Rugged smartphone

[BPLwiia]

I’ve decided to get a new smartphone as mine is really old. I’m considering a military-spec rated phone (MIL-STD-810G) that can be submerged in water or dropped. I’d feel a whole lot more confident having it with me when I am in the backcountry than a regular slimline smartphone.

I’m looking at the Ulefone Armor 7 which is mil-spec and has a 5,500 mAh battery which is a huge plus. Does anyone have any experience with this particular phone or military-spec phones in general?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zm0Tyt7Dd5A

https://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=10020&idPhone2=9076&idPhone3=9937

[BlackHatGuy]

Why not a regular smartphone with a ruggedized case? Lots of folks use those. Also, some newer smartphones can withstand being submerged for short periods of time.

[BPLwiia]

I was looking at mil-spec because the phone is about what I expected to pay for a phone and I like the ruggedness of it along with it having a decent battery.

[Jerry Adams]

My Galaxy S9 survived being submerged.  Pissed me off.  Slipped out of pocket and plopped into the creek.  Took me a couple minutes to walk around and fish it out.

It was sort of weird for a while, the app kept turning off, and it seemed like the battery discharged faster than normal, probably just operator error though.

About half of Galaxy models are water resistant, you can submerge them a small depth.  And shock resistant.  Not as good as that military model though.

People complain about how if they strike the display it can shatter.

[Robert Richey]

I usually use bubble wrap and a waterproof ziploc with my droid as a cheaper solution, but I look forward to hearing what you ultimately choose.

[BPLwiia]

I’m finding that every “rugged” smartphone is either made, or distributed from, outside the US.  That presents a challenge with protocols such as GSM.  As I understand it, a lot of the this country has LTE and thus the Ulefone Armor 7 should work. I suspect if I went up to a clerk in an AT&T store and asked him if he could start service for me with this phone he’d stutter and stammer.

I’m perplexed why I can’t find a smartphone sold here in the US by a larger retailer that is designed to be military spec. Samsung makes the Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro but it is made abroad and just not available easily here.

Is there a mil-spec US phone I’ve completely missed?

 

[Brad W]

Been there done that-get a rugged case.

[Kevin R]

Have you looked at these ones branded by Caterpillar? I have no experience with them at all, but remember seeing an article about them last year. https://www.catphones.com/en-us/products/smartphones/

[Anthony D]

I had an earlier version of the Ulefone Armor. It seemed like a great idea but the phone itself had terrible performance and a potato camera. It never got any Android updates. Then the fingerprint sensor broke and I found out that their customer service is non-existent.

My friend had the same phone and despite being supposedly submersible it died when his kid dropped it into a water dog dish for like a few seconds.

I would not recommend.

Almost all smartphones these days are IP67 or IP68 so basically water and dust proof. Get a good phone and then add a bomber case for impact protection.

 

[BPLwiia]

I’ve discovered the problem with these specialty rugged phones is they are mostly GSM and you have to check to be sure the frequencies match up with your carrier. It was a nice idea but it won’t work unless you’re a techy, which I’m not.

I’m going to get either the Samsung Galaxy S10 or S10+ and then get a really protective case for it.

Can anyone suggest a bomber case?

 

[Author]

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