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Nexus 6 vs. Droid Turbo

Old Member

Android Expert
Mar 23, 2010
2,583
1,904
Cincinnati
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:
motorola-droid-turbo_0.gif


nexus-6-official1.jpg


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?
 
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I find the Droid quite nice, yet for my preferences nothing beats a Nexus.

Usually patient, I'll be the first to admit I enjoy being able to get Android OS/software updates when made available by Google. After the excruciating wait times via Samsung, the Nexus advantage is wonderful.

My Nexus 5 has me completely spoiled on so many fronts. Bug free except the smallest of things, consistently fast with never a slowdown all year long.

A very appealing minimalistic style, and a nice selection of cases from Spigen, an exceptional maker of high quality products at discount prices via Amazon.
 
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I'm pretty much done with ROMing so development isn't all that important to me. Moto has also been the OEM to beat in terms of updates (my 2013 Moto G is getting 5.0!) and it's software overlays are fantastic.
Plus, the battery is bigger and both cameras will probably be comparable.
Hands down, Turbo. :)

(will admit, the N6 is just too big so it's a deal breaker to begin with ;))
 
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I am torn between these 2 phones as well. A month ago I would have told you my next phone was a Note 4. That is not the case anymore. Its between these 2. Racking my brain here.

Comes down to the battery for me. We all know the droid Turbo will be a battery demi god. Need to wait for some reviews of the N6 battery life.
 
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No, but you can get something like this: Mini MicroSD Card Reader by Meenova

can that be used on like a droid turbo too?

It works with most phones that support USB On The Go (OTG), and they list some previous DROID models as compatible. Might have to wait for official word since it hasn't been released yet.

EDIT: ninja'd by KOLIO while I was multitasking :)

Here's some more information regarding OTG adapters that may apply to this phone & ANDROID LOLIPOP:

Meenova: Support for Mini MicroSD Reader for Android
 
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Has anyone ever seen anything like the mophie space pack for an android phone? It's basically an extended battery case with built in storage. This would be the only option for me to get around not having a replaceable battery and an sd slot.

That would be cool. :thumb:

I've had MOPHIES for a couple phones & believe me,if you haven't used a MOPHIE case before,buyer beware:

They add a lot of mass/size to a phone's footprint.
If that's not an issue,cool,but,this is already a big phone as-is.

Battery life should be decent & there is (I believe) a 64GB option.
 
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That would be cool. :thumb:

I've had MOPHIES for a couple phones & believe me,if you haven't used a MOPHIE case before,buyer beware:

They add a lot of mass/size to a phone's footprint.
If that's not an issue,cool,but,this is already a big phone as-is.

Battery life should be decent & there is (I believe) a 64GB option.

Yea I have no issue making the phone even bigger. Battery life may be decent but I got so used to swapping batteries on my note 3 that I really don't want to go back to being tethered to a wall (I would do two to three battery swaps a day, so my usage is probably much heavier than most.)

The 64gb helps out a lot, but I've had to go through my storage multiple times and delete files using a 32gb n3 with a 32gb card, so I would appreciate the extra storage. These definitely wouldn't be issues for most users though.
 
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I'm torn people...what do you honestly think? I need a good camera and good battery life. Obviously the Turbo has a great battery life but I think with the turbo charger on both it doesn't really matter anymore. You can get 6 hour charge out of 15 mins then I think the N6 will be great. I am also coming from the LG G3 and the camera is great on that and am always skeptical of Motorola's camera despite the early talk saying how good the N6 camera is.

Thoughts...?
 
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With the Droid Turbo announced with a 5.2 inch screen yet with all the specs of the Nexus 6...is it tempting you? The only downside I can see is that it's not pure Android. Thoughts?

1. unlockable bootloader
2. capacitive keys

I'm fairly sure it'll get relatively timely updates and would get Lollipop quickly, so that's probably not a big deal. But I refuse to use a phone with capacitive buttons and a locked bootloader. Just my opinion. ;)
 
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Did they even announce how much the Droid Turbo is off-contract? All the pricing I see announced is for the new contract pricing, and since I'm on a grandfathered unlimited data plan, I'd have to buy it at full price if I wanted to keep my current plan.

Not that I really want this phone anyway. While the screen size is more pocketable, that's the only real upside I see over the Nexus 6. I'll be more than fine with the battery size on the Nexus, not to mention I prefer the stock android experience, with all the benefits that entails. I've been a Verizon customer for a number of years and have seen how they've handled OS upgrades. Really don't want to go through that anymore.
 
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1. unlockable bootloader
2. capacitive keys

I'm fairly sure it'll get relatively timely updates and would get Lollipop quickly, so that's probably not a big deal. But I refuse to use a phone with capacitive buttons and a locked bootloader. Just my opinion. ;)
Why? I used to think like you prior to having my Maxx. However, I'm glad to be finished with rooting and flashing Roms. If you need it for your unlimited data to hack it for WiFi I guess I understand it. But this phone will be able to do most anything that you'll want it to do out of the box.

That capacitive button issue is really an aesthetic issue that is completely user preference.

I realize that rooting and unlocking is a big deal to some but I don't think it's as necessary now as I did two years ago.
 
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