Moto X Play is not made for the US, but Motorola says it'll offer "more choices" later this year

posted by Florin T. / Jul 28, 2015, 9:43 AM

Moto X Play is not made for the US, but Motorola says it'll offer

Motorola today announced three brand new smartphones: Moto X Style, Moto G (2015), and Moto X Play. While the first two will be available Stateside (in fact, you can already order a new Moto G if you want), the Moto X Play is not made for the US market.

The Moto X Play will be released in August, and Motorola specifically says that it's not bringing it to the US, though it will "have more choices for you all later this year" - this is likely a hint at the upcoming launch of new Moto Droids.

But where will the Moto X Play be available, then? Well, you'll be able to buy one in Canada, Latin America, and Europe. The handset's exact price hasn't been revealed, but it could be around $300.

Just like the other two new Motorola smartphones, the Moto X Play runs near-stock Android 5.1.1 Lollipop, and is customizable via Moto Maker. Powered by an octa-core Snapdragon 615 processor, the Moto X Play sports a 5.5-inch 1080p display, further featuring: a 21 MP rear camera, 5 MP front-facing camera, dual SIM capabilities, 2 GB of RAM, 16 GB or 32 GB of storage space, and a large 3630 mAh battery (for up to 48 hours of usage time). Would you buy a Moto X Play if you had the chance?

Motorola Moto X Play

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17 Comments

1. wando77

Posts: 1167; Member since: Aug 23, 2012

Why the hell is the play thinner than the style yet the syle has a much smaller battery? ?

posted on Jul 28, 2015, 9:47 AM 4

2. jellmoo

Posts: 2541; Member since: Oct 31, 2011

Yup! I'm really excited about the Play, and thrilled that it's coming to Canada. A compact 5.5 incher with a massive battery is right up my alley.

posted on Jul 28, 2015, 9:51 AM 0

3. nscian2

Posts: 31; Member since: Nov 14, 2012

Are they kidding!? If anything it is built for the US where people are always on the go! I would buy this phone in a heartbeat, was actually telling people about it before I realized its coming EVERYWHERE except the USA

posted on Jul 28, 2015, 10:04 AM 0

4. kefalin

Posts: 292; Member since: Feb 08, 2015

I will buy one,but im curious how i will be able to buy it in europe,and what "europe" means. Is it only UK and Germany and such or whole European Union

posted on Jul 28, 2015, 10:06 AM 0

5. Kruze

Posts: 1285; Member since: Dec 30, 2014

What about Asia?

posted on Jul 28, 2015, 10:09 AM 0

6. DeDex

Posts: 121; Member since: Sep 01, 2014

I like how "more choices" means "replacing an unlocked device with a similar one that will tie you to a Verizon contract". because let us face it: that is probably what is going to happen here.

posted on Jul 28, 2015, 10:16 AM 0

7. gigantos

Posts: 63; Member since: Jul 25, 2013

The best of Moto have been always Droid: Droid Ultra/Maxx>Moto X; Droid Turbo>Moto X(2014) and now again. To stand out in a crowd you must offer something special, for Moto that is durability and battery. I cannot understand their strategy nor their mental state.

posted on Jul 28, 2015, 11:10 AM 0

8. Benalys

Posts: 23; Member since: Oct 31, 2013

The reason that Moto does not sell big battery phones in US other than Verizon is probably that the agreement between Motorola and Verizon: Motorola makes Droid series exclusive to Verizon with big battery, and Motorola agrees not to sell the big battery non-Verizon phones in the US. With this agreement, anyone wants a Motorola big battery phone must buy it from Verizon. I am just wondering when this agreement will get expired.

posted on Jul 28, 2015, 11:24 AM 0

9. tejdroid

Posts: 3; Member since: Jun 17, 2015

Is it possible to buy this phone from another country and use it on tmobile in the US?

posted on Jul 28, 2015, 12:01 PM 0

10. Benalys

From the specs comparison of below link, Moto X Style vs Moto X Play vs Moto G 2015: specs comparison The HSPA and LTE bands from Moto Play are not for US carriers. Looks like Moto X Play is not good for any US carriers.

posted on Jul 28, 2015, 12:09 PM 0

11. Benalys

Sorry, PA does not allow me to post the links.

12. pocketdrummer

Posts: 32; Member since: Nov 19, 2012

If by "more choices" they mean a Moto X with

posted on Jul 28, 2015, 4:37 PM 0

13. niteiknight

Posts: 75; Member since: Aug 02, 2012

Pulled from Motorola Canada's website: XT1563 GSM/GPRS/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz) UMTS/HSPA+ (850, 900, 1700 (AWS), 1900, 2100 MHz) 4G LTE (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 17, 28) Bam. US customers wanting this phone could just import it unlocked, and it'll work on AT&T and T-Mobile no problem. Yes, it sucks for Sprint and Verizon customers, but it's still something. If I wanted it that much, I'd do it as a f**k you to Moto/Verizon for preventing these kinds of phones to be more widespread.

posted on Jul 28, 2015, 5:24 PM 0

17. nukinka

Posts: 1; Member since: Oct 09, 2016

I'm not really tech savvy so I'm wondering how I can use my unlocked Canadian phone with at&t or t mobile? Can I use it with a prepaid service....just buying a prepaid sim from either carrier? I bought a random sim card from Walmart when I first moved stateside not realizing moto x play was not available in the US and it didn't work. Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I love my moto x play and hate to replace it so soon. Thanks for any help!

posted on Oct 09, 2016, 3:04 AM 0

14. Af1rPA

Posts: 712; Member since: Jun 12, 2014

What about AUSTRALIA!!!!

posted on Jul 28, 2015, 6:06 PM 0

15. downphoenix

Posts: 3165; Member since: Jun 19, 2010

Great way to shoot yourself in the foot out the door Moto, your most interesting of the 3 releases is the one you aren't releasing in the US, bravo.

posted on Jul 29, 2015, 3:19 PM 0

16. spza29

Posts: 4; Member since: Apr 17, 2015

This is crap, why abandon your chance to sell a ton of these phones. Moto did all this work to get the moto x series to become a solid contender, now that interest is generated in the USA for these phones, let's offer a product to Canada and Europe only that usa would love just as much or even more. Makes a whole lot of sense.