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Introduction
After the touchscreen revolution swept the mobile world rugged phones are few and far between. When they do pop-up they typically have decidedly entry-level internals. Save for the likes of crazy expensive Samsung Galaxy S20 Tactical Edition and its limited availability Active predecessors you would inevitably have to deal with disappointing perforamnce if you wanted extra durability.
Which left a legitimate, even if not huge niche unserved. That would be people looking for a phone that you wouldn't hate using, but that also would mind wouldn't mind the occasional dip in water, mud or sand, a few drops here and some more extreme weather. Motorola claims to finally have a device for them as the Defy 2021 rolls in.
The Defy is a moderately priced phone with a decent if unspectacular specs sheet. It won't survive a nuclear blast, but it can take a fair share of abuse and it will be easily available to the general public.
Motorola Defy (2021) specs at a glance:
- Body: 169.8x78.2x10.9mm, 232g; Glass front (Gorilla Glass Victus), plastic frame, plastic back; IP68 dust/water resistant (up to 1.5m for 35 mins), Drop-to-concrete resistance from up to 1.8 m, MIL-SPEC 810H compliant.
- Display: 6.50" IPS LCD, 720x1600px resolution, 20:9 aspect ratio, 270ppi.
- Chipset: Qualcomm SM6115 Snapdragon 662 (11 nm): Octa-core (4x2.0 GHz Kryo 260 Gold & 4x1.8 GHz Kryo 260 Silver); Adreno 610.
- Memory: 64GB 4GB RAM; microSDXC (uses shared SIM slot).
- OS/Software: Android 10.
- Rear camera: Wide (main): 48 MP, f/1.8, PDAF; Macro: 2 MP, f/2.4, AF; Depth: 2 MP, f/2.4.
- Front camera: 8 MP, f/2.2, 1.12µm.
- Video capture: Rear camera: 1080p@30fps; Front camera: 1080p@30fps.
- Battery: 5000mAh; Fast charging 20W.
- Misc: Fingerprint reader (rear-mounted); NFC; FM radio; 3.5mm jack.
Again this is not exactly a cutting edge specs sheet even in the mid-range, but it doesn't look like it comes from 2017 and that's a success when it comes to rugged phones. The Snapdragon 662 is an okay 11nm chip, with features like Bluetooth 5.1, dual-band Wi-Fi ac and NFC. Its 4GB of RAM and Android 10 OS are much the same - not the best that kind of money can buy, but by no means a terrible disappointment. The 48MP Quad-Bayer main camera and 20W charging are more middle-of-the-road items, while the 5,000 mAh battery is actually among the bigger ones out there.
On the rugged side of things, you get IP68 dust/water resistant (up to 1.5m for 35 mins), drop-to-concrete resistance from up to 1.8 m and MIL-SPEC 810H compliance. That's enabled by the Motorola Defu 2021's thick plastic shell - the kind of material you might find on the handle of a power tool. Will it scratch and scuff? Definitely, but it is meant to withstand that, all while offering ample grip, easy maintenance (it is meant to be cleaned with water and soap) and without adding too much weight to the phone. To top it all off - the front is covered with Gorilla Glass Victus, which is as good as protective glass surfaces currently get.
The Defy 2011 is actually created by Bullitt Group Ltd for Motorola. The British-based company specializes in rugged phones, doing similar projects for many years now. It is responsible for CAT, as well as Land Rover phones so it seems like a good choice to handle the hardware of the phone as Motorola takes care of the software.
Unboxing
The Motorola Defy ships in a somewhat fairly standard cardboard box. You get a USB Type-A to Type-C cable that plugs into the 20W MOTOROLA MC-202 charger. That one uses Quick Charge 3.0 and is rated for 5V@3A, 10V@2A and 12V@1.67A output.
You also get an incredibly thick and sturdy lanyard in the box. It has a soft, yet grippy texture to it - great for grabbing with gloves on and is slightly elastic. Its weakest point is probably the thin bit you are meant to hook onto the dedicated lanyard hole on the Motorola Defy, but even that looks like it can last a good while.
Design and materials
The Motorola Defy has a stand-out design, which is to be expected as there aren't too many rugged phones around. Measuring 169.8 x 78.2 x 10.9 mm, it is chuckier than most smartphones out there but far from a brick or unwieldy. Its wide flat sides and extensive texturing make for a great, solid grip. It tips the scale at 232 grams - far from light but manageable.
The Motorola Defy feels solid and dense. The textured back side is hard, yet slightly rubbery, fitting the intended use perfectly. Even though it has an "industrial" look to it, which is far from universally appealing, the back still manages to combine style with function quite successfully. Having grooves in the perpendicular directions is a good idea in terms of handling, while also offering a bit of "flare" to the surface. The lower right corner and its smooth finish provide a nifty design accent, as well. In fact, this is the only bit of the entire body that can be had in a different color if you go for the Forged Green color variant. Our unit is the plain Black one. The entire plastic shell is made to be washable with soap and disinfectants too, so don't worry about dirt getting in the grooves.
Color options
The camera island on the back is circled by a small raised edge to protect it in case of drops, but also serves as a design accent.
We must also mention the massive lanyard hole on the bottom right corner of the Motorola Defy. It is nothing short of a blast from the past, but we can't help but appreciate the extra thought, though, since this is the kind of extra leverage and convenience that can really come in handy while working out in the field.
The front of the Motorola Defy looks quite outdated with its classical top and huge by modern standards bottom bezel. Again, part of the reason was probably achieving extra durability as slimmer bezels mean the front glass is easier to crack, but of course a larger part was just keeping the budget in check. On the other hand having the bottom of the display slightly higher up helps a bit with usability as you need to stretch you thumb less to reach the edge.
