Introduction
Do we have great comparison for you today – the new Motorola Droid Turbo versus the very popular LG G3...the first mass produced smartphone with the QHD display, like the one on the Droid Turbo. The phones look as different as night and day – the sleek, very small bezels, rounded and metallic look of the LG G3 make it a sweet smartphone. This is opposite the more rugged look of the Droid Turbo with its Kevlar infused body for added strength or the one model that has a ballistic nylon back. Both devices are well built and comfortable to hold in your hand.
These two devices have several things in common and because the LG G3 has the QHD display, this is going to be a lot tougher decision than I first expected. The two devices are almost the same height and width, although the Droid Turbo is slightly thinner, it is 20 grams heavier – more than likely because of the mammoth 3900mAh battery and heavier casing with the Kevlar.
The display sizes are close and both at QHD, they both use a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, but the Droid Turbo uses the newest 805 versus the 801 in the LG G3. They both use 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal memory. They both have the usual Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC and a microUSB 2.0 connector for charging and data transfers.
Please take a look at the detailed specifications sheet below and compare them closely and then we will look at each individual device and determine its pros and cons in hopes of finding a winner of this comparison.
Specifications
Motorola Droid Turbo
The new Motorola Droid Turbo is one boss of a device – what has gotten into Motorola lately…Google’s ownership…cannot wait to see what comes out of Motorola now that Lenovo has taken them over. As a Droid model, the Turbo is going directly to Verizon, although the Droid Maxx, a Turbo-like device may be for the rest of us. We are looking at a true flagship device here – my only two wishes would be for OIS in the camera area and expandable memory.
The Motorola Droid Turbo is a nice size with a 5.2-inch AMOLED Quad HD (QHD) with a resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels and an unheard of 565 pixels-per-inch (PPI)…up a little from the 538 PPI found on the LG G3. One big difference is that the Turbo uses the AMOLED technology and the LG G3 uses an LCD display. The brains of the outfit is the new Qualcomm Snapdragon quad-core 805 processor clocked at 2.7GHz and coupled to 3GB of RAM and either 32GB or 64GB of internal storage with no room for expansion. The LG G3 uses the prior 801 model with the same amount of RAM – the LG G3 also includes an expansion slot to add internal memory.
The camera on the Droid Turbo is a mixed bag – on one hand we have a 21MP sensor with auto-focus and a dual LED flash, but no Optical Image Stabilization (OIS). The LG G3 has fewer pixels (13MP), but has a dual-tone LED Flash, Laser auto-focus and OIS+. The Droid Turbo uses a 2MP front-facing camera (FFC) and the LG G3 uses a 2.1MP FFC for social selfies or video chatting. The Turbo uses a huge 3900mAh battery, although the 3000mAh in the LG G3 is fairly respectable.
The Droid Turbo has a few extra features thanks to its Motorola heritage – it has a nano-coating for resistance to water, it comes with a Motorola Turbo Charger (get 6-8 hours of battery charge in only 15-minutes), it has wireless charging and a large, single, front-facing speaker. It comes with 4.4.4 KitKat and the promise of quick Android updates with its Moto software. It will cost you $199 on a two-year contract and $599 off-contract. The 64GB model is $249 on a two-year contract.
LG G3
The LG G3 really made a big splash when it was first released – the first real mass-produced smartphone with a Quad HD (QHD) display. The leaked photos made it look as though LG was going after the HTC One M8 with a beautiful metal body, curved on the back and small bezels on the front. When it finally arrived, we were all surprised to find out that it was really a full plastic body with a metallic finish – it was plastic, but it still looked great and was curved to fit nicely in your hand.
The LG G3 comes with a 5.5-inch QHD IPS+ LCD display with a resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels and 538 PPI – the Droid Turbo uses the same QHD resolution display. However, it uses AMOLED technology that gives the display a lot more punch and contrast than the LCD technology, and because the display is a little smaller, it has 565 PPI. The LG G3 also uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, but it uses the prior technology – 801 quad-core processor clocked at 2.5GHz. It is also coupled to 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage, but also adds the advantage of providing a microSD card slot with the ability to add an additional 128GB of storage. There was also a 2GB/16GB model as well, but thankfully the 3GB/32GB was the main device sold.
LG chose a 13MP sensor for their main camera, but they added a dual-tone LED flash, OIS+ and a new Laser auto focus for quick focusing and razor sharp pictures. The Droid Turbo uses a larger 21MP, but offers no OIS and no dual-tone flash. The 2.1MP FFC is about the same as the 2MP FFC on the Turbo – both will take fine social selfies and provide okay video chats. The LG G3 uses a 3000mAh battery which is fair size for this device, but the Droid Turbo uses a mammoth 3900mAh battery.
When it comes to added features, we can find an IR Blaster and FM Radio – both devices offer wireless charging. The LG G3 is available on all major U.S. networks, and the Droid Turbo is only available on Verizon’s – both devices cost $199 on a two-year contract, although you can find the LG G3 for about $150 if you look in the right places.
…And The Winner Is…
Summary
I had already picked the Droid Turbo as the winner, but as I went through the specifications and the practicalities of the two devices, the LG G3 just makes more sense to pick as the winner in this comparison.
Droid Turbo lovers – it is a great device and I really like the AMOLED display better than the LCD on the LG G3…even when the brightness is turn up all of the way. I also realize that it has the newer 805 processor, that does add some additional features, but it also has no room for memory expansion, nor does it have a removable battery. While the Droid Turbo has brought the ‘Turbo Charge” to prominence, the Snapdragon 801 also has Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 2.0 capabilities as well – you just need the proper plug.
It does have a 21MP camera, but no Laser auto-focus, no dual-tone flash and no OIS+. They both still have Android KitKat and LG has promised 5.0 Lollipop by late November or early December. The LG is available on all networks and you can find one cheaper than you can find the Droid Turbo. The LG G3 is still a terrific smartphone and now a bargain as well.
Please hit us up on our Google+ Page and let us know which of these two devices you would pick as the winner and WHY…as always, we would love to hear from you.