Motorola DEFY+ Review

Motorola’s first try at rugged smartphones was the IP67 certified DEFY and now they’ve launched its successor, the DEFY+. It’s got the same form factor, but the internals seem to have been modified. This one sports a faster processor and a newer version of the operating system, Android Gingerbread. Does that mean that the DEFY+ can take lifeproof to the next level and is a worthy successor to the original DEFY? Let’s have a look.

Bringing rugged back

Design and Build Quality
The DEFY+ is a carbon copy of its predecessor. There are no added curves, screws, or connectors and the design and build is just the same. Well, why change it if you’ve perfected the design, right? This also means that the phone comes with the IP67 certification.

Working in a jar filled with soda

Ingress Protection 67 means that it’s dust resistant and water resistant up to 1 metre for 30 minutes. Also, with the Corning Gorilla Glass donning the exterior, it has a scratch resistant screen. We put the DEFY + to its limits so head over to the video below to check that out.

Motorola Defy+ against the elements

The top consists of the headphone jack slot and the power button whilst the microUSB slot is located to the left underneath a rubberised air-tight flap. The back consists of a metallised lock that protects your internals from the harsh environments you intend to use the phone in. The 5 MP shooter and single LED flash is located at the back along with the microphone. The second microphone is located at the bottom of the device so active noise cancellation is present. On opening the back cover, you’ll see that there is a dedicated wall-like structure that helps provide a second protection layer to the 1700 mAh battery, the SIM card and the microSD card. This also means that the microSD card is not hot swappable. On the front we have the 3.7-inch screen with four capacitive buttons below it and proximity and ambient light sensors above it. A notification LED has been included next to the two sensors.

Air tight connectors

In our underwater test, water didn’t seep in through any of the connectors or via the back panel. The internals were completely protected against any kind of contact with liquid and that’s definitely noteworthy. It’s a rough and jagged looking phone that will surely last longer than your average Android device. To some, it may even pass off as rather crude, with the industrial looking design, but it’s got a certain brutal and masculine feeling that makes it stand out from the bunch of plasticy Android phones out there. This one’s built like a tank and it’s built to last.

Features
Interface
The DEFY+ has a 1GHz Cortex A8 processor, upgraded by a few notches from the 800MHz of the original DEFY. Also, there’s 512 MB of RAM onboard. The interface on the Plus sports the same boxy look that we’re used to seeing in the MOTOBLUR UI. Different-sized icons don the homescreen and you can resize them as per your liking. Social Networking integration is done quite well and besides the usual Twitter, Facebook, and mail accounts; it can sync a whole load of stuff and display it on the home screen itself.

The interface

Motorola could have done better with the display. With so many colours on the screen and with a rather ‘low’ maximum brightness, the screen appears dull and washed out. Better colour saturations and brightness levels could have definitely made it a lot more appealing.