Motorola Teases Moto X Force Shatterproof, International Variant Of Droid Turbo 2

There are few things that will strike fear in the heart of even the toughest son of a gun. One is looking over your schedule and discovering your next game is against the New England Patriots (just ask the Steelers, Bills, Jaguars, Cowboys, Colts, and Jets about that). And the second? That moment of horror when a smartphone slips from your grip and heads towards the pavement.

Murphy's Law dictates that it's going to land glass side down, and at best, you'll be left with a functioning phone behind a shattered display. That's why the launch of Motorola's shatterproof Droid Turbo 2 earlier this week was so special. Armed with what you might assume is a glass variant of alligator skin and Kevlar (it's not -- more on that in a moment), the Droid Turbo 2 can withstand a date with concrete. So can the Moto X Force.
Moto X Force
It makes sense because the Moto X Force and Droid Turbo 2 are one in the same in terms of hardware. The difference? The Moto X Force, announced today, is the international variant. It's unlocked and been stripped of the Droid Turbo 2's Verizon and Droid branding. Otherwise, it's the same Android handset.

The star of the show is the rugged display. It's not really made of alligator skin, but is the result of a five-layer design. It consists of a rigid aluminum core, a flexible AMOLED display that absorbs shocks and drops, two touch layers (in case one is damaged during a fall), an interior lens, and an exterior layer for added protection.
To demonstrate the toughness of the Moto X Force, Motorola released a drop test video in which it compared its newest phone to an iPhone and a Galaxy handset. Each one was dropped face down on a section of concrete, and as you might expect, only the Moto X Force survived without so much as a scratch.

While the display steals the show, there's some nice hardware and features here. The Moto X Force has a 5.4-inch QHD display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor, 32GB or 64GB of internal storage, microSD slot, 21MP rear camera, 5MP front camera, and Android 5.1.1. Lollipop.

The Moto X Force runs £499 for the 32GB model and £534 for the 64GB versions.