Moto X Play is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 system-on-chip with a 1.7 GHz octa-core ARM Cortex-A53 64-bit CPU and an Adreno 405 GPU.

[4] The Moto X Play includes a non-removable 3630 mAh battery, which Motorola rated as providing 48 hours of mixed usage on a single charge.

[9] It enables new features such as "Google Now on Tap", which allows users to perform searches within the context of information currently being displayed on-screen, and "Doze", which optimizes battery usage when the device is not being physically handled.

The Verge considered the Moto X Play to be a "more perfect Nexus 5" due to its balance of capabilities and value, and arguing that its camera was one of the best seen on a Motorola to date (although struggling in low-light conditions), but noting that the software on their device appeared to have performance issues.

It was concluded that the Moto X Play could "easily cope with 99% of all everyday situations, apps and games" but some of the opponents such as OnePlus 2 had more "computing power".