• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

What do you dislike about the Turbo 2

FWIW, you can swipe down with two fingers to access settings. A single swipe brings down the notification shade, a second swipe brings down the settings shade, but a two finger single swipe brings down the settings bar as a quick shortcut.


You can drag any icon or widget to the far right of the screen, and that will open a new home screen. The screen doesn't have to be full first.

Or, of course, you can easily install a third party launcher (like Nova Launcher) that has the legacy Android multiple home screens, with the center screen the default.


That's fair. If it doesn't work for you, get the phone that does.

To be fair on Marshmallow, there aren't many non-Nexus phones with Marshmallow right now, including the Samsung Note series.

Thanks for repling with some of these tips that helps. I have wiped the cache partition gut that didn't help. I liked being able to set a different tone for notifications on individual contacts on my Note2 on the Turbo2 you can't do that. It made it easier to know whether I needed to reply right away or could it wait especially while you're driving. I know every manufacturer has issues but I've tried talk with motorola and keep getting the run around which doesn't make want keep the phone. Motorola could improve their customer service and listen to their customers that make people more loyal. Again thank you for some tips on some of my concerns I will curtainly try them for another cuople days to see if that helps.
 
Pixel Phone Pro allows you to assign a ringtone to a contact. I have not encountered anything to set individual volumes.

Why bother using a separate app? If you select a contact, enter edit mode, and then hit the "3 dots" button in the upper right, one of the options in the menu is "Set Ringtone". I've used this on my last several phones to customize ringtones for specific contacts- no 3rd party app necessary.

-=EDIT=-
Unless you're using Pixel Phone for other things as well- I'm not familiar with the app, so I didn't realize it was a full dialer replacement when I first wrote this. If you're using it for the dialer and other features, that's one thing. However, if you're using it specifically for ringtone customization, there's no need.
-=END EDIT=-


tkjross- Most of the things you're complaining about are simple due to the way things work in Android and not this specific phone. Granted, some other phones that have skins applied may change some of the behaviors, but since most skins have been getting lighter lately, I'd expect that almost all Android phones would exhibit these same behaviors- specifically with things like the lock screen, the notifications shade, home screen pages, etc. Most of them can be worked around through the tips doogald posted above, but I didn't want you to think that switching to another phone was likely to make a difference for most of these.
 
Why bother using a separate app? If you select a contact, enter edit mode, and then hit the "3 dots" button in the upper right, one of the options in the menu is "Set Ringtone". I've used this on my last several phones to customize ringtones for specific contacts- no 3rd party app necessary.

-=EDIT=-
Unless you're using Pixel Phone for other things as well- I'm not familiar with the app, so I didn't realize it was a full dialer replacement when I first wrote this. If you're using it for the dialer and other features, that's one thing. However, if you're using it specifically for ringtone customization, there's no need.
-=END EDIT=-


tkjross- Most of the things you're complaining about are simple due to the way things work in Android and not this specific phone. Granted, some other phones that have skins applied may change some of the behaviors, but since most skins have been getting lighter lately, I'd expect that almost all Android phones would exhibit these same behaviors- specifically with things like the lock screen, the notifications shade, home screen pages, etc. Most of them can be worked around through the tips doogald posted above, but I didn't want you to think that switching to another phone was likely to make a difference for most of these.

When you select a contact then the 3 dots and choose set ringtone it only changes the ringtone not the notification tone. All I can find is changing the tone for all notifications. I want to have different tones for different contact nitifcations. As far this is an Android thing why can you do this on ever other phone except Motorola phones? I know this seems picky for some people but when your paying several hundred dollars for a phone that just came out claiming to the best thing next sliced bread you kind of expect it. I'm tired of manufacturers and carriers making these claims and we just except it. You shouldn't have to work around alot of these issues. Everyone is nice to you when in the process of buying the phone but after you buy it they can care less because they've gotten your money by then.
 
Why bother using a separate app?

Every time I change an Android phone a "new and improved" phone app is forced on me. Using Pixel Phone Pro on all phones eliminates that "dance".

When you select a contact then the 3 dots and choose set ringtone it only changes the ringtone not the notification tone. All I can find is changing the tone for all notifications. I want to have different tones for different contact nitifcations. As far this is an Android thing why can you do this on ever other phone except Motorola phones? I know this seems picky for some people but when your paying several hundred dollars for a phone that just came out claiming to the best thing next sliced bread you kind of expect it. I'm tired of manufacturers and carriers making these claims and we just except it.

Exactly why I started using Pixel Phone Pro.

You shouldn't have to work around alot of these issues. Everyone is nice to you when in the process of buying the phone but after you buy it they can care less because they've gotten your money by then.