Regardless of whether you appreciate the extra ergonomics, we feel like the bezels could have been utilized better. For instance, there is more than enough room to fit a stereo speaker setup on there. And while that might not fit in the budget or conceptually on the Defy, a notification LED would have been right down its alley without affecting the price significantly. The Motorola Defy has sort of a motion-triggered standby display, but there's no reason while it couldn't coexist with a notification LED.
An even bigger gripe, however, has to be the fact that the selfie is mounted on a notch and cuts into the display. There is ample room for it in the full top bezel without disturbing the panel. At least the Gorilla Glass Victus surface on the front of the Defy feels great. Its oleophobic coating could be better, but other than that, we can't complain.
Just to reiterate the durability up on offer with the Defy - you get IP68 dust/water resistant (up to 1.5m for 35 mins, thanks to a double-sealed housing). Then there's includes salt mist resistant, though you should definitely wash off the salt as soon as possible, especially from the USB and 3.5mm ports. Drops to concrete resistance from up to 1.8 m are also not a problem and the phone can function from -30 to +75 degrees C for up to 30 minutes, as well as make it through category 4 vibrations.
Controls
The Motorola Defy has all of the basic controls covered and then some. Let's go for a quick tour. The left-hand side is mostly empty, save for a SIM card tray. The hybrid tray can either house two nano-SIM cards or a nano-SIM and a microSD. There is a thick red gasket on there as part of the weatherproofing.
On the opposite side - sits a textured, extra wide power button. It is nice to feel around and offers great tactile feedback. Alongside it are the far less tactile volume rocker and programmable button.
The latter can set it to trigger a number of functions in software, but the main reason it is there and likely the way it is most often going to be mapped is as a talk button for a PPT service of some kind. Motorola offers its own baked-in, but you can download any other app too.
Programmable button
The top of the Motorola Defy has the 3.5mm audio jack and a small hole for the secondary noise-cancelling microphone next to it.
On the bottom - the main microphone, the Defy's singular bottom-firing speaker and between those - a USB Type-C port. It is OTG-enabled and can do a maximum of 20W of charging.
The Motorola Defy has a capacitive fingerprint reader in what is a traditional location for a Motorola - on the back, right below the cameras. The reader is always-on and is very accurate and speedy. However, the unlocking animation on the Defy is quite slow and long, for some reason, slowing down the actual unlock procedure.
Of course, the fingerprint reader won't do you much good while wearing gloves. For those situations, you can either opt for some sort of on-screen software unlock method, or more convenient-still facial recognition. It is just basic 2D facial recognition, nothing too fancy.
Biometrics and security
6.5-inch IPS, 60Hz display
The Motorola Defy has a rather pedestrian display. It is a simple 6.5-inch IPS panel, with 720 x 1600-pixel resolution, which works out to about 270 ppi. It only does 60Hz and pixel response time is not particularly impressive either, with signs of ghosting when you scroll slowly. Kind of disappointing for a phone that costs over EUR300 these days as that sort of money can actually get you a high refresh rate FullHD AMOLED panel. However, we still need to take into consideration the specialized nature of the Motorola Defy here.
The Motorola Defy 2021's display doesn't get overly bright, topping-out at 436 nits in our tests. That means that while not perfect in terms of outdoor visibility, it is still serviceable. And thanks to the rather deep black levels, contrast on the Motorola Defy is actually quite good when indoors.
| Display test | 100% brightness | ||
| Black, |
White, |
||
| 0 | 846 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 814 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 725 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 716 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 716 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 657 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 650 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 640 | ∞ | |
| 0.366 | 536 | 1464:1 | |
| 0.4 | 534 | 1335:1 | |
| 0.4 | 534 | 1335:1 | |
| 0 | 514 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 511 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 511 | ∞ | |
| 0.275 | 492 | 1789:1 | |
| 0.241 | 468 | 1942:1 | |
| 0.327 | 458 | 1401:1 | |
| 0 | 458 | ∞ | |
| 0.327 | 458 | 1401:1 | |
| 0 | 457 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 443 | ∞ | |
| 0.23 | 436 | 1896:1 | |
| 0 | 433 | ∞ | |
| 0.28 | 413 | 1475:1 | |
| 0.204 | 403 | 1975:1 | |
| 0 | 393 | ∞ | |
| 0.236 | 385 | 1631:1 | |
| 0.21 | 377 | 1795:1 | |
| 0.199 | 362 | 1819:1 | |
Color accuracy is not a strong suit on the Motorola Defy. There are a total of three color profiles to choose from - Saturated, Boosted and Natural. There is no white point adjustment or fine-tuning control beyond that.
Color profiles
All of the profiles appear to be aiming for the sRGB color space, but none of them quite manages to get there. Saturated mode is the default and it manages to reproduce a pretty balanced color palette overall - pretty accurate reds and a bit too saturated blues. Boosted doesn't do much for the blues, but oddly, despite its name desaturates reds a bit. Natural comes closest, though it is still far from what could be considered accurate. Interestingly enough, the white point seems to be the biggest issue in this mode. If a temperature slider was included in the OS, we could probably warm things up a bit and actually get good color accuracy, but that's not the case.
The Motorola Defy actually has the highest Widevine L1 DRM, which is great to see, but also kind of a waste, given the phone's native 720p+ resolution. Netflix does successfully pick up the L1 certification, but only offers HD streaming. Anything more would be a waste.
Netflix playback support • DRM info • HDR support
Interestingly enough, Netflix says that there is no HDR support available on the Motorola Defy and indeed, its specs don't advertise any either. The panel in question is likely not capable of reproducing HDR even though on a software level, the phone does report HDR10 and HLG support.
