[Verizon Motorola Droid Turbo General] ChazzMatt:
Right. "Droid" doesn't actually mean anything. It's similar to how Samsung used "Galaxy" to denote higher end phones, then started using "Galaxy" for anything that moved. After that, you had to start looking for "Galaxy S".

In this case, Verizon Wireless (a U.S. carrier, not a manufacturer) licensed the Droid name from LucasArts (now owned by Disney) and initially used them on high-end Motorola phones. In Sci-Fi literature, 'droid has long been a nickname for Androids -- but only George Lucas thought to actually trade-mark the name. (His usage in the Star Wars movies also was different, to denote any intelligent robots like R2D2 -- not just human-like robots, which sci-fi traditionally reserved for the "Android" moniker.)

Verizon owns the license to the "Droid" trademark for mobile wireless devices, not Motorola (now owned by Lenovo). Verizon could use the name on ANY phone (or tablet) by ANY manufacturer, not just Motorola. You could see LG/HTC/Samsung phones with a "Droid" label slapped on. "Droid" only means what Verizon wants it to mean -- and their branding message has been confusing!

NO EXCLUSIVITY

Through the years, while some Droids were indeed Verizon exclusives, most so-called "Droid" devices were just Motorola re-brands also sold in other countries and sometimes on other U.S. carriers.

For instance, the original 2009 "Motorola Droid" (aka Droid 1) for Verizon was also released to other carriers/other countries as the "Motorola Milestone". The Canada "Milestone" had AT&T/T-Mobile bands. ;) Easily buy on eBay, use on on AT&T/T-Mobile.

Same thing happened with the 2010 Droid 2/Motorola Milestone 2, and 2011 Droid 3/Motorola Milestone 3. SAME PHONE. For 2011, look

here at the specs for the Droid 3 and the Milestone 3.

Some AT&T/T-mobile users just bought 2011 Droid Turbo 3 and flashed the 2009 Motorola Milestone radio over it:

XDA Guide - Unlock VERIZON DROID 3 (XT862) for T-mobile/ATT

Presto! AT&T/T-mobile phone. ;) They didn't even bother with the non-Verizon Milestone 3 twin on eBay.

In 2014 with the Droid Turbo XT1254, the "exclusive" myth was shattered beyond repair.

The worldwide name for this Quark phone (even on other carriers in the U.S.) was "Moto Maxx". The U.S. Moto Maxx XT1250 is an exact clone (including all CDMA/HSPA/LTE bands and even same FCC ID) for the Droid Turbo XT1254. The XT1250 runs on Verizon with a Verizon SIM card because it IS just the Droid Turbo XT1254 under another name. You can flash firmware for either phone over either phone, because it's the EXACT SAME device. (The FCC ID proves it.)

There's also the "international" Moto Maxx XT1225 (which has all AT&T LTE bands and even more HSPA bands). I own three -- bought off eBay -- and run two of them on AT&T. For one market (India), yes Motorola re-named the XT1225 as the "Moto Turbo" XT1225 -- to prevent consumer confusion, due to a carrier in that country with a similar Max/Maxx name. But still, the worldwide name for the Quark device was "Moto Maxx". Even in the U.S. all the various U.S. carriers who sold the phone -- EXCEPT for Verizon -- called it the Moto Maxx.

So, of all the "Droids" released by Verizon, ESPECIALLY for the Droid Turbo XT1254 there was NOTHING exclusive, in spite of Verizon's vehement PR lies. There wasn't even a "U.S exclusive" (like the 2015 Kinzie/Droid Turbo 2 got). The same Quark phone was sold all across the U.S. by at least a dozen regional CDMA/LTE carriers under the Moto Maxx name.

It would be like Verizon calling the LG G4 the "Droid Optimus" while EVERY OTHER CARRIER IN THE WORLD called it the LG G4. Only Verizon demands a different name so they can claim some kind of fake exclusive. :rolleyes:

For the Quark, the only "exclusive" for the Verizon's "Droid" was the locked-down bootloader. :rolleyes: The U.S. Moto Maxx has easily unlocked bootloader with free code from Motorola on request, and runs on Verizon.

In 2016, the "exclusive" Droid Moto Z (the one with the silly mods) was sold

unlocked IN the U.S. through retailers like Best Buy, Amazon, etc. as just the Moto Z

. Or you can

buy it straight from Motorola:

Only the Droid branded Moto Z has a locked down bootloader! (Verizon did manage to keep the top tier Droid Moto Z Force as somewhat an exclusive. Although Lenovo also sells the Moto Z Force in China, that one only has Chinese LTE bands.)

Here's my point. NO ONE, and I mean NO ONE, is going to switch to Verizon for an "exclusive" phone which is readily available elsewhere. I love the Quark (Moto Maxx/Moto Turbo/Droid Turbo) so I imported three of them (AT&T compatible) from Puerto Rico and Mexico via eBay! I'm sure not going to use Verizon or their version! When people ask what phone I have, I tell them "Moto Maxx" -- it's the AT&T compatible version of the Droid Turbo".

Even if I wanted the 2016 Moto Z, I sure would not buy the locked down "Droid" version! That one doesn't have AT&T bands I need. I could easily buy the unlocked Moto Z version from a local retailer -- plus I would add the Incipio battery pack with Qi wireless charging.

For Verizon to have so-called exclusives, it's really strange they are available EVERYWHERE. They're even trying it with the Google Pixel, when EVERYONE knows you can buy a Google Pixel phone from many, many places.

WHAT exclusivity? :p So, for someone like me outside Verizon looking in, I find it very amusing Verizon fools anyone with their silly "exclusive" claims.

NOT ALWAYS FLAGSHIP SPECS

In 2015, then Verizon started slapping the "Droid" label even on mid-range phones with Snapdragon 6XX chipsets, lower RAM, and 1080p resolution. :rolleyes:

Specifically, see the

2015 Droid Maxx 2:

1080p LCD

Snapdragon 615

2GB RAM

3630 mAh battery

which has LOWER specs than the

2014 Droid Turbo:

1440p Super AMOLED

Snapdragon 805

3GB RAM

3900 mAh battery

.

WHAT. THE. HECK.

And yes, Verizon also released the 2015 Kinzie/Droid Turbo 2 (top tier) at the same time as the Droid Maxx 2 (mid-range). I can argue that the 2015 Droid Turbo 2 wasn't really an improvement over the 2014 Droid Turbo... Perhaps slightly higher CPU specs, but not really correcting the two deficits of the Quark: still no stereo speakers, and no rear camera OIS. But the 2015 Droid Maxx 2 is clearly inferior to the 2014 Droid Turbo, is clearly not even in the same flagship class of phones.

Yet, Verizon chose to slap a Droid label on that device. (Remember it's Verizon's brand, not Motorola's.) So, that muddles the brand image considerably. WHAT is Verizon's brand message for Droid Maxx 2? "If you can't afford to buy a top-tier phone, at least you can pretend it's a top-tier phone!" :confused: Yeah, and I can also slap a "Lexus" nameplate on my wife's Toyota Corolla.

So, the "Droid" name doesn't really mean anything anymore.

It doesn't necessarily mean Motorola.

it doesn't necessarily mean exclusive.

it doesn't necessarily mean "high end", top tier specs.

All it means is it WILL have a locked-down bootloader! :p