Achim Maier
13 years after the first model, Motorola has introduced the new Defy 2, a rugged 5G smartphone with satellite connection. Motorola has tested it to withstand drops of up to 1.8m/6ft onto steel panels, withstand extreme temperatures (-30°C/-22°F to 75°C/167°F) for up to 24 hours and to cope with humid environments such as salt spray. On the go, the Motorola smartphone offers a special antimicrobial coating with silver ions. You can then simply wash the Motorola Defy 2 at home with soap and disinfectant.
The Motorola Defy 2 is powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 930 chipset in combination with 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage. There is also a microSD slot. Android 12 comes as the operating system, but Motorola guarantees two major os updates for the Defy 2 up to version 14. There are also quarterly security updates for the first 3 years and then emergency SMR updates for a further 2 years.
The Motorola Defy 2 is based on a 6.6-inch IPS LCD display with FHD+ resolution, a 20:9 aspect ratio and a refresh rate of 120 Hz. The panel offers Gorilla Glass Victus protection and you can also use the touchscreen with gloves or wet fingers. There is an 8-megapixel selfie camera on the top and a fingerprint sensor on the side. On the back you will find a typical Motorola camera setup. These include the 50 megapixel main camera with an aperture of f/1.8, an 8 megapixel ultra wide and a 2 megapixel macro camera. The battery of the Motorola Defy 2 has a capacity of 5,000 mAh and charges per cable with 15 watts. Qi charging is also supported.
Motorola Defy 2 sends SMS and location via satellite
Thanks to the satellite connection of the Motorola Defy 2, you can send messages from anywhere with a clear view of the sky, which arrive as an SMS at the other end. Each message is up to 140 bytes in size and supports Unicode, so all writing systems are covered. You can also add your own location. You don’t need any special equipment or software to receive, but you do need a free Android/iOS app to answer.
Services start at $5/€5 per month. With this basic plan, you can send up to 30 messages. There is also a premium plan for $30/€30 that allows you to send up to 400 messages per month and free SOS help for 12 months. The service will cover Europe and North America in the first quarter. By the middle of the year, Motorola plans to expand the service to the ANZ region, Africa and Latin America. Additional regions will be added by the end of the year.
