Last year's Droid Turbo 2 marked the beginning of big changes of innovation from the good folks over at Motorola. Not only did it provide the perfect way to resurrect the Droid brand at Verizon but was a damn good phone as well. Now it's time for the sequel as Motorola decided to close out 2015 w/ a bang w/ the Turbo 2.
Now w/ the Turbo 2, Motorola is making sure to add a better camera, along w/ a stronger display to add to the great battery life. If you want to know how good or not so good, we got covered. After spending a decent amount of time w/ the latest Turbo, It's time to see how well everything does w/ all of the new bells & whistles.
Design/Build
For the most part, Motorola didn't tamper w/ the core look, design, and feel from the original Turbo. It is a bit bigger w/ it's 5.4inch frame as it is wider than taller as it is still water repellant. You can fit the older one inside of the new one.
You got plastic on the front rim w/ a metal frame, and choice of rear styling. Now that you have Moto Maker customization at your disposal this time around, you can decide between a pebbled leather, soft grip, or the ballistic nylon used in last year's model. Those of you who got w/ the 64GB model, Moto allows you to redesign your Turbo 2 within the 1st years of owning it. Sweet!
Display
Motorola decided to save some big innovation for the Turbo 2 w/ their new shatterproof display or Moto ShatterShield. This is accomplished by the way of a 5-layer construction. Starting off w/ an aluminum chassis for the foundation, a flexible Plastic OLED display, a dual touch layer, an interior & exterior lens.
Other than that, it has a wide 5.4inch QHD OLED display w/ a 2560 x 1440 resolution + 540ppi. So w/ all of these layers involved you will notice that it isn't as sharp as the Moto X Pure Edition or even other QHD equipped smartphones. It's not terrible but not as sharp or vibrant as others. I'm sure all of those layers are the culprit.
With this being one of the big selling points, it had better work. And it does. I've dropped this thing on concrete, hardwood floors, and a variety of surfaces to simulate a phone drop. The screen itself remained solid, but the rest of the body will take those hits though as only the display is shatterproof. So expect to see some scuffs & scrapes on the frame of it. On a day-to-day basis through the length of a 2-year contract, this is a screen you can actually count on.
Performance/Battery Life
Motorola decided to step things up on the processor side of things w/ the Turbo 2. Instead of going for the Snapdragon 808 chipset, this time around we got a 2GHz Snapdragon 810 v2.1 CPU along w/ 3GB of RAM. From the big things (like graphic-intense gaming) to the little things (like everyday tasks/processes), this thing handles like a breeze for me. Devices this year using that 808 chipset would get some lag early in the game w/o even doing much w/ it. Great choice Motorola.
Inside lies a 3670 mAh battery that Moto suggests will give you up to 48-hours of battery life on a single charge. On light to moderate usage, I can easily get that and above. So while on heavier usage I would get a little less than 2-days. This is w/ light gaming, hours of YouTube viewing, music streaming, Hangout convos, emails & review drafts, and some light Periscoping. If you're an Android user w/ a smartphone battery that can't keep up w/ your digital lifestyle, the Turbo 2 offers the best battery in the game.
On the rear lies the same shooter Moto utilized for this year's Moto X, a f/2.0 21MP camera + dual LED flash. On the front lies a f/2.0 5MP selfie camera w/ single LED flash. The optics are much better as they focused more so on the image rendering software as part of the magic of making better photos.
Moto X Pure Edtion Camera Review
You get pretty good photos in daylight as the sensor struggles in low-light as more grain/noise becomes visible. Shooting in HDR mode can help out tremendously. The same applies to video quality as well. No OIS ob board or Manual mode but you do have digital video stabilization. Not perfect but still an overall good job and the best shooters Motorola has ever produced.
Software
You get Android 5.1.1 Lollipop free on any real UI or heavy skin on top as Motorola usually does. Pretty much stock Android w/ a few Moto custom widgets. Luckily enough, you still get all of the cool Moto software features you would expect from a Motorola device.
Moto Voice is still present to dictate voice commands to your device. If you're unfamiliar w/ it, think Ok Google that works system-wide. Moto Display helps out w/ you viewing your notifications w/o having to unlock your device. Moto Assist allows it to read your messages aloud to you when you're driving so you won't get distracted. And lastly, Moto Actions are the cool features last seen on the Moto X PE. This allows you to prompt Moto Display by waving your hands over the screen, launch the camera by double-twisting your wrist w/ the device in-hand, and chop the device twice to activate the LED flash to use as a flashlight.
You're gonna have to go to Verizon for the best Motorola device of the year w/ the Droid Turbo 2.
TG 2 Cents
Motorola made sure they had an even better offering this time around w/ the Droid Turbo 2. It is definitely better than last year's model and better than anything Motorola has put out this year. Think of it as a less ugly variant of a Moto X Active edition (which doesn't exist). Top of the line specs like a fast chipset, durable QHD display, almost 2-day battery life, and a good camera. At the end of the day, it's what everyone wants in a smartphone. Having a shatterproof screen and being water-resistant are just added bonuses.
The only thing is that you have to go to Verizon to get it. Not that there's anything wrong w/ VZW but these days everyone has found a home for their wireless carrier needs already. Ergo, you would have to jump ship just to get this phone. As long as you can find a data plan that suits your needs, it will be well worth the change.
To Buy Or Not To Buy
If you're a Motorola fans who didn't already buy the 3rd-gen Moto G or the Moto X Pure Edition, this is for you. If you are a serious Android power user and tire of needed to plug-in or utilize a battery pack, you should also look into the Turbo 2.
