Review: Motorola Defy
The Motorola Defy uses Android 2.1 with Motorola's newest Motoblur interface on top. For a more thorough explanation of Motorola's socially connected Motoblur, check out our reviews of the Motorola Droid X or the Motorola Droid 2, because the interface design is identical.
The Defy also uses the Motorola Family Room feature. Family Room groups together everyone it thinks might be in your family, based on names and other connections. You can double-check the list and add missing family members (it only found three or four out of two dozen family members on my phone). From there, you can send out blast email messages to the whole family, create a Google calendar for your family to share, and otherwise keep in touch. If you have a tight-knit clan, it's a nice system. Motorola could easily extend this feature for classmates, work colleagues and other friendly groups, but for now it's more automated for family needs.
The Motorola Defy is not a fast phone. The interface could feel quite sluggish at times, especially when my seven homescreen panels were loaded with shortcuts and widgets. Scrolling through long lists of apps or my contact list could be jerky, not fluid. Sometimes, I'd tap an app and nothing would happen. I'd tap again and the phone would freeze up for a few seconds, before returning to normal. This didn't hurt my average, day-to-day business, but occasionally it was frustrating.
CTIA Fall 2010
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Motorola Defy (2010)
