Motorola Defy

A rugged phone that does not look like a monster

Mobile phones these days are almost indestructible, at least for the duration of their warranty period. And the warranty nowadays is not too bad when it comes to  covering most unforeseen events that could possibly afflict a mobile phone.

But there is one critical eventuality that lies beyond this seemingly perfect safety net. If the phone ever gets near water, neither its sturdiness nor the warranty will be able to help you out. Worse, even the data inside a wet phone is as good as lost.

But that was before the Motorola Defy. This Android 2.1 phone is not special because it is encased by its protective Gorilla Glass. It is special because Motorola declares it to be water and scratch resistant. So just like a wristwatch, it too can go to the pool, or even a beach party.

The Gorilla Glass does what skins and cases did for mobiles in the old days: it protects them from scratches and smears.

Its 3.7 inch edge-to-edge screen is a regular TFT that supports resolution of 854 x 480 pixels. While it looks good, you will have to hold the TFT bang in front of your nose to get a good look. There is also a 5 megapixel auto focus camera with an LED flash, and an 800 MHz processor that does seem to slow down sometimes.

While it is a really rugged phone, it does not look like it is related to the lunar rover, thankfully. Its back cover is made of a soft-touch material, and it feels nice to hold.

To make the phone water resistant, a lot of latches and covers have been added, including one for the USB port that  also charges the phone.
However, while this phone can survive water, it is no good while submerged. It can be operated only with its capacitive screen (it has no other buttons), which is incapacitated under water. So, while its camera (and other functions) may work under water, there is no way you can hit the click button down there.

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