Motorola aims for mid-tier mobile market with new Moto X Play, makes Moto G waterproof

On Friday, Motorola's latest smartphone hits Bell, Koodo, and Telus. The Moto X Play will retail for about $400, depending on your carrier. 

In an interview last week, director of sales for Motorola Mobility Carly Biggart said that the new line of smartphones, the Moto X Play and the third-generation Moto G, already available, were designed knowing that "people have intense relationships with their devices". 

"You love your phone," said Biggart. "But does it love you back?"

One of the things I like about Motorola's smartphones is that they come with the basic Android operating system. There aren't a pile of apps you don't want and you'll never use bloating your device before you even turn it on.

Those apps that come on the Motorola devices are enhancements, like the ability to enable Google Now by voice command, instead of a tap on your phone. Motorola's enabled all of the apps through the Google Play Store, too, so they update automatically. 

The Moto G is a solid, everyday phone for people who need a basic smartphone. The device can withstand being under up to three feet of water for up to 30 minutes (but don't attempt to use it underwater) which makes it perfect for a teen's first mobile.

The Moto X Play is for when they're ready to upgrade. It's priced cheaper than the premium smartphones but is outfitted with a new chip, runs on the latest Android operating system (Lollipop 5.1.1.), and has a 21 megapixel camera. 

It's also equipped with a massive battery that can deliver up to 48 hours of life depending on how much you use your phone (and for what). Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and NFC are standard these days, and the 16 GB on board storage is expandable up to 128 GB with a SD card.

My favourite features of the new Moto X Play:

• You can turn it on by simply twisting your wrist
• A double twist of the wrist will enable the selfie camera
• There's built in optical character recognition (OCR) software so you can take a picture of a business card and have the person automatically added to your contact list
• You can enable lock screen notifications so you can see if that text message that just came in during your meeting is your spouse informing you that your lottery numbers came up
• Location-based assists can be set up to take effect when you're at specific places; to mute your smartphone when you're at your local movie theatre, for example
• TurboPower charging will give you eight hours of battery in only 15 minutes. Koodo and Telus are including the TurboPower charger in the box with the Moto X Play; Bell and Wind will be selling them separately

Both the Moto G and the Moto X Play have a number of personalization options, including coloured back plates and flip coverings. 

There is currently no plan to release the Moto X Style in Canada.