TL; DR
- A leak suggests that Motorola could revive its rugged Defy phone with a modern version.
- It would have modest specs, but a sturdy case that could withstand water and steep drops.
- There is no word about pricing or availability.
Motorola’s return to the rugged phone market could draw on a household name. Leaker Evan Blass has divided Pictures and specs of a supposedly new version of the Defy – a model Motorola launched in 2010 as the first waterproof Android phone.
The new Motorola Defy would have a much more modern design, including three rear cameras and a selfie camera hidden in a teardrop notch. It would be decidedly tougher than your typical phone, however. In addition to the dust and water resistance according to IP68 (not so rare anymore), it would have an extremely shock-resistant housing that, thanks to its “structurally reinforced” circuit board, could withstand falls from a height of two meters onto steel. You would even be given a lanyard to reduce the chance of falls.
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Otherwise, this Defy would be a modern Motorola phone – so modest specs with a few glimmers of light. You’d have to live with a 6.5-inch 720p screen, Snapdragon 662 chip, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of expandable storage. You’d get a sizable 5,000 mAh battery, however, and that screen would include Gorilla Glass Victus and wet finger support. A 48 MP main camera, 2 MP macro camera, and 2 MP depth sensor would sit on the back, while an 8 MP selfie camera would sit on the front.
It’s not certain when Motorola will introduce the new Defy or how much it would cost. However, the abundance of press photos in the leak suggests the company is relatively close, and the specs suggest a reasonable price tag. Whether it will prevail is another matter. A lot has changed in the Android phone market since the original Defy, and Motorola is no longer the giant it once was.
