Comments on: The Best Rugged Smartphones of 2023

By: cyberfreak619

cyberfreak619 — Fri, 09 Jul 2021 00:23:01 +0000

No Oukitel? Ulefone?? Cubot??? Blackview??? Are you sure you are reviewing “rugged” smart phones? Or just popular and expensive brands??

By: devsfault

devsfault — Fri, 21 Feb 2020 19:20:30 +0000

In reply to casbat21. Have you seen Samsung Xcover Pro? removable battery 4050mAh, IP68, Mil 10 standards. No buttons, quite bit screen estate, looks quite modern yet rugged and comes with 4 years of security updates.. Also has mpos

By: casbat21

casbat21 — Fri, 20 Dec 2019 16:27:36 +0000

I have a Note 4 with a Powerbear 7500 mah removable battery and a custom built rugged cover, it has survived a 10 foot drop onto a concrete step. Lucky it was was not the screen!. ITs not waterproof. But it has three times optical zoom on the camera. The battery life now rocks, and the battery is replaceable. I have no issues with my apps or everyday use. But I will eventually have to replace it. Right now its a game of seeing how long I can keep it going. At least for another year or two.
I am really interested in the Samsung XCover FieldPro , it be waterproof, drop resistant and removable battery. ( Gotta have extra batteries) when hiking in the woods.I would like the optical zoom feature to be there, but it is probably not a total deal breaker..maybe. I am curious why they would not have that feature in a phone that would be used in rugged environments. Especially with hikers who would like to take good quality pictures of some of the scenic vistas they see when going in the back country. Optical zoom on my note 4 helps me take great pictures.
Right now I am curious about Sonim XP-8 future replacement (an XP-9?) if they will keep building on the good base line of the XP-7 and XP-8. IMHO the The XP8 is best of the bunch due to its toughness and build, removable battery. Wish its camera were better and a headphone jack would be nice for connecting speakers or headphones.
I feel Samsung it trying to catch up to Sonim (and others) market a little bit but feel that they just doing enough to qualify as a rugged phone, but could have easily put in a better camera optical zoom tech [From a note 4!! 😉 ] I also like the FM radio feature in the XP 8. It nice to be able to listen to music when your working on a boring job or working in an shop setting.
I use the optical zoom in my Samsung Galaxy Note 4 phone in an industrial workplace, to zoom in on equipment that I cant get to without a ladder or some lifting device. To take picture of equipment data plates on the side panels of a unit. Saves me the time of getting a ladder to get up into the area to take the picture. I look the picture and with the high res camera I get all the words and information numbers I need. This is something all the rugged phone seem to miss. In industry being able to take good picture of equipment is important and being able to easily email that info by text or email to the other engineering departments is essential.
Cats Infa-Red feature is not necessary. If you need to do those checks on the job. they give you special and more reliable, certified and consistent tools for the day to day eat checks. On equipment or power generating equipment.
I hoping Samsung XCover FieldPro or the future Sonim XP-9 give me a really good reason to upgrade from my Note 4 ( with stylus–great when navigating web pages–I got thick mans hands and fingers) because right now there nothing out there that wants me to up grade.

By: karti

karti — Mon, 16 Dec 2019 17:11:46 +0000

Hello Mark, Great Article. I am looking for a mobile device suitable for industry work in subzero temperatures and producing longer battery life amidst the cold weather. Please share your suggestions for the Use case ? Thank you

By: Brendan Ganska

Brendan Ganska — Sun, 14 Jan 2018 14:37:36 +0000

In reply to Mark. IMHO since the Samsung s4 nothing has really changed with smart phones, yeah sure you get a better camera but so what? i'm only going to be taking pictures of my cat for the internet with it :D haha

By: amishc

amishc — Wed, 10 Jan 2018 06:20:29 +0000

Hello Mark,

A couple questions.

1. Have you considered the Doogoo S60 and the AGM X2?

2. Have you seen the link below on the Moto Shattershield? If it cracks you have to pay to have the screen replaced.
https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/DROID-TURBO-2-by-Motorola/Warning-Regarding-your-Moto-ShatterShield-Screen-that-is-quot/td-p/3309345

3. Have you looked the duration over which the different phone manufacturers provide security updates? It is not any good have a rugged phone exterior and weak/insecure software. A rugged phone should be characterised by a rugged exterior and strong rugged secure software platform. Samsung for example only provides updates for 2 years after the phone is announced, even though you may still purchase the phone 2 years later. Apple and Google problem provide the best security updates for their own phones.

By: Mark

Mark — Wed, 11 Oct 2017 13:08:20 +0000

In reply to Mark. i didnt finish. anyway the camera(s) yes two of them . are really good, not perfect but really good. but if you want a tough phone, i really like the kyocera Duraforce Pro. in the welding, grinding, sometimes wet environment, it has stood up strong. only two screen protector breaks, original is fine. and the battery last more than one day , even with a camera monitor running in the background . if logged out of the camera system, will last two days, one night

By: Mark

Mark — Wed, 11 Oct 2017 13:00:14 +0000

In reply to Carl Lander. as a self employed welder/fabricator i have put phones to the test. i went thru 15(yes) of my first phones , i cant even remember the name. NOW i have a kyocera Duraforce Pro. it is almost a year old and still going strong. broke two screenprotectors and the original is still working. and the speakers are working fine. the superfine steel magnetic particles get in to the speakers and make them scratchy until going off completely

By: Tim Rudser

Tim Rudser — Sat, 05 Aug 2017 21:59:01 +0000

I am currently on my second cat S60 and an not real impressed the first one the speaker quit within a month and while dealing with the return I was trying out the underwater mode and the phone literally filled up with water to the point when i opened the cover for the USB port water ran out of it. Note the second one the side of the case is loose, it feel out of my pocket as I jumped over a puddle running to the car in the rain and needless to say it got wet inside.
Another down side is it only works on AT&T/T-Mobile networks which where I live is not very reliable
That being said I have used the infra red camera several times at work to find problems in a refrigeration system and bad electrical connections that didn’t show up on conventional meters.

By: Tim Rudser

Tim Rudser — Sat, 05 Aug 2017 21:42:46 +0000

This was a very good article.
I