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Android Cellphones Handhelds Upgrades

Motorola Unveils Droid Turbo 2, Claims Shatterproof Display, 48 Hour Battery (hothardware.com) 111

MojoKid writes: We've seen leaks and teasers for Motorola's new Droid Turbo 2 Android flagship for weeks. However, the Lenovo-owned company officially announced the smartphone, and it offers two highly sought after features: a long-running battery and a shatterproof display. Its battery has a 3760mAh capacity, allowing the Droid Turbo 2 to operate for up to 48 hours per charge. And if that wasn't enough, Motorola has incorporated Quick Charging support which allows the device to achieve 13 hours of battery life from a mere 15-minute charge. The most talked about feature, however, is its shatterproof display, which Motorola calls Moto ShatterShield. Motorola says that it's "the world's first phone screen guaranteed not to crack or shatter. The display sports a flexible AMOLED panel to absorb shocks, dual touch layers, a rigid aluminum backing, as well as interior and exterior lenses. At the launch event, Motorola was dropping the phone from about 6 feet up, direct to concrete and it was holding up to the abuse just fine.
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Motorola Unveils Droid Turbo 2, Claims Shatterproof Display, 48 Hour Battery

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  • Unbreakables (Score:4, Informative)

    by binarylarry ( 1338699 ) on Thursday October 29, 2015 @07:30AM (#50823767)

    Oh we will put your phone to the test, Motorola.

  • The fasionistas all need to know how thin it is.

    • Re:But How Thin? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by danbob999 ( 2490674 ) on Thursday October 29, 2015 @10:24AM (#50824821)

      You forget:

      -How "premium" does it looks? I couldn't stand a plastic phone within my rubber case. It must be in metal or glass.
      -Does it "feel" cheap?
      -Are there stereo (or why not 7.1 surround?) speakers on the front?
      -Does it looks new or my friends will think I have a 2013 phone?
      -Is there a fruit logo on it?
      -Is it overpriced? I wouldn't want my friends to think I couldn't afford an expensive phone.
      -How good is the main camera, and I mean the front one? Does it records 4k video good enough to film me waiting in a line for days for my next phone?

      • by Twinbee ( 767046 )
        You forgot "Is it heavy?". Sounds perverse, but many associate heaviness with quality. Yuck.
      • Could care less about aesthetics. I had a ~5 year old Droid RAZR until July 2015, when I lost it. Replaced it with a Droid Turbo and found out I couldn't be on a phone call while simultaneously transmitting data (e.g., WebEx conference calls didn't work). Looked into the issue and discovered: (i) my old RAZR had two antennas that seamlessly allowed voice calls + data and (ii) Turbo has only one antenna that requires me to turn on a software workaround if I want simultaneous voice + data. Icing on the c
        • I've got a Chinese phone that typically gets mistaken for a larger Galaxy S5, which cost me just over $100. On the off chance that it breaks, I can get a new one, and still have enough left over to buy several more of them, for the cost of a single S5/S6. OK, the one downside is that it'll never get the OS updated, but then most other Android phones don't either, and for a $100 phone you can just get a newer model with a current OS release if you really need it.
  • Shatterproof? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by JustAnotherOldGuy ( 4145623 ) on Thursday October 29, 2015 @07:48AM (#50823859) Journal

    A shatterproof screen?

    Challenge accepted...am I limited to the caliber of ammunition I can use, or is it unrestricted?

    • by Nidi62 ( 1525137 )

      A shatterproof screen?

      Challenge accepted...am I limited to the caliber of ammunition I can use, or is it unrestricted?

      That was my first thought as well. If it holds up to my 9mm I will be impressed. 5.56 and I will be shocked. If it stops the 7.62x54 from my Mosin then Motorola needs to be selling this stuff to the military as next generation body armor.

      • ...next generation body armor.

        I could use a vest made entirely of Droid Turbo 2 devices, but would it outperform my vest made of old Nokias? ;)

        • Wasn't the point of old Nokias that they exploded on the slightest impact? It was kind of like reactive armor on tanks...

          • Wasn't the point of old Nokias that they exploded on the slightest impact? It was kind of like reactive armor on tanks...

            I don't think so...the last time someone dropped a Nokia from any real height, all the dinosaurs died.

      • Don't be surprized if what actually happens is your bullet goes clean through and leaves only a bullet-sized hole in the phone, without shattering the screen.