Battery life
The Motorola Defy has a 5,000 mAh battery at its disposal, matching the Motorola Moto G30, which we recently reviewed. In fact, both phones also use the same Snapdragon 662 chipset and have pretty similar HD+, 6.5-inch displays. The G30 can do 90Hz, but we have already proven in the past that the jump up from 60Hz to 90Hz rarely puts a noticeable strain on the battery with modern panels. All of this suggests that the Motorola Defy should have pretty similar battery endurance to the Moto G30 and that is indeed the case.
Our battery tests were automated thanks to SmartViser, using its viSerDevice app. The endurance rating denotes how long the battery charge will last you if you use the device for an hour of telephony, web browsing, and video playback daily. More details can be found here.
Video test carried out in 60Hz refresh rate mode. Web browsing test done at the display's highest refresh rate whenever possible. Refer to the respective reviews for specifics. To adjust the endurance rating formula to match your own usage patterns check out our all-time battery test results chart where you can also find all phones we've tested.
The Motorola Defy did great all around. It's modem is super efficient during both standby and calls, pushing it over 43 hours in the latter category. That's what you want to see from a phone that might often find itself away from mains power from prolonged periods of time. 16 hours or so in the two on-screen tests are also great. Overall, no complaints regarding battery life.
Charging speed
The Motorola Defy (2021) ships with a 20W charger in the box. It is a Quick Charge 3.0 unit, rated for 5V/3A, 10V/2A, and 12V/1.67A output. Once again - this is a familiar setup, just like what was included with the Moto G30.
Expectedly, charging speeds between the two devices are just as similar as their battery endurance numbers. The Motorola Defy does seem to top off a tad slower, but the variance is within margin of error. Starting from zero, the Motorola Defy gets up to 31% in 30 minutes and a full charge takes a bit over two and a half hours. Hardly record-breaking numbers, but still a bit better than many budget devise out there.
30min charging test (from 0%)
Higher is better
- Poco F3
67% - OnePlus Nord CE 5G
67% - Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
65% - Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 4G
58% - Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro
50% - Poco X3 Pro
50% - Motorola Moto G100
37% - Poco M3 Pro 5G
33% - Motorola Moto G30
32% - Motorola Defy
31% - Samsung Galaxy A32
25% - Poco M3
25% - Motorola Moto G50
23% - Samsung Galaxy A22 5G
23% - Samsung Galaxy A12
20%
Time to full charge (from 0%)
Lower is better
- Poco F3
0:56h - OnePlus Nord CE 5G
1:03h - Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 4G
1:04h - Poco X3 Pro
1:08h - Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
1:13h - Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro
1:21h - Motorola Moto G100
1:54h - Poco M3 Pro 5G
2:00h - Samsung Galaxy A32
2:19h - Motorola Moto G30
2:28h - Samsung Galaxy A22 5G
2:29h - Poco M3
2:30h - Motorola Defy
2:33h - Motorola Moto G50
2:35h - Samsung Galaxy A12
3:03h
Speaker test
The Motorola Defy has a single bottom-firing speaker at its disposal. Kind of disappointing, since a stereo setup can easily be had for this kind of money elsewhere. Even a hybrid stereo setup with the earpiece would have been appreciated. Just like the display, clearly compromises have been made to fit a rugged device within the price frame.
The speaker isn't particularly loud, nor incredibly richly sounding. The Motorola Defy has an equalizer for the loudspeaker, called Audio effects. It is quite flexible and you can dial-in a sound profile of your liking, but it can't do much to overcome the deficiencies of the speaker.
Audio effects equalizer
We did try out the default balanced present and it managed to slightly improve frequency response in the lows, while also decreasing the maximum loudness a bit in the process. Not by much, though.
Use the Playback controls to listen to the phone sample recordings (best use headphones). We measure the average loudness of the speakers in LUFS. A lower absolute value means a louder sound. A look at the frequency response chart will tell you how far off the ideal "0db" flat line is the reproduction of the bass, treble, and mid frequencies. You can add more phones to compare how they differ. The scores and ratings are not comparable with our older loudspeaker test. Learn more about how we test here.
Android 10 with some Moto flair on top
Right off the bat, the Motorola Defy (2021) ships with a slightly dated Android 10 OS. An update to Android 11 is apparently already in the works, but with Android 12 just around the corner the phone may never be fully up to speed. In typical Motorola fashion, the experience here clean and close to stock AOSP. Motorola has a host of various extras and value-added features sprinkled on top, but in a pretty non-obtrusive manner. The Defy doesn't really get the full Moto feature set as seen on devices like the Moto G30 or G100. We'll mention the particulars as they come, but one notable major omission is support for Motorola's new "Ready For" platform. In fact, we didn't manage to get any form of video output from the phone's Type-C port.
The majority of the proprietary features are housed within the Moto app. The first category is personalization allowing you to choose the icon shapes, the quick toggles appearance, the accent colors and the font. There is also a wide selection of wallpapers, the same ones you'd find in the Google Wallpapers app, plus some Moto-specific interactive ones.
Moto App • Personalization
Then come the gestures. The karate chop motion that turns on and off the flashlight is here, along with the twisting motion that launches the camera app. Both work even when the device is locked. The lift-to-unlock gesture works well with the face unlock as it unlocks the device as soon as you pick it up and look at the screen.
Referring back to the Moto G100, there are some omissions from this menu on the Motorola Defy (2021). Swipe-to-split seems to be one of them, as well as Power touch - the nifty shortcut menu that can be triggered by double-tapping the power button.
