Motorola Defy+ review - The Verge

Nothing much has changed over the original Defy, though Motorola has ditched the two-tone coloring, making the Defy+ only available in black. The candybar-styled handset is comfortable to hold, with a curved back aiding its ergonomics. A 3.7-inch display and capacitive buttons take up the majority of the Gorilla Glass face, with the earpiece and notification light above the display. The four buttons on the front panel are sensitive, respond quickly to touches, and lack any of the uncertainty we found with the similarly-specced Motorola Admiral. The power button sits up top next to the headphone socket — I found that it could be a little difficult to press at times, occasionally feeling as if it had clicked without any response from the phone.

On the right-hand side of the handset are the volume buttons, and on the left there's the Micro USB port. Water resistant flaps cover both the headphone socket and USB port, and around the back is the locking, water-sealed rear cover. On the reverse, you'll also find the noise-reduction microphone and a 5-megapixel camera with LED flash.

For a supposedly rugged phone, it doesn't feel all that well built

Make no bones about it, this handset is thick. In an era dominated by a race to be the thinnest among handsets like the Droid RAZR, Optimus Black, and Xperia Arc, which measure up between 0.28 inches and 0.36 inches, the Defy+ is unashamedly flabby at just over half an inch thick. Despite the girth, it sits comfortably in the hand, and nestles well in a pocket. Because of the all-plastic construction, it’s also light, weighing in at 4.1 ounces — less than any of the phones above.

In the box, besides the handset, you’ll get a miniature charger, a USB cable, and a wired stereo headset. The earbuds are very similar to the original iPod design, and while they fit okay, the sound quality is only average and they feel flimsy. I can’t imagine that anyone serious about audio would keep them for long, but for an included pair they do the job perfectly well.

One thing that did trouble me is that for a supposedly rugged phone, the Defy+ doesn’t feel all that well built. Squeeze the handset at the sides or between the back and face and there’s a noticeable creak and flex unlike most other phones available today. I put this build quality to the test — more on that later.

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