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Motorola DEFY+ Review

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Posted: , by Ray S.

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Motorola DEFY+ Review
Introduction:

Introduced at the end of last year, the original Motorola DEFY was a fun and compact Android model from the Schaumburg-based company. It managed to stand out from the crowd by being both rugged and well feature-packed. Among its key features, one could find the reinforced Gorilla Glass, dust- and water-proof body, as well as a sizable 3.7-inch touchscreen and the Android 2.2 OS.

Motorola DEFY+ Review
This year, instead of a redesigned handset, Motorola has chosen to treat us with an upgraded variant of the same device. Meet the Motorola DEFY+! It's pretty much the same phone, but equipped with a slightly better processor – the TI OMAP 3620, clocked at 1GHz, replacing the OMAP 3610 800MHz one found in the original, and an updated OS, in this case – Gingerbread. These improvements sure seem minor, but still, the handset appears to be up-to-date, compared to other mid-range offerings right now. Let's take a closer look and see how it performs!


Design:

What we really adore in this handset is how it combines a nicely-sized 3.7” display with a body that can be considered very compact by today's standards. Indeed, when you compare the Motorola DEFY+ with some other 3.7” phones, there's a staggering difference in terms of overall dimensions. The DEFY+ isn't very thin, but it fits nicely in the hand and is very comfortable to operate.

The DEFY+ isn't very thin, but it fits nicely in the hand - Motorola DEFY+ Review
The DEFY+ isn't very thin, but it fits nicely in the hand - Motorola DEFY+ Review
The DEFY+ isn't very thin, but it fits nicely in the hand - Motorola DEFY+ Review

The DEFY+ isn't very thin, but it fits nicely in the hand

Motorola DEFY+ Review
You can compare the Motorola DEFY+ with many other phones using our Size Visualization Tool.

The device is made of plastic and has a soft-touch finish to the back side. The DEFY+ doesn't hide the fact that it's a tough phone. Its styling has “rugged” written all over it – from the tight covers of the 3.5mm jack and microUSB port, to the special lock of the back cover.

The 3.7-inch display of the Motorola DEFY+ comes with a resolution of 480x854 pixels and delivers very good image quality. The resolution is just enough to allow fine details and text to appear crisp, while colors look pretty well-balanced. Unfortunately, visibility under direct sunlight isn't good.

Motorola DEFY+ Review
Motorola DEFY+ Review
Capacitive control buttons - Motorola DEFY+ Review
  

Capacitive control buttons


Below the display you have the traditional four capacitive buttons for navigation in Android Gingerbread. These are quite close to the edge of the display, but we didn't experience many accidental presses. Motorola has done well here. Both the volume rocker and the power key do an audible “click” when pressed, and they are relatively easy to use, but also a bit wobbly, which adds just a bit of a toy-like feel to the Motorola DEFY+. On the back, we find a 5MP camera, complemented by an LED flash. We'll tell you more about the camera performance in the respective section.

The 5-megapixel camera on the back - Motorola DEFY+ Review

The 5-megapixel camera on the back



Being an IP 67-certified device, the Motorola DEFY+ is fully protected against dust and other particles, but it can also survive a submersion under water up to 1 meter for up to 30 minutes. If you happen to be somewhat careless when handling your cell phone, the DEFY+ may be the perfect solution for you.

Volume rocker on the right - Motorola DEFY+ Review
microUSB port on the left - Motorola DEFY+ Review
3.5mm headset jack and power key on the top - Motorola DEFY+ Review

Volume rocker on the right

microUSB port on the left

3.5mm headset jack and power key on the top

The bottom side - Motorola DEFY+ Review
The back cover release - Motorola DEFY+ Review
Motorola DEFY+ Review

The bottom side

The back cover release

 


Motorola DEFY+ 360-degrees View:

Drag the picture or use the keyboard arrows to rotate the phone. Double click or press keyboard Space to zoom in/out




Next page
Interface, Functionality, Camera and Multimedia

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1. RORYREVOLUTION posted on 01 Nov 2011, 17:09

With the Atrix 2 only at 99 on contract, it's the obvious device to go with.

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2. ardent1 posted on 01 Nov 2011, 19:51 1

But with the Defy, you can use it as a weapon to fend off your attacker. Try that with the Atrix 2.

I have my iPod Touch 4G encased with an Otterbox Reflex and I am willing to surrender my iPod Touch if need be.

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3. Sniggly posted on 02 Nov 2011, 00:30 3

Finally! Finally someone recognizes how much better redesigned Blur is! All I've heard up until now is "new Blur is okay, but we're still not happy about it." No one mentions the added functionality or benefits or straight out bashes it. Thank you for acknowledging that the new Blur is actually pretty good!

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6. ledbetterp3 posted on 20 Nov 2011, 23:15

Sniggly, I'm with you all the way, new blur isn't called blur anymore for a reason, I have the ATRIX 2 and I love the new motor experience, its much better than touchwiz.

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4. handicrapguy posted on 03 Nov 2011, 05:55

Disappointed it only does vga video recording. With the upgraded cpu it should be able to handle 720p easily enough.

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7. jakson0100 posted on 14 Dec 2011, 09:24

I use the Moto Defy and the hardware device from Motorola is superb. However, most of my problems are with Android OS - Froyo. All things phone like call quality, speakerphone, screen are very satisfactory. BUT I do face issues with WiFi at times. Overall, I would give it a 3.5/5 = good . if you guys want some more info about motorola defy then you can approachhttp://www.motoask.com/motorola-defy-f42/

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