Say hello to the Motorola Defy Mini

 If there is one thing I do know about owning a cell phone, it is that it has become more and more important to make sure that you have at least two or if possible three connections. That is, a connection to the three of the telcos in town.

How many times has it happened that we don’t get text messages, our network connection fails or worse, get that dreaded SIM card failed message as we are caught in traffic and are late for an all-important meeting.

Matter of fact, there is a telecom company that has an advertisement apologizing for the service interruptions because it is currently undergoing an upgrade.

Enter the Motorola Defy Mini dual SIM cell phone. At this time, it seems to be the cell of choice because it is just what one might need in case of an emergency and your trusted telco’s signal is wonky.

I got a chance to test the Motorola Defy Mini and was pleasantly surprised. Truth is, I hadn’t held a Motorola cell phone for a long time, although I am well aware that it was one of the first cell phones available hereabouts.

For starters, I was attracted to the dual SIM function. So, off I went to load two SIM cards and then test how quickly the Mini picked up the signals of the telcos. Let me say, that the phone was connected to both telcos quickly. Just perfect.

As I was connecting, I had a good look at the glass that protects the front of the phone — a mighty gorilla glass. I also noticed that there is small switch at the lower end of the back cover that serves to lock the back case in place.

 The Motorola Defy Mini weighs 107 grams and is 12.5-millimeters wide. It fits into my hand quite well, which makes it a good one to have and hold.

GIVE IT A GOOD LOOK

One thing that we have to admit about the 3.2-inch display on the Motorola Defy Mini is that it has pretty good color reproduction and viewing angles. Its resolution is 320 by 480 pixels, which is good for a cell phone as affordable this one is. 

The Motorola Defy Mini runs on Android 2.3.6 Gingerbread with the MotoSwitch UI installed. There is nothing fancy about the interface, but one can launch the smartphone’s camera or toggle its vibration on or off straight from the lock screen. There are a few useful widgets included: one is that it automatically goes to shortcuts that are most frequently used, while the other does the exact same thing with your contacts.

The on-screen keyboard is frustratingly difficult to use in portrait mode, so you better get used to tilting the device sideways when typing those text messages. Swype comes pre-installed, which helps to some extent, but still, typing requires more patience that we are used to putting in simple things like texting.

I must talk about the dual SIM just about here. I liked being able to switch easily between SIMs just by the push of a button — and it was easy to send a text message depending on which telco I preferred to use.

An application called Dashboard, which comes pre-loaded on the cell phone, features a chronometer, pedometer, and a counter that tells you how many calories you have burned during exercise. Also, with a little help from the handset’s GPS radio, the app tells you how many kilometers you have traveled while hiking or jogging. Included in the cell phone is a 2GB microSD card, which will get full pretty quickly.

COOL TOOL

I was genuinely pleased with the way calls came in on the Motorola Defy Mini. The voice tones were loud and clear, without any hints of digitizing. On the other side of the line, however, we noticed some volume fluctuation on several occasions, blame it on the bad connection, I guess.  

The smartphone’s 1,650mAh battery lasted for 10 hours, which is a really good figure by today’s standards. The three weeks of stand-by time that can be expected are also commendable.

If you are considering getting a first cell phone or are looking for a second phone with DUAL SIM functions, then the Motorola Defy Mini is worth being given a second look.

In these days of many typhoons, lots of bad traffic, and if you need to make that much needed call home — a dual SIM cell phone might just be the most handy answer to your needs.