Although we have focused on our comparative to face the new flagship of Xiaomi with the best high-end phablets and with other low-cost ones like it, but we are going to dedicate one more to it to measure it in this case with another phablet recently presented, halfway between the mid-range and the high-end and with which it will compete as pretty straightforward by price: Xiaomi Mi 8 vs Moto Z3 Play.
Designer
Starting with the design section, the Moto Z3 Play can be planted as an interesting alternative for all those to whom the notch of the My 8 (and many others like him) did not quite convince them, because their lines are much more classic (you have to think that in return, yes, the reduction of frontal frames, logically, cannot be so drastic). When talking about phablets of MotorolaIn any case, you already know that the most outstanding feature is always the MotoMods, those modules that we can buy separately and attach to add or enhance certain functionalities. Another difference to take into account is the location of the fingerprint reader, which in this one is on the side, instead of on the back as is more usual and as we have it in the phablet of Xiaomi. In common they have that both arrive with a glass casing (although they do not incorporate wireless charging) and that they have dispensed with the headphone jack port.
Dimensions
As we said in the previous section, the lines of the Moto Z3 Play They are more classic, but that also means that the frames are somewhat wider, so that despite having a slightly smaller screen, it is a slightly larger device (15,49 x 7,48 cm against 15,65 x 7,65 cm). In weigh (175 grams against 156 grams) and in thickness (7,6 mm against 6,8 mm), however, it does have a great advantage when My 8, although we will see later that this is going to take a toll on the battery.
Screen
We have already told you that the screen of the Moto Z3 Play is somewhat smaller than the My 8 (6.2 inches against 6 inches), and although it is not a very noticeable difference, it is probably the one that we are most interested in taking into account when choosing between the two in this section, because in resolution they can be considered tied (2280 x 1080 against 2160 x 1080) and although it is not identical, they also have a very similar aspect ratio, ultra-wide in both cases (19: 9 versus the classic 18: 9). To all this we must add that both come with Super AMOLED panels.
Unlimited
One of the sections in which the My 8 always better maintains the type compared to the flagship of the large manufacturers is the performance one and it is also here where it stands out most against the phablets closer to the mid-range: indeed, compared to the Moto Z3 Play We see that it comes out winning not only in processor (Snapdragon 636 eight cores to 1,8 GHz against Snapdragon 845 eight core to 2,8 GHz) but also in RAM (4 GB against 6 GB).
Storage capacity
Distribution of points, yes, in the storage capacity section: if we look exclusively at the internal memory the My 8 has a lot of advantage, starting from 64 GB and reaching up to 256 GB in higher versions, while the Moto Z3 Play will be launched with 32 or 64 GB; on the other hand, however, it plays in favor of the phablet of Motorola counting with card slot micro-SD, which we will not have in the de Xiaomi.
Cameras
Along with the performance section, and even more than that, it is in the cameras where the My 8 stands out more clearly, even though the Moto Z3 Play meets quite well for its phablet of its range: in both cases we have a dual camera of 12 SM, with 1,4 um pixels, and the phablet aperture of Motorola is even higher (f / 1.8 versus f / 1.7), but that of Xiaomi has in its favor that the secondary camera is more powerful (12 SM against 5 SM), in addition to having a four-axis optical image stabilizer and x2 optical zoom. It also comes out ahead easily when it comes to the front camera (20 SM against 5 SM).
Autonomy
When reviewing the dimensions of these two phablets we warned that the reduced weight and thickness of the Moto Z3 Play had its counterpart in the battery and, indeed, we now see that his is of a much lower capacity than that of the My 8 (3400 mAh against 3000 mAh). In their favor, it must be said that this does not mean that their autonomy will necessarily be less, since consumption is an equally important part of the equation. As always, we will have to wait for comparable data from independent tests.
Xiaomi Mi 8 vs Moto Z3 Play: final balance of the comparison and price
Although in several sections the Moto Z3 Play it can be an interesting alternative (especially on the screen, storage capacity and design, depending on our priorities and preferences), we must bear in mind that there are at least a couple of sections in which we are going to be left behind , which are performance and cameras.
And this disadvantage weighs more when we take into account that they will not be very far in price, because the Moto Z3 Play has been announced as of 500 Euros, which is more or less what we expect the My 8 when it arrives in our country (at the moment for China it has been launched so that the change would be slightly less than 400 euros).