Develop Bugs

[Q] 720p encoding

Has anybody yet hacked the DEFY to expose this supported capability ?

Sorry but allegedly, it is not supported.
Hardware limitations.

Wouldent it be limited just by the CPU support? If its the 3630, then it would support 720p
focus.ti. com/general/docs/wtbu/wtbuproductcontent.tsp?templateId=6123&navigationId=12836&contentId=52606
delete the space between ti. and com for the url to work. Cause im new I cant post URLs :\

Isn't 100% sure... can be a 3630 or 3610 ( with GPU )
In my opinion, motorola created a massive production 3630 is cheaper than make 1m 3610 ( with gpu ) and 1m more 3630...
And declarated as an 3610 processor to sell more Droid2/X.
It's a simply market strategy.
If a developer knows if defy have a 3630 processor and can record 720P ( if no camera limitations ), can be good as droid2/x and of course the price as much better.
the defy processor overclocks the same a DROID 2/X with the same Vsel, and the Scores are the same too...
Please gutting the phone once to clarify this...
PD: excuse my ****ing bad english.

Looking at some public motorola source code, it does support 720p. It just seems to be commented all over the place.
Also early DEFY testers got roms with 720p support ...

BizzaBoy said:
Looking at some public motorola source code, it does support 720p. It just seems to be commented all over the place.
Also early DEFY testers got roms with 720p support ...
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Click to collapse
I think defy with 720P will be great! the defy camera quality it's amazing on android 2.1, and with froyo i supose will be AHhh!!!!!

Doesn't seem to be a huge amount of support for the phone in this forum. Not the worst mind you. Amazing phone I wish more hackers and chefs would give it a try.

Not sure about the defy camera. It's nowhere near as good as XT701 camera. Meant to be 5mp but average quality as soon as light drops.
Sent from my MB525 using XDA App

pjcons said:
Not sure about the defy camera. It's nowhere near as good as XT701 camera. Meant to be 5mp but average quality as soon as light drops.
Sent from my MB525 using XDA App
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That can be the driver, or Eclair version? THe defy's camera it's better than a loot of phones, incluiding, htc hd2, nexus one, desire, wave...etc
Maybe in low light conditions, it's bad, and with Android 2.1... i supose need an improvement

Defy's camera is bad, very bad. Nokia N95 and N97 are the two better mobile cameras I have seen. Omnia cam (my last phone) is too better than Defy's one. Luckily I don't use the mobile to take photos... because I bought a reflex looking for quality.

BizzaBoy said:
Looking at some public motorola source code, it does support 720p. It just seems to be commented all over the place.
Also early DEFY testers got roms with 720p support ...
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Click to collapse
Where can I get the public source code you are talking about?

plaisthos said:
Where can I get the public source code you are talking about?
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Click to collapse
The source is at opensource.motorola.com. Click yourself throu the projects.

Perilla_ said:
Defy's camera is bad, very bad. Nokia N95 and N97 are the two better mobile cameras I have seen. Omnia cam (my last phone) is too better than Defy's one. Luckily I don't use the mobile to take photos... because I bought a reflex looking for quality.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do own a DSLR (Pentax K20 with an awesome 50-135mm lens). I do own a Camcorder (Samsung HMX-H204). I do own (well my wife and kiddos) various types of P&S cameras. I am a picture/image/video quality freak (by profession).
However if I want to take a quick snap while I'm out there an Skiing, then NOTHING beats the DEFY's camera. It's conveniant (as you have it with you to listen to music anyway). You take a quick clip, or snap a few pictures, and send it over to facebook right away from the slopes, so that the suckers at home can see it right away. Yes, I can get better shots with my DSLR, but that is carrying 2kg extra with me, and yes, I can get better video with the Camcorder, but that is not IP67 rated.
So conveniance wins. The only 2 nagging points for me are that the DEFY could do 720p, but it's not enabled, and that there is no way to set the JPEG quality in the camera app.

Yes, all true, but comparing defy's cam with other phones... no win xD

Perilla_ said:
Yes, all true, but comparing defy's cam with other phones... no win xD
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No' that's not 100% true, if can improve the camera compression, the quality will be 10 times better.
If i compare Samsung wave camera VS Defy = Defy Wins in good light conditions.

