Turbo vs Nexus 6

[Old Member]

I posted this in the Nexus forum too, but I wanted to get your take here as well.

I'm so torn on this. I have the latest gen Moto Droid Maxx. My wife dropped it in August so I've been living with a cracked screen waiting for one of these to drop. Now they both will drop within 30 days of each other and both seem to be amazing.

Both have 2.7 Ghz processors
5.2" Display vs 5.9" Display
21 MP Rear Camera vs. 13 MP Rear Camera
3900 mAh Battery + Turbo Charger Included vs. 3200 mAh battery + Turbo Charger Included
Wireless Charging vs. Wireless Charging
32GB vs. 32GB or 64GB
3GB Ram vs 3GB of Ram
Most likely Shipping with 4.4.4 vs Shipping with 5.0
Moto Voice, Moto Actions, Moto Assist and Moto Display vs. Pure Android
Capacitive Buttons vs. On Screen Buttons
Bootloader locked up tighter than Fort Knox vs. Developer Friendly

Then aesthetically. I'm torn. Both look amazing:

I have to think about what is most important to me, battery life. After having my Maxx I realized that I would NEVER again want to have a device that I had to manage the way I used it again. Never again would I want to turn on and off bluetooth, wifi, data, and GPS. I want to leave everything on, use it as much as I wanted to and come home with plenty to spare.

I can say with 100% certainty that I will be able to do all of that with the Turbo. I'm not sure with the Nexus. I would think that a 3200 mAh battery I would be able to do that too but I'm not sure, with the Turbo Charging feature it may be a moot point anyway.

Both have wireless charging. Win! Win!

I also have gotten addicted to Active Notifications on my Maxx.

While Motorola has been fairly prompt in pushing out updates to our Maxx, there is no guarantee now that Moto and Google have split which means that they may not be as prompt now. I know that all Nexus devices will deliver prompt updates (even if I do have Verizon).

I have a DSLR camera so I'm not really concerned over 21MP vs 13MP. If I want a high quality photo, I will whip out my Nikon. Truly there are more things at play than how many MP are included when you think about quality photos.

Shipping with 4.4.4 vs 5.0. Now I can't say with 100% certainty that the Turbo will ship with 4.4.4 but that's what happened last year. Then we got the update and things were never really the same with our Maxx. Battery life was not the same and there were tons of bugs. Only now that we are on 4.4.4. are things similar to how they were at release. By shipping with 5.0 on board the Nexus should be smooth and ready for prime time.

I used to LOVE rooting my phone and flashing ROMs. Since buying my Maxx that's been an impossibility (aside form shipping my IMEI to a guy in China with $50). I've learned that using launchers and Zooper Widgets that I have tons of customization at my fingertips.

But let's be honest, this is NOTHING like the customization options available with rooting. I do miss some things about it. I don't miss some things about it. If I had a Nexus I would 100% for sure root and ROM. If I got the Turbo, I'm not sure I would miss it.

The Turbo has capacitive buttons, the Nexus has on screen. I would LOVE to have on screen buttons again.

Which brings me to my last thought, 5.9" vs. 5.2". My current Maxx is 5" and I don't feel that it's too big at all. It feels just about the right size for my hand. However, I'm not against larger phones. I love them in fact. I won't know for sure how it feels until I hold them side by side.

What are your thoughts?

 

[doogald]

I'm sticking with the Maxx until next year (unless it breaks). But, to be honest, the 6" display is a non-starter for me. I like the idea of the optical image stabilization on the Nexus, and after dealing with the buggy 4.4 update for 6 months I vowed never to buy another Droid because of the low priority for updates.

I have no interest in rooting so bootloader unlocking isn't anything I care about.

However, I do love the Moto exclusive features - active display especially, but also twist camera, touchless controls, and Assist (particularly the driving feature.) That would be hard to lose.

So, if my Maxx does break before upgrade time next year, I'd be leaning toward either the Turbo, maybe a new X, or maybe an iPhone. (Though maybe I'd just buy something used off Swappa.)

 

[photoeditor]

If the Nexus was 5.2 inches or even 5.5, it would be no contest. 5.96 crosses the line, but it still fits what I would like in every other respect better than the Turbo. It has the best cross-carrier compatibility yet in any phone on the US market, the first Android to up the ante on the iPhone in this respect. There's no bloatware. There's no lockdown. Everything else just seems done right. The problem I'm having wrapping my head around is that the Nexus is almost 13 mm wider across than the Galaxy SIII I have now, a full half an inch. And I have small hands. That will make for a more droppable phone, which presumably on account of its size alone is more vulnerable to broken screens.

