Motorola Defy XT535 Review

Motorola’s Defy phones have been a success with those looking for a robust, water and dust-resistant Android handset. Until recently, that has been the only option in the market at its price. Motorola has now come up with a new variant called the Defy XT, which isn’t exactly a replacement for the Defy+ but more of an alternative if you didn’t fancy the design and look of the old one. The XT has the same IP67 durability certification as the old one and is very similar in terms of features as well. Let’s see if there are enough reasons to pick this over the existing Defy+. 

Design and Build
The Defy XT535 has received some slight design tweaks and is now lighter at 115g and a bit slimmer as well at 11.9mm. The design also looks a lot more elegant as compared to the rugged look of the old phone, so this would appeal to a broader audience. The DEFY XT stands out especially when it comes to durability. It is IP67 certified, which means it’s very capable of following you underwater. Of course that certification means it’s water resistant only up to about 1 meter and for about 30 minutes, so no deep-sea diving, please. This also means it can keep dust at bay. Its rugged shell and Corning Gorilla Glass display ensure that your handset is safe from the elements, keeping your phone totally safe in this monsoon season.

Will appeal to a larger audience

Connectivity includes a headphone jack and a microUSB port, both of which are covered with rubber caps. Physical buttons include a power switch and volume rocker. On the rear, we have the 5MP camera and a flash. The microSD card slot is hot-swappable and you can expand the phone's capacity to 32GB. Overall, the Defy XT is a much more pleasing phone, not only to look at but also to hold, as compared to its predecessor. The lighter weight and slimmer body are nice bonuses as well.

Fairly slim and lightweight

We tested the handset in a jar of water. We left it there, switched on for quite some time, and even sent it messages and calls. After about 25 minutes, we checked the handset and it was working just fine with no issues. On removing the rear panel, which has its own locking system, there was just a little bit of moisture in areas that could damage the handset. The battery, SIM, memory card and another major components were bone dry.

Features
Interface
The Defy XT still runs on Gingerbread 2.3 so if you were expecting ICS, then tough luck. Motorola has skinned the UI heavily with a whole new look and feel. This has taken a toll on performance and despite the 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon SoC, the phone interface is not at all responsive. The UI and icon set chosen are very nice though and much better than LG’s implementation. You can sort the apps according to ‘Recent’, ‘Downloaded’ or you can just create your own group. You can have a total of seven home screens if needed.

Interface looks good

The 3.7-inch screen size has remained the same along with its resolution of 480 x 854. Images and text do appear sharp and clear and there aren’t any visible banding issues either. Legibility in sunlight is also pretty good.