Motorola Defy review

There’s some useful preinstalled software – there’s a copy of QuickOffice for document viewing, and it comes with a File Manager. There’s a media-sharing app as well as a DLNA server browser, so you can stream and copy music and video files to and from the phone. You can also log into your phone with your web browser when it’s attached via USB, to change options and manage contacts and settings.

There are also some new entries in the Settings menu. There’s a battery manager, which lets you set background data timeouts for different times of day, and a data usage manager. You can choose to sync over WiFi only, to save on data costs. In our light usage tests, the battery lasted for an amazing 50 hours. How often you charge is dependent on how much you use WiFi, GPS and 3G data, but you should still be able to go a couple of days without charging the phone.The Defy was also very fussy about which wireless networks it would connect to – it would sometimes refuse to connect or would drop its connection on both N and G networks.

There’s a lot to like about the Defy, and if you’re accident-prone it may be the ideal handset. We were disappointed that Motorola couldn’t update the software to Android 2.2, especially as version 2.3 is just around the corner. We also struggled with some of Motoblur’s interface quirks and the phone is sometimes slow. Even with these niggles, however, the Defy’s rugged construction, its great battery life and bright screen make it an attractive handset, and as it’s available on a £20-per-month contract it’s excellent value. It wins our Budget Buy award.