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Droid Turbo: 5 Things I learned on the First Day

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The Verizon Droid Turbo is an impressive new Android phone that continues the Droid brand many Verizon users are already using and adds the features that made the Moto X and the new Moto X 2014 impressive devices.

After spending a day using the new device there is still a lot of testing before we can share our Droid Turbo Review, but there are five things that stood out about this new Verizon smartphone.

The Verizon Droid Turbo is $199 on contract at Verizon in two color options, black and red color options. Motorola packs in a 5.2-inch display with an impressive 2,560 x 1,440 resolution like the Note 4 and the LG G3. There’s a 21 MP camera on the back and the promise of 48 hours of battery life.

Here's what I learned after using the Droid Turbo for a day.

Here’s what I learned after using the Droid Turbo for a day.

Here are five things I learned after using the new Droid Turbo for 24 hours.

Battery Life & Quick Charging

The Motorola Droid Turbo features a massive 3,900 mAh battery that Motorola claims will last 48 hours. After a day of use I still have 56% battery life left. I didn’t push the phone as much as I will in the next few weeks, but it’s clear that this phone will last a full day of use. Part of the long life is due to leaving it sit while I slept, so I’m not sure it can handle 48 hours of continual stay awake use, but that’s not something many of us will likely do.

After a day, there's still a lot of battery life left, but that includes no use overnight.

After a day, there’s still a lot of battery life left, but that includes no use overnight.

The phone wasn’t fully charged when it arrived, but after connecting it to the included charger it was great to see the quick charge add hours of talk time in about 15 minutes. Motorola claims 15 minutes adds eight hours of power, which is possible with the boost I saw in my short charging session.

Display & Camera

I am surprised to see such a nice display on the Droid Turbo. The 2,560 x 1,440 resolution display packs in pixels incredibly close delivery tons of detail on the screen which was especially great for photos. The screen is bright and colors look good so far, but a closer look is coming.

So far the photos look good and the display delivers a lot of detail.

So far the photos look good and the display delivers a lot of detail.

After using the 21MP camera, which uses the same Motorola software as the Moto X 2nd generation I am impressed with the initial results. Photos in medium light didn’t lose the detail like they do on some Android phones. The photo of our toy Poodle above shows the strands of hair on his ears and face that some smartphone cameras turn into a muddled mess.

Kevlar & Design

The curved Kevlar back of the Motorola Droid Turbo fits in my hand easily and feels great. The Kevlar and curves are a little slipper at times, but not to the same degree as the iPhone 6.

The Droid Turbo design and kevlar materials make for a nice look and a nice feel.

The Droid Turbo design and kevlar materials make for a nice look and a nice feel.

The carbon fiber design carries over from the earlier Droid devices creating a distinct look that you won’t find on another smartphone unless you add a case or a skin.

Moto Display

Like the Moto X 2014 and other Motorola devices there is no notification LED. Instead the display shows an icon for the last three notifications so you know if it is Facebook, email, a call, text or whatever it is for. Waving my hand over the display shows any notifications and allows you to tap on them to see more information.

Voice Control

Another cool option is the ability to set the voice command to recognize a name you give it instead of OK Google or Hello Moto. I am using Obi-Wan Kenobi as the name for my Droid.

I can say, “Obi-Wan Kenobi” when the screen is on or off and the Motorola Voice assistant will start. I can use basic commands for calls and texts and even post to Facebook or start playing a video on YouTube. This also opens into the basic Google Now voice control area when you ask certain things like the weather, sports scores and more.

8 Comments

8 Comments

  1. hongkongph00ey

    11/04/2014 at 12:25 am

    I’m using “Kirk to Enterprise” as my Moto Voice phrase. So far battery life not living up to my Droid Maxx (30 hours), I’m getting around 16 from the Turbo.

  2. Jeff Moll

    11/04/2014 at 7:10 am

    Love it and hate it. Battery = great. Display = Great. Voice control = great. NO TALK AND SURF = phone going back. Too bad they are either stupid or don’t care that talk and text or surf is the number one reason many people switched to AT&T or didn’t by the prior iPhones. This is a set backwards

    • CJ

      11/05/2014 at 12:12 pm

      I am an IT Engineer in High-Tech sector. I have advised all of my colleagues and customers about my poor experience on the Turbo due to No 4G LTE during calls.
      What a horrible experience, I am taking the phone back after work today!

      Stay away from VoLTE as it is on 1.0 you will drop calls, I tried this for a week on an iPhone with Verizon and I returned it thinking the Turbo would suite my needs, boy was I wrong!

  3. Chris McBride

    11/10/2014 at 2:00 pm

    With regular use, a couple lengthy phone calls, texting back and forth with friends/family frequently and a few google searches, the Battery on my Turbo lasted 2days 6hours and 13min and was at 9% Battery when I finally decided to charge it. Upgraded from a RAZR that under the same conditions would have only lasted about 18 hours. I did let the Turbos battery fully drain from the factory charge until it shut itself off then charged it to 100% before turning it back on to get these results.

  4. Lauren

    11/11/2014 at 8:21 pm

    Is the 4G during a call something they can change in an update?

  5. Jschn549

    11/19/2014 at 5:00 pm

    Switched from a galaxy 6 to the turbo. I’m noticing issues with the touch screen being spotty on the turbo. For instance a simple task of moving apps around the home screen seems way more difficult then it should be. Also when scrolling through a website I’m finding myself accidentally clicking on links way to often. Anyone else noticing this. Cant find any type of sensitivity setting. I’m hoping its a defective device.

  6. AliK1

    03/11/2015 at 9:31 pm

    Not happy at all with droid turbo. So many things wrong with it, all the above mentioned, drooping calls, no 4G, no talking and texting or surfing web during calls. I would rather have the old school Nokia with bubble buttons instead of this. The battery life was only for a day, and that was in the first 2 days I’d had it. Has not held charge since! It may have a fast charger, but it doesn’t really matter of the battery won’t stay charged. This phone is a HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT. Thinking I should switch to Samsung Galaxy, if I’m able to return this turbo or not. No more Motorola, or whatever the heck this is! I’m done.

    • Weeble

      04/02/2015 at 8:56 pm

      I hate it when my phone calls droop. Stupid gravity. (Also, changing to HD calling allows for voice and data)

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