 

[Sandroidfan]

If Nexus 6 had screen less than 5.5", it would be winner. But at that size, it's too big as phone. And it doesn't have features specific to phablet. For this reason, I vote for Droid Turbo. Though it's not pure stock android, it's pretty close to that and Moto has done good job on updating Moto X, new Droids timely. I just wish there would be GSM versions too.

 

[vzwuser76]

While I'm not interested in a phablet, I think the combination of 5.2"/3900mAh vs 5.9"/3200mAh means we should see much better battery life out of the Turbo. And comparing pure Android vs what Motorola has been doing is kind of a wash, the only difference being how quickly the updates get pushed out.

To me, the Turbo took what we loved about the Maxx, and beefed it up even more. And I believe if this phone does end up seeing other carriers (this phone with GSM bands that went thru the FCC awhile back rumored to be the Moto Maxx) it could be the best phone of the year.

 

[rivera02]

I love the idea of having a nexus on Verizon, but I definitely think the turbo is going to be the better phone. The leaked material touts 48hr battery life on the turbo, while the nexus announcement claims 24hr. A 24hr difference in usage with only a 700mah difference in battery capacity doesn't bode well for the nexus battery life.

 

[Sandroidfan]

I love the idea of having a nexus on Verizon, but I definitely think the turbo is going to be the better phone. The leaked material touts 48hr battery life on the turbo, while the nexus announcement claims 24hr. A 24hr difference in usage with only a 700mah difference in battery capacity doesn't bode well for the nexus battery life.

Nexus 6 has 32% more screen area than Turbo with the same resolution. But it has 21% less battery size than Turbo. Assuming other things being equal, that works out to be 60% more battery time for Turbo. 2X (100%) better for Turbo seems a bit stretch but Turbo should have much better longevity and better usability as one hand phone.

 

[rivera02]

Nexus 6 has 32% more screen area than Turbo with the same resolution. But it has 21% less battery size than Turbo. Assuming other things being equal, that works out to be 60% more battery time for Turbo. 2X (100%) better for Turbo seems a bit stretch but Turbo should have much better longevity and better usability as one hand phone.

The bug difference could be in software optimization from Motorola, but they run so close to stock I don't know how much of a factor that would be.

 

[vzwuser76]

The bug difference could be in software optimization from Motorola, but they run so close to stock I don't know how much of a factor that would be.

Well when they'd run the Moto X up against the Nexus 5, they were close in performance, with a slight edge going to the Nexus. Considering the Nexus had absolutely pure android and a beefier processor, Motorola must've done some pretty decent optimization to have it be that close in performance to the Nexus.

 

[WuBoy]

If the Turbo has a 64 GB version, I'll get it. If it's only 32 GB, I'll have to think about it. I don't think that will be enough honestly.

 

[rivera02]

Well when they'd run the Moto X up against the Nexus 5, they were close in performance, with a slight edge going to the Nexus. Considering the Nexus had absolutely pure android and a beefier processor, Motorola must've done some pretty decent optimization to have it be that close in performance to the Nexus.

Oh for sure Moto phones are usually great performers. I was only talking about battery longevity though.

 

[vzwuser76]

Oh for sure Moto phones are usually great performers. I was only talking about battery longevity though.

But I think a better optimized device will take less power to execute tasks, so that should lead to longer battery life.

 

[rivera02]

But I think a better optimized device will take less power to execute tasks, so that should lead to longer battery life.

I wouldn't necessarily say that as the nexus phones are built to run the version of android they are released with and battery life is usually pretty bad on them. Then you have Samsung phones who's ui constantly takes shots for being laggy/poorly optimized and they are great in the battery department

 

[photoeditor]

I have one thing to say -- "83mm." That's the width of the Nexus 6. It makes the phone too difficult to hand hold. In every other respect, it's perfect; great specs, great LTE support, the first phone to support every current US LTE band (even the iPhone is missing Band 12), great software, and total portability between carriers. Why could they not keep the size down a little?

