DROID Turbo Android 5.1 Lollipop Update: What You Need to Know

The Verizon Motorola DROID Turbo is still running Android 4.4 KitKat, nearly 8 months after its announcement, and the Android 5.1 Lollipop update has been rumored for months. That said, the last few weeks have been promising, and it looks like Verizon and Motorola are finally ready to roll out the highly anticipated Android 5.1 update for DROID Turbo.

Rumors of the Turbo Android 5.1 Lollipop update have been floating around since December of last year, but we’re here more than seven months later and it’s yet to come. Earlier this month, Motorola said it’s in the final testing phase, and rumors claim it has a mid- to late-June release date.

Android 5.1 Lollipop, the successor to Android 4.4 KitKat, was released in November of last year, just a few weeks after Verizon released the DROID Turbo. It was bad timing for Motorola but they had plenty of time to prepare the latest software and now it looks like it could be ready this weekend or early next week. Read on for all the details.

At the end of October, DROID Turbo was officially launched on Verizon and we’ve since heard countless rumors that an update is coming, but it has yet to come. But today, reports are starting to surface that it’s finally ready.

The Android 5.0 Lollipop update introduced a host of new features detailed above, along with tons of animations and neat visual effects, as well as tweaks and improvements to the overall look and feel of Android. However, a few bugs and issues caused Google to roll out some new features coming to DROID Turbo alongside Android 5.1. We hear it’s currently being tested and could be released soon.

Turbo Android 5.1 Release Date

DROID Turbo will jump straight from Android 4.4 KitKat to Android 5.1 Lollipop or the latest Android 5.1.1 Lollipop that Google released in April. This has been confirmed multiple times by Motorola employees on Google+ and Twitter. Now the only question is when.

A few weeks ago, Motorola’s David Schuster Taken to Google+ And I had to say it. We confirm that the update is coming soon and indeed will be Android 5.1 Lollipop.

Hey, I wanted to give a quick update on our progress on the DROID Turbo 5.1 lollipop upgrade because there seems to be a LOT of misinformation out there. We’re still in the lab testing cycle and things are looking good. We haven’t given a launch date yet, but I’ll let you know as soon as the update is available.”

Lab test cycles usually take 3-5 weeks to complete, but we’re not sure when Verizon DROID Turbo really starts the testing phase. However, it’s been nearly three weeks since this announcement, and today we’re finally seeing progress.

Late last night Motorola started sending “Software soak test” invitations for DROID Turbo. This is the final and final phase, which typically takes 2-4 days, for all owners to test the software and update process with specific users before the bulk release. Now we don’t know that this is 100% Android 5.1 Lollipop, but DROID Turbo has already seen a few minor updates aimed at fixing issues, so most likely this is indeed Android 5.1 Lollipop for Turbo.

If the hold test goes well, which is usually done by Motorola, we’ll usually see the software start rolling out within 2-4 days after the hold test. That means it could be tested and completed before the weekend is over, or begin rolling out to all Verizon DROID Turbo owners Monday.

We’ll update when we know more, but all signs point to the DROID Turbo Android 5.1 Lollipop update being available next week, or even earlier.

DROID Turbo Android 5.1 Update

The new DROID Turbo is Motorola’s best smartphone released in 2014. It’s the same size as the popular Moto X and offers many similar features, but they’ve improved a few key areas. These include a massive 3,900mAh battery, a 2560 x 1440 Quad-HD display versus the usual 1080p resolution on the Moto X, and an upgraded camera to 21 megapixels.

This is their best phone, and the company (and Verizon) will want to run the latest version of Android. Motorola was quick to update the Moto X Pure Edition and Moto G (1st and 2nd Gen) to Android 5.0 Lollipop in November. It surpasses almost all other manufacturers and even Google in updating. However, DROID Turbo didn’t get the same treatment but it’s finally about to come.

According to some Moto engineers, DROID Turbo will be directly updated to Android 5.1 Lollipop and 5.0 will be skipped altogether. This is to have the latest bug fixes, deliver the best performance and introduce a new VoLTE (HD Voice) feature that Google has integrated into Android Lollipop. The same feature is on Verizon Nexus 6.

As shown above, the Android 5.1 update has a few other goodies and changes besides the massive Android 5.0 update. With Android 5.1, users will have an even better notification pop-up bar with VoLTE calling, more stability, better battery life, quick settings and easy access to bluetooth and WiFi connections, and more. The walkthrough above shows all owners what to expect in Android 5.1 Lollipop. DROID Turbo is mostly stock Android and will have pretty much everything shown above.

Slow Arrival

When it arrives, it will be a slow and gradual update. This means that Google and its partner operators are not sending the update to all users at once. If they do, the download will take longer to complete, and if anything goes wrong, millions of owners won’t be able to stop the process before they get the update.

As a result, Motorola is running the aforementioned soak test, and once this is complete, Verizon will begin its slow gradual over-the-air software update. It won’t reach all devices at once, but Verizon usually rolls out updates to all device owners within a week.

Now that the soak test for the DROID Turbo has surfaced, a real over-the-air update will arrive shortly, gradually hitting all owners’ smartphones.

Android 5.1 Issues

The release of Android 5.0 Lollipop was the first launch of Lollipop and as expected a few minor bugs had to be addressed. After millions of users got it, more reports surfaced that made Google work on a fix. There were also a few issues with Android 5.1 and now the latest Android 5.1.1 Lollipop is currently out on all Nexus devices, for the Galaxy S6 and may also come to Turbo. Most of the problems experienced by users face to face It should not be included in the DROID Turbo update.

All Nexus devices have received Android 5.1.1 Lollipop, Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge and even T-Mobile Galaxy S6. The update fixed most stability issues, improved performance, and fixed the memory leak bug. We’re hoping Turbo will come straight to Android 5.1.1 and not just Android 5.1, but we’ll have to wait and see.

Almost all of our experiences with Android 5.1 have been positive, but there are definitely a few bugs here and there. However, when Android Lollipop arrives for DROID Turbo, owners can expect a better experience, a new interface, more features and hopefully even better battery life.

It’s worth noting that the said Motorola DROID Turbo soak test invitation allows users to “participate in an early preview of a new software release”; that means this is a brand new version, not just a bug fix update. It essentially endorses Android Lollipop. Stay tuned, the update may come at any time.