        High-powered weapons are notorious for that. The R4 requires custom made extra thick falling-plate targets for soldier training because it's bullets will go clean through a standard 4mm target without knocking it over.

        • Don't be surprized if what actually happens is your bullet goes clean through and leaves only a bullet-sized hole in the phone, without shattering the screen.

          So you're saying I'd have to use two layers of Nokias?

      • A shatterproof screen?

        Challenge accepted...am I limited to the caliber of ammunition I can use, or is it unrestricted?

        That was my first thought as well. If it holds up to my 9mm I will be impressed. 5.56 and I will be shocked. If it stops the 7.62x54 from my Mosin then Motorola needs to be selling this stuff to the military as next generation body armor.

        It doesn't need to stop bullets, just not shatter when struck by them. A clean, round hole would satisfy the claim.

        • It doesn't need to do either, because the warranty doesn't cover misuse, neglect, or deliberate harm.
          • It doesn't need to do either, because the warranty doesn't cover misuse, neglect, or deliberate harm.

            What, haven't you ever accidentally shot your phone?

    • A shatterproof screen?

      Challenge accepted...am I limited to the caliber of ammunition I can use, or is it unrestricted?

      The screen is "guaranteed not to crack or shatter." There is a difference between "the screen cracking" and "JustAnotherOldGuy cracking the screen".

      It's like the difference between dying and being murdered: this screen is guaranteed not to spontaneously crack, but if _you_ crack it (drop, bend, touch too forcefully with your finger) then the guarantee is not valid.

    • by marciot ( 598356 )

      Will it blend?

    • by xwyz ( 4048883 )
      Yeah, I wonder if they'll limit the warranty to avoid some "tests".
  • by PPalmgren ( 1009823 ) on Thursday October 29, 2015 @07:56AM (#50823891)

    Appears ts a Verizon only phone. You'd have to kidnap my family and hold them for ransom to get me to go back to Verizon. Motorola makes good phones, but I'll stick with the Moto X for my carrier freedom.

    • Because the others are so much better??? Don't get me wrong, I hate doing business with Verizon, but I can see nothing better about any of the others (that offer service most everywhere in the US).
      • 0. If you actually travel most everywhere in the U.S., nationwide coverage is a thing. If not, you'll lok at maps and rule out the two carriers that don't do a good job where you will actually be.

        1. Some carriers are a lot more honest and forthcoming than others. Some about some things, others about others.

        2. Everyone has anecdotal evidence of how their carrier is the worst. Useless. Ask the crowd, and sooner or later you will find some are truly devious, while others are merely self-centered. They all

    • by Anonymous Coward

      Motorola makes good phones, ...

      Motorola used to make good phones, now they are owned by Lenovo and are doubtless chock full of Chinese malware.

    • PLEASE, please don't kidnap my ex-wife who lives alone at 224 Krasten Lane NW in Milwaukee WI, 3rd floor apartment 11!

    • I can't agree more - if it's only for Verizon then it doesn't exist to me. If Moto wants to sell more phones, they'll stop doing this crap.
    • There's a GSM version as well. The DROID brand is licensed by Verizon from LucasFilm, but the GSM version is called Moto X Force.

  • Motorola Unveils Droid Turbo 2, Claims Shatterproof Display

    Yeah... I've heard that one before [youtube.com]

  • This would have been revolutionary in about 1995. Perhaps even earlier
    • For something as power hungry as a Snapdragon 810, this is a beast of a battery. In '95, a 1Ah battery would last for up to 14 days....now most smartphones have well over 3Ah batteries and barely last through a full day.
  • Be interesting to see how it does in your pocket with your keys. Going back far enough, this was how we got Gorilla Glass as the plastic displays scratched right up with keys / stuff in your pocket with it.
  • We all totally understand battery life being a major factor in new design, although most of us have had to deal with shitty batteries long enough that not plugging it in every day would be downright weird by now.

    What I fail to grasp as a (reasonable?) user of smartphones for the last decade, is how often people crack the shit out of their screens, which apparently happens so damn often that it's now THE major feature in new smartphone tech.

    It's strange that we market anti-clumsy as some kind of awesome thin

    • by Lumpy ( 12016 )

      It's because a large majority of people are too stupid to not put their phone in a butt pocket and sit on it.

    • by hawguy ( 1600213 )

      We all totally understand battery life being a major factor in new design, although most of us have had to deal with shitty batteries long enough that not plugging it in every day would be downright weird by now.

