Taking your criteria in order (I have a Turbo, and I got a Z3V for my S.O. based on her preference for the looks):
- Battery life is key (I need it to last a whole day on heavy usage)
This was my #1 decision factor - I have an hour plus commute each way during which I stream music and catch up with my daily online browsing and chatting. I have several email accounts with 100+ emails that sync each day, I have hipchat running all day with my coworkers, and I am on phone calls at least 90 minutes each day. When I had my Galaxy S3 and Moto X ('13, not the new one), I would take it off the charger at 7am and be dead by 9pm with only half the online activity. My current battery charge usually lasts half way into day 2 on a single charge, and as a result I have doubled my monthly data usage (prior I used to average 1-2gb of data a month. This month I used 4.5gb). I feel umpteen times more productive on my now that the huge battery gives you options of doing more things on your phone in the same time frame, without being afraid to have a dead phone by 4pm.
That being said - I have not done a full drain test on my Turbo vs. my S.O's Z3V to see how they hold up with comparable load, but I will note that her Z3V appears to be very stingy, in a good way, with battery drain - I have seen her phone last 2 days easily, albeit with a much lower workload then what I described above, but probably 4-5x better than her S3.
- Speed (I use my phone a lot and need it to be responsive)
I have the Turbo, my S.O has the Z3V, I have multi-tasked with both and don't see any discernible difference in speed, they are equally zippy with multiple things going on at once e.g. music streaming, email syncing, web browsing simultaneously doesn't add any lag.
- Above average camera (For when I don't have my DSLR camera)
Z3V and Turbo both have good cameras as far as still picture quality goes. Z3V's picture output looks slightly nicer, but as far as motion sensitive pictures goes I think the LG G3 (other family members on my plan have these so I have compared this as well) has them both beat. Quality wise they all put out nice pics, but you will get annoyed at some of the focus lag on these 2 if you have tried the G3 prior.
- Good signal strength (I travel around my college campus all day)
Tough to compare, I haven't had any problems as far as call quality on either the Turbo or Z3V but also I have noticed them dropping into 1xRTT for phone calls more frequently than my prior phones.
- Sturdy (I drop my phone a lot, whoops.)
If you want sturdy, one has a glass back, the other has kevlar or ballistic nylon. That is a factor to consider in terms of protection and whether you are considering adding a case.
Other criteria when comparing the 2, that had me on the fence as well:
Screen & Notifications - This is subjective but while the Turbo has the higher res screen pixel wise, the Sony's screen in terms of contrast, brightness and color vividness just looks nice. It looks like a slick "Sony display" that they they used to be known for, whereas The Turbo has a flatter look to it. What tipped me towards the Turbo is the active notifications allowed because they went with their screen design.
Voice Control - This is an area where the Turbo has a leg up in terms of just actively listening for your voice prompt. Some of this will be a moot differentiation with Android L, but as of now, it is a significant distinction for me when I am in the car and want more seamless handsfree control
- Battery life is key (I need it to last a whole day on heavy usage)
This was my #1 decision factor - I have an hour plus commute each way during which I stream music and catch up with my daily online browsing and chatting. I have several email accounts with 100+ emails that sync each day, I have hipchat running all day with my coworkers, and I am on phone calls at least 90 minutes each day. When I had my Galaxy S3 and Moto X ('13, not the new one), I would take it off the charger at 7am and be dead by 9pm with only half the online activity. My current battery charge usually lasts half way into day 2 on a single charge, and as a result I have doubled my monthly data usage (prior I used to average 1-2gb of data a month. This month I used 4.5gb). I feel umpteen times more productive on my now that the huge battery gives you options of doing more things on your phone in the same time frame, without being afraid to have a dead phone by 4pm.
That being said - I have not done a full drain test on my Turbo vs. my S.O's Z3V to see how they hold up with comparable load, but I will note that her Z3V appears to be very stingy, in a good way, with battery drain - I have seen her phone last 2 days easily, albeit with a much lower workload then what I described above, but probably 4-5x better than her S3.
- Speed (I use my phone a lot and need it to be responsive)
I have the Turbo, my S.O has the Z3V, I have multi-tasked with both and don't see any discernible difference in speed, they are equally zippy with multiple things going on at once e.g. music streaming, email syncing, web browsing simultaneously doesn't add any lag.
- Above average camera (For when I don't have my DSLR camera)
Z3V and Turbo both have good cameras as far as still picture quality goes. Z3V's picture output looks slightly nicer, but as far as motion sensitive pictures goes I think the LG G3 (other family members on my plan have these so I have compared this as well) has them both beat. Quality wise they all put out nice pics, but you will get annoyed at some of the focus lag on these 2 if you have tried the G3 prior.
- Good signal strength (I travel around my college campus all day)
Tough to compare, I haven't had any problems as far as call quality on either the Turbo or Z3V but also I have noticed them dropping into 1xRTT for phone calls more frequently than my prior phones.
- Sturdy (I drop my phone a lot, whoops.)
If you want sturdy, one has a glass back, the other has kevlar or ballistic nylon. That is a factor to consider in terms of protection and whether you are considering adding a case.
Other criteria when comparing the 2, that had me on the fence as well:
Screen & Notifications - This is subjective but while the Turbo has the higher res screen pixel wise, the Sony's screen in terms of contrast, brightness and color vividness just looks nice. It looks like a slick "Sony display" that they they used to be known for, whereas The Turbo has a flatter look to it. What tipped me towards the Turbo is the active notifications allowed because they went with their screen design.
Voice Control - This is an area where the Turbo has a leg up in terms of just actively listening for your voice prompt. Some of this will be a moot differentiation with Android L, but as of now, it is a significant distinction for me when I am in the car and want more seamless handsfree control
Screen on Turbo is better. Yeah yeah yeah, the LCD on the G3 is potentially better than on the Turbo. It's not though. There are sharpening artifacts everywhere. It's really obvious on apps like Kindle. They are not there on the Turbo. Radios are pretty close. I'd expect the Turbo to withstand a drop better because there is a little more bezel. But understand ALL CURRENT SMARTPHONES BREAK EASILY. All of them, unless you are talking about an older, smaller screened phone with a lot more bezel. If you drop phones a lot, get a good case. Not just a skin. I'm talking Otterbox here. No matter which phone you buy. Both phones are really fast. But the Turbo lacks the scrolling stutter that drove me nuts with the G3. Camera on both phones is good. Not as good as my Nokia Icon, but good.
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