Motorola DROID Ultra Pro Reviews

Verizon customers surely have a pickle on their hands when looking at these two prized smartphones. Honestly, it’s tough to say with enough certainty which of the two is the supreme winner in this scenario, seeing that they boast their own unique strengths that make them so valuable – well, depending on the person of course. Donning the same price points of $200 with a 2-year contract, we wouldn’t say that one is offering more value for the buck, so in the end, your hard money is going to be forked over to the device that caters to your needs more. You see, the iPhone 5s is a solid device no matter how we dissect it! From its premium construction to its well-rounded performance, there’s no arguing the kind of balance it offers to a broad range of users. In addition, Apple spared no expense in giving this latest generation model a brand spanking new renovation with its software experience – something that gives it a more modern look and feel. However, the more we think about it, we feel that the software experience with the DROID Ultra is still superior. Certainly, the stock Android experience might not be uplifting with its visuals when compared to its rival, but nevertheless, things like Active Display and Touchless Control offer greater depth in how we use the device on an everyday basis.

The Motorola Droid Ultra is a great mid-range phone with lots of compelling features that many potential buyers will find interesting. It does have its negatives, though -- this is essentially a Moto X riddled with Verizon branding, a glossy and fingerprint-prone finish and a nonsensical price. But therein lies the problem: we simply can't think of a reason why the Ultra should co-exist with the X at the exact same price. The only way we'd recommend it over the X is if you need a (slightly) larger screen or perhaps just prefer a slightly thinner and taller chassis, but even the Maxx offers those things and adds a much larger battery. Of the four handsets released by Motorola this month, this one is by far the most uninteresting and, more importantly, the least likely to tempt potential buyers. It's ironic, perhaps, that such a fate would befall a phone called the Ultra.

The HTC One, Samsung Galaxy S4, and iPhone 5 made me believe that the days of phone manufacturers kow-towing to the whims of carriers were over. Those devices represent the beliefs of their makers, and are offered to users with only a few Verizon-induced blemishes. The Droid Ultra, on the other hand, appears to have been designed by a committee so large it was bled of every one of its assets. What’s left is as bland as it is ugly, without a single noteworthy flourish or feature. It’s the Moto X minus its design team, the Droid Maxx minus its battery engineers. In all my time with it, I’ve found nothing about it that makes it worth your $199. The Droid Maxx almost avoids the same fate, if only because Motorola changed fewer things about the device from last year's model. It’s a better, slightly more premium-feeling device, but that doesn’t make it worth $299 on a two-year contract. Neither does its battery life, which doesn’t live up to last year’s model, and qualifies as something closer to “very good” than “epic.” Building a spectacularly thin phone could have been a winning formula for Motorola; so could building one with genuinely worry-free battery life. Motorola did neither, and in trying sacrificed nearly everything else that could have made these phones great. When the X offers every one of the Droid’s other features, I’m without a single reason to recommend either the Droid Ultra or the Droid Maxx. Not when Verizon offers the iPhone 5, the HTC One, the Samsung Galaxy S4, and virtually every other major smartphone on the market as well. The Moto X is clearly Motorola's future, and it’s said as much; the Droid lineup seems like nothing more than fulfillment of a contract to Verizon. They're all on shelves, but Motorola would rather you buy the Moto X, and believe me – I'm happy to oblige.

The Motorola Droid Ultra is a good effort that gets solid marks on most of the basics. There are few phones that offer as thin a profile and as large a screen as the Ultra. The device locks onto Verizon's network well, and offers great voice performance. I wish battery life were a bit better, but it still manages to get through most of a solid working day. It's a bummer that the battery cannot be accessed, and that the Ultra doesn't support expandable memory. The Ultra's software is close to stock Android, which many will appreciate. The extras tossed in by Motorola, such as Active Display and Touchless Control, help give the Ultra its own personality and may change how you interact with your phone. I only wish the camera -- and the camera software -- performed better. The Droid Ultra carries the same price as competing models from HTC, Samsung, and Apple. I'd recommend it to people who are fans of Motorola, Google, and what they're trying to do with software.

So which is the better smartphone if you’re looking to spend $200 on-contract, the Motorola DROID Ultra or the Motorola Moto X? When it comes right down to it, they are equal in many respects, such as the software features, processing performance, internal storage, camera, and call quality. Even though the DROID Ultra is made out of Kevlar and comes with a slightly larger display, we actually prefer the Moto X overall, as it has a more natural feel allowing it to fit more comfortably in our hand – not to mentioned that it’s made right here in the USA. Also with the Moto Maker coming to Verizon later this year, it will be an added bonus to create your own custom colored phone.

