  16
• Motorola Moto X Play
  15
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (S615)
  15
• Sony Xperia C4 Dual
  15
• vivo X5Max
  15
• Oppo R7 Plus
  15
• Alcatel Idol 3 (5.5)
  14.2
• Xiaomi Mi 4i
  14
• Moto G (3rd gen) 2GB of RAM
  5.3

GFX 2.7 T-Rex (onscreen)

Higher is better

• LG G Flex2
  48
• OnePlus 2
  46.7
• ZUK Z1
  28
• Asus Zenfone 2 ZE551ML review
  27
• Meizu MX5
  27
• Moto X Pure Edition
  24
• Sony Xperia C5 Ultra
  16
• Alcatel Idol 3 (5.5)
  15.1
• Motorola Moto X Play
  15
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (S615)
  15
• Sony Xperia C4 Dual
  15
• Oppo R7 Plus
  15
• Xiaomi Mi 4i
  14
• vivo X5Max
  14
• Moto G (3rd gen) 2GB of RAM
  9.7

GFX 3.0 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• ZUK Z1
  28
• OnePlus 2
  22
• LG G Flex2
  22
• Moto X Pure Edition
  15
• Asus Zenfone 2 ZE551ML review
  13
• Meizu MX5
  10
• Xiaomi Mi 4i
  6.2
• Sony Xperia C4 Dual
  6
• Sony Xperia C5 Ultra
  6
• Oppo R7 Plus
  6
• Motorola Moto X Play
  5.8
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (S615)
  5.8
• Alcatel Idol 3 (5.5)
  5.7
• vivo X5Max
  5.7
• Moto G (3rd gen) 2GB of RAM
  1.7

GFX 3.0 Manhattan (onscreen)

Higher is better

• ZUK Z1
  28
• OnePlus 2
  22
• LG G Flex2
  22
• Asus Zenfone 2 ZE551ML review
  13
• Meizu MX5
  9.5
• Moto X Pure Edition
  9.3
• Sony Xperia C4 Dual
  6.4
• Sony Xperia C5 Ultra
  6.4
• Oppo R7 Plus
  6.3
• Xiaomi Mi 4i
  6.2
• Motorola Moto X Play
  6.1
• Alcatel Idol 3 (5.5)
  6
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (S615)
  5.8
• vivo X5Max
  5.7
• Moto G (3rd gen) 2GB of RAM
  3.9

The Kraken 1.1 benchmark examines JavaScript performance and the Moto X Play does OK. It's on par with the Galaxy A7, but also the same as the Moto G (3rd gen), which has an inferior chipset. It's not so much about the SoC this one though, since the Alcatel Idol 3 does a substantially worse job, despite rocking a Snapdragon 615 ship itself.

Kraken 1.1

Lower is better

• LG G Flex2
  4621
• Asus Zenfone 2 ZE551ML review
  6360
• OnePlus 2
  6808
• Moto X Pure Edition
  6910
• ZUK Z1
  8409
• Meizu MX5
  11414
• Xiaomi Mi 4i
  11439
• Oppo R7 Plus
  11908
• vivo X5Max
  11967
• Motorola Moto X Play
  12236
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (S615)
  12266
• Moto G (3rd gen) 2GB of RAM
  12272
• Sony Xperia C4 Dual
  15815
• Sony Xperia C5 Ultra
  17157
• Alcatel Idol 3 (5.5)
  18124

Compound web browsing benchmark Browsermark 2.1 puts the Moto X Play on par with the Zenfone 2. The Galaxy A7 flies the S615 flag in this test, where the otherwise strong Oppo R7 Plus underdelivers. The Xperias are clearly not liking either of the browsing tests.

BrowserMark 2.1

Higher is better

• Moto X Pure Edition
  2132
• LG G Flex2
  2086
• OnePlus 2
  2055
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (S615)
  1655
• Asus Zenfone 2 ZE551ML review
  1486
• Motorola Moto X Play
  1483
• Meizu MX5
  1471
• Xiaomi Mi 4i
  1396
• Moto G (3rd gen) 2GB of RAM
  1359
• Alcatel Idol 3 (5.5)
  1343
• ZUK Z1
  1278
• Oppo R7 Plus
  1224
• Sony Xperia C5 Ultra
  860
• Sony Xperia C4 Dual
  793
• vivo X5Max
  607

The Motorola Moto X Play does well within the confines of its hardware. It rarely shines, but also never lets you down. The Snapdragon 615 isn't known for its trailblazing performance but for what it's worth, Motorola's implementation is quite good and coupled with the relatively lightweight UI the overall performance of the device, whether in applications or in games, is quite adequate. And it manages to do that without overheating, something some other 615 equipped devices are known to do.

With a Snapdragon 808 inside, the Moto X Pure/Style is, of course the more powerful proposition, but within its price range the Moto X Play does the job quite well.