Verizon Droid Turbo by Motorola Phone Review

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The Motorola Droid Turbo mobile phone, a Verizon Wireless service contract exclusive, packs great power into less than 6 ounces of prime technology.

Verizon Droid Turbo by Motorola Phone Review

The Hype

Rise to the moment with Droid Turbo by Motorola. Get a turbo processor with 2.7 GHz speed. Keep going all day and night with Turbo charging and up to 48-hour battery life*. See every detail with the 5.2-inch Quad HD display and 21-megapixel camera. With Metallized Glass Fiber, it s as strong as it is quick. Only on Verizon. The Droid Turbo comes in 32GB and is available in Metallic Red or Metallic Black. (Subject to availability).

The Reality

This 2.89 in. (width) by 5.56 in. (height) phone includes the non-removable 3900 mAH Battery, pre-installed SIM Card (4FF NFC), wall adapter (Motorola Part # SPN5864A), USB cable (Motorola Part # SKN6461A) and informational guides & brochures.

Verizon Droid Turbo by Motorola Phone Review

The big 5.2-inch display features scratch-resistant Corning® Gorilla® Glass 3 while the housing materials, include DuPont™ Kevlar® fiber. If this chemically strengthened display is damaged during the first two years, you can replace it once for free.

The home screen has a nice customizable circle menu in the top middle. Users can press to lock the phone and press and drag the lock icon outside circle to unlock the phone.

The speaker bar on the top and headset jack at the top right make audio option handy and organized.

Users get a shortcut and favorite row at the bottom screen while the always visible bottom buttons include the back, home and recent apps (going left to right).

The design includes two microphones at the bottom and the USB/charging port at the bottom center.

Users can get constant notifications that don’t interrupt current actions or functionality, which avoids annoying interruptions and unwanted breaks in activity. This phone has front infrared sensors to pick up actual users movement, which automatically activate the display so users can quickly see what’s up …or just says “What’s Up” to check notifications using the convenient voice commands. Users can also move their hand over this phone to silence audio alarms or incoming calls.

DroidEnd

Front camera is located at the top center along with the speaker.

DroidLHside

The power/lock key on the right side top with volume keys below (nano SIM card tray), which does not consider left-handed users.

DroidTurboRed

On the back of the phone is the rear camera and dual LED flash.

Actions require a moderate learning curve for willing users. Main issues come with zooming in or out for viewing or when using the camera. Users can double tap for an easy zoom in/out, but when they use a pinch motion it can often be confused with a swipe or slide. The camera zoom in is more of a drag up motion and drag down to zoom out. Drag actions are also used to move icons in different positions.

Users swipe or slide horizontally to access other home screens/tabs and vertically to navigate through documents, feeds or websites. Flicks (a quick swipe) lets users open or delete items.

The remaining actions don’t really interfere with each other. Users tap to select items or press buttons; touch and hold to open available options for an item; and twist to rotate and tilt (e.g. when viewing maps).

The 2.7 GHz quad-core processor runs well while the minimum 32GB memory configuration gives users plenty of power. Users can even get a 64GB model for an extra $50.

The Droid Turbo does not include microSD support for expandable, portable storage. Users can get more storage through the free Verizon Cloud service (5GB) or just use Dropbox, Google Drive, etc.

The initial battery charge takes three hours, which then yield an average 48-hour battery life with regular use, so users won’t have to charge up every day plus this phone has built-in wireless charging.

The rear 21-megapixel rear-facing camera (complete with dual LED lights for flash/lighting) launches with a wrist flick, which takes a little practice. This camera allows users to record video at 4K that obviously can use up available memory quickly.

Swipe the camera screen right to choose options and settings or swipe left to view photos and videos. Once you have pictures and videos ready, users can try Droid Zap to quickly send photos and videos to other Android owners.

Droid Zap uses your smartphone’s GPS and WiFi functionality to identify your location then users swipe the display. The phone searches for content shared by other Zap users and downloads to the phone. Send receive option settings can be set to require protection.

Other great apps/software options include Droid Assist, unique social media options and other feature work well with the voice recognition actions. Users can speak common actions and phrases (e.g.“Post to Facebook”) for great hands-free functionality.

Here are more detailed specifications:

STANDBY TIME – UP TO: 675 hrs.

SCREEN 5.2″ Quad HD Super AMOLED™ Corning® Gorilla® Glass 3 Display with 2560 x 1440, 565 ppi

OPERATING SYSTEM Android 4.4 Kitkat®
STORAGE 32GB
NETWORK LTE Band 13/4 (700/1700 MHz), CDMA/1xEVDO Rev. A (800/1900 MHz); Activate Advanced Calling 1.0 to experience Simultaneous Voice & Data
GLOBAL NETWORK EDGE/GSM (850/900/1800/1900), HSPA/UMTS(850/900/1900/2100)
HEARING AID COMPATIBILITY M4/T3 for CDMA/LTE/GSM/UMTS air interfaces
ENERGY EFFICIENT Yes
TOXINS FREE – DEVICE PLASTICS, BATTERY Yes, Yes
RECYCLABLE DEVICE Yes
UL ENVIRONMENT CERTIFIED LEVEL Certified

The Droid Turbo by Motorola is strong smartphone option that builds on Motorola’s quality series and is available from Verizon and other resellers. It is currently available in metallic red or black color (with different patterns).

Source: Reviewer copy provided by Verizon Wireless

The Droid Turbo by Motorola  is$199.99 with two-year contract (Verizon Wireless), Amazon (starting at $199.99 and up) and other stores; plans vary according the activation, contracts, etc.

What I Like:  big HD display screen, great battery life, fast processor, great camera, high quality video recording options, impressive specs, solid design, voice controls, hands-free functions, sharp cameras (front and back), notification system does not interrupt/annoy

What Needs Improvement: no expandable memory, occasionally warm to touch, some actions require considerable learning curve, limited availability (currently exclusively available through Verizon)

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