But compared with the three other phones I had, Defy loose.

tomeu0000 said:
No' that's not 100% true, if can improve the camera compression, the quality will be 10 times better.
If i compare Samsung wave camera VS Defy = Defy Wins in good light conditions.
Click to expand...
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You might want to try out "Camera 360" then, which allows you to adjust the compression. However for some reason it sucks up a huge amount of power.

Perilla_ said:
But compared with the three other phones I had, Defy loose.
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Click to collapse
If you are taking picture in whiteout conditions while snowing, the DEFY wins. If you are out there and biking and it's raining cats and dogs, the DEFY wins.

BizzaBoy said:
Has anybody yet hacked the DEFY to expose this supported capability ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Before I forget. 640x480 on the DEFY can get up to 3 mbit/sec (2.5 as I've seen in streams). The source implies that 1280x720 would be limited to 3 mbit/sec as well. That would probably impact the 720p quality substatially (or the frame-rate, as the "Droid X" only does 720p with 24 fps. So not sure whether it's desireable to have 720p ...

When it's raining, I don't go bike... Have you tried N95 or N97 camera?

[Q] Opinions please, Defy for a noob

Hi, I'm asking for some opinions from Defy owners, please.
A friend of mine is looking to get a new phone on contract (UK), around the £15/20mth mark. I'm an old hand with Android (mostly HTC handsets though) and therefore his first port of call for advice. I am however a bit strapped for time at the moment, and can't scour all the forums for the info I need to make my recommendations.
I'm pretty sure that I'll tell him to get a Defy or an LG Optimus One.
Looking at the specs it seems like the Defy is the winner on pretty much all counts:
Screen: Defy 3.7" 480x854 Optimus 3.2" 320x480
RAM: Both 512MB
ROM: Defy 1.9GB Optimus 512MB
Battery: Defy 1540mAh Optimus 1500mAh
Camera: Defy 5MP Optimus 3.1MP
So, what is the problem I hear you cry? Well, as we all know, hardware specs don't tell the whole story. From the little I've read about the LG software, it's pretty close to vanilla Android - and it's 2.2 as well. The Defy has the overhead of Motoblur and is running on 2.1. And we all know how Motorola treats updates on Android.
What I want to know is this: what is the Defy like on a day to day basis, with the stock UK ROM? My friend will not want to root (or have me do it for him) - he just wants a phone that works out of the box.
Also, you will probably be able to save me a lot of searching if you answer this question - has Motorola said anything about updating the Defy to Froyo? If so, when? LG has committed to upgrading the Optimus One to Gingerbread - I know that will never happen for the Defy, but Froyo would be nice.
Also, any other relevant info you think I ought to know would be greatly appreciated, ie. known faults, bugs etc. I realise it must have the locked Moto bootloader.
Thanks!

I believe you've summed it up pretty well, and believe that your friend will like the defy out of the box over the optimus for all the reasons you mentioned, not to mention this thing is far more accident-resistant over the optimus. As for Froyo, official roms have already been released in several markets so I would assume all markets will get it officially. As you know, there are plenty of unofficial froyo roms and some without blur that work great on here if you want to go that route (but doesn't sound like you have the time to).
As for moto-blur, it's not that bad...I have two (one for me and one for wife), mine's rooted and overclocked among some other things and running launcher pro (so technically still has blur but it's not launched)...and hers is stock, sure my quadrant score is higher than hers, but for the day to day tasks that 95% users are using, the stock works great and is snappy. I really can't see much difference in speed between hers and mine with most stuff that we do on it. That being said, sounds like your friend isn't going to be in the 5% like those on this forum and therefore the need to go all out with the phone and have to hack the crap out of it, so I believe the stock defy should make a happy friend... But...that's MHO and everyone's preference is different!
btw, I played with the optimus when I was shopping phones, and went with defy...loving every second!

