Droid Maxx 2 by Motorola (Verizon Wireless) Review
By Ajay Kumar
Long battery life.
Solid camera.
One-handed usability.
Affordable.
Middling hardware and performance.
No Moto Maker customization.
The affordable Motorola Droid Maxx 2 for Verizon has great battery life and a solid camera, but its rivals have more to offer at the same price point.
The Motorola Droid Maxx 2 ($384; 16GB) is the smaller, more affordable alternative to the beefy Droid Turbo 2. It doesn't have the same high-end hardware, durable build, or Moto Maker customizability as its larger sibling, but it retains two key selling points: long battery life and a solid camera. That makes the Maxx 2 a good choice if you're a power-hungry Verizon user on a budget, though the Nexus 5X offers better hardware and software for a similar price. The Moto X Pure Edition is another affordable option for fans of bigger smartphones.
Design, Display, and Features
The Maxx 2 might share its Droid branding with the Turbo 2, but it looks more like a smaller version of the Moto X Pure in design. It measures 5.83 by 2.95 by 0.43 inches (HWD), placing it close to the Nexus 5X (5.79 by 2.86 by 0.31) in terms of one-handed usability. But its bigger battery, metal frame, and larger screen size make it a hefty 5.97 ounces, compared with the 4.8-ounce Nexus 5X. Both phones are easier to handle than a phablet, but the Nexus 5X is decidedly more pocket-friendly.
The front of the Maxx 2 has a cleaner look than the Turbo 2. Rather than Verizon branding, there's a single front-facing speaker on the bottom. The top looks like it's home to a second speaker, but it's just the earpiece.
Google Nexus 5X (Unlocked)
$179.99 at Amazon
Motorola Moto X Pure Edition (Unlocked)
Droid Turbo 2 by Motorola (Verizon Wireless)
$624.00 at Verizon Wireless
OnePlus 2 (Unlocked)
$299.00 at Plusnet
Apple iPhone 6s Plus (Verizon Wireless)
Samsung Galaxy S6 (Verizon Wireless)
576.00 with code VZWDEAL at Verizon Wireless
Google Nexus 6P (Unlocked)
Motorola Moto G (2015, Unlocked)
Alcatel One Touch Idol 3 (Unlocked)
$99.00 at Amazon
All the branding on the Maxx 2 is on the removable soft-touch back cover. Don't get too excited—it's only removable so you can switch the back panel for aesthetic reasons; the battery is not removable. There is a microSD card slot on the top of the device, allowing you to expand memory up to an additional 128GB. Unlike the Turbo 2, you can't use Moto Maker to customize the look of the phone, though there are a number of different back panel designs to choose from.
The device has a 5.5-inch, In-Plane Switching (IPS) LCD with a 1,920-by-1,080 resolution. It's as crisp as the display on the Nexus 5X—the pixel density is 403 pixels per inch—but its shows more color saturation (bordering on oversaturation) and is brighter. Because of this, viewing angles are good, and there's no problem seeing the screen in direct sunlight. In comparison, Moto X Pure is slightly dimmer, but features truer-to-life colors. And unlike the Turbo 2, the Maxx 2 isn't shatterproof, so try not to drop it.
Network Performance and Battery
The Maxx 2 supports CDMA (850/1900MHz), GSM (850/900/1800/1900MHz), WCDMA (850/900/1900/2100MHz), and Category 4 LTE (2/3/4/5/7/13/20) bands, as well as dual-band Wi-Fi. This is the same as the Turbo 2, which means that while the device is intended for use on Verizon, you can also get it up and running on T-Mobile.
I tested the Maxx 2 in midtown Manhattan and saw strong connectivity. Voice calling is solid, with reliable reception and good noise cancellation. The only issue is that the earpiece volume is on the low side, which makes it difficult to hear in a noisy environment. Speakerphone volume is better.
Battery life on the Maxx 2 is excellent. In our battery life test, where we continuously stream full-screen video at maximum brightness over LTE, the device clocked 8 hours and 10 minutes—easily beating the Nexus 5X (6 hours, 32 minutes), and lasting nearly twice as long as the Moto X Pure (4 hours, 42 minutes). It fell an hour short of the Turbo 2 (9 hours, 4 minutes), which has a slightly larger battery.
Processor and Camera
While the Nexus 5X and the Moto X Pure are powered by Snapdragon 808 processors, the Maxx 2 has a slower Snapdragon 615 CPU and 2GB of RAM. That translates to lower benchmark scores, as well as slower overall performance. The Maxx 2 scored 35,138 on the AnTuTu benchmark test, which is significantly lower than both the Nexus 5X (51,880) and the Moto X Pure (49,257).
Limited RAM means you will likely hit the usage limit, resulting in apps occasionally freezing or crashing. I found that having Spotify, Google Hangouts, Google Maps, and perhaps one other app open was usually enough to push things over the edge. Graphically intensive games like Asphalt 8, GTA San Andreas, and Assassin's Creed Pirates, meanwhile, perform acceptably on the Adreno 405 GPU, without lag or dropped frames on medium settings.
Motorola makes up for middling performance with a solid camera, which appears to be the same one as in the Moto X Pure and the Turbo 2. The 21-megapixel sensor takes solid shots in good lighting, with nice clarity and color reproduction. That said, fine details like the grain on a wood balcony are somewhat lost, which the Nexus 5X can capture without a problem.
The Maxx 2 also handles nicely in low light with HDR turned on and exposure turned up. It holds its own for outdoor video, but has some autofocus issues when it's dark. Sudden movement will prompt the sensor to focus and refocus several times.
See How We Test Cell Phones
The 5-megapixel front-facing camera on the Maxx 2 takes good images in daylight, but suffers in the dark, despite the inclusion of Night Mode, which makes the display blink white in an imitation of the Apple iPhone 6s. Again, the Nexus 5X's front-facing shooter takes clearer, more detailed shots in both settings. Overall, the Maxx 2 has a very solid camera; the Nexus 5X is just a bit better.
Software and Conclusions
The Maxx 2 runs mostly stock Android 5.1.1 Lollipop, with a few added Motorola apps and a whopping 22 pre-installed Verizon apps. It's the same exact software load you'll find on the Turbo 2. 16GB is the only internal storage option available, with 10.89GB free out of the box. Luckily, you can expand your storage via the microSD slot, but since the device doesn't ship with Marshmallow, you can't move apps to it yet.
For $384, the Motorola Droid Maxx 2 is a solid choice if you want the biggest battery possible and can't afford the Droid Turbo 2 (or if you find the Turbo 2 too large). That said, the 16GB Nexus 5X costs slightly less and has a faster processor, a better camera, the latest version of Android, no bloatware, and a guaranteed software update future. Or for roughly the same price, you can get a Moto X Pure, which can be customized via Moto Maker and has a beautiful Quad HD display. The Maxx 2 is a good phone, but stronger options abound.
More from Motorola
About Ajay Kumar
Ajay Kumar is PCMag's Analyst obsessed with all things mobile. Ajay reviews phones, tablets, accessories, and just about any other gadget that can be carried around with you. In his spare time he games on the rig he built himself, collects Nintendo amiibos, and tries his hand at publishing a novel. Follow Ajay on Twitter @Ajay_H_Kumar.
Read the latest from Ajay Kumar
Jitterbug Flip (GreatCall) Review
LG V40 ThinQ Review
Google Pixel 3 XL Review
More from Ajay Kumar