Gestures
Then there are Peek Display and Attentive Display. The former works as a second-best alternative to the Always-on display lighting up the screen when it detects motion that's close to the phone or when you pick it up. Once you've received some kind of notification, you can tap on it and see the message itself and even interact with it from the lock screen. Attentive Display disables the screen timeout as long as there's a face looking at the screen. Pretty useful when reading long articles, though depending on your setting you may scroll often enough for the screen not to lock anyway.
Display
The Moto Tips section is meant to house guides and instructions. While Android 10 doesn't have nearly as many new features that might need explaining to the user as Android 11, there are still some interesting things to go over. Some highlights Motorola chose to go over are gesture navigation, dark mode and notification management, as well as the enhanced security features of Android 10. All of these come standard with the Android core. There is also the Family Link feature for parental controls.
Moto tips
The Motorola Defy lacks the battery saving feature of the Moto G30 that would learn your usual charging routine and then only charge the phone up to 80%, keep it there for as long as possible and top-up to 100% shortly before you are scheduled to unplug. It also can't cap max battery charge to 80% if the phone detects that it has been charging for more than 3 days straight. Presumably those will be included when the Defy catches up to the G30 and gets Android 11.
Missing advanced battery charging features
There is nothing too extravagant or out of place with the overall UI on the Motorola Defy beyond that. You pretty much get a clean AOSP experience all around.
Lockscreen • Homescreen • Folder view • App drawer • Notifications • Quick toggles
All things considered on a software level the Defy (2021) is clearly a Motorola phone, with all of the specifics that stem from that pedigree. A clean, near-AOSP experience is a major draw for many users and the Defy delivers on that front. However, the elephant in the room is the outdated Android 10 version that ships with the phone. We feel that many of the advanced Moto features absent from the Motorola Defy might be related to the older ROM. Hopefully, once an Android 11 update drops, the Motorola Defy will get up to speed with its peers.
On the upside even in its current form everything works smoothly and even though the Snapdragon 662 is far from a powerhouse, the Motorola Defy breezes through everyday tasks with ease. Which leads us nicely to the performance section.
Synthetic benchmarks
The Motorola Defy is powered by the Snapdragon 662 chipset, a midrange piece of silicon introduced in 2020 and built on the 11nm process. It features an octa-core CPU in a 4+4 configuration with Kryo 260 Gold cores in the high-performance cluster (Cortex-A73-based) and Kryo 260 Silver ones (Cortex-A53-based) for less demanding tasks. The graphics department is handled by the Adreno 610 GPU.
Unlike the G30 that gets the same chipset, the Motorola Defy comes in a single memory variant - 4GB RAM and 64GB of storage. The latter is expandable via microSD, though you do have to sacrifice one of your two SIM slots. It should be noted that the Moto G30 can be had with up to 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage.
Let's kick things off with GeekBench and some pure CPU numbers. There is no point in beating about the bush here, the Snapdragon 662 and consequently the Motorola Defy don't really excell at computing power. You can easily get better performance at this price point, but then you'll be losing all the ruggedness and that really misses the whole point of the phone.
GeekBench 5 (multi-core)
Higher is better
- Motorola Moto G100
2860 - Poco X3 Pro
2574 - OnePlus Nord CE 5G
1812 - Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 4G
1796 - Realme 8 5G
1784 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro
1780 - Samsung Galaxy A22 5G
1719 - Realme 8
1690 - Realme 8 Pro
1678 - Samsung Galaxy A32 5G
1673 - Motorola Moto G50
1620 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
1599 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 10S
1576 - Poco M3
1398 - Motorola Defy (2021)
1354 - Samsung Galaxy A32
1277 - Motorola Moto G30
1265 - Motorola Moto G10 Power
1144 - Samsung Galaxy A12
1034 - Samsung Galaxy A02s
495
GeekBench 5 (single-core)
Higher is better
- Motorola Moto G100
950 - Poco X3 Pro
735 - OnePlus Nord CE 5G
641 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro
569 - Realme 8 5G
569 - Realme 8 Pro
566 - Samsung Galaxy A22 5G
560 - Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 4G
560 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
534 - Realme 8
533 - Motorola Moto G50
505 - Samsung Galaxy A32 5G
505 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 10S
502 - Samsung Galaxy A32
361 - Motorola Defy (2021)
314 - Poco M3
308 - Motorola Moto G30
306 - Motorola Moto G10 Power
247 - Samsung Galaxy A12
169 - Samsung Galaxy A02s
131
As far as positives go, it is great to see that the Motorola Defy is at least utilizing its Snapdragon 662 chipset fully, as evidenced by the similar results from the Motorola G30 and the Poco M3, also rocking the same chip. Also, the Snapdragon 662 has the Snapdragon 450, 460, as well as the MediaTek Helio P35 and for the most part, the G80 beat in CPU terms. Any higher-tier Qualcomm or MediaTek chip, like the entire Dimensity line, however, is significantly more potent in CPU terms.
The compound AnTuTu tells a very similar story.
