Gadgetory

in mobile technology it's the same thing over and over new device comes out new device gets reviewed new device gets forgotten almost no one follows up no one follows along no one sticks around to see how well a gadget ages over time because there's always something new to drool over so let's do something about it let's take another look at the most hight droid of the past five years I'm Michael Fisher this is the Motorola Droid turbo and this is episode 47 of after the buzz the Motorola Droid turbo can be thought of as the bigger brawny er cousin of last year's excellent Moto X in the States it's exclusive to Verizon Wireless which means at least some folks in need of a durable long lasting smartphone probably switched networks to get it did they make the right call well the specs have certainly aged well the Snapdragon 805 was one of last year's most powerful processors and backed up by three gigs of ram and 32 or 64 gigs of on-board storage it holds up well under the processing load of the newer Android version the turbos running today tossin a 5.2 inch quad HD display and a 21 megapixel camera and the turbo certainly isn't hurting in terms of raw hardware it's durable - whether you sprung for the metallized glass weave or the ballistic nylon version we've got here you've got a pretty beefy phone that doesn't mind being tossed around even if that includes a little splish-splash and motorola has recently introduced the new color options as well adding the new silver finish with colorful trims and bringing the 32 gig storage tear to the ballistic nylon version as well but just as the high points have persisted so to have the low ones it never made much sense to me to toss a quad HD display onto a device built for rough usage short Samsung did it but its displays get really bright if they need to the droid turbo screen is beautiful and crisp in the shade more indoors but outside at high noon you're not going to notice its resolution because the panel just doesn't get bright enough to overcome direct sunlight the side Keys are mushy the speakerphone collects dust like a moon crater and despite the new paint job the boxy chassis has a distinct lack of charm also Motorola's software value adds don't tend to age very well while it's great to be able to address your phone without touching it the whole experience is pretty slow hello computer what's up hi there the time is 1234 p.m. you have 4 Gmail messages waiting for your review the last message was sent at 12:28 p.m. by the same token having your text messages read aloud to you and then being able to dictate a reply is awesome but again it's sluggish and not very reliable even in a quiet room new text from VW w listen listen listen sorry can you repeat that to hear it now say listen listen listen VZW said finish this video so we can hit the beach men to reply to VZW say send message send a message see your message alright give me a second period cool your jets exclamation point I think you said all right give me a second cool your jets is that correct yes yes great I'll send that now these are features we absolutely adore but Android doesn't seem able to keep them snappy and consistent over time which is a shame fortunately Motorola's other conveniences like gesture controls are as useful as ever double chopping the phone like an axe now turns the flashlight on or off while double twisting it launches the camera as always speaking of the viewfinder is still pretty bare-bones and awkward to shoot with and the turbo isn't the fastest to focus either which makes low-light photography harder than with other phones shooting side-by-side with the galaxy s6 active the Samsung carried the day in most circumstances but you can still get some solid stuff from the turbo its manual exposure targeting can be helpful in split lighting scenes when you don't want to use HDR it's capable of some impressive macro and bouquet style shots there's burst mode if you're trying to freeze a moment in time and high frame rate video if you just want to slow it down also the high resolution means you can zoom in quite a ways before losing definition if you find the best lighting and the perfect moment it's actually capable of some beautiful shots whether you're using the main camera or the selfie shooter you just don't expect the kind of versatility you'd get from a galaxy s6 iPhone 6 or a late-model Lumia especially once the lights go down the droid turbo still has one of the biggest batteries on the market as big as the one on the phone that wouldn't die the huawei ascend mate - but where the Huawei phone gave us 9 hours of screen on time per charge the droid turbo barely gives us half that even putting it up against a phone with a similar screen size and resolution the galaxy s6 active if the drug turbo usually doesn't last as long despite having a larger battery whether the culprit is Motorola's always listening voice pick up some unseen bit of Verizon bloatware Android lollipop or something else we're not the only ones to notice and we're surprised it hasn't been ironed out in the nine months since release because while yes the wireless charging is nice and the wired turbocharger is fast no phone with a battery this big should die this quickly especially not when it's being sold as a 48-hour smartphone I'm in a weird spot I can't figure out how to end this episode because I don't really know how I feel about the Droid turbo that gets the closest I can get is it's fine I mean some aspects are great the durability the display resolution the Moto features the front firing speakers placement even at times the camera but the software is still wonky and prone to buggy behavior the speaker isn't as loud as it could be an actual battery life is a far cry from potential battery life the Droid turbo is still the best rugged smartphone in Verizon Wireless as portfolio so if you're married to big red and need a rough-and-tumble stack packed companion right now it's still the best option but if you're willing to wait or you're willing to jump carriers other better options are definitely out there and Motorola zone sequel is likely just over the horizon keep that in mind as you head to the phone store if you're wondering how other smartphones and wearables have fared over time check out the rest of our after the buzz series here on YouTube and be sure to subscribe and give us a thumbs up if you did enjoy this video until next time this has been michael fisher with pocket now captain to phones on twitter reminding you the turbo is a great name for a pet seriously try it out cute we'll see you next time