Thanks for that. I posted the same question over in the Optimus One forums, and they all recommended the Defy as well! So, problem solved I guess.
Are there any known issues with the Defy? I'm sure I read somewhere about the headphone port failing regularly, as well as the speaker packing in as well?

yea there were a headspeaker issues ...but thats fixed in newer versions of the phone, so it shouldnt be a problem

Peglezn said:
yea there were a headspeaker issues ...but thats fixed in newer versions of the phone, so it shouldnt be a problem
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That's good to know, thanks.

What is the future of green lens/soc defy?

I want to buy a defy but after the green /red lens situation.i am not sure about the future of green lens defy ? i don't want Good camera or 720p recording but will developers make further roms for defy as defy+ has been launched ?. I think that developers will make future rom's by taking defy+ in mind which have red lens.so chances are that further roms will get less and less comaptible with defy with green lens.Can developers give any detail on this that the defy+ will make no effect on the green len's defy owners and they will get developers always best services even in the future? So that i will have no problem in getting wonderful defy even with green lens or whatever

Buy defy+ instead...
I think new Defys come with Bayer modules so ur good to go...
Fortunate to own a Red Lens Defy...
Sent from my MB525 using xda premium

defy+ roms are defy roms with excluded soc modules. so theyre not that different. and cyanogenmod (imho the absolutely best rom available) supports defy (but not the defy+). so you should be fine buying a defy, i have one, had no problems with it so far (we will definitely get ics with cm9). and from what ive heard/read, the defy+ wont even get official ics, so youre screwed with stock roms either way. get the defy, its significantly cheaper!
BUT if defy is not good enough, consider nexus s, its around the same price as the defy+, and: bigger screen, better gpu, greater dev community, widely supported, and cmon, its a GOOGLE phone, not a crappy motorola -.-
sent from my cm7.1 defy...

one more question i have heard bayer defy were mde between feb to july...so if i am fortunate to get a red lens defy now it will be 8 months old ...so should i buy a red lens defy which was manufactured 8 months before or a green lens defy which is made recently like 1 month old

pankajkainthla said:
one more question i have heard bayer defy were mde between feb to july...so if i am fortunate to get a red lens defy now it will be 8 months old ...so should i buy a red lens defy which was manufactured 8 months before or a green lens defy which is made recently like 1 month old
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess green lens is the old one and red one is new...
Sent from my MB525 using xda premium

i dont think you can buy a new red lensed one, only with green lens (the ones with red lens are called defy+ now, thats the whole point, thats why they dont sell red lensed defys anymore).
sent from my cm7.1 defy...

zakoo2 said:
defy+ roms are defy roms with excluded soc modules. so theyre not that different. and cyanogenmod (imho the absolutely best rom available) supports defy (but not the defy+). so you should be fine buying a defy, i have one, had no problems with it so far (we will definitely get ics with cm9). and from what ive heard/read, the defy+ wont even get official ics, so youre screwed with stock roms either way. get the defy, its significantly cheaper!
BUT if defy is not good enough, consider nexus s, its around the same price as the defy+, and: bigger screen, better gpu, greater dev community, widely supported, and cmon, its a GOOGLE phone, not a crappy motorola -.-
sent from my cm7.1 defy...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
CM7 does support defy+ BTW
zakoo2 said:
i dont think you can buy a new red lensed one, only with green lens (the ones with red lens are called defy+ now, thats the whole point, thats why they dont sell red lensed defys anymore).
sent from my cm7.1 defy...
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Click to collapse
Some latest Defys have red lenses, but they're rare, and i guess no longer in production seen as Defy+ came out

zakoo2 said:
BUT if defy is not good enough, consider nexus s, its around the same price as the defy+, and: bigger screen, better gpu, greater dev community, widely supported, and cmon, its a GOOGLE phone, not a crappy motorola -.-
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Click to collapse
I second this..get a Nexus instead. Just before you start building castles in the air by hoping for regular software updates from Motorola, just go visit their official support forum. There they have declared that there won't be any further software updates for the Defy and thats not just because of the green lens/SOC module issue but also because with GB Defy will come in direct competition with the Defy+. This is one of the many of Motorola's sleazy sales policies and they just don't give a rats ass about existing customers, period. You will be surprised how many petition posts are there on that forum from customers pleading for software updates. They just ignore those posts. And if you are thinking that perhaps getting a Defy+ instead of a Defy will mark the beginning of a beautiful friendship with the company, you are mistaken there too. Same thing will happen to the Defy+ with the release of Defy++ or Defy# or whatever.
I'll admit that the Defy is a good phone in terms of flexibility like rooting etc. because of its 'unbrickableness' due to the locked bootloader, but in terms of official updates its a nightmare. If your decision to go for the Defy was due to its ruggedness features then you could also consider the Xperia Active.

