Motorola's DEFY stood out from the smartphone pack thanks to a rugged design, featuring a water-resistant and dust-proof chassis.

The updated version, the DEFY+, continues this trend, but with very little in the way of significant upgrades, it would seem.

Upon unboxing the device, we found ourselves being a tad underwhelmed by the design. For one, the earphone jack's plug sticks out like a sore thumb. Every person holding the device noted the offending plug, which says a lot. Then there's the water-tight back cover, being pretty difficult to attach and detach.

Other than that, the Motorola DEFY+ is solidly built, being made out of plastic for the most part.

The screen itself is a 3.7-inch, 854 by 480 TFT display, being pretty responsive and clear. Although it won't give the newly announced Galaxy SIII and iPhone 4S a run for its money, it's still not too shabby.

The display is equipped with Gorilla Glass as well, as is the standard these days, so I was able to pop the device into my key-filled pocket without worrying scratches.

Below the screen, you'll find the four capacitive buttons, namely More Options, Home, Back and Search. While I prefer physical buttons, capacitive makes sense owing to the water-resistant nature of the DEFY+.

The new DEFY possesses the same 5MP camera as the old version, featuring an LED flash and autofocus. The phone's camera is decent enough for most situations, but if you're looking to leave your dedicated shooter at home, this isn't the phone you'll be picking up.

Much like its older brother, it doesn't feature a front-facing camera either, so you'll need to use the main camera for video-calling.

In fact, the DEFY+ has few new features over its older brother, with the 1GHz single-core chip and Android 2.3 being the only real updates. And even then, Android 2.3 isn't the latest and greatest version of Google's all-conquering platform, with that honour going to Android 4.0.

But the DEFY range isn't about cutting-edge specifications at all, instead, the phones are built tough. Whether it was a coin-filled pocket or inclement weather, the phone shrugged off the obstacles we put in its way, with nary a scratch to be had.

Despite the mid-range specifications, the phone ran pretty smoothly, with menu scrolling and transitions being pretty slick most of the time.

The phone is also pretty adept at multitasking, even though its 512MBs of RAM is considered low in this era.

Our one complaint about multitasking though is that it seems to lack a proper app switching icon/button, as seen with various Android devices. Nevertheless, whether you're listening to music, playing games or streaming video, it'll get the job done just fine.

Additionally, the DEFY+ comes with a pre-loaded application in the form of a CardioTrainer program, letting you track your workout progress.

The Motorola DEFY+ might be an incremental upgrade over the original model, but its rugged design definitely puts it on our radar. Then there's the R2899 recommended price-tag, making this phone a serious mid-range contender.

Score: 7.5 out of 10