AnTuTu 8
Higher is better
- Poco F3
631850 - Motorola Moto G100
556137 - Poco X3 Pro
453223 - OnePlus Nord CE 5G
318672 - Realme 8 5G
302059 - Realme 8
298328 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro
295442 - Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 4G
290172 - Realme 8 Pro
286666 - Samsung Galaxy A22 5G
242155 - Samsung Galaxy A32 5G
226561 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
218788 - Poco M3
177904 - Motorola Defy (2021)
177314 - Samsung Galaxy A32
174332 - Motorola Moto G30
170968 - Samsung Galaxy A12
107189 - Samsung Galaxy A02s
90811
AnTuTu 9
Higher is better
- Motorola Moto G100
681559 - OnePlus Nord CE 5G
391770 - Realme 8 5G
361505 - Realme 8
357488 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 10S
330909 - Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 4G
294251 - Motorola Moto G50
286916 - Samsung Galaxy A22 5G
223188 - Samsung Galaxy A32 5G
222125 - Motorola Defy (2021)
164592
The Adreno 610 is a pretty entry-level GPU as well. Once again, we can see the Motorola Defy make proper use of its available chipset and utilize it fully, but that's about the only praise we can offer. Even in the easiest OpenGL ES 3.0 Manhattan test we still consistently run on review units, the Motorola Defy struggles to reach 20fps. That is at 1080p in off-screen mode.
GFX Manhattan ES 3.0 (offscreen 1080p)
Higher is better
- Motorola Moto G100
128 - Poco X3 Pro
102 - Motorola Moto G50
65 - Realme 8
53 - OnePlus Nord CE 5G
46 - Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 4G
45 - Realme 8 Pro
43 - Realme 8 5G
38 - Samsung Galaxy A22 5G
32 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
24 - Samsung Galaxy A32
24 - Motorola Moto G30
20 - Motorola Defy (2021)
19 - Poco M3
19 - Motorola Moto G10 Power
15 - Samsung Galaxy A12
12 - Samsung Galaxy A02s
9.3
GFX Manhattan ES 3.0 (onscreen)
Higher is better
- Poco X3 Pro
93 - Motorola Moto G100
89 - Realme 8
48 - Motorola Moto G50
40 - Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 4G
40 - OnePlus Nord CE 5G
40 - Realme 8 Pro
38 - Realme 8 5G
35 - Motorola Moto G30
34 - Motorola Defy (2021)
33 - Samsung Galaxy A22 5G
31 - Motorola Moto G10 Power
25 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
21 - Samsung Galaxy A32
21 - Samsung Galaxy A12
19 - Poco M3
17 - Samsung Galaxy A02s
16
The HD+ native resolution of the display on the Motorola Defy (2021) provides considerable advantage in terms of on-screen fps, meaning that even though it doesn't have the most capable GPU it can still adequately drive the less demanding display.
GFX Manhattan ES 3.1 (offscreen 1080p)
Higher is better
- Motorola Moto G100
91 - Poco X3 Pro
75 - OnePlus Nord CE 5G
34 - Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 4G
33 - Realme 8
33 - Motorola Moto G50
29 - Realme 8 Pro
28 - Realme 8 5G
25 - Samsung Galaxy A22 5G
24 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
17 - Samsung Galaxy A32
15 - Motorola Moto G30
14 - Motorola Defy (2021)
13 - Poco M3
13 - Motorola Moto G10 Power
9.5 - Samsung Galaxy A12
7.7 - Samsung Galaxy A02s
6.1
GFX Manhattan ES 3.1 (onscreen)
Higher is better
- Motorola Moto G100
79 - Poco X3 Pro
67 - Motorola Moto G50
53 - Realme 8 Pro
31 - OnePlus Nord CE 5G
30 - Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 4G
29 - Realme 8
29 - Motorola Moto G30
26 - Motorola Defy (2021)
25 - Realme 8 5G
22 - Samsung Galaxy A22 5G
21 - Motorola Moto G10 Power
19 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
15 - Samsung Galaxy A32
13 - Samsung Galaxy A12
13 - Samsung Galaxy A02s
12 - Poco M3
11
GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (offscreen 1080p)
Higher is better
- Motorola Moto G100
56 - Poco X3 Pro
45 - Realme 8
20 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro
19 - Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 4G
19 - OnePlus Nord CE 5G
19 - Realme 8 Pro
18 - Motorola Moto G50
16 - Realme 8 5G
15 - Samsung Galaxy A22 5G
14 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
9.3 - Samsung Galaxy A32
9.3 - Motorola Moto G30
7.3 - Poco M3
7.2 - Motorola Defy (2021)
7 - Motorola Moto G10 Power
5.2 - Samsung Galaxy A02s
3.4 - Samsung Galaxy A12
3.3
GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (onscreen)
Higher is better
- Motorola Moto G100
47 - Poco X3 Pro
38 - Motorola Moto G50
27 - Realme 8
18 - Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 4G
17
17
16
16
13
13
13
12
9.2
8.1
7.9
6.1
5.9
5
As usual, it is also worth noting that these are purposefully hard and artificial loads that are not representative of how an actual game engine behaves. Particularly a modern one. Mobile games tend to be highly optimized and run on a very wide range of hardware, in order to have the broadest user base possible. We had no issues running any number of casual to moderate games on the Motorola Defy.
