The Droid Turbo 2 is Motorola's latest high-end model for US carrier
Verizon, and in terms of specification ranks even above Motorola's
current flagship Moto X Style. With
the Sony 1/2.4-inch 21MP IMX230 sensor and an F2.0 aperture, the camera
specification is pretty much identical but the Droid Turbo 2 offers
improved performance in a few key areas. The Android 5.1.1 operating
system is powered by a more robust Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 chipset and
the 5.4-inch QHD display is shatter-proof. The massive 3760 mAh battery
is, according to Motorola, good for 48 hours of battery life and a
microSD slot is on board for memory expansion. Like other high-end
Motorola devices the Droid Turbo 2 is customizable via the MotoMaker
website and can be ordered with a wooden or leather back.
We've had a chance to play and shoot with with the Droid Turbo 2 just
before its official launch - read on for our sample images and first
impressions. For a more technical test of the new Motorola's image
quality please also have a look at the Doid Turbo 2 DxOMark Mobile report.
Image Quality
The two images below were taken in bright sunlight. In these
conditions we found the Droid Turbo 2 camera output to show pleasantly
natural colors, good exposure and very low noise levels. The downside of
the latter is that at a 100% view some loss of fine low-contrast
detail, especially in the shadows, is noticeable, even at base ISO. That
said, edges are generally very sharp and, for a smartphone camera,
there is very good detail in the Droid images. At 21MP they also offer a
lot of flexibility in terms of cropping.
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ISO 50, 1/996 sec
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ISO 50, 1/1864 sec
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100% crop
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100% crop
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The next two images were taken in overcast conditions. As we can see
the images still show very good detail and a little more subdued colors.
Like virtually all smartphones with small image sensors, the Droid has a
tendency to clip highlights in high-contrast situations which can
result in almost white skies, like in the image on the left.
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ISO 50, 1/267 sec
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ISO 50, 1/391 sec
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100% crop
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100% crop
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The next two images were taken at dusk and indoors respectively. The
camera raises ISO only slightly to capture these scenes and image detail
and sharpness remain impressively good. Noise is very well under
control but the smearing of low-contrast detail is just a touch more
noticeable than in the base ISO images.
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ISO 64, 1/30 sec
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ISO 100, 1/119 sec
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100% crop
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100% crop
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For the indoor and flash images below the camera used ISO 320 and 500
respectively. Again, exposure and color are good in both images. Edges
are still very well defined but loss of fine detail is becoming more
obvious in these light conditions, albeit only at a 100% view. Some
vignetting is noticeable in the flash shot on the right.
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ISO 320, 1/30 sec
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ISO 500, 1/20 sec
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100% crop
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100% crop
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In very extreme situations we've seen the camera push ISO to 2000 but
in normal use it appears to limit itself to ISO 1600. In combination
with a 1/15 seconds slowest shutter speed, this allows for good exposure
of night scenes and the capture of dark atmospheric scenes. The night
image on the left is well exposed and the lens deals well with the
bright point light source in the frame. In the image on the right the
dark high-contrast situation is well managed and the resulting image
shows good color and tonality.
When zooming in to a 100% view it's obvious that at such high
sensitivity settings a lot of fine detail is lost, but the images still
show good edge definition and considering the light levels noise is well
under control. Both of these images are perfectly nice to look at
full-screen on a 1080p display.
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ISO 1000, 1/17 sec
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ISO 1600, 1/15 sec
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100% crop
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100% crop
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Special modes
The Droid Turbo 2's camera app is pretty much unchanged from previous
models and so are the special shooting modes. The only difference is
that the image-stacking night mode now kicks in automatically below a
certain light level and is not activated manually anymore. As before,
HDR mode is capable of recovering some clipped highlights while
maintaining an overall natural appearance of the image. In high-contrast
situations it's a good idea to leave it on permanently. The only
downside is a very slightly softer image at a 100% view.
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HDR off
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HDR on
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100% crop
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100% crop
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Panorama mode captures images that are a lot smaller than those
of rival models such as Apple's iPhones or Samsung Galaxy devices.
Stitching is usually very good but moving subjects frequently result in
ghosting artifacts.
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Vertical panorama, 2976 x 936 pixels
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Vertical panorama, 3312 x 936 pixels
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In its video mode the Motorola Droid Turbo 2 is capable of recording
1080p Full HD video, 4K footage or 720p slow-motion clips. In the 1080p
clip below you can see how the digital stabilization system is doing a
good job at keeping things steady and that the exposure adapts swiftly
and smoothly to changing light conditions.
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