Motorola Droid Turbo Hands-on: 48-Hour Battery, Sharp QHD Screen
Forget about clock speed. The smartphone wars are now all about how long your device can last -- and how long it takes to juice back up.
The Motorola Droid Turbo, coming exclusively to Verizon Wireless Oct 30, promises up to 48 hours of battery life from its massive 3,900 mAh battery. Befitting its name, the device (starting at $200 on contract) sports a turbo charging feature that could give you up to 8 hours of use after a mere 15-minute charge.
We just went hands-on with the Turbo, and it backs up all that long-distance goodness with serious speed (via Snapdragon 805), a gorgeous quad HD screen and a very durable -- if slightly bulky -- body.
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While the Moto X is all about design customization and fun colors and materials, the Droid Turbo emphasizes toughness. You'll be able to take your pick from a Metalized Glass Fiber shell (in black or red) or one made from Ballistic Nylon (in black), both reinforced with Kevlar. The 5.2-inch quad HD screen (2560 x 1440 pixels) is protected by Gorilla Glass 3, and the inside and outside has a water-repellent nanocoating.
Keep in mind that you can't dunk the Droid Turbo in water like the Galaxy S5, but it should be able to shrug off a spray of water or light rain. Although the Turbo felt comfortable in my hand, thanks to the curved design, it is on the heavy side. The glass fiber version weighs 5.9 ounces, and the ballistic nylon model is a heftier 6.2 ounces. Compare that to the 5.1-ounce Galaxy S5.
With Droid Turbo screen insurance, Verizon will replace a cracked or broken screen once within two years of purchase. This applies whether you're on contract or not.
Running Android KitKat (4.4.4), the Droid Turbo should be one of the fastest phones on the market. It packs a 2.7-GHz quad-core Snapdragon 805 processor and 3GB of RAM, along with 32GB of storage. Stepping up to 64GB costs an extra $50, which only comes with black Ballistic Nylon. The handset doesn't offer a microSD card slot for expansion.
The sharpest-shooting Motorola phone yet, the Droid Turbo features a 21-megapixel camera that can capture 4K video at up to 24 frames per second. Camera features include Quick Capture, a dual LED flash, auto HDR and slow-motion video. Motorola pre-loaded the Turbo with a bunch of photos it took in the field, including an image of a flower that was so sharp that we could make out tiny mites on the petals as we zoomed in.
Similar to the Moto X, the Droid Turbo comes with Moto Display for showing you notifications without having to wake up the phone and Moto Voice for hands-free voice control. But only this Verizon Exclusive has the Droid Zap app on board for sharing photos and videos with others nearby, as well as a Zap to TV feature for beaming content to a Chromecast.
The Turbo isn't the only smartphone that promises fast recharge times along with long battery life. The Galaxy Note 4, for example, comes with a charger that's designed to get you from 0 to 50 percent charge in 30 minutes, which, according to our tests, equates to 4 hours and 21 minutes of endurance. And the Nexus 6 promises 6 hours of use from 15 minutes of wall hugging.
We can't wait to see just how long the Turbo lasts on a charge, and how far that quick charge gets you.
Mark Spoonauer is the editor in chief of Tom's Guide. Follow him at @mspoonauer. Follow Tom's Guide at @tomsguide, on Facebook and on Google+.
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