DIY: Motorola DROID Turbo battery cover swap

When Verizon announced the Motorola DROID Turbo for their network, we were sold on the device’s future-proofed hardware and near-perfect form factor. The only real issue we had with the Turbo was the fact that the 64GB model only came with the Ballistic Nylon battery cover. We found it was closer to a backpack-like material and simply put, favored the soft touch finish on the 32GB model much, much more.

It bothered us so much, we actually decided to do something about it. A quick Google search turned up replacement battery covers for each model. Given the only difference between the 2 models is their storage capacity, we figured the 32GB and 64GB models would be identical to one another.

From there, we watched a few teardown videos on YouTube to give us an idea on how difficult a battery cover transplant would be to execute. You can find a quickie posted above. After deciding to go through with it, we purchased a “DuPont Kevlar fiber” battery cover (32GB model) from a 3rd party parts supplier, and quickly swapped them out. Here’s exactly how we did it:

Warning: proceed at your own risk

Step 1 – Remove the SIM card tray from the phone.

Step 2 – Use fingernail to pull from the SIM tray gap and create a small enough separation that you can slip a guitar pick or mini keyring card into.

Step 3 – Begin sliding the pick/card along the sides. You’ll hear audible “pops” whenever passing over a clasp but don’t worry, you’re not breaking anything. Make your way entirely around the device to loosen all the clasps.

Step 4 – Use a blow dryer on the back for about a minute to loosen the adhesive.

Step 5 – Begin to pull the battery cover off slowly, starting with the top. You may find the wireless charging pad cover sticking to the back cover when separating (it stayed on the device for us). Use a credit card/tool to gently scrape and peel the wireless charger off of the battery cover to make sure it stays on the device.

Step 6 – A good portion of the adhesive will more than likely stay on the old battery cover. So, you’ll want to use an adhesive of your choice to apply to the new battery cover, using the old cover as a reference.

Step 7 – Snap new cover into place and stack a few heavy books on top until adhesive fully dries.

Possible complications: Adhesive not adhering properly, creating small gaps of air between battery cover and the phone, creating lumps.

If all goes well, you’ll have a slightly slimmer, much more grippy, soft touch battery cover on your Motorola DROID Turbo. We’re not sure how many DROID Turbo owners out there are even looking to go through with something like this, but whether you had your heart set on a different finish or color (there’s blue Ballistic Nylon too), you may want to give this a shot. Just whatever you do, don’t stick it in the freezer for any reason.

Buy from ETrade Supply: Droid Turbo replacement battery door $25