Lee,  Photography

Droid Turbo Review: a phone to finally bring my husband up to speed

Motorola Droid Turbo from Verizon showing my Instagram photo, next to my iPhone 5s. #vzreview
Motorola Droid Turbo from Verizon showing my Instagram photo, next to my iPhone 5s. #vzreview

Verizon Midwest provided me with a Motorola Droid Turbo to try out for three weeks. I’m an iPhone user and enjoyed checking out the 21 megapixel camera and the screen that made my iPhone 5s look tiny. But the real impact happened with my husband, Lee. By the end of week one, he went to our local Verizon store and replaced the phone he’d been using for less than two years. It was a HUGE step for him because it is his first phone without a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. But as soon as he saw the capabilities of buying the latest and greatest phone, he was a believer.

I’ll let him tell you in his words:

The last time I bought a phone was a Motorola Droid 4 and the main purchase point was that I could still have a keyboard that would slide out so it would be easy for me to type. In fact, they had to order it from another store because they didn’t sell many of them and it was close to if not discontinued. I knew I needed a new phone because I was having technical issues with such a dated phone. It was awesome that I would get a chance to test drive a new Motorola Droid Turbo. What I learned right away was that the screen was large enough that it was similar to typing on a keypad. I had no problems typing emails or texting on the Droid Turbo.

As technology changed, the Droid 4 had trouble keeping up with the amount of memory that was required for apps, text messages, pictures, music, etc. I found myself continually having to monitor my memory usage and only had the most basic apps on my phone. I needed to make sure that the minimal photos I took were offloaded to the cloud and erased from the phone or I would have continual system crashes or frozen screens. So when I started using the Droid Turbo it was awesome to be able to load every app that I wanted and also not worry about how many pictures or music downloads I kept on my phone. Even after loading every app, downloading all my music and keeping my photos on my phone I still have over 77% free storage. No longer do I need to worry about my phone freezing as I’m using it for navigation or any other vital functions.

Verizon Droid Turbo box #vzreview
Verizon Droid Turbo box #vzreview

The Droid Turbo has allowed me to use my phone more as a replacement for my laptop – I know many of you knew this already but it took the Droid Turbo to get me there. Its Qualcomm Snapdragon quad-core processor has made it a lot easier to purchase tickets, book hotels and do on-demand research as I travel to different states. Being able to quickly access TripAdvisor or Yelp is extremely important when traveling in new cities.

Another improvement is the battery life. The Droid 4 would usually last about half a day with regular use and with heavy use (like running navigation) I would have to be continually charging it during the day. Not extremely convenient if you aren’t at a charging station. The Droid Turbo battery has the largest battery of any smartphone and comes with a Turbo Charger that loads the phone with eight additional hours in just 15 minutes.

Since I have more room for pictures it’s nice that the Droid Turbo camera is easy to use with a one touch picture taking ability. The camera takes amazing photos and video. With my old phones, I never posted photos on Instagram or Twitter but with the Droid Turbo it’s easy to edit photos and post them. Also a great option for moving photos is the Droid Zap, which allows quick transfer of photos between Droid phones that are within are certain distance of each other. No longer do you have to text or email every single photo.

Disclaimer: Verizon provided a three-week Droid Turbo loaner for purposes of this review. Views of the product are my own (and Lee’s). He was under no obligation to buy a Droid Turbo, he just really liked it that much. You can find more reviews of Verizon products and accessories on Instagram and Twitter by following the hashtag #vzreview.

Verizon Droid Turbo next to my iPhone 5s
Motorola Droid Turbo from Verizon next to my iPhone 5s.

Writer. Photographer. Lover of travel. Believer that all who wander are not lost. #Mizzou grad living in Wichita, Kansas.

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