Motorola Defy - Yay or Nay?

knowlton

knowlton

knowlton

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Hi all,

I'm due for an upgrade July/August time and I'm already fed up with my Nokia 5230 (I've been using and enjoying S60 for over 3 years now, but now I want MORE!!)

I'm ideally looking for an Android phone and I've noticed the Motorola Defy.

Now I'm a practical person so I'm looking for a smart phone with good battery life (like my Blackberry) and decent signal.

Which is why I've been looking at the Defy, as they've marketed it as 'life proof', so that it's splash, dust and scratch proof.

Any thoughts on whether this is a good phone or not?
 
I read a couple of reviews and it seems like a fairly average Android handset. Unless you desperately need a tough phone there are certainly better choices around running Android. To me it seems a bit like a halfway house though: not _properly_ ruggedised, just tougher than the average smartphone - not properly waterproof, merely splashproof, and it WILL shatter if dropped from more than about 5' onto concrete (seen testing videos where it survived repeated drops from about waist-height but eventually cracked when dropped from about chest-height). Considering that some of its features (like the Gorilla Glass) are also to be found in other phones like the SGS anyway, it seems like you'd be settling for a mediocre handset in return for getting an only slightly tougher device.

One thing though, I don't think any Android phone has as much battery life as the average Blackberry. Most of them are designed to be charged every night. My friend's SGS gets him just under 2 days without a charge on medium usage, under a day if he browses the internet a lot or plays Chinese Chess on it for a few hours.

Oh hang on, just noticed you say your contract runs out in July - by then there'll be a new crop of phones out, and Motorola's Atrix will supposedly pack a 1950mAh battery which might meet your needs, it's about 30% bigger than that of the average of today's phones!
 
Aye, If battery life is a real concern I'd wait for the Atrix. Even then it's not going to match a blackberry. You'll want to make sure to charge any smartphone whilst you sleep, you won't get two full days of heavy use out of any of them.
You can get good life out of them, but only if you turn off or restrict everything that makes a smartphone great in the first place.

The Defy is a great handset though, top end features and best-in-class durability for a very attractive price.
 
Yep form me as well.
Superb handset that once rooted can be unleashed to its full potential.

Best value Android handset currently available at the minute when you actually look the hardware incorporated within.

Only issue that by the time you are due July / August that may not be the case so I'd say wait until your new handset is due and then review what is available then.
 
I've had mine since the middle of November, and I am more than satisfied with it. It survived me crushing it when I fell off my bike onto it. I also found the GPS to be very useful last week when walking in the lakes; a normal smartphone would have been killed by the persistent rain and snow, but the Defy was fine. Even immersing it in the snow did nothing to it.

I have not found Motoblur to be laggy, and so I have not felt compelled to replace it. When it arrived I simply created an account and started using it. It's not everybody's cup of tea - there are certainly more feature packed devices out there - but for me personally, it's been effectively perfect. I have not come across a single compelling reason not to get one in the time I've owned it.
 
Thanks guys, really good info! I'm not a huge fan of the iPhone tbh, largely due to all the (major) issues that people have had with it.

The Atrix looks promising, although I do hope it's rugged (I know the Defy isn't fully rugged, but every little helps!). As for battery life - I guess if you can remove the battery (unlike iPhones), then you can always buy a spare battery.

I know it's crazy that I'm looking so far in advance, but I have been waiting for a phone like this in a long time - rugged, practical and smart, which is why I'm so excited!
 
sarge78 said:
I've got one... its anything but average.
Probably the best all rounder android phone you can buy atm. Only the iphone 4 gets better battery life too, just...

Check out this 'arty vid' of its underwater ability :D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrnNI9rc4FQ

Things will be very different come july/august though. You'll be spoilt for choice ;)
Click to expand...

*DROOLS AT YOUTUBE VIDEO!!!!*

(This is what I love about the French! Somehow reminds me of that movie with Eva Green in it... Dreamers?
 
knowlton said:
Thanks guys, really good info! I'm not a huge fan of the iPhone tbh, largely due to all the (major) issues that people have had with it.

The Atrix looks promising, although I do hope it's rugged (I know the Defy isn't fully rugged, but every little helps!). As for battery life - I guess if you can remove the battery (unlike iPhones), then you can always buy a spare battery.

I know it's crazy that I'm looking so far in advance, but I have been waiting for a phone like this in a long time - rugged, practical and smart, which is why I'm so excited!
Click to expand...
The Atrix doesn't appear to be any more rugged than any other smartphone; it's certainly not water or dust resistant like the Defy, which is rated to IP67. For me, this was the main selling point.
 
The speaker quality and calling quality and screen on the DEFY along with its ruggedness are quite damn impressive. Battery life, I've been battering it since 8 am and its only just reached 20% now. I mean constant webbrowsing and gameing and lots of installing apps.
 
BlackCoat2k10 said:
The speaker quality and calling quality and screen on the DEFY along with its ruggedness are quite damn impressive. Battery life, I've been battering it since 8 am and its only just reached 20% now. I mean constant webbrowsing and gameing and lots of installing apps.
Click to expand...

Thanks BlackCoat, that's really helpful and reassuring to know!
 
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