Over two years ago I got my very first smartphone, a Moto G4. The G was a great value when it came out and was marked down substantially since it was near the end of its production life, having already been replaced by the G5. I figured if I bought a cheap, somewhat out of date phone now, I could justify upgrading sooner. The old phone has been getting slower and the battery hasn’t been lasting as long. Plus the newer G5 has a fingerprint scanner which is an easier way of logging in than typing in a PIN. Now the G6 is old tech and the G7 is the latest. I could get a G6 for $120 on sale. I actually bought one, but wound up letting a friend have it who needed a new budget phone and the 3-month trial of Mint Mobile that it came with. So a few weeks later I found the Moto Z3 Play for only $150 which has a faster processor, a little more memory, and seemed just generally a step up from the G6 for not that much more (originally $450). So I ordered that instead and it even came with two free back plates (not really cases, but I thought they would protect it a little).
I got the phone Saturday and started migrating stuff from the old phone. Android does a decent job of this so mostly all I had to do was back everything up to Google Drive on the old phone and it would reinstall all of my apps on the new phone. A lot of stuff was stored on a 128 GB MicroSD card, so I moved that over along with the SIM card. I still had to bring over my notes and an encrypted file with all of my password info. I also pulled over my databases that I use to keep track of blu-rays and other things.
Then, because the phone was introduced over a year ago, it has an older operating system, so I had to install a year’s worth of updates, getting me to Android 9 (or Pie). Android 10 came out a few months ago, but Moto only does one OS upgrade per phone.
The fingerprint reader is nice. It is on the right edge of the phone about 2/3 of the way up, so if you hold it in your right hand, you might scan your thumb. If you hold it in your left hand, then your left index finger will be close to the scanner. If you pick it up with both hands, you would probably use your right index finger. So I scanned all three fingers and the phone is very easy to activate, almost without thinking about it. When I restart the phone, I have to enter the PIN, but after all of the updates I don’t restart that often.
The new back covers look nice, and they help cover up the camera which protrudes quite a bit from the glass back of the phone. But otherwise they offer no protection to the phone. I shopped for cheap cases and came up with a clear silicone case on eBay for $1.49 shipped from China (so might get here in January). After I bought that I saw eBay gave me a $5 off coupon, so then I found a nicer case in New Jersey for $5.99, or $0.99 after my discount, so that should be here by Monday. Also it has a USB C port, so I ordered some extra cables for the car and work. The big advantage of the USB C port is you don’t have to worry about plugging it in right side up, since it will work either way.
It can do wi-fi calling, but since I have unlimited minutes, I don’t know if there is a point to that. It could be that sometimes at the house I have a clearer wi-fi signal than phone signal and it might be better to choose wi-fi, but it seems to always default to wi-fi or always default to cellular. It also has NFC, so I can tap to pay, but I haven’t set it up yet. The other probably forever unused feature is “moto mods” which are accessories you can attach magnetically to contacts on the back of the phone. One is a battery but it costs anywhere from $50-150, so I don’t see the point. They make one that is a speaker, one is a projector, and one gives you 5G capability, but they are all pretty expensive. So the only mod I am using is the back cover that attaches magnetically and covers the mod contacts.
It does not have a headphone jack, but came with a short adapter cord that plugs into the USB port. They also included a leash that lets you detach the adapter from the headphone cord and plug into conventional devices, which I didn’t think I would need, but realized today I do need when I listen to the iPad on the train.
It is definitely snappier than the old phone and the fingerprint reader is nice. It is thinner than the old phone and the screen just feels better than the old phone. The new operating system maybe has some good features since the old phone maxed out with Android 7. Otherwise it is almost exactly the same size, but the screen is a half inch bigger and, combined with shrinking the pixels down a little, there is more room on screen, but things are a little tinier.
I got the case yesterday. The back has to be really thick to make the protruding camera recessed, so there is no way to use a magnetic phone mount in the car. I found a non-magnetic mount and ordered one of those, again from China so it will take a while. Otherwise, the case seems pretty good with the sides protruding a little above the screen so it won’t get scratched lying face down. It is still pretty easy to access the fingerprint scanner and the buttons work, but not as well as without a cover. The case makes a thin and elegant phone kind of a brick, but some protection is warranted. Maybe the silicone case that is on the way will offer a compromise.
I have not liked the headphone jack being dropped from phones. I often have to do long conference calls, and I want to be able to charge while I have my headset on. The earbud / airpod products are interesting, but battery life is too short, and I think they are prone to loss or damage. I’ve seen more than one smashed Apple Airpod on the ground at gas stations.
I decided I wanted the longer battery life and “less tech” of a wired Bluetooth set. I mainly use them for walking the dogs, so I wasn’t looking to spend a lot. I ended up getting the Dudios Zeus Pro Bluetooth Neckband Headphones and have really enjoyed them. 16 hour battery life is good for a week of my use. They have magnets!
I got the clear silicone case. It is much less bulky and the edges are still above the screen, offering protection when the phone is face down against something. The buttons are still accessible so I went ahead and changed out for the thinner case. It also works better with the magnetic phone mount in the car since the back is thinner. I still have a non-magnetic car mount on the way if I switch back to the other case.
The thinner silicone case still let the camera protrude a little, which is just a really dumb design. So when the phone is lying on its back, like it is a lot of the time, it is really bearing on the camera and the bottom edge of the phone. At some point, there was too much pressure and it cracked the glass cover over the camera. So now there is a crack over the camera, though it doesn’t seem to mess up pictures.
Then this weekend, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and there was a vertical line on the screen, so the screen apparently is damaged. It is still under warranty, so I was able to get a free FedEx label and return it, but have to use my old phone in the meantime. I worry they will say it was subjected to abuse or water and refuse to fix it even though I actually take pretty good care of my phones, the last one pretty much undamaged after more than two years, and the flip phone before that which I kept for something like eight years.
They got the phone on Monday. Today I got a notice that they had repaired the phone and were sending it back to me. So I guess they felt like it wasn’t abuse. Will find out Monday whether they swapped phones or actually fixed it.
Got the phone. The line on the screen is gone, so that is fixed (or went away, but I doubt it fixed itself; they don’t actually say what they did to repair it). It is not a replacement because the cover over the back camera is still cracked. Using my old phone made me appreciate the new phone more. It is pretty snappy.