GFX Aztek Vulkan High (onscreen)
Higher is better
- Motorola Moto G100
33 - Poco X3 Pro
27 - Motorola Moto G50
20 - OnePlus Nord CE 5G
13 - Realme 8 Pro
11 - Realme 8
11 - Motorola Moto G30
8.7 - Motorola Defy (2021)
8.5 - Samsung Galaxy A22 5G
7.8 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
5.3 - Samsung Galaxy A32
4.4 - Poco M3
4.1 - Samsung Galaxy A12
3.8 - Samsung Galaxy A02s
3.5
GFX Aztek ES 3.1 High (onscreen)
Higher is better
- Motorola Moto G100
31 - Poco X3 Pro
26 - Motorola Moto G50
19 - Realme 8
12 - OnePlus Nord CE 5G
11 - Realme 8 Pro
11 - Motorola Moto G30
9.1 - Motorola Defy (2021)
8.8 - Samsung Galaxy A22 5G
8.4 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
5.6 - Samsung Galaxy A32
5 - Samsung Galaxy A12
4.6 - Samsung Galaxy A02s
3.5 - Poco M3
2.8
GFX Aztek Vulkan High (offscreen 1440p)
Higher is better
- Motorola Moto G100
23 - Poco X3 Pro
18 - OnePlus Nord CE 5G
7.6 - Realme 8
7.5 - Realme 8 Pro
7.2 - Motorola Moto G50
6.7 - Samsung Galaxy A22 5G
5.1 - Poco M3
4.2 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
3.5 - Samsung Galaxy A32
2.9 - Motorola Moto G30
2.8 - Motorola Defy (2021)
2.7 - Samsung Galaxy A12
1.2 - Samsung Galaxy A02s
1.1
GFX Aztek ES 3.1 High (offscreen 1440p)
Higher is better
- Motorola Moto G100
21 - Poco X3 Pro
17 - Realme 8
7.7 - OnePlus Nord CE 5G
7.5 - Realme 8 Pro
7 - Motorola Moto G50
6.4 - Samsung Galaxy A22 5G
5.5 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
3.7 - Samsung Galaxy A32
3.3 - Motorola Moto G30
2.8 - Poco M3
2.8 - Motorola Defy (2021)
2.7 - Samsung Galaxy A12
1.5 - Samsung Galaxy A02s
1.2
There seems to be no noticeable performance loss with using the Vulkan API either, which once again proves Motorola did a great job implementing and utilizing the Snapdragon 662 chipset all-around.
3DMark shows a lineup quite similar to that provided by AnTuTu for overall performance.
3DMark SSE ES 3.1 (offscreen 1440p)
Higher is better
- OnePlus Nord CE 5G
2801 - Samsung Galaxy A32 5G
2638 - Realme 8
2610 - Samsung Galaxy A22 5G
2391 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
1471 - Samsung Galaxy A32
1323 - Motorola Moto G30
1185 - Poco M3
1175 - Motorola Defy (2021)
1169 - Motorola Moto G10 Power
857 - Samsung Galaxy A02s
438 - Samsung Galaxy A12
365
3DMark SSE Vulkan 1.0 (offscreen 1440p)
Higher is better
- Realme 8
2639 - OnePlus Nord CE 5G
2617 - Samsung Galaxy A32 5G
2509 - Samsung Galaxy A22 5G
2257 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
1372 - Samsung Galaxy A32
1371 - Motorola Moto G30
1142 - Motorola Defy (2021)
1112 - Poco M3
1106 - Motorola Moto G10 Power
819 - Samsung Galaxy A12
612 - Samsung Galaxy A02s
489
3DMark Wild Life Vulkan 1.1 (offscreen 1440p)
Higher is better
- Motorola Moto G100
4114 - Poco X3 Pro
3401 - Realme 8
1486 - Samsung Galaxy A32 5G
1185 - Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 4G
1113 - Samsung Galaxy A22 5G
1104 - Realme 8 5G
1104 - Realme 8 Pro
1051 - Samsung Galaxy A32
686 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 10
482 - Motorola Moto G30
389 - Motorola Defy (2021)
369 - Poco M3
368 - Motorola Moto G10 Power
254 - OnePlus Nord CE 5G
113
As we established from the start the Motorola Defy (2021) doesn't claim to be a great performer or a gaming powerhouse. All it aims to do is provide adequate day-to-day performance and the Snapdragon 662 does its job. That's enough for it to fare excellently within the rugged phone realm.
48MP camera and a basic camera app
The Motorola Defy (2021) has a total of three cameras on the back, with arguably just one truly functional unit, while on the front it has a single 8MP cam. Nothing fancy or special, but solid in the context of rugged smartphones.
The main 48MP snapper uses a Samsung ISOCELL GM1 (S5KGM1) sensor of 1/2" size with 0.8um pixels. It is a fairly popular and widely used part, which is known to offer decent performance in the mid-range last year. However, it is a bit dated at this point with Samsung already having a GM2, with improvements to autofocus, among other things. Anyway, the Motorola Defy (2021) also has an f/1.8 lens and basic PDAF setup to work with and no OIS.
There is no ultrawide camera on the Motorola Defy (2021), which is something virtually every mid-range has these days, even if their quality is usually less than stellar.
There are two 2MP, f/2.4 supplementary cameras alongside the main 48MP one. Both come courtesy of OmniVision and are part of the same OV02B family. The fixed-focus macro cam uses the color OV02B10 sensor, whereas the depth sensor has the OV02B1B monochrome variant. Those will barely contrbute anything to your photography with the Defy and are mostly there for marketing reasons.
The 8MP selfie camera uses a Samsung S5K4H7 sensor - 1/4", 1.12um with fixed focus - about as basic an imager as you can find on a phone these days.
You have a selector in settings that lets you choose between the 12MP recommended option (that much we get), the "high resolution" 48MP mode and space-saving 8MP images. Switch from the default 4:3 aspect ratio to 16:9 or 20:9 yields a similar menu with the according lower resolutions.
Resolution options
It should be noted that the available settings options change if you open then with the selfie camera active. Some of these changes make more sense than others.
Camera settings menu
Other than that, the main camera UI is well laid-out and functional. Most of the settings you are likely to change on the fly are on one side. We would have preferred to get a quick resolution or at least 48MP toggle her instead of say one for Active Photo, but that's a bit nitpicky.
Main camera UI and modes
There is a mode selector next to the shutter. Unlike on the Moto G30, here it is not below the shutter key, which means less misclicks. The quick mode selection keeps track of the last additional mode you used and keeps that shortcut handy, which is neat.
