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Droid Turbo 2 officially announced: what you need to know
It wasn’t long ago that Motorola brought us its latest flagship, the Moto X Style (Pure Edition), alongside the mid-range Moto X Play. Both handsets offered solid specs and pricing, but neither were necessarily bleeding edge when it came to hardware. With today’s announcement of the Droid Turbo 2, the company now has a new Motorola handset that offers the very best specs you’ll find on the market.
As you’d expect from a Droid, this new handset is a Verizon exclusive, though it’s possible the phone could eventually make it to other markets under a different name, as we’ve seen with some of the past Droids. So what’s all new with the Droid Turbo 2, and how does the phone set itself apart from Motorola’s existing line up? Let’s jump right in and take a look.
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Droid Turbo 2 design
In the past, Verizon and Motorola have made numerous tweaks to the styling of the Droid family in order to help them stand apart from their Moto X brethren. This still remains mostly true with the Droid Turbo 2, though less so than in past years.
The Turbo 2 offers the same backplate with the Motorola dimple and camera package, and even offers Moto Maker customization, just like the Moto X Style (Pure Edition) and Play. The Turbo 2 does have the exclusive choice of ballistic nylon, returning from the original Turbo, but there’s also plastic and leather options this time around. It’s not just the back either, as there will also be accent color choices and all the other extras you’d expect from a standard Moto device.
One way that the Moto Maker will stand out for Turbo 2 owners is that during their 2 year contracts (or payment plans), customers will be able to refresh the design once for free. That means if you don’t like the way your phone was designed the first time, you can exchange it for a new one. That’s a pretty nice perk.
Droid Turbo 2 specs and features
| Display | 5.4-inch display Quad HD resolution, 540ppi / Shatter Shield tech |
|---|---|
Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor / Adreno 430 GPU |
RAM | 3 GB |
Storage | 32/64 GB expandable via microSD up to 2TB |
Camera | 21 MP rear camera with dual LED flash 5 MP front-facing camera with wide angle lens and front-facing flash |
Connectivity | Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac Universal LTE bands Bluetooth 4.1 NFC GPS+GLONASS |
Network | 4G LTE (Cat 4) CDMA / EVDO Rev A UMTS / HSPA+ Bands: CDMA (850, 1900MHz) GSM / GPRS / EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz) UMTS / HSPA+ (850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz) 4G LTE (B2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 13) GSM / EDGE |
Battery | 3,760 mAh Battery with Turbo & Fast Wireless Charging / Supports PMA and Qi wireless charging (wireless charger sold separately |
Software | Android 5.1.1 Lollipop |
Colors | Moto Maker support included |
Weight and size | 149.8 mm x 78 mm x 7.6 mm - 9.2 mm, Weight 169g |
The Droid Turbo 2 is powered by an octa-core Snapdragon 810 processor with 3GB RAM, and offers a 5.4-inch QHD display that is Motorola touts as being “shatterproof”. The display offers a special tech called Moto Shatter Sheild technology, which Motorola was so confident that it drop-tested the phone on stage — and yes it survived. Motorola’s new Shatter Shield technology consists of five layers:
- Rigid aluminum core
- Amoled flexible display (can absorb shock and bend rather than break)
- Dual Touch layer (so if one breaks, it will still work)
- Interior lens
- Exterior lens
Other specs include 32 and 64GB storage options, microSD, a 21MP camera and a 5MP front cam. If those camera specs seem familiar, that’s because they are. You can expect the same camera experience that was provided by the Moto X Style (Pure Edition). Judging by our review of that device, the phone will boast a high-quality camera experience, even if it isn’t quite as exceptional as what you might find with the Note 5 and some of the other high-end camera phones on the market today.
What about battery life? Motorola has a strong history of crafting devices with great battery life, particularly when it comes to the Droid line, and the Turbo 2 is no different. The phone will offer a non-removable 3760 mAh battery that supports both Turbo and wireless charging technologies. Until we have time to review the handset in-depth for ourselves, we can’t say how good the battery here will be, but Verizon promises 48 hours of battery life. Big Red also says you should be able to get about 13 hours of charge in just about 15 minutes when using the Turbo charger.
Finally, let’s talk briefly about the software. Droid devices typically keep the extras pretty thin, though there is a number of Verizon apps pre-installed, alongside a few Moto-specific apps as well. Beyond that, you’re looking at a pretty stock-like build of Android 5.1 Lollipop. While it would have been awesome to see Android 6.0 Marshmallow right out of the box, we imagine an update shouldn’t be too far off.
Droid Turbo 2 price and availability
The Droid Turbo 2 will go on sale this Thursday, October 29th, through its website, in-stores, and even through Verizon’s select retail partners. We imagine that Verizon will offer some “default looks” for those that don’t want to wait around for Moto Maker customized phones to arrive, though that’s just a guess.
As for pricing? The Turbo 2 will be available for $26 or $30 per month, depending on if you get the 32 or 64GB storage option. That’s of course with a 24-month payment plan, with outright pricing set at $624 and $720, respectively.
There will also be a limited time trade-in offer where Verizon will accept phones and give up to $300 off on the Turbo 2. This offer even applies to phones with a cracked display, though remember the offer is for “up to $300” — so don’t be surprised if an older phone, or a broken one, yeilds a much smaller discount.