I was also holding out for the new Nexus lineup but felt increasingly lukewarm with the Pixel changes leaked in recent weeks. My Nexus 4 was dying so I had a look at other Android options.
I've had the Moto Z Play for about a week now and am pretty pleased with it.
Pros:
1. Immense battery life. The phone was fully charged when I left for work on Monday morning and by Tuesday evening it was still above 40% with wifi and bluetooth always on. I probably could have got 3 full days out of it but charged it when it went below 40% out of habit. Turbocharge is handy too;
2. Snappy, stock Android performance. Motorola add in their Moto suite of actions for switching on the camera, flashlight, etc which can be disabled. Otherwise it's stock 6 with Nougat upgrade due soon;
3. Solid and premium feel. The 1080p AMOLED screen on the Play (the full Z has a 1440p AMOLED) is crisp and vibrant. The styling may not be everyone's cup of tea but I prefer it over the leaked Pixel design;
4. Decent camera. Huge upgrade over my Nexus 4 and it's quick. Apparently it's lagging behind the top cameras on other flagships and isn't as good as the camera on the full Moto Z. Pictures look great in good light and you can tweak a lot of settings in the camera app's Professional mode.
Cons:
1. It's big and fairly heavy. Again, coming from a Nexus 4 it's a huge jump in size. A family member recently upgraded to a Moto G4 which also has a 5.5 1080p screen (although not AMOLED) and the Moto G4 is a lot lighter and more compact. The Z Play feels just that 10-15% too big for me to use comfortably one-handed although that feeling will probably pass in a couple of weeks.
Another option to consider would be the Moto 4G Plus imo if you're looking for a stock Android mid-range option. If you order it direct from Motorola you can spec it with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage and it still works out about £100 cheaper than the Z Play. The Plus comes with a fingerprint reader and the same camera as the Z Play I believe.
Having played with a Moto 4G now I'd probably have gone that route instead based on the size practicalities. That said, the Z Play is a lovely phone in use if you can handle the size.
