[Q] Confused between Motorola Defy and LG Optimus Black P970

[TJKV]

Good choice!

Hey! I too had the exact same dilemma, Defy vs Black, until I ordered the former day before from flipkart. Glad to see you are choosing the Defy too

About the memory cards, do a search on this forum for micro SD card benchmarks, there are a couple of threads here and there. Basically random read/write speeds are the most important for android OS related performance as far as I can understand. Looking at them I concluded a class 4 card of 8 or 16 GB is the best bet right now (of a well known brand of course). I'll be buying an 8 GB one because 16 is too expensive for me right now.

Obviously the Optimus Black will have better support in the future for updates etc but Motorola Defy has (almost) official CM7 support going for it, so in a way the Defy is relatively future proof too, as much as is possible in our budgets.

The ruggedness is definitely a plus too, considering this is going to be my first full touchscreen phone. I'm used to normal feature phones that can take a few accidental drops here and there, and I become jittery looking at full featured smartphones like SGS2 and the like because of this. I don't think they would handle such falls very well.

My requirements are exactly the same, 1 thru 10 (Opening Post) but I'm not a developer. But anyway this is the right time to buy a Defy for people like us because prices are at an all time now. eBay lists it for around 14.7k, flipkart for 15.4k, and infibeam.com for 14k. Freebies on flipkart and letsbuy.com. It is available at retailers like univercell too but for at least 2k more than online.

I'm expecting the handset to be delivered this evening, concluding a nearly 1 yr long period of doing research, checking out the latest android phone rumors, making endless comparisons on gsmarena, lurking around xda forums of various phones

Good luck with your new phone, and if you are up for trying custom roms then do keep in touch cos I intend to dive into the world of android rooting, flashing, bricking, debricking, and all that stuff

 

[arpith.fbi]

Well.... decided to go with defy for its ruggedness and practical things... My wify too loves defy than lg!

I don't know whether i'll get red lens or green... let's see...

I'm going to order my defy through letsbuy.com... with discount coupon, CTP (cost to pocket! ) is INR 14,399 (Jabra bluetooth headset free)

I'm thinking to get 16 GB Transcend class 4 micro SD card also for INR 1180. Will it work with defy without any problems?

i dont think u will have any problem..mine is working fine..14.3k is a gud deal..

 

[jasonmax]

Hey! I too had the exact same dilemma, Defy vs Black, until I ordered the former day before from flipkart. Glad to see you are choosing the Defy too

About the memory cards, do a search on this forum for micro SD card benchmarks, there are a couple of threads here and there. Basically random read/write speeds are the most important for android OS related performance as far as I can understand. Looking at them I concluded a class 4 card of 8 or 16 GB is the best bet right now (of a well known brand of course). I'll be buying an 8 GB one because 16 is too expensive for me right now.

Obviously the Optimus Black will have better support in the future for updates etc but Motorola Defy has (almost) official CM7 support going for it, so in a way the Defy is relatively future proof too, as much as is possible in our budgets.

The ruggedness is definitely a plus too, considering this is going to be my first full touchscreen phone. I'm used to normal feature phones that can take a few accidental drops here and there, and I become jittery looking at full featured smartphones like SGS2 and the like because of this. I don't think they would handle such falls very well.

My requirements are exactly the same, 1 thru 10 (Opening Post) but I'm not a developer. But anyway this is the right time to buy a Defy for people like us because prices are at an all time now. eBay lists it for around 14.7k, flipkart for 15.4k, and infibeam.com for 14k. Freebies on flipkart and letsbuy.com. It is available at retailers like univercell too but for at least 2k more than online.

I'm expecting the handset to be delivered this evening, concluding a nearly 1 yr long period of doing research, checking out the latest android phone rumors, making endless comparisons on gsmarena, lurking around xda forums of various phones

Good luck with your new phone, and if you are up for trying custom roms then do keep in touch cos I intend to dive into the world of android rooting, flashing, bricking, debricking, and all that stuff

Glad to see a fellow Bangalorean here Thanks for your input on micro SD cards and the price information. I was just waiting for someone to clarify my doubt about micro SD card before checking out on letsbuy.com.

arpith.fbi, xdaid, superfastmonkey, gommers1978, overclockthesun, dheeraj_hotmale and om4gus... (forgive me if I left out anybody ) made me come out of my confusion, especially arpith.fbi for pointing me towards practicability over just aesthetics...

I too have the same kind of dropping the phone problem... More than 50 times I dropped my Nokia N70...from bike, from steps, from dining table, from wash basin...!! In this raining season, n70 got completely wet and had to rush to nokia centre to bring it alive!! (one more reason to choose defy!)

