Moto X Style vs Play: what's the difference?

It’s rare to be presented with a pleasant surprise in the world of gadgets, but Motorola has just unveiled two beauties – the new Moto X Style and Moto X Play. While both come bearing the company’s flagship Moto X branding, there are some rather major differences between the two handsets. So here’s a little check-list of what’s different and what features they have in common.

Let’s quickly breakdown the spec sheets.

The Moto X Style is the bigger beast, both in terms of processing capabilities and physical size. The Moto X  still weighs in with a large 5.5-inch FullHD display, but the Moto X Style makes the jump up to a 5.7-inch display with a high-end QHD display resolution, bridging the size gap with the huge Nexus 6.

Despite stacking up an octa-core SoC against a hexa-core, it’s the Moto X Style that features the more powerful processor. Built from a combination of two high-performance Cortex-A57 cores and four Cortex-A53s, the Snapdragon 808 will provide superior levels of peak performance for when you need it. The Adreno 418 GPU is also significantly more powerful than the Adreno 405, but it does have to power the higher resolution QHD display, so the performance gap may not be as big as you may think. The Moto X Style also includes an additional 1GB of RAM which may help with multitasking scenarios, but the 2GB in the Moto X Play should be more than enough for most situations.

The Moto X Style and Play both feature a microSD card slot and 32GB storage options. The Play also offers a smaller 16GB storage capacity, while only the Moto X Style offers 64GB of built in storage. Oddly, the Moto X Play seems to have a larger battery, with a huge 3,630mAh capacity verses the Style’s still plentiful 3,000mAh.

From here on out, there differences are much more subtle. Motorola has made big strides with camera technology this generation and both the Moto X Style and X Play offer the same high resolution shooting capabilities. There’s a 21MP rear camera with dual flash and a 5MP front camera on both models, so photographers will likely be happy with either option.

However, the Snapdragon 808 SoC allows for 4K video capture with the Moto X Style, while the Play is limited to 1080p video recording. There’s Bluetooth 4.1 with the Style and 4.0 with the Play. The former also has Tubro Charge capabilities and is IP52 resistant against water and dust, while the latter only features a water repellent coating. Subtle differences I know, but ones perhaps worth considering.

Both smartphones also offer the full range of Moto Maker customization options, including color and Flip Shells, engraving, and metallic accent options. Software is also the same across both models, with the latest Motorola tweaked version of Android 5.1.1 Lollipop on board.

The final separator is the price and retail availability. The Moto X Style, or Moto X Pure Edition as it will be known in the US, is the more expensive smartphone at $399, unsurprisingly. Motorola states that the X Play will be around $100 cheaper than the Style, suggesting a retail price of around $299. It is also important to note that the Play won’t be available in the US, hinting that Motorola is targeting the handset at more price sensitive markets.

Despite the differences, the Moto X Style and Play are two quite appealing handsets in their own rights. Which one is your favourite?