If the Turbo at least manages Bands 13 and 17, giving portability between Verizon and AT&T, I'd probably go for it -- use unlimited while I still can on Verizon, and if they renege on it, walk freely over to Cricket. The locked bootloader is a nuisance, but at least not a dealbreaker with the FCC mandate on the SIM slot, so long as it can be appropriately provisioned for the network. But I like the Nexus so much better. Actually, I really like the Moto X best of all, but the carriers, especially Verizon, just had to go and meddle in the LTE support on the phone.

 

[vzwuser76]

Oh for sure Moto phones are usually great performers. I was only talking about battery longevity though.

I wouldn't necessarily say that as the nexus phones are built to run the version of android they are released with and battery life is usually pretty bad on them. Then you have Samsung phones who's ui constantly takes shots for being laggy/poorly optimized and they are great in the battery department

But IIRC they usually have larger batteries than Nexus devices as well.

 

[rivera02]

But IIRC they usually have larger batteries than Nexus devices as well.

Right and it's never going to be a fair comparison without two phones using the same size battery, but you won't see a scenario where a nexus 5 outlasts galaxy s5 even with a smaller battery because it's software is so much more optimized. I've just never heard of a nexus phone having good battery life.

 

[hal1]

I think most people already know what they are leaning towards, but for me, after living with the Always Listening feature for the last year I can't see not having it.

 

[rivera02]

I think most people already know what they are leaning towards, but for me, after living with the Always Listening feature for the last year I can't see not having it.

The note 4 apparently has this out of the box...it would be really cool if every phone with the s805 comes with this feature!

 

[3ris]

The note 4 apparently has this out of the box...it would be really cool if every phone with the s805 comes with this feature!

I'm not sure what Google means by "digital signal processing support" in
"Even if your screen is off, you can say "OK Google" on devices with digital signal processing support such as Nexus 6 and Nexus 9" from the android 5.0 changelog, but I'm thinking you are correct.

It seems to me that there is more evidence to support that the Motorola doesn't have exclusivity with the "Always Listening" feature anymore since it is coming in Android 5.0 and will work with phones that have the hardware to support it.

Maybe I'm wrong, but this is what I gather.

 

[Sandroidfan]

I think the software optimization on both phone wouldn't any different considering both is from Motorola. If anything, the software features like Moto assist, action, display would use more battery than pure stock android without it. if the battery size is equal, Nexus would have slightly edge on battery. So it's strange that Turbo is 2X better than Nexus 6 on battery which its screen, battery size difference tells about 60% better. Anyway Turbo is going to be the phone to beat, it seems.

 

[wolf_walker]

I hope one is a little cheaper than the other on contract, it'll make the choice slightly easier. Sure wish G would have gone 5.5" or so. I was an early adopter of "big" phones, but jeez. And I always use an otterbox or something with a belt clip, might as well carry my Nexus 7 or a chromebook lol.

I haven't totally ruled out the motox still honestly, I wish it was a little more of an upgrade over my GS4, but both the impending super phones juuuust miss the perfect mark.

 

[KOLIO]

I haven't totally ruled out the motox still honestly, I wish it was a little more of an upgrade over my GS4, but both the impending super phones juuuust miss the perfect mark.

If equipped w/a 5.5" screen & an SD Card slot,looking any further than the DROID TURBO for the perfect phone would be a waste of time.*




* Except for the removable battery crowd,put your stones down for another day...........

 

[wolf_walker]

Only real beef I got with the turbo is the locked bootloader and I don't trust vzw not to screw up the update schedule. If it ships with lollipop I'll feel a bit better. If it's $300 on contract that's a bunch of money for a locked up phone. My GS4 was cheaper but it's soured my on anything I can't flash a rom to a year or so later to freshen the experience.

 

[tsanuri]

Only real beef I got with the turbo is the locked bootloader and I don't trust vzw not to screw up the update schedule. If it ships with lollipop I'll feel a bit better. If it's $300 on contract that's a bunch of money for a locked up phone. My GS4 was cheaper but it's soured my on anything I can't flash a rom to a year or so later to freshen the experience.

It won't ship with lollipop that is really a given. First phone to ship with it will be the N6. And since this comes out before it that answers that. However it should benefit from the fact it is basically the same phone inside as the N6. So updates should be quick for it.
And looks like the price might be $199/$599
https://twitter.com/droid_life/status/525356817241489408

How does $199 and $599 sound for the DROID Turbo?

 

[wolf_walker]

Hope so, more I think about it more the turbo makes sense. I keep trying to talk myself into the moto x gen2 but the battery, camera, no wireless charging, just not a year or two worth of phone to me at this point.