Here I have to disagree. That MIGHT be their motivation. In my experience there are many many people who are just not capable of using the three magic words each and every time they are needed ... "I don't know".

I used to hire people and in the interview if they did not use that phrase at least once I never hired them. If their response was "I don't know but I'll find out" I hired them on the spot.

... Thom
 
Every time I change an Android phone a "new and improved" phone app is forced on me. Using Pixel Phone Pro on all phones eliminates that "dance".



Exactly why I started using Pixel Phone Pro.



Here I have to disagree. That MIGHT be their motivation. In my experience there are many many people who are just not capable of using the three magic words each and every time they are needed ... "I don't know".

I used to hire people and in the interview if they did not use that phrase at least once I never hired them. If their response was "I don't know but I'll find out" I hired them on the spot.

... Thom

I wasn't trying to bash everybody. I should have said that to begin with. It's rare that you get somebody that's knows what they're doing and can answer your questions or find someone who can. That shouldn't be the norm. The rarity should be finding someone who doesn't know what they are talking about. I'm sorry that I've gotten off topic but it makes me mad when company's hire these people and don't train them properly. People now a days just seem to except it and they shouldn't. Thank you for your help with my issues that I'm experiencing.
 
As far this is an Android thing why can you do this on ever other phone except Motorola phones?
I'm not sure that you can do what you say on every other Android phone. You certainly cannot on a Nexus phone. Google defines what stock Android does, and companies like Samsung, HTC, LG (and, yes, Motorola, which adds the Moto app and various actions based on schedule and movement) decide to add their own features. In this case, it is an added feature. Motorola sticks very close to stock Android behavior.

I was able to do what you want by installing the Google Messenger app from the Play Store. From within the app you can define a specific notification tone for each conversation.

I know - you don't want this. If this is a deal-breaker, then exchange the phone within your 14 day return policy for one that has the feature(s) you need.

I know this seems picky for some people but when your paying several hundred dollars for a phone that just came out claiming to the best thing next sliced bread you kind of expect it. I'm tired of manufacturers and carriers making these claims and we just except it. You shouldn't have to work around alot of these issues. Everyone is nice to you when in the process of buying the phone but after you buy it they can care less because they've gotten your money by then.
There is not a single phone that is perfect for everyone. There are people besides you who really like Motorola features that don't exist on Samsung phones. You found what to you is a deal-breaking feature that prevents you from using this phone. Ok, so exchange it for one that does. Or change to an SMS app that has custom notification tones per conversation. There are plenty of other people who dislike what Samsung does to their phones (perhaps they don't need that custom notification feature that you desire - I know that I don't need it.) And, to be fair to Motorola, they never claimed that their phone can have custom notification tones for SMS messages.

I get that you are frustrated, but nobody at Motorola decided to sucker you. They made the best phone with the features they thought would get them the most customers compared with other phones on the market. For example, nobody else makes a non-glass shatterproof display for a high-end smartphone. By keeping the feature set closer to stock Android, theoretically this should make it much easier for Motorola to successfully update the phone to the next version or two of Android compared with Samsung and HTC (though theory doesn't always come true.)

I do suggest, though, that you make a list of those "need to have" features and try out each potential phone you might upgrade to.

Good luck with whatever you decide. Ask more questions if you still want to try to make the Turbo 2 work for you.
 
I'm not sure that you can do what you say on every other Android phone. You certainly cannot on a Nexus phone. Google defines what stock Android does, and companies like Samsung, HTC, LG (and, yes, Motorola, which adds the Moto app and various actions based on schedule and movement) decide to add their own features. In this case, it is an added feature. Motorola sticks very close to stock Android behavior.

I was able to do what you want by installing the Google Messenger app from the Play Store. From within the app you can define a specific notification tone for each conversation.

I know - you don't want this. If this is a deal-breaker, then exchange the phone within your 14 day return policy for one that has the feature(s) you need.


There is not a single phone that is perfect for everyone. There are people besides you who really like Motorola features that don't exist on Samsung phones. You found what to you is a deal-breaking feature that prevents you from using this phone. Ok, so exchange it for one that does. Or change to an SMS app that has custom notification tones per conversation. There are plenty of other people who dislike what Samsung does to their phones (perhaps they don't need that custom notification feature that you desire - I know that I don't need it.) And, to be fair to Motorola, they never claimed that their phone can have custom notification tones for SMS messages.

I get that you are frustrated, but nobody at Motorola decided to sucker you. They made the best phone with the features they thought would get them the most customers compared with other phones on the market. For example, nobody else makes a non-glass shatterproof display for a high-end smartphone. By keeping the feature set closer to stock Android, theoretically this should make it much easier for Motorola to successfully update the phone to the next version or two of Android compared with Samsung and HTC (though theory doesn't always come true.)