There is a Pro mode on the Motorola Defy (2021) which can be used on both the main and the selfie cams and is surprisingly full-featured. You get manual focus (no peaking), white balance (2300 - 7500K), shutter speed (1/6000 - 32 seconds), ISO (100 - 3200) and exposure compensation (-2 - +2). There is also a real-time histogram, as well as the ability to capture RAW files, with or without an additional JPG.
Pro mode
Daylight image quality
Shots from the main camera in good lighting at the default 12MP resolution come out looking very decent. Obviously, this is a budget camera setup, with a slightly outdated sensor and we have to set our expectations accordingly. Once more, while the Motorola Defy (2021) comes short of similarly priced phones in terms of hardware, at least it makes good use of what it has.
Resolved detail is good and noise is kept well under control. Colors are a bit muted, but not too bad and while sharpening does cause a few halos it's okay overall.
There is noticeable color fringing in finer patterns as would often happen in a Quad-Bayer sensors, although some have admitedly become better at handling it lately.
Motorola Defy (2021): 12MP main camera samples
Automatic HDR on the Motorola Defy works great weight, as evidenced by these shots with it forced off. The algorithm also did a great job kicking in at the right time.
Motorola Defy (2021): 12MP main camera samples, HDR OFF
You can shoot in the full 48MP unbinned resolution if you really wanted to, but we'd advise against it. The shots you get don't really have enough extra detail over the 12MP ones to make it worth the larger size. And color fringing is even more prominent here. At least capture time is quite quick for 48MP shots, so there's that.
Motorola Defy (2021): 48MP main camera samples
We did also try shooting in 8MP mode, since it was a prominent suggestion within the resolution settings. However the resulting files aren't that much smaller in size, while sacrificing some fine detail, so we'd really suggest sticking with the recommended resolution.
Motorola Defy (2021): 8MP main camera samples
While there is no dedicated zoom camera on the Motorola Defy (2021), you can still pinch to zoom in digitally. We took at 2x, 5x and the maximum 8x, but obviously the results are rather poor with little detail and pretty bad oversharpening artefacts.
Motorola Defy (2021): 12MP main camera zoom samples: 2x • 5x • 8x • 2x • 5x • 8x
You can do portrait shots with the main camera, which actually look decent. You might need a few shots to get one with an adequate subject separation and the blur application isn't the smoothest around, but you can get a shot that looks good on social media.
Motorola Defy (2021): 12MP main camera portrait mode samples
Even without a face in the frame portraits still work out. In fact, we feel like the subject detection is even a bit more consistent when there is no discernable face. However, subject separation for non-human subjects seems to be a bit worse, especially if your model has particularly long fur.
Motorola Defy (2021): 12MP main camera portrait mode samples
That covers the 2MP depth sensor and its functions, its other 2MP sibling is meant for macro shots. Much to our surprise, these can look decent, if you put enough time and work into them. Sure, at just 2MP, detail is always going to be limited. However, there is still a decent amount of it captured and colors don't look half bad either.
Despite its small size and limited pixel count, the OV02B10-based macro camera has autofocus, which is quite the rarity to see on such a macro shooter. Its range is limited and it that takes a lot of trial and error to get a proper shot out of, but it is possible. Still, this little 2MP cam is not a throwaway one, which is more than we can normally say for similar snappers.
Motorola Defy (2021): 2MP macro camera samples
The 8MP selfie cam captures okay photos, with one major flaw - narrow focal depth and poorly selected focal distance, which results in blurry shots more often than not. Other than that, there is a good amount of detail and colors look nice. Dynamic range is a bit limited, but that is to be expected from such a small sensor.
Motorola Defy (2021): 8MP selfie camera samples
You can do portrait selfies, but results will range from poor to mediocre.
Motorola Defy (2021): 8MP selfie camera portrait mode samples
Before we move on to video, we captured out standard set of posters with the Motorola Defy (2021) at both its default 12MP resolution, as well as 48MP. Feel free to pixel-peep away and compare to any other device in our vast photo compare database.
Motorola Defy (2021) against the Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro and the Xiaomi Poco X3 Pro in our Photo compare tool
48MP: Motorola Defy (2021) against the Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 and the Xiaomi Poco X3 Pro in our Photo compare tool
Video recording
The Motorola Defy (2021) can capture up to 1080p videos with both the main and selfie cameras. 16:9 is the default aspect ratio, but a "full-screen" 20:9 is also available. The selfie cam is limited to 30fps, whereas the main one can do 60fps. These videos, however, end up with the same bitrate (a bit over 20 Mbps) and size as 30fps ones, meaning that you get lower quality overall.
You don't get a choice for video codecs, it's just the standard AVC, plus stereo AAC streams inside a h.264 MP4 container. No issues with smoothness or frame dropping, just like you would expect from a decently modern chipset and its hardware video encoder and decoder.
Video quality from the main cam is decent for a budget phone, but largely unimpressive overall. Detail is on the lower side for 1080p, though hardly the biggest issue. That would probably be the limited dynamic range. You get both severely clipped highlights and crushed shadows. Colors are quite a bit more vibrant than with stills. Even a bit exaggerated. The sharpening algorithm also seems to be a bit heavy-handed.
To be fair, videos are not a total disaster, but just like many other aspects of the Motorola Defy, would be much more excusable and easier to swallow on a sub-EUR 200 device and seem a bit outrageous on an over EUR 300 one. That's just the reality of rugged phones.
EIS is available on the Motorola Defy (2021) at the full 1080p resolution, but just for the main camera and not the selfie one. It does a decent job of smoothing out bigger shakes and bumps and doesn't narrow the field of view too much. We did, however, notice a bit of focus-hunting when EIS is on, which is sometimes the case on budget phones.