With both the Motorola DROID Ultra and LG G2 coming in at the same $200 price with a 2-year contract; it is a tough choice between the two. The fact is, neither phone is far superior to the other – as each has its strong points and short comings.To start off with, the Motorola DROID Ultra is probably going to be the most durable due to the Kevlar construction, though we dislike the glossy back. The Super AMOLED display is eye catching, and the call quality is excellent, but the camera & video recording quality does fall short. But keep in mind that it is running pretty close to stock Android, for those of you who are purists. What we love about the LG G2 is the larger 5.2” 1080p HD display, since it looks more detailed and colors are more accurate. Also, the camera does well capturing images and the videos can be recorded at 60fps, not to mention the optical image stabilizer. The device also feels a bit faster with the Snapdragon 800 processor, has twice the internal storage capacity, and has a larger battery. But call quality is only average, and we’re not fond of the rear placement of the power and volume keys, as they are hard to distinguish from one another by touch alone. But with the user interface, LG does allow more customization with its skin layered over Android. For the money, we believe most bang-for-your-buck right now is the LG G2, based on specs and daily usage, as it offers a more top-tier user experience. Though the Motorola DROID Ultra is no slouch, it just doesn’t measure up to the LG G2 at the same price.

The Droid Ultra works fine, but it's the weakest entrant in the recent litter of Motorola phones. More appealing options abound.

After taking a deep dive into all of the Motorola Droid Ultra's features and abilities, I was left wondering why someone wouldn't choose the Droid Maxx over this device. Honestly I can't think of a valid reason, other than perhaps if you have a particular fetish for extremely thin smartphones. Of course, the more likely scenario is that Verizon subscribers will be drawn to the Ultra's svelte profile and large, eye-popping screen, but will be sorely tempted to by its heftier sibling, the Droid Maxx. I won't know for sure whether the new Maxx will be worth the hype until I really put it through its paces. That said, on paper its huge-capacity battery and 32GB of internal storage seem to justify shelling out the extra $100. That's why for now I strongly recommend going with either the HTC One, which also has 32GB of storage (not 16GB like the Ultra) or the Samsung Galaxy S4, which offers 16GB but also has a microSD slot.

The DROID Ultra is every bit as much a member of the dawning Context Ecosystem as Motorola’s Moto X. It and its buddies in the 2013 DROID family for Verizon won’t be hyped the same way Moto X is being hyped, nor will it be the center of attention as Google will have Moto X delivered. But here you’ve got a 5-inch display-toting version of everything the Moto X is, without the customization suite. You can get the DROID Ultra in “high gloss” black or red (we’re reviewing the black here) while the DROID Maxx is being delivered with “soft touch” black (closer to what came with the RAZR HD family) and the DROID Mini comes only in more high gloss black. In short – if you’re aiming to decide between the non-customized Moto X and the DROID Ultra (as they cost the same) with Verizon, you’ll be deciding entirely on how they feel to the touch and whether you want a 4.7- or 5-inch display. After that, you’ll want to go to war with the HTC One and the Samsung Galaxy S 4, both of which have entirely different experiences to go with them, both of which are solid choices in the field (both of which also have Google Play editions available now as well). As a smartphone that’s well and away worth more than the sum of its specifications, DROID Ultra is every bit the competitor for top-tier smartphone it was meant to be, as delivered by what’s now very obviously (title and all) Motorola, a Google company.

Coming in at $199.99 with a 2-year contract, the DROID Ultra has a lot to offer, especially if you are looking for a device running as close to stock Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean as possible, while still offering some extra “Motorola perks” such as the Active Display, Touchless Controls, and Motorola Assist. Since the DROID Ultra has a Kevlar body, it should hold-up better than other plastic-polymer based phones, though keep in mind that the glossy back will always look smudged with fingerprints. As we mentioned earlier, the 5” Super AMOLED 720p display does a nice job, but at this point it is a step behind the competition with sharper 1080p displays. When it comes right down to it, the Motorola DROID Ultra is not only a nice improvement from last year’s DROID RAZR HD, it can also be thought of as the big brother to the Moto X.