I do suggest, though, that you make a list of those "need to have" features and try out each potential phone you might upgrade to.

Good luck with whatever you decide. Ask more questions if you still want to try to make the Turbo 2 work for you.

Thank you for your response. I didn't mean to imply that Samsung is bettter and if I did I'm sorry. Believe me they have their issues too. The Verizon rep who helped me was the one that gave me misinformation about curtian features about this phone. I'm also mad because I allowed him do it that's my fault. Motorola does state that you will get 48hrs mixed use out of this and I'm not getting anywhere close to that. I don't use my phone that much and when I the battery goes quickly. I would like to know what is mixed usage? It must mean standby 90% and use 10%. I will give Google Messenger a try.

Do you know if you can get rid of swiping your screen when it's in stanby and then having to enter your PIN, password, or pattern? To me it's kind of senseless to have to do this when you have the screen lock on.
 
Last edited:
A lot of the battery life on Motorola phones depends on how much you use it and on how bad the mobile signal is. The weaker your connection to Verizon, the more battery power that is required to send to the antenna to hold the signal. I do wish they would stop with the "48 hour" advertising, because it's way too varied to promise that. I'm not quite sure why saying a battery that is two times bigger than an iPhone or 2/3rds larger than a Samsung Galaxy is not good enough for advertising purposes?

And, yes, we've all had bad Verizon salesmen I am sure. I know that I have, though I have to say that I've had more great salesmen who really knew their stuff than men or women who clearly knew less about the phone than I already did. The worst was when I was buying my son his iPhone 5 - the guy couldn't wait to sell us the Lifeproof case - he dunked a phone in a goldfish bowl filled with water and then tossed it around the sales floor a few times, and insisted that their price was the best we'd find. I finally shut him up when I showed him that Amazon had the case $5 cheaper. What a moron. (The best was the guy who sold me my Droid Maxx, who admitted he didn't know a few answers - he was just back from vacation - and found somebody who did know.)

As for the unlock question, do you want merely the swipe to unlock, or do you want a PIN/password? And when you talk about swiping while the screen is on standby, are you describing the Moto Display feature that shows a small circle icon with your latest notification on a black screen? Or do you mean that you press power to show the lockscreen, swipe to unlock, and then have to enter a PIN/password?
 
A lot of the battery life on Motorola phones depends on how much you use it and on how bad the mobile signal is. The weaker your connection to Verizon, the more battery power that is required to send to the antenna to hold the signal. I do wish they would stop with the "48 hour" advertising, because it's way too varied to promise that. I'm not quite sure why saying a battery that is two times bigger than an iPhone or 2/3rds larger than a Samsung Galaxy is not good enough for advertising purposes?

And, yes, we've all had bad Verizon salesmen I am sure. I know that I have, though I have to say that I've had more great salesmen who really knew their stuff than men or women who clearly knew less about the phone than I already did. The worst was when I was buying my son his iPhone 5 - the guy couldn't wait to sell us the Lifeproof case - he dunked a phone in a goldfish bowl filled with water and then tossed it around the sales floor a few times, and insisted that their price was the best we'd find. I finally shut him up when I showed him that Amazon had the case $5 cheaper. What a moron. (The best was the guy who sold me my Droid Maxx, who admitted he didn't know a few answers - he was just back from vacation - and found somebody who did know.)

As for the unlock question, do you want merely the swipe to unlock, or do you want a PIN/password? And when you talk about swiping while the screen is on standby, are you describing the Moto Display feature that shows a small circle icon with your latest notification on a black screen? Or do you mean that you press power to show the lockscreen, swipe to unlock, and then have to enter a PIN/password?

I mean when you press power to show the lockscreen, swipe to unlock, and then have to enter a PIN/password. Can you get rid of th first swipe to unlock? It just seems kind of dumb to have to swipe to unlock and enter PIN/password but that is just me.
 
What I do ... I have it set to None and when I tap Power it goes immediately back to where I was.

I turn on the pattern lock about twice a year.

... Thom
 
The ads are killing me! I didn't realize how many ads my Adblock app on my previous phone (rooted SGS4) were blocking. This phone needs root ASAP!
 
I've been daily using the Turbo 2 since launch. Coming from a Moto X 2014, I'll compare the the things I like and dislike in switching to Turbo 2.

Battery life better than X. But, just good for full day, I get nowhere close to 48 hrs. Much better than half day on X. (Heavy user)

Charges super fast, faster than X.

Shatterproof screen works great. However, it's noticeably less bright and does scratch easy.

Little snappier. Never felt like the X lagged, but Turbo 2 is quicker.