Custom roms? I'll start torturing my defy from the day one...

have a nice weekend friends!

 

[arpith.fbi]

i installed custom rom right after i took it out of the box..had to charge first..so used stock ROM for an hour..tats all..right after it was fully charged i started torturing my phone..went into all kind of problem during flashing.learned alot from my experience..

 

[jasonmax]

i installed custom rom right after i took it out of the box..had to charge first..so used stock ROM for an hour..tats all..right after it was fully charged i started torturing my phone..went into all kind of problem during flashing.learned alot from my experience..

OMG! you have got guts to do that man!

What if I don't want to flash custom rom and stay on stock rom and just want to OC that? Is the stock rom stable enough for day-to-day usages?

I learned through groubal.com Motorola campaign page that Motorola would push unlockable bootloader in software updates later this year. Is it true? or will it just be a campaign forever???

 

[arpith.fbi]

yea..stock roms r always safe and stable.. u can overclock it by rooting it..use setvsel to overclock and undervolt..
tats true moto will unlock bootloader later this year..probly with a gingerbread update ..hopefully...
use stock rom for few days..if u get bored then torture ur phone..simple

 

[TJKV]

Yup...I have been following the cm thread from quite a long time and have read a bit of your journey so far with cm7defy

I'm just waiting for the delivery guy from flipkart to hand me the phone, should have arrived by now

But I think I will play around with (rooted) stock for a few days + check out the sdk and adb etc before heading to cm and other roms.

I'm also excited about Vodafone launching 3G here, according to the big front page advt on today's TOI I was contemplating a port to either DOCOMO or BSNL until now

 

[jasonmax]

I'm just waiting for the delivery guy from flipkart to hand me the phone, should have arrived by now

Have you got your defy? how is it? red lens or green lens? tell us your first impression with defy

I'm eagerly waiting for your hands on review...

 

[awo23]

i love my defy but lg black is newest and more stylish. price/performance always better defy though

 

[jasonmax]

i love my defy but lg black is newest and more stylish. price/performance always better defy though

True, but will optimus black last for at least 3 years getting all kind of abuses from me?

I go to office daily by bike not by car. So, my phone is more prone to damages by rain, dust, impact and accidental drops.

I want android with durability. I think defy fulfills my requirements very well.

 

[TJKV]

Good service by flipkart, fast delivery and good accessories (the freebies) but it is an SOC camera (commonly called green lens)

Other than that setback there is nothing wrong with the device, rock solid with CM nightlies, I haven't faced any of the problems others report on the CM thread. It is slightly smaller than I expected though, and I find typing really hard unless I use swype. But that may be because I'm not used to a touchscreen phone. Ofc I have tested the water resistance, it is amazing

Tell me when you get yours, SOC/Bayer camera, what you think of the phone etc

 

[pravarth]

Hey there,

Have u decided where you are gonna buy it from?
I'd recommend flipkart if u are comfortable with buying online otherwise its really hard to find a defy in Bangalore. I bought mine around a month back. There was no stock in sangeeta, univercell and i also checked in mantri mall. Finally found one devendra telecom (jayanagar 4th block). But it cost 16.5k. Also my friend got it from meenakshi mall(bannerghatta road) around 2 weeks back for 15.5k

PS: both of got the march 2011 manufactured phone with red lens

Since you said ur budget is 20k you could check nexus s which is available only in flipkart for 19999. I know its a samsung phone, but it is worth a look since its a much better choice than defy and optimus black wrt to its gpu and also has a gyro sensor among few other things.

 

[jasonmax]

Hey there,

Have u decided where you are gonna buy it from?
I'd recommend flipkart if u are comfortable with buying online otherwise its really hard to find a defy in Bangalore. I bought mine around a month back. There was no stock in sangeeta, univercell and i also checked in mantri mall. Finally found one devendra telecom (jayanagar 4th block). But it cost 16.5k. Also my friend got it from meenakshi mall(bannerghatta road) around 2 weeks back for 15.5k

PS: both of got the march 2011 manufactured phone with red lens

Since you said ur budget is 20k you could check nexus s which is available only in flipkart for 19999. I know its a samsung phone, but it is worth a look since its a much better choice than defy and optimus black wrt to its gpu and also has a gyro sensor among few other things.

I bought my notebook from flipkart. Nice service. But I'm thinking to buy it from letsbuy.com.

How about the earpiece on your defy? I heard that defy manufactured before march has earpiece problem...

Yeah, nexus s is a good phone in terms of software update. But it looks like a toy to me. It doesn't have micro SD card slot and comes with S LCD... and Samsung doesn't have a good design sense... I hate the curve on the back panel.

