[8] The Defy shares its platform with Motorola Bravo though there are minor differences in exterior design, 3G band, lower resolution camera without LED flash and non-weather resistance.

The phone was launched unlocked in Germany, France, Italy, Hungary, India, Thailand, Spain, the UK, Turkey, Romania and Greece under various networks and was distributed exclusively by a number of carriers, including T-Mobile in the United States, Telus in Canada, and Telstra and Optus in Australia.

This can be modified on rooted phones, using 3rd party tools (e.g. SetVSel app) or custom ROMs, with stable performance over 1 GHz being common.

The Defy XT variation uses a 1 GHz CPU in ARM Cortex-A5 microprocessor core, 512 MiB RAM, Adreno 200 Enhanced GPU at 245 MHz with a Qualcomm MSM architecture, MSM7627A chipset and a 3.7 inch screen, with an 854x480 resolution (245 dpi).

[citation needed] Ten years after its last rugged phone, a new Motorola Defy was introduced in 2021, also running Android and IP68 certified.