there are some options better than the defy... like nexus S
but the green leans (soc module) is the old module, new defys are coming with red lens (bayer module)..

Want thsese features only.....
i dont care about updates i will b happy with eclair or custom roms.i want following features on defy:
1.great touch sensitivity no lag
2.great resoluion.i must be happy looking at a great looking display screen
3.internet shoud work like magic no lag
if only these features are there i will not care about updates. Plz tell me does defy runs great on my above features?

The cyanogen team will be rolling updates for both soc/bayer
Defy. So keeping it updated shouldn't be a problem.
Sent from Android 2.3.7

pankajkainthla said:
i dont care about updates i will b happy with eclair or custom roms.i want following features on defy:
1.great touch sensitivity no lag
2.great resoluion.i must be happy looking at a great looking display screen
3.internet shoud work like magic no lag
if only these features are there i will not care about updates. Plz tell me does defy runs great on my above features?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you will care about updates when everyone around you will use ICS (android 4.0), and youre still on 2.1. nexus s already has official ICS, defy will never have it (and defy+ wont either afaik). nexus s has better cpu and much better gpu, so you wont have any lag, thats for sure. you wont see the difference between the two displays (the defy has a slightly higher resolution screen, but thats not that big of a difference), and the nexus has bigger sceen. internet works like magic on both phones. and one more thing: the nexus s has a built in nfc chip, the defy doesnt. cheers!

Motorola defy earpiece problem fixed or not!!!!
Does the earpiece problem still exists in motorola defy or it has been fixed ?

Disable motorola defy capactive buttons vibration android froyo....
Hi, can anybody tell me how to disable the capacitive buttons vibration on motorola defy?i have unchecked the heptic feedback but problem still lives. I am using android 2.2.2 .Plz provide some suggestions as the vibration is very annoying

pankajkainthla said:
i dont care about updates i will b happy with eclair or custom roms.i want following features on defy:
1.great touch sensitivity no lag
2.great resoluion.i must be happy looking at a great looking display screen
3.internet shoud work like magic no lag
if only these features are there i will not care about updates. Plz tell me does defy runs great on my above features?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a green lens Defy so let me help answer ur question.
1. Yes no lag, on CM7 and GO launcher
2. Yes awesome resolution for its size, I havent a problem with it.
3. Internet works fine, 3G/HSDPA is fast, wifi not a problem...though some on nightlys wifi can be a problem. <---need some tweaking
So all in all, yes Defy is a great phone for your requirement with an added bonus of being more robust than others.
Though your requirements fits many other phones out there

pankajkainthla said:
Does the earpiece problem still exists in motorola defy or it has been fixed ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It still exists on the majority of Defys :/
Sent from my 1Ghz CM7 Defy

pankajkainthla said:
Hi, can anybody tell me how to disable the capacitive buttons vibration on motorola defy?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.cynyx.vibrafix works for me.
---------- Post added at 09:58 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:53 AM ----------
crakeron said:
It still exists on the majority of Defys :/
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Not according to Motorola. The official advice on the Motorola support forum for the Defy is as follows:
If you remove the battery you should see a label inside the battery compartment with a bar code and the words "Made in China". If the characters above "Made in China" include "BTxx" or "BFxx" then the phone should not be at risk of suffering the earpiece problem. Alternatively, if there is a blue dot on the label then the phone should also not be at risk.
So if your phone has "BTxx" or "BFxx", or a blue dot, then it doesn't have the fault. Bear in mind that there can be other reasons for the earpiece to fail, over and above the known fault which Motorola have acknowleged, so even a phone not in the "at risk" batch can still go wrong for other reasons eg mistreatment, or a one-off manufacturing error. Conversely, if your phone is in one of the suspect batches then it's not necessarily bound to break: my phone does not have any of the reassuring markings but the earpiece has been fine so far, touch wood.

