Motorola Droid Turbo hands-on and first impressions

Following months of speculation and major leaks that left little to the imagination, Motorola and Verizon Wireless finally took the wraps off of the Motorola Droid Turbo at a press event earlier today. Taking the place of the Droid Ultra in the Verizon exclusive Motorola line-up, the Droid Turbo looks to offer everything you’d expect from a flagship device, and more. To find out exactly what this device has to offer, we go hands on, and give you our first impressions about the Motorola Droid Turbo!

When it comes to the design language, the Droid Turbo retains a lot of the signature elements of the Droid line, with its generally flatter look, as opposed to to curves you’d get with the other Motorola flagship, the Moto X, as well as the unique material choices for the back cover. You get a metallic fiber material similar to what you get with other Droid devices in red or black, and this time, a new addition with the 64 GB model is a “ballistic” nylon material, which adds more grip, and otherwise feels a lot more rugged. How this material stands up to the test of time still needs to be seen though. Resistance to water will also play its part in keeping this device protected.

A large Motorola logo is prominent on the back, but isn’t a dimpled design like you have with the Moto X. You also get a dual LED flash with the rear camera, but not in the ring design that was found with its flagship counterpart. Somewhat strange is the inclusion of capacitive keys up front, which was likely included to maintain the general design language of the Droid series.

A 5.2-inch AMOLED display comes with a Quad HD resolution, resulting in a whopping pixel density of 565 ppi. While Quad HD is definitely the resolution of choice for all upcoming high-end devices, this is the first time we get it on a display size smaller than 5.5-inches. Quality that you’d expect from any AMOLED display shines through here, and the ultra high resolution makes everything that much sharper and clearer.

The Droid Turbo continues to impress as we dive deeper into its inner workings. Packing a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 processor, clocked at 2.7 GHz, and backed by the Adreno 420 GPU and 3 GB of RAM, this device packs the best processing package currently available. While the difference in performance may not be easily noticeable when compared to the now older Snapdragon 801, the Droid Turbo is perfect for those you prefer to be on the bleeding edge. There is no option for micro SD expansion, but there is a 64 GB version available, along with a 32 GB iteration, which should cover the storage needs for most users.

When it comes to the camera, the Droid Turbo features a 21 MP rear camera with a Dual LED flash, along with a 2 MP front-facing unit. While megapixel count isn’t really the only indicator with regards to image quality, we certainly have high hopes with this camera, and can’t wait to take it out for a spin.

The go-big-or-go-home attitude continues with battery, with the Droid Turbo packing a massive 3,900 mAh unit, certainly the largest you’ll get with a device in this size range. Impressive battery life has always been a key feature of this series, and that should continue this time around as well. While more hands on testing will be required, we can definitely expect the Droid Turbo to at least come close to the 2 full days of use touted by Motorola. The device also comes with turbo charging capabilities, so battery life is not going to be a concern with this smartphone.

Motorola maintains its software mantra with this device as well, with an interface that is minimalistic and clean, almost stock-like in its nature. Useful additions like Active Display and Moto Assist do make an appearance, alongside some a few Droid-specific software features as well. As for the OS, you get Android 4.4.4 Kitkat out of the box, with a planned upgrade to Android 5.0 Lollipop in the coming months.

There you have it – a first look at the Motorola Droid Turbo! While maintaining the signature elements of the Droid line, the Droid Turbo is simply out, a Moto X (2014) on steroids, and for the first time, we are actually a little disappointed that this fantastic smartphone is exclusively available only from Verizon Wireless.

What are your thoughts? What do you think of the Droid Turbo?  Will you consider picking one up? Let us know in the comments section below!