What's good
- Premium materials for durability
- Stunning display with high resolution and clarity
- Excellent battery life
What's bad
- Sluggish camera shutter speed
- No optical image stabilization
- Display colors slightly oversaturated
Motorola was the phone manufacturer that rocketed Android to its current fame with the original Droid. While the Motorola might no longer dominate the Android market it continues to present an impressive flagship lineup. The Droid Turbo is Motorola's 2014 flagship phone and it bumps up every bit of hardware in the Moto X. It isn't necessarily the prettiest phone according to reviewers, but it is built to last. The phone comes in two different finishes: a ballistic nylon reinforced with aluminum or a metallized glass fiber with a Kevlar back. Both were designed to withstand the occasional drop and flexing. Its water-resistant nano coating also provides some protection from light rain though it cannot be submerged fully in the water as it does not have a Mil-Spec rating. Although it isn't "certified tough" experts still appreciate its overall resilience despite weighing a somewhat heavy 176 grams.
Stealing the show is the Turbo's 5.2-inch quad HD (2560x1440) Super AMOLED panel, which translates to a pixel density of 565ppi. As expected, experts were not able to discern any pixels describing it as "simply stunning" and crisp. Like all Super AMOLED displays, critics noticed slight oversaturation and some slight yellowing tinging on whites, but in all it provided rich colors, deep blacks and excellent viewing angles.
Reviewers instantly forgot the small issues they had with the display once they actually started using the device. The 2.7GHz quad-core processor and 3 GB of RAM provided them with incredibly fast performance. Android Central claims that it is, "…just as fast as anything else on the market, even with a high-resolution screen." Whether they were playing a graphics intensive game, browsing the web or navigating through the user interface, they did not notice any stutters or performance hiccup. But it isn't the HD display or fast processor that Motorola chose to market. Instead, they focused on the battery life of the 3,900mAh battery. According to the company, the battery is expected to last 2 days of moderate to heavy usage. When put through real life expert tests, the battery didn't necessarily live up to the two day hype, though it did get them comfortably through 12 to 16 hours of moderate usage. Motorola also provides several different charging options: wireless Qi charging and an add-on turbo charger that can add one percent of battery per minute.
Beyond the battery, there's the 21MP rear camera that comes with a dual LED flash. Instead of pressing a button to fire up the camera, the Turbo features a twist-to-capture gesture to open up the camera app. Despite the high megapixel count, reviewers were let down by the camera's overall performance. They noticed that the shutter speed was surprisingly sluggish and pictures, while highly detailed, often suffered from overexposure. It also struggled in low slight situations, churning out noticeably grainy images. Perhaps the biggest drawback is the lack of optical image stabilization (OIS). Without OIS many images that reviewers took were often blurry, especially in poor lighting.
Despite a less than stellar camera, reviewers still view the Droid Turbo very favorably. BGR states, "It's powerful, it's sleek and it has the best battery in the business outside of a few truly gigantic phablets." Laptop Mag adds, "… the Droid Turbo is a premium smartphone worth owning."
What the Critics Are Saying...
- Nandagopal Rajan, The Indian ExpressFor those looking for a performance phone, this is a great option to look at. The superb processing power and battery life make this a top shelf phone in the current market. Yes, it is a bit pricey but just the two days of battery life will make this a worthy investment for many users.
- Sandeep, Fone ArenaOverall the Moto Turbo is a very capable device. As many call it, it is very much a Nexus 6 in a smaller package. Packing a gorgeous screen and a powerful processor the phone really does perform well at most of the tasks it is put up to. The two major cons are lack of OIS and the Mono speaker. Most...
- Clinton Jeff, UnleashThePhonesThe Motorola Moto Turbo is a spectacular smartphone.It’s not the lightest, nor is it the best looking. But it is unique enough to stand out thanks to that ballistic nylon, and boasts crazy powerful specs, very solid build quality, and long-lasting battery life. Heck, even the camera isn’...
- Prasid Banerjee, DigitThe Moto Turbo is by far the most powerful smartphone that we've tested so far. It outperforms the likes of the Galaxy Note 4 and lives up to its 'beast' monicker. If Motorola could just have given a flagship level camera, this would be the perfect phone for everyone.
- Juan Vega, Android GuysAfter having the opportunity to write this short review on the Droid Turbo I honestly have to rethink about stitching over to it. I already have a great smartphone but with the great build quality, awesome performance and just overall ease of use of the Droid Turbo it is hard for me not to want to d...
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Common Questions
We've got you covered! Download a free PDF copy of the Motorola DROID Turbo user manual here.
Motorola backs up the DROID Turbo with a 1 Year parts & labour warranty.
If your DROID Turbo has problems and is still within its warranty period, you could contact Motorola support or the retailer you purchased the phone from. You'll find Motorola's contact information here. If your phone is off warranty and needs repair for a physical problem such as a broken screen or bad battery, you should visit an authorized service centre or a local phone repair shop. You can also connect with others in The Informr Community Forum to find and share answers to questions.
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