zakoo2 said:
BUT if defy is not good enough, consider nexus s, its around the same price as the defy+, and: bigger screen, better gpu, greater dev community, widely supported, and cmon, its a GOOGLE phone, not a crappy motorola -.-
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well its not true that Nexus is around the same price as Defy+ ... f.e. amazon.de Nexus S - 296,66 EUR, Defy 228,90 EUR, Defy+ 237,89 EUR. If you want simmilar to Nexus S price, I would prefer SE Arc S. But diff between Defy+ and normal is too small, that I suggest to buy the newer stuff. And support is in the future - as Google said, that all devices with stock Gingerbread should get ICS too. We will see.

untill now i still can decide my defy got green or red lens even after read a thread about it
any other step that can i try?

zakoo2 said:
defy+ roms are defy roms with excluded soc modules. so theyre not that different. and cyanogenmod (imho the absolutely best rom available) supports defy (but not the defy+). so you should be fine buying a defy, i have one, had no problems with it so far (we will definitely get ics with cm9). and from what ive heard/read, the defy+ wont even get official ics, so youre screwed with stock roms either way. get the defy, its significantly cheaper!
BUT if defy is not good enough, consider nexus s, its around the same price as the defy+, and: bigger screen, better gpu, greater dev community, widely supported, and cmon, its a GOOGLE phone, not a crappy motorola -.-
sent from my cm7.1 defy...
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Click to collapse
From Nexus to DEFY - I think DEFY can be defined as a phone against NEXUS

Should i buy Defy ! ?

I am a proud user of LG Optimus one which s a fabulous phone due to dev support here @ XDA. I am thinking of buying DEFY. I have few questions.
1. Will Defy be a upgrade from LG optimus one?
2. I heard of earpiece failing problems. Is it prominent?
3. I am an audiophile . So i need an in ear earphones for Defy. Is ther any?
4. How s the dev support for defy. Does defy support well known roms such as oxygen, cm and MIUI?
5. I heard defy suffers because of locked bootloader? Is it curtail the development for this mobile?
6. Does defy have any other problems?
Thanks guyz. Awaiting response.

1) defy is definitely an upgrade from optimus one. It has much better hardware.
2) earpiece problem existed in the earlier models. Now they have fixed it.
3) the earphones (not in ear) provided with the phone is decent. If you don't like them maybe buy a senheiser.
4) dev support is really good. We have official cm and MIUI. Both are very stable.
5) we have had amazing development even with the locked bootloader. Devs have found workarounds but we can't boot custom kernels and this does limit the potential of this device.
6) if you buy a new defy now you will probably get one with green lens. It doesn't support 720p recording and has other incompatibility issues with defy with red lens. Although if you buy a defy+ you will get red lens and official ics update and still use the dev roms for defy.

I bet u there are better phones than defy out there...
Defy is now old!!
I don't say its a bad phone but Motorola sucks!!
Sent from my MB525 using xda premium

get one ^^
Moto Moto [so good you say it twice]

overall is a great phone and the build quality is the best IMO as it go water resistance and scratch resistance...

If I look at it now, I would have bought a used nexus s. But defy is cheaper and I find it quite good for the money. Especially with CM7.
Sent from my MB525

Defy is a good phone indeed but it's old now!
I think you should get some other phone and it's not the right moment to buy any motorola device since they're keeping on lying about bootloader matter.

