Motorola Moto Z Play vs. Apple iPhone SE (3rd generation)

Phone Comparison, Reviews and Tests

In depth comparison and review of Motorola Moto Z Play and Apple iPhone SE (3rd generation). Compare sizes, cameras, batteries, memory, and other important specifications and features to easily choose the right phone for you. Our goal is to help you uncover differences between the products and find the phone that will best fit your needs.

Phone Specifications Comparison

Motorola Moto Z Play vs. Apple iPhone SE (3rd generation) Comparison Chart
DESIGN AND DIMENSIONS Motorola Moto Z Play Apple iPhone SE (3rd generation)
Product Type Smartphone Smartphone
Manufacturer Model Number - A2783
Form Factor Touch Touch
Height 156.4 mm 138.4 mm Motorola Moto Z Play has greater height than Apple iPhone SE (3rd generation).
Width 76.4 mm 67.3 mm Motorola Moto Z Play has greater width than Apple iPhone SE (3rd generation).
Depth 6.99 mm 7.3 mm Motorola Moto Z Play is narrower than Motorola Moto Z Play.
Weight 161 g 144 g Apple iPhone SE (3rd generation) is lighter than Motorola Moto Z Play.
Body Colour White | Black | Black/silver | White/fine gold Starlight | Midnight | Red
Body Material - Aluminium, glass
Protection Splashproof Dustproof, water-resistant, splash-resistant
Waterproof (Water-resistant) - Yes Apple iPhone SE (3rd generation) is waterproof.
IP rating - IEC 60529 IP67
SAR Value 0.396 W/kg 0.99 W/kg (body), 0.98 W/kg (head)
Connector Type USB Type-C - 24 pin USB-C
Moto Mods
Headset jack - mini-phone 3.5mm
Lightning
SIM Card Type (Size) Nano SIM Nano SIM, Electronic SIM card (e-SIM)
SIM Card Qty Dual-SIM Dual-SIM
DISPLAY Motorola Moto Z Play Apple iPhone SE (3rd generation)
Display Type OLED display LCD display
Display Technology AMOLED Retina HD display with IPS technology
Screen Size (Display Size) 5.5" 4.7" Motorola Moto Z Play has larger screen size than Apple iPhone SE (3rd generation).
Screen Resolution (Display Resolution) 1920 x 1080 pixels 1334 x 750 pixels Motorola Moto Z Play has better screen resolution than Apple iPhone SE (3rd generation).
Display Format Full HD -
Pixel Density 403 ppi 326 ppi Motorola Moto Z Play has better pixel density than Apple iPhone SE (3rd generation).
Max Brightness - 625 cd/m²
Contrast Ratio - 1400:1
Display Enhancement Technology - Dolby Vision
Display Features - Display Zoom, Reachability (screen shifting), True Tone display, Wide colour display (P3), Dark mode, Haptic touch, Hybrid Log-Gamma (HLG)
Display Protection (Screen Protector) - Fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating
PROCESSOR Motorola Moto Z Play Apple iPhone SE (3rd generation)
Processor Type (CPU) Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 Apple A15 Bionic
Clock Speed 2 GHz -
Processor Core Qty 8-core -
64-bit Architecture Yes - Motorola Moto Z Play has 64-bit architecture.
Graphics System (GPU) Qualcomm ADRENO 506 -
MEMORY Motorola Moto Z Play Apple iPhone SE (3rd generation)
RAM 3 GB -
Internal Memory Size (Storage Capacity) 32 GB 64 GB Apple iPhone SE (3rd generation) has more internal memory than Motorola Moto Z Play.
Supported Flash Memory Cards (Expandable Memory) microSDHC, microSDXC - up to 2 TB -
CAMERA Motorola Moto Z Play Apple iPhone SE (3rd generation)
MAIN CAMERA
Number of Main Cameras 1 1
Sensor Resolution 16 Megapixel 12 Megapixel Motorola Moto Z Play has better camera resolution than Apple iPhone SE (3rd generation).
Lens Aperture F/2.0 F/1.8 Apple iPhone SE (3rd generation) has better lens aperture than Motorola Moto Z Play.
