Motorola Droid Turbo Challenges Apple, Samsung, LG

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Motorola and Verizon Wireless revealed the Droid Turbo at an event in New York City Tuesday. It's the latest in a long line of Droids exclusive to Verizon's network. The smartphone is a compelling device with class-leading battery performance that could sway would-be iPhone and Galaxy S5 buyers towards Motorola.

The Droid Turbo has a 3,900mAh battery, which is significantly larger than the batteries found within the Apple iPhone 6, Galaxy S5, and G3. Motorola claims the device will run for 48 hours on a single charge. Further, the Droid Turbo supports Motorola's Turbo Charge technology -- plugging it in for just 15 minutes will provide eight hours of battery life. Few phones can make that promise.

Beyond the battery, the Droid Turbo is a spec beast. The screen measures 5.2 inches across the diagonal and includes 2560 x 1440 pixels for quad HD resolution. The AMOLED screen is protected by Corning's Gorilla Glass 3, which is resistant to breakage. The phone's outer shell is made from metalized fiber or ballistic nylon, both of which Motorola says are tough enough to handle the trials and tribulations of an active lifestyle. The phone is not fully ruggedized, but the internal components have a nano coating that repels water. It won't protect against a dunk in the pool but will handle rain or sweat with no trouble.

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The Droid Turbo relies on Qualcomm's best processor. The 2.7-GHz quad-core Snapdragon 805 is joined by an Adreno 420 GPU and 3 GB of RAM for multitasking prowess. The 21-megapixel camera includes a handful of shooting modes and can capture both 4K (Ultra HD) and slow-motion video. The user-facing camera rates 2.0 megapixels and can capture full HD video for crisp one-on-one chats. It supports the expected series of radios, including LTE 4G, dual-band WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, and GPS.

Motorola will ship the Droid Turbo with Android 4.4.4 KitKat installed but will upgrade it to Android 5.0 Lollipop shortly after launch. The phone has near stock user interface and is enhanced by several of Motorola's apps. Active Display is great at offering information on the lock screen at a glance, and Droid Zap is handy for sharing media content with nearby TVs, tablets, and smartphones.

Verizon will kick off sales of the Droid Turbo on Thursday, October 30. The 32-GB model costs $199 with a two-year contract or $25 per month with Verizon Edge; the 64-GB model costs $249 with a two-year contract or $27 per month with Verizon Edge. The device comes in black, white, or red.

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