I'm a proud 1 year Defy user looking to buy a Desire Z or something similar.
1. I cannot tell you more than the specs comparison would tell you. But if the screen is bigger than it is an upgrade (I wouldn't buy anything below 480*800
2. That was a problem of the first batches. By the time I bought mine (February 2011) it was already solved.
3. Any stereo headphone will work. I've tried 2 pairs of Apple, some Bose with mic from a Berry Torch, some Samsung that came with Galaxy S+. I use a pair of HeadDirect RE0 (without mic). If you're a big fan of good sound try RE0 or Phonak PFE221 or head over to head-fi.org for advice.
4./5. There are quite a few devs around here. Not too many, but very active. Sadly the locked bootloader keeps them behind (Desire Z already has AOSP ICS 4.0.3 for example). So giving the situation I can say that it is a very supported phone. So there is CM7.1, a few flavors of MIUI, a few modified originals and combinations.
6. At the moment I don't know of any major, wide spread problems.
I should also mention the green/red lens thingie:
Green: also called SoC, no 720p, common on Defy, drivers in 2.1 and 2.2 Moto ROMs
Red: also called Bayer, 720p capable, found on some Defy's and Defy+, drivers in 2.3 MotoROMs
LE: Hardware wise Defy is a great phone (one of the best price/quality) but the locked bootloader pisses me off. I am also looking forward to try a hardware querty.

I bought one of the first Defys released in the US (Nov 2010), Green lens and all. Have had zero issues that I could not sort myself. You might look at the Defy Plus as it has a faster processor and runs 2.3 out of the box (I believe). But, it does not have the t-mo 3G frequency.

I am a bit disappointed to have a phone from Motorola but Optimus one is just a crap if u compare it with defy.
Defy is at least 100 times better than optimus one in all aspect.

By Scott, pull the trigger...
I'm using the optima one titanium, and i would trade this any day for my defy back!!!
Ps.
Month old lg optimus p509 for sale/ trade, Motorola defy..
No scratches, pristine condition. Boxed with original gear, a well as two extra screen protectors, and the case i bought.
Original parts include ear buds, charge with cable as well as 4gb Sandisc micro card.
Phone still has first screen protector, and has never/ will never be overclocked!!!
Let me know
karthikus said:
Thanks guyz. Awaiting response.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

I guess you can answer this question asking yourself how much you have in the pocket.
For me, it's the best cost/benefit in the market, and I recomend it for everyone!
But if you can buy a brand new model with more 'skills' than the defy, go for it.

I recommend Defy, but HTC HD2 and NexusS also have great value...
IMHO, Defy and RAZR are the best quality made phones, take that as an advantage...

mihovil13 said:
I recommend Defy, but HTC HD2 and NexusS also have great value...
IMHO, Defy and RAZR are the best quality made phones, take that as an advantage...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah but Nexus S build quality is not really as good as Defy's and honestly the back is just ugly (a bit better hardware though and Google support) Hd2 is a very good phone! Very good build quality, very good dev support (maybe the best) but Defy is Faster/Smooter (android native) and has better screen...
I heard that defy is old....yeah? Nexus S is as old as defy...hd2 is veeeery old but still a good phone... As long as you don't go for a dual core phone there's no need to change defy. Is as good as any single core phone on the market, no real/visible difference (performance wise)!

pravarth said:
1) defy is definitely an upgrade from optimus one. It has much better hardware...
...6) if you buy a new defy now you will probably get one with green lens. It doesn't support 720p recording and has other incompatibility issues with defy with red lens. Although if you buy a defy+ you will get red lens and official ics update and still use the dev roms for defy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Source on official ICS update? motorola page says it will stay on 2.3

Defy is Great!
Defy is good to go with!
1) It is wtr proof, scratch proof, dust proof.
2) Speed is amazing in CM7 mode.
3) ICS is almost ready only HWA and Camrecoder are left to be fixed. it might be completed within few days for more info visit this thread.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1432100

Yes,you can.
Sent from my MotoA953 using XDA App

Defy+/Defy GB Kernel. this should work with the regular defy with a bayer camera right?

defy is not bad
defy is not bad

Yes, It works.
Sent from my MB525 using XDA App

Defy+ vs SE Xperia Mini Pro and SE Ray / Recommended ROM for Defy+

How does the Defy+ compare to Xperia Mini Pro and Ray phones. I want to recommend to my cousing sister.
We looked at Ace, Wildfire S, Xperia series, Ray, Galsxy SLCD (I have this one)
Defy+ seems to have good features at a fair price. Is the phone good?