Lens Construction - 6-element
Optical Image Stabiliser (OIS) - Optical Image Stabiliser (OIS) Apple iPhone SE (3rd generation) has optical stabilisation.
Focus Adjustment Automatic Automatic
Laser Auto Focus Yes -
Digital Zoom 4x 5x Apple iPhone SE (3rd generation) has better digital zoom than Motorola Moto Z Play.
Special Effects - Natural, Studio, Contour, Stage, Stage Mono, High‑Key Mono
HDR Mode Auto HDR mode Smart HDR
Camera Modes Panorama Burst mode, Panorama, Live Photos, Timelapse video, Portrait mode with advanced bokeh and Depth Control, Portrait Lighting, wide colour capture for photos and Live Photos
Light Source Dual LED flash True Tone LED flash
Video Resolutions 1920 x 1080 (1080p), 1280 x 720 (720p), 3840 x 2160 (4K) 1920 x 1080 (1080p) at 30 fps, 1920 x 1080 (1080p) at 60 fps, 1280 x 720 (720p) at 30 fps, Slo-mo video 1920 x 1080 (1080p) at 120 fps, 3840 x 2160 (4K) at 30 fps, 3840 x 2160 (4K) at 60 fps, 3840 x 2160 (4K) at 24 fps, Slo-mo video 1920 x 1080 (1080p) at 240 fps
Camera Features (Functions) Phase Detect Auto-Focus (PDAF) Sapphire crystal lens cover, Cinematic video stabilisation, Focus Pixels, Cinematic video stabilisation, Playback zoom, geotagging, Stereo Recording, Continuous autofocus video, 8MP still photos recording 4K video, Time‑lapse video with stabilisation, Slow Sync, Advanced red-eye correction, Optical image stabilization for video, Extended dynamic range for video, HEIF image capture, Digital zoom up to 3x for video, QuickTake video, Deep Fusion, Photographic Styles
FRONT CAMERA
Number of Front Cameras 1 1
Sensor Resolution (Front) 5 Megapixel 7 Megapixel Apple iPhone SE (3rd generation) has better front camera resolution than Motorola Moto Z Play.
Lens Type (Front) Wide-angle lens -
Lens Aperture (Front) F/2.2 F/2.2 Both phones have the same front camera lens aperture.
Special Effects (Front) Beauty effect Natural, Studio, Contour, Stage, Stage Mono, High‑Key Mono
HDR Mode (Front) - Auto HDR mode
Camera Modes (Front) Night mode, Professional mode Burst mode, Live Photos, Portrait mode with advanced bokeh and Depth Control, Portrait Lighting, wide colour capture for photos and Live Photos
Light Source (Front) LED flash Retina Flash
Video Resolutions (Front) - 1280 x 720 (720p), 1920 x 1080 (1080p) at 30 fps, Slo-mo video 1920 x 1080 (1080p) at 120 fps
Camera Features (Front) - Auto image stabilisation, Cinematic video stabilisation, QuickTake video, Deep Fusion
BATTERY AND CHARGING Motorola Moto Z Play Apple iPhone SE (3rd generation)
Battery Capacity (Battery Size) 3510 mAh -
Wireless Charging - Yes Apple iPhone SE (3rd generation) can be charged wirelessly.
Wireless Charging Standards - Qi
Run Time Details Mixed usage: up to 50 hrs Playback (audio): up to 50 hrs
Playback (video): up to 15 hrs
Playback (streamed video): up to 10 hrs
Battery Technology - Lithium Ion
CELLULAR Motorola Moto Z Play Apple iPhone SE (3rd generation)
Technology CDMA2000 1X / GSM / WCDMA (UMTS) WCDMA (UMTS) / GSM
Mobile Broadband Generation 4G 5G Apple iPhone SE (3rd generation) has more advanced generation mobile network.
