Review : Motorola Defy+

One of the late 2011 trends has been for Android manufacturers to give their handsets a subtle make-over. That’s certainly what the Motorola Defy+ proves to be. It might be water and dust proof, but has this minor refresh been able to weather the effects of time?

Specs
Screen: 3.7-inch, 854 x 480 resolution
Connectivity: 3G, Wi-Fi, GPS
Camera: 5-megapixel, autofocus, LED flash
Storage: 2GB, microSD up to 32GB
Battery: 1700mAh
Size/Weight: 107 x 59 x 13.4 mm, 118 grams

Design and build quality

So rugged was the original Motorola Defy that even its design has proved indestructible. That’s the conclusion we have to draw, at least, as the Defy+ looks and feels nigh-on identical to the original.

That means a fairly compact, lightweight device that feels rather plasticy and even flimsy. Closer inspection, of course, reveals the Defy+ to be anything but. Its riveted seams, rubberised port covers and heavy latched battery cover are what have led to the device being award IP67 status (if hardly making it pretty). This means it’s completely dust proof and able to survive full submersion into a shallow body of water.

Don’t let the surprisingly thin, flexible battery cover fool you either. Motorola has rather ingeniously made it curve outwards, so you have to exert real force to pin it in place and slide the latch across in order to secure it. This tension means that it forms a solid, unflexing part of the chassis when in place.
Despite these utilitarian features, from the front the Defy+’s milimalistic screen-and-capacitive-buttons style makes it look reasonably modern, if a little bland.

Screen
As with the general design, the Motorola Defy+’s 3.7-inch LCD screen remains unchanged from the original. We were reasonably impressed with this unit a year ago, but a year is a long time in mobile. Now, it looks a little washed out and lacking in colour even on full brightness.
In its favour, the mixture of a 3.7-inch size and 854 x 480 resolution results in a picture that’s nice and sharp, with none of the fuzziness that  has accompanied even recent high-end smartphones like the Motorola RAZR and HTC Sensation XL.

Usability

While the original Defy shipped with Android 2.1 and later received an upgrade to Android 2.2, the Defy+ comes with Android 2.3 out of the box. While it’s no Ice Cream Sandwich, it is a reasonably up to date OS with all the functionality Google has managed to pack in since the second phase of the Android operating system began.

It’s still not the slickest mobile operating system around, though. Menu transitions and app load-ups are reasonably quick and smooth, but are still not on a par with iOS or Windows Phone running on similar hardware.
Speaking of hardware, Motorola is claiming a 25 per cent speed boost thanks the Defy+’s new 1GHz processor (the original had an 800MHz example). That’s more than enough to run apps and most games pretty well, which remains a rare treat for rugged phones such as this.
We’re still not big fans of the MotoBlur UI, though. It’s ugly, clunky, and offers nothing of any great value over the default Android experience. In its favour, it doesn’t transform the Android OS too much – that’s damning with faint praise.

Camera and media playback
The camera here is the same unimpressive 5-megapixel unit as can be found in the original Defy. That means washed-out colours in decent light and lots of noise in poor light.

In its favour we were reasonably impressed with its speed – both in terms of booting the camer app up and in terms of how quickly the autofocus gets a lock and initiates the snap. It won’t be toppling any of the big hitters in this regard, but then that’s not what Motorola is aiming for. Video recording is pretty bog-standard. In fact, at a pretty underwhelming QVGA resolution it’s arguably sub-standard in a time when 720p is becoming the least we expect.
Media playback seems to be of acceptable quality, with the sharp screen and decent processor ensuring a reasonably video experience. The most notable strength here is probably the Defy+’s unusually strong speaker. It’s all very mono and slightly tinny, but at least it’s loud and clear (which is more than can be said for many handsets we test).

Apps

It’s an Android 2.3 phone with a solid 1GHz procesor, so the Motorola Defy+’s app support is predictably fine. Long the source of much frustration among Android users, the Android Market in its latest iteration is actually a fairly nice place to browse through. Meanwhile the app range is second only to Apple’s App Store in both range and quality. What’s more, there’s a high percentage of free apps on the Android Market, so you can increase the Defy’s usefulness significantly without spending a penny.

We also liked the pre-loaded Media Share app that lets you get connected to and stream media over DLNA-compatible devices.Cardio Trainer could also be of some use to Defy+ users given the phone’s rugged outdoor-friendly positioning.

Battery life

One notable improvement over the Motorola Defy is the battery. The old device’s 1540mAh unit has been swapped out for a 1700mAh example. This is a positive step, of course, and it should help you clear a day of moderate usage easily. However, you’ll probably still want to charge up at the end of every day, just to be on the safe side. Until smartphones bust through the two day barrier, that’s always likely to remain the case.


Verdict

Essentially unchanged from the year-old original, the Motorola Defy+ is even more of a niche device than it was before. If you’re an active sort who wants smartphone features, this could be for you – otherwise go with a similarly priced Android alternative from HTC, Samsung or Sony Ericsson.