jesrani said:
How does the Defy+ compare to Xperia Mini Pro and Ray phones. I want to recommend to my cousing sister.
We looked at Ace, Wildfire S, Xperia series, Ray, Galsxy SLCD (I have this one)
Defy+ seems to have good features at a fair price. Is the phone good?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think below the 20k range Defy plus is the best .. for the features and its cost..
It counts only if u are ready to root ur mobile ..
Because Motorola sucks in giving software updates and most probably it will remain in GB only ..
Apart from these ..its the best ..Life proof

My vote goes for DEFY+, too, because of the superior build quality.
Besides that, no official ICS update is a minus, but CM9 will be available soon enough. On the stock Gingerbread, DEFY+ does everything and opens everything. Really, everything works! That's why I loved it from the beginning.
Other than stock, there are some stable CM and MIUI versions available for it and they will improve the experience further, with good looks and better speed, you know how it goes...
One more huge plus is that "Lifeproof" feature It's true. (Read the short story in my signature )
Cheers!

@kanna91 and @niksy+, thanks for the replies.
My sis is not going to change ROMS, maybe I can do it for her once initially. I have experience with flashing my Galaxy SLCD, don;t know if this would be similar.
Which ROM is recommended?

I would advise you to try the latest stable CM7.1.0-11. That's what I use and it's stable for the average user. (no need for troubleshooting skills and such)
I cannot say anything about MIUI or similar.

I don't think your sister is a great gamer. The stock ROM is enough. Is not as speedy as Cm7 but it has less bugs. And the battery is better. I tried CM7 but I come back to my default ROM (in Romania 2.3.5 it the official one). Just root it, delete 7player, task manager, cardio trainer and zinio and install RAM manager from android marker. The free version has just balance profile but is enought. Is not a app killer because this drains bat but optimise the RAM usage (less lag). Believe me, it works. The developer is one of us, a XDA member.
For CM7, you should wait for the final version.
For a girl, Xperia Ray looks better than Defy. I asked my girlfriend and she told me that. For me, as a male, Defy looks better. Also, Ray will receive ICS update...official. But that's not very important for a girl: she will want a good looking phone, without functionality problems.

A girl, huh? My girlfriend likes my DEFY+, but wants a RAZR MAXX
Best ROMs I know about are MIUI Pikachu Edition and CM White Rabbit Edition. I'm getting 3 days battery life with Pikachu.
Anyway, I don't know, really... I don't like pointing people in the wrong direction :/ I've set up my phone real nice now, but it took a while and, like you said, your sister won't be up for that...
All I can say is that DEFY(+) is a really well built phone.

If I was going to buy an Android now, I would choose a phone with unlockable bootloader,
from a brand that could guarantee upgrade for at least Ice Cream Sandwich.

Get MIUI. Chicks dig it.
Sent from my MB525 using XDA App

royale1223 said:
Get MIUI. Chicks dig it.
Sent from my MB525 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, would be mu recommendation as well if you want to install a ROM (alone because of the beautiful UI.design). Although there are less ROMs for the Plus (compared to the og Defy) I think the Pikachu Edition should work fine, installing ROMs on the phone is super easy.
If possible, I'd go into a store and try these phones, look which suites her needs best.
It is a nice phone with a good price, not really sexy but reliable. Speed is acceptable, camera is ok. The screen is bigger than the one one the other phones you mentioned (except Galaxy S which is better overall imho).

mrolp said:
If I was going to buy an Android now, I would choose a phone with unlockable bootloader,
from a brand that could guarantee upgrade for at least Ice Cream Sandwich.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's the point: SE Xperia Ray has unlocked bootloader and official support from Cyanogen Mod too. Also, it will get ICS officially.
Defy+ is still not directed supported by XDA developers. If you install an MIUI should get the correct batt file for correct battery monitor. Pikacku edition have some stupid bugs like gallery cannot delete pictures.
My advice is to ask your sister what phone likes more (design and construction). Than purchase it. Purchasing any of them is all right. Both have vanilla roms, both are well designed and so on. Also, see that Sony Ericsson received 4 iF design awards.
I've tested a Ray before purchasing Defy+ but I preferred Defy+. Also, before it, I owned a Defy.