Camera has improved, but not a lot. Front flash actually works well for me.

Sound and speakers are typical Motorola (loud enough) and on par with the X.

The size and weight of the Droid makes me miss the X's smooth design and dimensions. The X definitely feels better in hand. I've found the Turbo 2 to be manageable but it's definitely a little awkward to hold and doesn't feel as nice in hand.

Overall, it's a good phone that does what I need to do very well. Very reliable and smooth running. But, probably not worth the price tag. I only updated because I got the phone for $26 per month with $25 bill credit and got $300 trade in special deal, for my old broken phone. So it was like they paid me to upgrade.

My only other concern is obviously the upgrade schedule versus other Moto's/Nexus. And, there is currently one weird glitch. Sometimes camera won't take a pic when opened. Only happens every so often and closing and reopening fixes it, but weird. Never had this on X running same software.
 
Awkward in the hand ... I have the Ballistic Nylon (like the Turbo and only available through Moto Maker). My guess is that you don't. All the other case options are too smooth for my taste and require effort to hold. The ballistic nylon (original and not the smooth one) just rests effortlessly in my hand.

... Thom
 
The ballistic nylon (original and not the smooth one) just rests effortlessly in my hand.
Just as a point of clarification, I'm pretty sure there is only one ballistic nylon. According to MotoMaker, the back options are Pebbled Leather, Ballistic Nylon and "Soft Grip". The last of these is what I'm assuming you are thinking is the "other" ballistic nylon, but I haven't seen Motorola refer to it as another other than Soft Grip since the option was first announced. (And for what it's worth, this was my favorite back option- even though mine is in a case now, I didn't feel like it required any effort to hold, didn't slide around, and felt the best against my fingers.)
 
I knew about this before I bought my phone, but I guess a dislike could be that it uses the legacy micro USB port and not the new symmetric one that the Nexus 5X/6P have and will become the new micro USB standard.
 
Just as a point of clarification, I'm pretty sure there is only one ballistic nylon. According to MotoMaker, the back options are Pebbled Leather, Ballistic Nylon and "Soft Grip". The last of these is what I'm assuming you are thinking is the "other" ballistic nylon, but I haven't seen Motorola refer to it as another other than Soft Grip since the option was first announced. (And for what it's worth, this was my favorite back option- even though mine is in a case now, I didn't feel like it required any effort to hold, didn't slide around, and felt the best against my fingers.)

You are absolutely correct and I was wrong. I was misreading the panel in Moto Maker. Ballistic Nylon is presented with a label and description at the bottom immediately followed by the Soft Touch. I merged the two when reading.

So. For clarification. Ballistic Nylon is only available through Moto maker and is the same as Ballistic Nylon in the Turbo.

I found Soft Touch to be very nice looking but it was not as easy to hold. It is easier to hold then my somewhat slippery Maxx but not as easy as the Ballistic Nylon .

Thanks for pointing out the error.

... Thom
 
Correct, I don't have the ballistic nylon. I have a thin case that offers some grip, but just doesn't have a great feel IMO. Manageable, just not my favorite.
 
Thanks for pointing out the error.

No worries- with all of these ridiculous trade names, it's tough to keep them all straight.
My wife has a T1 with the ballistic nylon back, and I liked it, but when I checked out the nylon in the store it felt different- rougher. Maybe because it was new and hadn't been worn down through handling yet, who knows? In any case, the soft grip is definitely smoother, texture-wise, but it also has a "grippyness" from the back being somewhat rubbery, so to me it actually felt like it was easier to hold.
Not that it matters- it's all just personal preference, and the exact reason why multiple options and the MotoMaker exist at all. Who knows? Maybe I'll go with nylon for my design refresh, when the time comes.
 
I wanted to thank everyone who helped me get my head on straight and figure out how address my issues I was having. After using most of the suggestions provided I've begun to get the hang of my turbo2. Thanks again for all the help.
 
Welcome to Android Forums.

There is no FM Tuner hardware to access in the Turbo 2. This was phased out in Droid phones five years before the Turbo 2 was released.

X - yes - 2010.05
Bionic - no - 2011.01
Maxx - no
Turbo - no
Turbo 2 - no

... Thom
 
Last edited:
Why listen to radio, when you have such awesome apps like iheart, google play music, pandora? I never listen to radio, the commercials make me mad.
One advantage is that the OTA FM tuner doesn't require data or wireless. The apps you mentioned do. My Droid 3 had a tuner and I used it occasionally, such as to listen to ESPN Radio when I wasn't in the car or at home. That said, if I could only have one or the other, I'd of course choose the apps over the FM tuner.
 
Back
Top Bottom