The Verizon-exclusive Motorola DROID MAXX 2 has been announced

Motorola has taken the stage to announce two brand-new Verizon-exclusive Droid smartphones. First to be shown was the DROID Turbo 2 and the brand-new DROID MAXX 2 followed soon after. A phone to deliver "max value", the device is a midranger that looks to offer insane battery endurance and picture detail.

The phone is basically the US version of the previously available Moto X Play, which has so far been available in Europe, Canada, and India. It sports a minimalistic and grippy design, which supports variously colored, interchangeable back panels for some customization. There will also be Moto Flip Shells as cases to both keep your phone protected and to give you some options for different fresh looks on-the-fly.

In terms of hardware – nothing has changed from the X Play. The DROID MAXX 2 rocks a 64-bit, 1.7 GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 — a midrange SoC, which we've found to be quite adequate in our experience. The phone is equipped with 2 GB of RAM and comes with 16 GB of internal storage, expandable via microSD of up to 128 GB. The display has a 5.5” diagonal with a resolution of 1080 x 1920 pixels. The battery that keeps the lights on has an impressive capacity of 3,630 mAh and Motorola promises up to 48 hours of “mixed usage”, and turbo charging, which should provide 8 hours of use for 15 minutes of charge time. The main camera rocks a 21 MP sensor with F2.0 aperture and a dual-tone LED flash, while the frontal cam has a 5 MP sensor.

The DROID MAXX 2 follows Motorola's philosophy of keeping the Android experience mostly pure. Of course, there are a number of Motorola-specific apps and features that will be present on the phone – for example, the Moto Voice assistant, or the "flick wrist to launch camera" gesture, which Motorola has been installing on its phones for some time now.

You will be able to buy the Motorola DROID MAXX 2 straight from Verizon in two days' time – on the 29th of October. Purchasing it off-contract will set you back $384, whereas signing up with Verizon for 2 years will have it cost you $16 per month.

Have you been waiting for the Moto X Play to hit the US market? Any takers?