Introduction

Do we have a good one for you today – the powerful Motorola DROID Turbo goes up against the new Samsung Galaxy S6.  The trusty DROID Turbo with the QHD display and huge 3900mAh battery square off against Samsung’s newest flagship with a new design from the back to the front and most everything in between.  The DROID Turbo uses the familiar Kevlar and plastic housing and the new Galaxy S6 uses metal and glass – yet each one is unmistakably a Droid and Galaxy S series device.

As different as these devices are, they actually have several things in common.  For starters, the physical height and wide are very close, as are the display sizes – 5.2-inch on the DROID Turbo versus 5.1-inch on the Galaxy S6…with the Galaxy S6 coming in much thinner and lighter.  Both devices use the AMOLED technology and both have QHD displays.  Both devices have 3GB of RAM and both have a 32GB or 64GB internal storage option and neither one have room for expansion, although the Galaxy S6 adds a 128GB model in the mix.  They both have the usual suspects – Wi-Fi, Bluetooth (4.0 on DROID Turbo and 4.1 on Galaxy S6), GPS, NFC capable, a microUSB port for charging and data transfer, quick charging, non-removable batteries and they both sport an IR Blaster.

Please take a deliberate look at the detailed Specifications Comparison chart below and here you will see just how these two great devices stack up against one another – click on the “View Full Comparison” link at the end of the chart to expand the details.  After that, we will look at each individual device in greater detail and point out some of its pros and cons.  From all of this information we will try to determine the winner based on specs and execution of design and functions.

Motorola DROID Turbo

Even though the Motorola DROID Turbo is a new entry to the Verizon DROID collection and its looks have not changed much – same Kevlar backing and DROID ‘chin’ are there to greet you.  It is typical Motorola – rugged, well-built and good looking in a masculine sort of way.  It feels good in the hand and is just the right size.

The display is right in that size area that most users love of 5.2-inches, but Motorola went all out with a QHD AMOLED display with a resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels and 565 pixels-per-inch (PPI) – very close to the 577 PPI of the Galaxy S6.  The Turbo used the best processor Qualcomm had at the time – the 32-bit Snapdragon 805 quad-core clocked at 2.7GHz.  This compares to the 64-bit Exynos octa-core processor used in the Galaxy S6.  They both come with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal memory – the DROID Turbo also has a 64GB model, and there is no room for expansion.  The Galaxy S6 has also has 3GB of RAM, but the faster DDR4 variety.  The available configurations of 32GB, 64GB and 128GB use Samsung’s new UFS 2.0, which is much faster.

Motorola upped the stakes of the main camera to a 21MP sensor, autofocus and a dual-LED flash – no OIS – but the camera does a nice job taking photos…not quite up to the 16MP that includes OIS, wider aperture of f/1.9 and Live HDR.  The front-facing camera (FFC) is 2MP, compared to the 5.0MP with f/1.9, live HDR and a wide-angled lens.  It comes with a huge 3900mAh battery and will certainly last the day, and when you need to charge it, you have the wireless charging option or Turbo Charger to quickly get you up and running again.  The much smaller 2550mAh battery in the Galaxy S6 will also last the entire day and offers quick charge and wireless charging as well.

Extras on the DROID Turbo include a single front-facing speaker and an inside nano-coating for water resistance.  The DROID Turbo is currently running 4.4.4 KitKat, but should get its Lollipop update any day.  Because it is a DROID device, it is a Verizon exclusive, and the current price for the 32GB model is down to $150 on a two-year contract or $550 off-contract.

Samsung Galaxy S6

Samsung did a total redesign of the Galaxy ‘S’ series and gone is the plastic and faux leather with no more dimples in this new model.  Samsung used aircraft grade aluminum and Gorilla Glass 4 all around – for the display and bottom.  When you pick up a Samsung Galaxy S6, it looks and feels like a premium device.  The fast 14nm 64-bit processor, faster RAM and flash memory and optimized UI, make for the fastest and smoothest experience ever on a Samsung device.

The Galaxy S6 sports a 5.1-inch Quad HD Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels and 577 PPI versus the QHD display of the Droid Turbo and 565 PPI.  Samsung made a bold move on their part, dumping the usual Qualcomm processor and going with their own 64-bit Exynos 7420 octa-core processor with four cores clocked at 1.5GHz and four cores clocked at 2.1GHz.  The Exynos processor is the first to use 14nm technology versus the slower 20nm in the DROID Turbo – the 14nm is much faster, uses less energy and generates less heat.  Both devices are packing 3GB of RAM; however, the RAM in the Galaxy S6 is the newer DDR4 RAM, which is much faster than the DDR3 RAM in the Droid Turbo.  Samsung also used their new and faster UFS 2.0 Flash memory with options of 32GB/64GB/128GB models with no room for expansion – another bold move and a first for Samsung’s Galaxy S series.

The Galaxy S6 has the best camera Samsung has ever offered in a device.  It has a 16MP Sony sensor, autofocus, LED Flash, a larger f/1.9 aperture, real-time HDR, and OIS.  This combination of features will yield excellent low-light pictures.  Samsung has dramatically increased the speed of the camera app – it takes only .7 seconds to open and ready to shoot a picture.  The DROID Turbo does have a 21MP sensor, but with added features, the Galaxy S6 should produce better shots.  The FFC increased to 5MP with a larger f/1.9 aperture, up from f/2.2, has wide-angle lens and real-time HDR for excellent low-light group selfies and video chatting.

The 2550mAh battery is smaller than last year’s battery, and though no match in size to the huge 3900mAh battery in the DROID Turbo, it will easily get you through the entire day.  Samsung’s other bold move was to use a non-removable battery design and it is said that you get up to 4 hours of usage in only 10 minutes on the charger.  Samsung added built-in wireless charging (Qi and PMA standards) for the first time.

The new Galaxy S6 includes a new PayPal approved fingerprint sensor, a heart rate sensor and oxygen saturation sensor for those that work out and the Galaxy S6 is Samsung Pay ready.  They improved the speaker and moved it from the back to the bottom of the device.  It comes in the colors White Pearl, Black Sapphire, Gold Platinum and Blue Topaz (exclusive to the Galaxy S6).  It will be running the latest Android Lollipop software, and the price is a reasonable $199 on a two-year contract and $600 off-contract.

…And The Winner Is…

Summary

The Motorola DROID Turbo is a heck of a monster smartphone, but spec-for-spec, it just cannot hold up to the new Samsung Galaxy S6…except in battery size, where the DROID Turbo blows everything away.  Even if we overlook the fact that the Galaxy S6 is using the best Super AMOLED display available…when it comes to processors (32-bit quad-core vs 64-bit octa-core), DDR3 RAM versus DDR4 RAM, faster UFS 2.0 Flash memory, better camera area (OIS, Live HDR, f/1.9, 5MP FFC with Live HDR, f/1.9, wide-angle), fingerprint sensor, heart rate sensor, oxygen saturation sensor, and Samsung Pay ready…the DROID Turbo is simply outclassed.

The DROID Turbo will make a lot of you very happy, but we are comparing specifications in these write-ups and in that department the DROID Turbo is showing its six month old age.  At times, we cut a little slack to the phone with a cheaper price, but the Samsung Galaxy S6 comes in at a respectable $200 on a two-year contract and $600 when you buy it outright – the DROID Turbo is still at $150 for a two-year and $550 for off contract and that is not enough of a different to say the DROID Turbo is a steal.

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