Motorola DROID MAXX Review

Introduction

For those keeping track, we recently reviewed the Motorola DROID Ultra and the DROID Mini, which now leaves us with its big brother, the DROID MAXX. There are a few key differences between the Motorola DROID MAXX and the DROID Ultra – first the MAXX has a higher capacity 3500mAh battery to provide longer usage time, as well as 32GB of internal memory instead of only 16GB, and soft-touch coating on the back of the device. Because of these extra features, the Motorola DROID MAXX has a premium price of $300 with a 2-year Verizon contract, making it $100 more than the DROID Ultra. Are these extra features worth the price of the DROID MAXX? Let’s take a closer look.

Included in the retail package is the Motorola DROID MAXX XT1080 smartphone, 2-port USB wall charger, microUSB cable, and user guides.

Design

When looking at the Motorola DROID MAXX next to the DROID Ultra from the font, it may be difficult to even notice a difference. But after picking them up, you can clearly tell which one is the DROID MAXX, as it is slightly thicker and heavier than the DROID Ultra. Also, Motorola decided to use a soft-touch coating on the back that has a nice woven pattern to it. This gives the DROID MAXX a more higher-end look and feel that we appreciate over the glossy fingerprint magnet on the back of the DROID Ultra, even though both are made out of Kevlar.


This year, Motorola brought back the dedicated capacitive control buttons (back, home, and recent apps) under the display, instead of using the on-screen buttons. Most likely this was done to make better use of the larger screen size, while above it is a 2MP camera for self pics or video chatting. On the right edge of the phone is the power/lock key and volume rocker, which are raised-up and have a nice texture to them so they are easy to find. Up on top is a 3.5mm headset jack, with the microUSB port on the bottom, and the camera with LED flash and external speaker on the back. If you are wondering about the SIM card slot, it is actually part of the volume rocker. All you need to do it get your fingernail (or a small pin) under the center part, push up and pull out. This is an interesting way to make use of all available space, instead of having a separate SIM slot.

Display

Both the DROID MAXX and DROID Ultra make use of the same 5” Super AMOLED display with 720x1280 resolution. It produces nice saturated colors and is pleasing to the eye, but when compared next to the Samsung Galaxy S4, you can clearly see a difference, as text and images are sharper on the Galaxy S4’s 1080p display. Since these phones use Super AMOLED technology, the viewing angles and color reproduction are great, but we did notice that the display on the Galaxy S4 appeared slightly brighter when both display’s brightness were turned all the way up.


Also on board is the Active Display notification feature, which Motorola has included on all of their new DROID and Moto X. Basically what it does it allows you to nudge the phone, and only the center of the display will turn on showing the date and time. Then if you get any notifications, such as a new message or a missed call, only that part of the display will turn on. This way, the device will conserve power since it does not have to turn on the entire display.