I have only these options under 20k (based on my choices):

1. Samsung Galaxy S LCD GT I9003 - 19,899
2. Samsung Google Nexus S I9023 - 19,999
3. HTC Desire - 18,599
4. LG Optimus Black P970 - 19,989
5. Motorola Defy - 15,399

Other options if I increase my budget slightly:

1. Samsung Galaxy S I9000 - 20,999
2. HTC Desire S - 22,399

So, I don't have many options in 20-22k range and no phone has the ruggedness of defy..

 

[pravarth]

How about the earpiece on your defy? I heard that defy manufactured before march has earpiece problem...

Three of my friends have the defy and one of them bought it last year and has the green lens. The other guy got it from letsbuy with red lens around 2 months back (it was Rs16100 back then i think). Both of them had their earpiece checked (they had the mark on the battery compartment). Which means it was checked and has no defects (This is what they said, im not sure). They ve nvr had any problems as well

But then mine and the other guy (the one i talked abt in the previous post) both of mar 2011 dint have that mark. Till now i dont see any problem and i think they must have corrected the defect.

So if you get the older one just check if your earpiece was checked.

In anycase even if it does have a problem, you can just send it to the service center with warranty.

 

[jasonmax]

Three of my friends have the defy and one of them bought it last year and has the green lens. The other guy got it from letsbuy with red lens around 2 months back (it was Rs16100 back then i think). Both of them had their earpiece checked (they had the mark on the battery compartment). Which means it was checked and has no defects (This is what they said, im not sure). They ve nvr had any problems as well

But then mine and the other guy (the one i talked abt in the previous post) both of mar 2011 dint have that mark. Till now i dont see any problem and i think they must have corrected the defect.

So if you get the older one just check if your earpiece was checked.

In anycase even if it does have a problem, you can just send it to the service center with warranty.

It seems that letsbuy.com sells July 2011 manufactured devices... If it's so, I will not have any earpiece problem... hopefully.

I'm about to make a final decision on buying defy by the end of this week. Before that, I want to make sure anybody who bought June or July manufactured defy has such problems. Trying to be safe!

 

[keewanchoapsss]

If im honest mate the defy is nice but motorola are idiots who bringing out a defy+ soon. Same device but with ginger. Just wait for that, but I dont recommend a motorola! Bad service on some awesome devices. And lg have made the optimus black well, it gorgeous, nice screen, its really thin and not too large. It has a ginger update too!!

Sent from my MB526 using XDA Premium App

 

[alaageria]

I have both phones but use my defy on a daily bases the LG's software is the worst ,buggiest out there it really doesn't utilize the full capabilities of the the processor

I my self develop some applications and prefer to use the defy as a testing device

Sent from my MB525 using XDA App

 

[TJKV]

Not to mention the Nexus S doesn't have gorilla glass either, big minus on the ruggedness scale.

About the earpiece, I had a small "incident" when I was showing off the water resistance to my friend. The ear piece emitted some crackling sound when it entered the water, and later was half as loud as it was before. But a few minutes later it came back to life, i guess it was just blocked by some drops of water

Good choice about not buying from flipkart, they give you a brand new piece manufactured very recently, that unfortunately has the SOC camera module . I have a July manufactured device, with SOC. So if you can find someone selling slightly older devices (but not so old that i has ear piece issues) you might get a Bayer camera. I'd guess april-may-beginning of june may be the best.

 

[sach1000rt]

I bought my notebook from flipkart. Nice service. But I'm thinking to buy it from letsbuy.com.

How about the earpiece on your defy? I heard that defy manufactured before march has earpiece problem...

Yeah, nexus s is a good phone in terms of software update. But it looks like a toy to me. It doesn't have micro SD card slot and comes with S LCD... and Samsung doesn't have a good design sense... I hate the curve on the back panel.

I have only these options under 20k (based on my choices):

1. Samsung Galaxy S LCD GT I9003 - 19,899
2. Samsung Google Nexus S I9023 - 19,999
3. HTC Desire - 18,599
4. LG Optimus Black P970 - 19,989
5. Motorola Defy - 15,399

Other options if I increase my budget slightly:

1. Samsung Galaxy S I9000 - 20,999
2. HTC Desire S - 22,399

So, I don't have many options in 20-22k range and no phone has the ruggedness of defy..

Samsung Galaxy S I9000 is priced at 20999 Rs. on letsbuy right now, after applying icici coupon it comes down to 19800 Rs.

 

[arpith.fbi]

dere is a change in defy price...new low
Best Price: Rs. 13,999