Motorola and Verizon team up for the Droid Maxx 2 (hands-on)
The Droid Maxx 2 promises long battery life and fast charging for an affordable price.
Motorola and Verizon teamed up on Tuesday to announce the Droid Maxx 2, which looks strikingly similar to the Moto X Play , a phone Motorola announced earlier this year. The device is equipped with the same 5.5-inch display with a 1,920x1,080-pixel resolution. That works out to about 403 pixels per inch.
While the Maxx 2 won't have the "shatterproof" display of the Droid Turbo 2, it will have a special program to protect against accidental drops. Motorola will allow customers one free screen replacement within two years of purchase, which is a nice touch for those of us with clumsy hands.
Under the hood you will find a 1.7Ghz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 processor with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage, along with a microSD card slot for an additional 128GB of space. Meanwhile, a 21-megapixel rear camera with a dual LED flash and rapid focus sits on the back, with a 5-megapixel shooter on the front. There's also NFC on board so you can make mobile payments using an app like Android Pay.
The big appeal of the Droid Maxx 2 will be the battery life. Motorola claims the 3,630mAh battery will last up to 48 hours on a single charge. If you're in a rush, charging the phone for only 15 minutes will get you up to 8 hours of usage. Unlike the Droid Turbo 2, however, the Maxx doesn't include support for wireless charging.
The phone felt nice in hand. The screen looked sharp and performance was smooth, although we will make our final conclusions in our upcoming reviews. Overall it's an appealing device, however it's not as affordable as some other phones. Verizon will be offering the the Droid Maxx 2 on October 29 for $16 a month for 24 months. That works out to $384, which leaves me wondering, why not just pick up the bigger and more powerful Moto X Pure for only $16 more?