The leaks looked too good to be true, but now Motorola has confirmed the launch of the best specified smartphone ever made.
It is called the ‘Droid Turbo’ and the core specifications are outstanding:
- 5.2-inch 2560 x 1440 (Quad HD) display
-
Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 chipset (quad core 2.7GHz Krait CPU, quad core Adreno 420 GPU) - 3GB RAM
- 21 megapixel camera
- 3900mAh battery
Let’s break these down.
Spec-tacular
The display has the highest pixels density seen on any phone to date. It is the first phone (as opposed to phablet) to ship with a Snapdragon 805 chipset running at full speed (the upgraded Galaxy S5 Plus downgrades the 805's Krait CPU to 2.5GHz) and only phablets have previously shipped with 3GB of RAM.
Beyond this the 21 megapixel camera is eye opening if not a guarantee of quality. Motorola has yet to reveal if it supports optical image stabilisation (lacking from the Moto X, but included in the Moto X-inspired Nexus 6) so more details here are needed and I will update when more is known.
Motorola Droid Turbo in read and black finishing (image credit: Motorola)
Of course the real talking point is the battery. 3900mAh is larger than any phone has ever fitted (even the Note 4 and Nexus 6 phablets only have 3220mAh) and Motorola is making an understandably big deal about it. It states the Droid Turbo will last a minimum of two days between charges.
How this pans out in reality always depends on the combination of apps installed and user settings (brightness, background services authorised, etc). That said Motorola has form in this sector with the Droid Maxx which has a huge 3500mAh and both Android and Qualcomm chipsets have got more efficient since its release in August 2013.
The quick charging seen in other Motorola handsets has made it across as well with the company stating the Droid Turbo will get eight hours of usage from a 15 minute charge. Wall hugged with this phone should be a thing of the past.
Other boxes Motorola has ticked are support for LTE Advanced which means potential download speeds of up to 300Mbps and a front firing speaker like the Moto X. Meanwhile the Droid Turbo’s two megapixel front camera is one of the few more modestly specified elements to this phone, but it does still promise 1080p video recording.
In addition the Droid Turbo comes in two finishes - fibreglass and nylon, the latter of which is designed to offer a lot of grip. While it isn't exactly Moto Maker levels of customisation, red and black colour options will be offered.
Read more: Motorola Moto X (2014) Review: The Year's Best Smartphone
Not The Droid You’re Looking For?
Unfortunately the Droid Turbo isn’t without some downsides. The most notable being that it is a Verizon exclusive, as suggested by the carrier’s long running ‘Droid’ branding through its partnership with Motorola. For how long is unknown, but it would be a great shame if this beast of a handset does not get a wider release.
Next there are some design questions. Firstly the return of capacitive buttons (entirely absent from the company’s Moto line) will turn off some, and secondly squeezing in that huge battery means the Droid Turbo isn't light.
Motorola quotes the handset as weighing 176 grams (6.2oz) which is heavier than the iPhone 6 Plus. This can be reduced to 169g (5.96oz) with the fibreglass back. Despite the bulk, there also isn’t any microSD storage expansion either.
Furthermore the Droid Turbo will ship with Android 4.4 KitKat rather than the impending Android 5.0 Lollipop, though Motorola does promise an upgrade to it and Verizon has allowed Motorola to keep Android relatively stock. This latter point should both help with speedy upgrades and realise the full potential of the Droid Turbo's hardware.
Price and Availability
If the Motorola Droid has you seriously tempted then the good news is you won't have to wait long to get your hands on it. It will go on sale on 30 October and will be competitively priced at $199 and $249.99 for 32 and 64GB models respectively, both on two year contracts.
While the Verizon exclusive may diminish the immediate impact of the Droid Turbo in the wider smartphone world, there is no denying it will send shockwaves through the sector. Particularly among rival Android phone makers.
____
More on Forbes