Operating System Android 6.0.1 (Marshmallow) iOS 15
Intelligent Assistant - Siri
Payment Technology - Apple Pay
Navigation A-GPS GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo, QZSS
COMMUNICATIONS Motorola Moto Z Play Apple iPhone SE (3rd generation)
Data Transmission GPRS, EDGE, EV-DO, HSDPA, HSUPA, HSPA+, LTE EDGE, HSPA+, LTE, DC-HSDPA, LTE Advanced, VoLTE, FDD-LTE, TDD-LTE, VoWiFi, LAA, 5G NR FR1
2G Band 850 GSM, 900 GSM, 1800 GSM, 1900 GSM, 800 CDMA2000 1X, 1900 CDMA2000 1X 850 GSM, 900 GSM, 1800 GSM, 1900 GSM
3G UMTS Band - Band 1, Band 2, Band 5, Band 8, Band 10
3G UMTS Frequency - 2100, 1900, 850, 900, 1700 EAWS
4G LTE Band Band 2, Band 3, Band 4, Band 5, Band 7, Band 13 Band 1, Band 2, Band 3, Band 4, Band 5, Band 7, Band 8, Band 12, Band 13, Band 17, Band 18, Band 19, Band 20, Band 25, Band 26, Band 28, Band 30, Band 32, Band 34, Band 38, Band 39, Band 40, Band 41, Band 42, Band 46, Band 48, Band 66
4G LTE Frequency FDD 1900 PCS, FDD 1800+, FDD 1700 - 2110 AWS, FDD 850, FDD 2600, FDD 700c FDD 2100, FDD 1900 PCS, FDD 1800+, FDD 1700 - 2110 AWS, FDD 850, FDD 2600, FDD 900, FDD 700a, FDD 700c, FDD 700b, FDD 800 lower, FDD 800 upper, FDD 800 DD, FDD 1900+, FDD 850+, FDD 700 APT, FDD 2300 WCS, FDD 1500 L, TDD 2000, TDD 2600, TDD 1900, TDD 2300, TDD 2500, TDD 3500, TDD 5150, TDD 3600, FDD 1700 - 2110 AWS-3
5G NR Band - N1, n2, n3, n5, n7, n8, n20, n28, n38, n41, n66, n77, n78, n79, n40, n25, n12, n48, n30
5G NR Frequency - FDD 2100, FDD 1900PCS, FDD 1800, FDD 850, FDD 2600, FDD 900, FDD 800, FDD 700APT, TDD TD 2600, TDD TD 2500, FDD AWS-3, TDD TD 3700, TDD TD 3500, TDD TD 4500, TDD 2300, FDD 1900, n12, TDD 3500, FDD 2300
Wireless Interface IEEE 802.11ac/b/g/n IEEE 802.11ax
Bluetooth Bluetooth 4.1 Bluetooth 5.0
NFC Yes Yes Both phones have an NFC reader for mobile payments.
Messaging Services SMS, MMS -
MEDIA Motorola Moto Z Play Apple iPhone SE (3rd generation)
Supported Digital Audio Standards - Audible, MP3, FLAC, Apple Lossless, AC-3, AAC-LC, LPCM, HE-AAC, Audible AAX, Audible AAX+, protected AAC, EAC3, HE-AAC v2
Supported Digital Video Standards - M-JPEG, H.264, HEVC, MPEG-4 Part 2, HEIF
Sound Enhancements - Dolby Digital Plus sound, Dolby Digital sound
Video Enhancements - HDR10, Hybrid Log-Gamma (HLG)
FEATURES Motorola Moto Z Play Apple iPhone SE (3rd generation)
Phone Functions Speakerphone, voice control, call timer, conference call, flight mode, voice dialing, vibrating alert -
Sensors Accelerometer, ambient light sensor, proximity sensor, magnetometer, gyro sensor, hall sensor Accelerometer, ambient light sensor, proximity sensor, 3-axis gyro sensor, digital compass, barometer
Security Devices Fingerprint reader Fingerprint reader
Additional Phone Features TurboPower technology MIMO technology, Apple TV support (2nd or later), AirPlay Mirroring, Third‑generation Neural Engine, Express Transit cards with power reserve, 4K HDR AirPlay Mirroring, FaceTime HD (1080p), 16‑core Neural Engine
OTHERS Motorola Moto Z Play Apple iPhone SE (3rd generation)
Included Accessories Power adapter Lightning to USB-C cable
Compliant Standards - IEC 60529 IP67, HAC (Hearing Aid Compatible)
Max Depth of Water Resistance - 1 m
Max Operating Temperature - 35 °C
Min Operating Temperature - 0 °C
Humidity Range Operating - 5 - 95% (non-condensing)
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