Selfie videos look pretty good in terms of details. Colors are again a bit too saturated. The biggest issue here, however, is the limited dynamic range. Still, these clips are perfectly serviceable for video calling purposes.
Lastly, here is the Motorola Defy (2021) at 1080p in our extensive video compare database.
Motorola Defy (2021) against the Xiaomi Poco M3 Pro 5G and the Samsung Galaxy A22 5G in our Video compare tool
Low-light camera quality
The Motorola Defy (2021) struggles quite a bit in low-light conditions. In the default 12MP mode shots come out looking soft and often outright out of focus. The camera seems to have some trouble focusing in low light. Dynamic range is also poor and light sources are often blown out quite spectacularly.
Motorola Defy (2021): 12MP main camera low-light samples
Shooting in 48MP mode can help a bit with detail, but you still have to battle with the inconsistent focus.
Motorola Defy (2021): 48MP main camera low-light samples
The thing that really has the potential to save many of your shots is Night mode, which Motorola calls "Night Vision". It has a profound effect on shots, brightening them up massively and also fixing both clipped highlights and crushed shadows in a noticeable way. It is still not perfect, but a whole lot better than shooting without it. Plus, it doesn't take too long to capture a Night Vision still. Not too shabby, considering the processor inside the Motorola Defy (2021). Most of the processing tends to happen behind the scenes, after you have finished capturing, which is only even an issue if you want to immediately view the photo after. We definitely recommend using it.
Motorola Defy (2021): 12MP main camera Night Vision samples
Selfies look pretty bad in low-light. The 8MP camera is really struggling on multiple fronts. It is lacking in terms of dynamic range, and its images are generally a noisy mess. There's no night mode for that one to lean on either.
Motorola Defy (2021): 8MP selfie camera low-light samples
Ending off on a slightly more-positive note, there is low-light video capture, which is serviceable. Not impressive in any way, but arguably better than low-light still in terms of overall quality.
Competition
If there is one thing the Motorola Defy (2021) has going for it, it has to be the particular combo of rugged design, mid-range price and adequate overall experience, which as we'll see in a minute is virtually impossible to come by. While you can find smartphones with tough IP68, MIL-SPEC 810H, Gorilla Glass Victus body they are either quite pricey or notably underpowered. Throw in a few other things like the PPT programmable button and even the massive lanyard setup and what you end up with is a very particular tool, more so than just another smartphone.
If you've read this far we'll accept that the need for a rugged smartphone is a given. The most-powerful among those is the Samsung Galaxy S20 Tactical Edition, but that is over five times as expensive and even if you are willing to pay EUR 1,500 it's not really available to end users.
Samsung does have other, more accessible and viable options, though, in the slightly-neglected, but still active Xcover line. There is the Xcover 5 from this year, but we would probably go for last year's Xcover Pro instead, since it has more powerful hardware overall. With a 6.3-inch FHD+ LCD, an Exynos 9611 chipset, 25MP main and 8MP ultrawide cams it still costs more than the Defy and comes with a smaller 4,050 mAh battery. Perhaps the difference (if you can afford it in the first place) is worth it if you value a more modern One UI 3.0 and Android 11 over battery life.
The Nokia XR20 was only recently announced and at first glance comes very close to the Motorola Defy (2021), even adding a far more efficient and Snapdragon 480 chipset and 5G support. However at nearly twice the cost it will a hard one to justify
Ulefone has a few current rugged devices as well. The Armor 11 5G and 11T 5G are almost identical in most aspect, with the addition of a FLIR thermal camera on the latter, in place of the 20MP night vision cam on the former. Yet, even the cheaper of the duo costs over EUR 500, meaning they are far form direct rivals.
Samsung Galaxy Xcover Pro • Ulefone Armor 11T 5G • Ulefone Armor 8 Pro • Nokia XR20
The Cat S62 Pro is another product of the Bullit group, but once more priced closer to the EUR 500 mark than the Defy.
Verdict
So there you have it - the Motorola Defy (2021) is a decent looking and nicely tough phone with just above entry-level performance and lower mid-range price. And while you can find better performers in the niche you would still be paying a class above for it, pushing the overall spending significantly higher.
Obviously achieving all the ruggedness costs a lot in terms of extra materials and R&D expenditure so it's not really fair to directly compare those phones to convential ones. In sort of the same way that we can't complain a digger costs a whole lot more than a modern family saloon and is nowhere near as fast or well-equipped.
Having said that, the Motorola Defy (2021) is actually a pretty compelling offer. For a little over EUR 300 you get a decent if basic smartphone experience. Which, for better or worse, is not a proposition any of its rivals matches.
If you find yourself in need of a rugged phone, the Motorola Defy (2021) is worth a consideration, at the very least.
Pros
- IP68 and MIL-STD-810H-compliant, Gorilla Glass Victus-equipped, reinforced internal PCB. Should function from -30 degrees C up to 75 degrees C for up to 30 minutes and survive category 4 vibration.
- Rugged yet still decent looking design, with a lot of grip and comfortable to use with work gloves. Not too heavy, considering its size.
- Dedicated programmable button, meant to be a PPT key, but can be anything else you want.
- Great all-round battery life.
- The Snapdragon 662 chipset is far from cutting edge, but still provides decent performance, in part helped by HD+ screen resolution.
- Usable if unimpressive main camera
Cons
- 720p 60Hz LCD is as basic as they come, brightness and color accuracy don't impress either.
- The otherwise clean and snappy Motorola software layer is still based on Android 10.
- Uninspiring single bottom-firing speaker.
- No ultrawide camera, mediocre low-light image quality.
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