[Verizon Motorola Droid Turbo Q&A, Help & Troublesh] ChazzMatt:
XT1250 for the win

And since it's an Moto XT1250, you can easily unlock the bootloader (for free) and root -- which you've probably already done. While Sunshine is GREAT and the devs who came up with it are dedicated geniuses, now that SUTL-49 is appearing more and more even on refurbs, the U.S. Moto XT1250 is still very much the "dev" version of the Droid Turbo XT1254.

Exact same device -- same hardware specs, same radio bands, same FCC ID, just sold in the U.S. to at least a dozen other regional CMDA/LTE carriers under a different model name/number. (Not MVNOs, but actual carriers with their own spectrum and towers.) And the U.S. Moto Maxx XT1250 runs on Verizon with a Verizon SIM card just like a non-Verizon Moto Nexus 6.

I know to regular readers I seemingly repeat this a lot, but you would not believe all the people who REALLY, truly believed Verizon's crap about this "Droid Turbo" phone being a world-wide "exclusive". It wasn't even exclusive in the U.S.! And the tech media just copied and pasted Verizon's press releases verbatim. :rolleyes: (Only the "Droid" name and locked-down bootloader was exclusive -- not the device. The device was NOT exclusive to Verizon.)

I actually know about the cell phone industry, because I haven't always been on one the Big 4. I've actually used a regional CDMA/LTE carrier before, and I know how the business side of this stuff works, where so-called "exclusive" phones show up under different model names/numbers. Plus, I have a business degree, so I research a lot of this stuff for fun. It interests me.

When I first started publicizing the XT1250 being a clone of the XT1254 well over a year ago now, I got a lot of angry pushback from Verizon users here in XDA who did not want to believe their precious Droid Turbo was not the world-wide exclusive Verizon claimed it was.

I now have three XT1225 -- with full AT&T bands -- but at the time I only had two. That made them mad enough, that the sibling Quark Moto Maxx XT1225 had easily unlocked bootloader and was THE SAME device as the Droid Turbo, just with different radio bands. (PERFECT for U.S. AT&T!) Just like an

LG G4 for Verizon (VS986)

will have different bands than the

LG G4 for AT&T (H810

) -- but it's STILL an "LG G4" with the same hardware specs. A Moto Quark is a Quark, no matter the radio bands. It's just a Quark for a different carrier. The Droid Turbo users in this forum had to get used to the idea there were "Quarks" (plural), not just the Droid Turbo.

This article was laughably wrong:

Why the Verizon-exclusive Droid Turbo is actually good for you

as was this one:

The Motorola Droid Turbo on Verizon boasts a 48-hour battery life

There were HUNDREDS of articles all over the internet, copying and pasting Verizon's blather about an "exclusive" superphone.

But wait!

Droid Turbo not a Verizon exclusive after all, as Moto teases Brazilian launch

So, no "world-wide" exclusive! Besides the XT1254, there was also the "international" Moto Maxx XT1225. Also, Motorola then released the XT1225 as the Moto Turbo in another country, so even the "Turbo" name was not exclusive. (This was before the forums were split and we were all in one forum.) "I have the Turbo" < WHICH Turbo do you have? There's more than one! ;)

But then knowing Motorola also released a U.S. Moto Maxx XT1250 with easily unlocked bootloader -- with the same radio bands, same FCC ID as the XT1254 -- just threw them over the edge. There was a running 3 or 4 page argument, while I PROVED I was right. Mod warnings were actually given. But when I PROVED beyond a doubt the XT1250 had the same FCC ID as the Droid Turbo XT1254 that shut up the naysayers. FCC ID don't lie. :p

For those who don't know, there's the American Disabilities Act (ADA), and how handicapped people are able to use communication devices regulated by the FCC is linked to huge fines, potentially even prison sentences, and of course multi-million dollar class action lawsuits. That was actually where I first found the FCC ID for the XT1250, on a website for hard of hearing/deaf people. If two devices have the same FCC ID, they are the exact same device with no difference whatsoever. Companies like Motorola/Lenovo are not going to risk the liabilities to get something like that wrong.

ADA Compliance

Telecommunications Access for People with Disabilities

To the U.S. government, it doesn't matter what model name you have, what model number for a communications device. The FCC ID is the identifier. No matter what Verizon says, the FCC ID shows the truth. ;)

I am very happy to help people. And I am not a dev, by any means. But Verizon users knowing about this XT1250 alternative is going to save a lot of people some grief now that Verizon has locked out the Sunshine bootloader exploit. (Unless the Sunshine devs pull another trick out of their magician's hats and find another exploit.)

The 2014 Motorola Quark (XT1254/XT1250/XT1225) is still an excellent Android phone with a compilation of features that make it a winner. It was basically the 5.2" version of the whale Moto Nexus 6 -- and even with a bigger battery! Used/refurbs can be found for well under $200. Just this week, two more custom Marshmallow ROMs came online for the Quark (

AOKP and Bliss

), besides the CM13 and Marshmallow Resurrection Remix. All the Quarks except for the XT1254 Droid Turbo have easily unlocked bootloader. For the Droid Turbo only those on SUTL-44 firmware can be unlocked via Sunshine. But if you need Verizon and can't find an XT1254 with SUTL-44 (or lower, which can be upgraded to SUTL-44) then you can easily use an XT1250 instead of XT1254, unlock bootloader, root, install custom ROMs, etc.

Another XT1250 user on Verizon:

Bliss ROM