The new Land Rover S1 is pretty much an unkillable phone. I reckon it’d take a direct nuclear strike to slow the damn thing down. But let’s not forget that if we’re talking ‘ruggedised’ phones, one of the earliest examples of this particular species was made by none other than Nokia. Yup, it was the 5210, and my sister had one, and it was all tough and rubbery (and yet, strangely, it wasn’t as resilient as her old 3210).
Well, it seems that Nokia are dipping their toe in the waterproofing market, again, according to Mobile Cowboys (Google-translated link). According to that site, they’re going to be releasing a water-and-dust-proof phone, called the Nokia 3720.
Except, if you read the text, they’re not. Y’see, it’s only rated to IP54, which means it’s not actually waterproof at all, but splash-resistant. Compare that to the IP67 rating of the Land Rover S1, which in a very definite way is completely water-and-dust-proof, and you can see that the Nokia… well, the S1 would nut it to death.
And then, there’s ruggedisation. The Nokia 3720 hasn’t got any. Look at the Sonim range of phones (like the S1, or the slightly older Sonim XP3). They’ve got rubber coatings and hardened plastic shells, and I’m convinced they’ve got steel sub-frames. Kinda like an adamantium skeleton, if you will. Half the fun of those is that you can wallop ‘em with a brick hammer, and they probably won’t die. What’s the famous phrase? They take a kickin’ and keep on tickin’? Not the Sonim range, they take a kickin’, don’t even feel it, and then nut their way through Burma…
Now look at the slim body of the Nokia 3720; what would happen if you hit that with a 14lbs lump hammer?
I imagine it’d be quite interesting to see, as it got laminated to the pavement, and sprayed phone bits across the street.
So, in conclusion, it’ll be nowhere near as high-tech as its high-end siblings like the Nokia N97, and the Sonim range of phones could all crush its head into the concrete.
Shame, really, I really wanted it to be good…
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