      What I fail to grasp as a (reasonable?) user of smartphones for the last decade, is how often people crack the shit out of their screens, which apparently happens so damn often that it's now THE major feature in new smartphone tech.

      It's strange that we market anti-clumsy as some kind of awesome thing.

      I take my phone out of my pocket at least 10 times a day (its my MFA authenticator for a number of services) so that's over 3000 times a year, and if I'm unlucky, I only need to drop it one of those times to crack the screen. I keep my phone in a protective case and haven't cracked the screen yet out of a half dozen or so drops.

  • Dear Motorola.... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Lumpy ( 12016 ) on Thursday October 29, 2015 @08:45AM (#50824103) Homepage

    No thanks. You fooled me twice Motorola, and HTC fooled me once. A google NEXUS phone is the only android I will ever own from now on.

    • Lenovo - the same company that installed malware on its laptops now makes phones under the Motorola brand.

      Why would anyone trust that?

    • No shit. My first Motorola smartphone bricked itself after being dropped a foot onto carpet. My second Motorola phone stopped getting OTA updates a week after I bought it. My Samsung Galaxy S4 is incredibly unstable and requires daily reboots.

      On the other hand, my Nexus 7 1st gen had the mysterious and completely ignored "slows to a crawl if you use more than 80% of internal storage" bug and became too slow to use after updating to lollipop.

      Maybe I just won't buy smartphones or tablets anymore.

    • by Anonymous Coward

      No thanks. You fooled me twice Motorola, and HTC fooled me once. A google NEXUS phone is the only android I will ever own from now on.

      Was thinking the same about Verizon and the first Droid Turbo.

      I'm intrigued by the DT2, because it has an SD slot, something that GOOG and AAPL have hated and tried to phase out in favor of their cloud offerings for data transfer.

      But Verizon's insistence on locked bootloaders and their sloth-on-valium pace of providing security updates is a dealbreaker. As long as carrie

  • by GuB-42 ( 2483988 ) on Thursday October 29, 2015 @09:24AM (#50824345)

    Does it mean that if it shatters for any reason, I get my money back, or, at least a free repair?
    For me that would be a reasonable assumption. However we've seen many waterproof phones where water damage wasn't covered by the warranty.

  • by blind biker ( 1066130 ) on Thursday October 29, 2015 @09:47AM (#50824531) Journal

    is the battery user-replaceable? How many screws do I have to remove? How many flat cables detach? The answers I want to hear are: yes, 0, 0. Acceptable answers are: kind of, 6, 0.

    • For this phone, No. I don't know that it is even accessible to someone who knows what they are doing.

      To answer the AC above me, the phone has support for up to 2 TB SD card.

  • But you can scratch it with your finger nail....

    You can have one or the other but not both.

    • But you can have one of each. In this case, the OLED display is covered in two layers. One is like you say, easily scratched, but not easily shattered. This is covered by the "shatterproof" warranty. The outer layer is glass (or at least something hard, clear, and scratch resistant?) and it's not covered. This isn't as shitty as it sounds, because the top layer is user replaceable. If you drop your phone and the top cover shatters, you do not need to take it to a repair shop. You can buy a replacemen
  • by rickb928 ( 945187 ) on Thursday October 29, 2015 @11:17AM (#50825325) Homepage Journal

    Verizon.

  • by LichtSpektren ( 4201985 ) on Thursday October 29, 2015 @11:19AM (#50825347)
    Why the hell would I buy--or suggest to any friends, family, co-workers, or anybody that I'm not intentionally trying to hurt--anything from Motorola ever again, after you decided that giving security patches to a phone you released THIS YEAR is not worth it?
  • and a hammer. Not so shatterproof I think. (I'm sure the caveat is 'under normal/everyday use.')
  • by ThatsNotPudding ( 1045640 ) on Thursday October 29, 2015 @01:09PM (#50826459)
    Now make it phone-sized, instead of the current run of gargantuan semi-tablets.
  • A drop test unto concrete is nothing. The glass will not encounter the surface, only the raised edges will. A real test is to drop it on gravel, or loose pebbles on top of concrete. Then those pesky little rocks will punch the glass. A second test would be for my fat niece to sit on it on a couch.

  • We already have "shatterproof" screens, but they are made of scratch-able plastic. Glass already won this battle.

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