Motorola just announced two new smartphones - Electrify 2 and Defy XT - for the fifth best network carrier in the United States, U.S. Cellular. The first smartphone, Electrify 2, is a successor to last year's Electrify, while the Defy XT follows in the footsteps of 2010 Motorola Defy.

Motorola Electrify 2 is already available from U.S. Cellular for $179.99, after $100 mail-in rebate. U.S. Cellular will start selling the Defy XT this Friday. The latter is likely to be priced under $100, again after a mail-in rebate.

The Electrify 2 is the second smartphone from Motorola to release with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich on-board, with AT&T Atrix HD being the first. The device adopts traditional Kevlar backpacking found in Droid Razr smartphones. Sporting an 8.4mm chassis, Kevlar design and splash-resistant body, the Electrify 2 has potential to stand among the top-of-line smartphones at the carrier.

The device sports 4.3-inch ColorBoost display with qHD resolution of 540 X 960 pixels. Under the hood, it packs dual-core 1.2 GHz processor, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of internal storage, microSD card slot, and 1780 mAh battery. The device runs Android 4.0 with Motorola's SmartActions software on the top. At the rear is 8-megapixel camera that can record full-HD 1080p videos. The secondary camera in the device is 0.3 megapixels.

Motorola Defy XT is more like a sidekick device. However, users in seek of a rugged smartphone will love its weather-resistant and dust-proof capabilities. It has 3.7-inch display with a resolution of 480 X 854 pixels. Other features of the device include 1 GHz (single-core) processor, 512MB RAM, 1GB system storage, microSD card support up to 32GB, a 5-megapixel rear camera with LED flash support, a VGA secondary camera, and 1650 mAh battery. The device runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread with no hope for an official ICS update.

Motorola is targeting two different user groups with these two smartphones. The Electrify 2 is one of the best devices that the carrier offers. It is likely to make some fans. Motorola Defy XT, on the other hand, is for entry-level smartphone users. The original Motorola Defy enjoyed a great deal of success both in the U.S. and worldwide. The Defy XT has similar specs; however, it seems a bit outdated looking at current smartphone standards.