Droid MAXX 2 First Impressions & Performance

The Droid Maxx 2 is an affordable off contract smartphone for Verizon that includes two-day battery life, a 21MP camera and personalization options along with a big screen and a water repellent coating.

Motorola’s new Droid Maxx 2 doesn’t match the features of the Droid Turbo 2, but it is a nice upgrade for users who feel the need to upgrade from an older Droid on Verizon.

This is essentially the Moto X Play for the U.S., a Motorola phone that arrived earlier this year in other countries.

The Droid MAXX 2 is $384 without a contract and is available only on Verizon Wireless.

Here’s what we learned after spending some time with the new Droid MAXX 2.

Droid MAXX 2 Display

The 5.5-inch Droid MAXX 2 display looks great. It doesn’t pack a 2,560 x 1,440 resolution like the Droid Turbo 2, but the 1,920 x 1,080 resolution suffices — and makes sense considering the price of this device.

Colors and blacks look nice on the display and at 5.5-inches it is big enough to watch movies on or play games.

Droid MAXX 2 Design

The Droid MAXX 2 uses a metal frame like the Turbo 2, but instead of customizable options on Moto Maker, you can choose to personalize by pulling the grippy, rubber stylized back off the phone and putting a new back plate on. This doesn’t offer access to a replaceable battery, but you shouldn’t need one.

Overall the body feels solid, but it certainly feels like a step down from the Ballistic Nylon on the Droid Turbo 2.

Droid Maxx 2 Cameras

The Droid Maxx 2 features a 21MP camera on the back of the phone and the software feels the same as the Turbo 2, delivering a snappy overall performance that takes photos as soon as you tap the screen, but the results aren’t as impressive. Compare the two photos below to see the trade-off of going for the MAXX 2 over the Turbo 2.

There is a 5MP front facing camera on the Droid MAXX 2, but there is no flash on the front like we see on the Turbo 2.

Droid MAXX 2 Performance

One of the hallmarks of the Droid MAXX line is long battery life and we are excited to see how well the claims of 48-hour battery life hold up. The iPhone 6s that we use most days can struggle to hit a full day of use sometimes so longer battery life is a great thing.

I didn’t notice any lag while setting up and using the Droid MAXX 2, and so far apps are running fine. I will stress the processor later with multiple apps running and with some games, but for now the performance is good.

There is a front-facing speaker on the Droid MAXX 2 at the bottom. The speaker is loud and the quality is good, but not as nice as the dual front-facing speakers on the Droid Turbo 2.

Droid MAXX 2 Specs & Software

The Droid MAXX 2 comes with 16GB of storage, but users can expand this with a Micro SD card. The MAXX 2 features a Snapdragon 615 processor and tuns Android 5.1. There is a Marshmallow update coming for the Droid MAXX 2 according to Motorola, but there is no time frame.

Just like with the Droid Turbo 2 the Android software is close to stock, with several Motorola apps included. Loop connects you to your family and your home, Connect can unlock the phone when it is paired to a watch or Bluetooth device and the Moto app can adjust to what you do, notify you at a glance, listen for a personalized phrase to take action and more.

There is a lot of pre-installed software on the Droid MAXX 2 including Amazon apps, Verizon apps and several games as well as Slacker Radio. You can uninstall these games easily.