PC Magazine July 2017

SOLID SHOOTING
The Z2 Play has a 12-megapixel rear camera that takes crisp pictures in well-lit
settings. It can’t quite match higher-end phones, but we were impressed by the
accurate color reproduction and the fast-focusing laser autofocus. Shots of
detailed objects such as plants and buildings showed little to no noise, and
clarity was good. That said, the Z2 Play does lean heavily on post-processing,
and shots taken on a cloudy day looked over-processed and a little artificial.
The phone’s camera performed reasonably well in low lighting. Some pictures
taken indoors were noisy, and autofocus didn’t lock on as fast, but that’s the
case with most phones. We were still able to get some solid low-light shots by
using manual controls to adjust exposure and shutter speed. You can also tweak
white balance, ISO, and focus to improve picture quality. The Z2 Play can
record 4K video at 30fps. Recordings are crisp and fairly stable. Generally, we
found the phone to be a better shooter than the G5 Plus but unable to compete
with the S8.
The 5-megapixel front camera is also solid. Pictures are sharp and detailed, and
objects in the background come across clearly. Low-light shots can be a little
grainy, but there’s a dual-LED flash on the front and support for HDR, so we
were usually able to take clear photos.