We review the amazing JCB phone and put it through its paces to see how tough it really is, pictures of the JCB Tough Phone after the jump…
Update: The JCB Phone is now available on Pay As You Go on Orange for £189.99, Jcb Phone Pay As You Go
Some of you may have noticed I’ve been away for a couple of weeks. Well, I’ve been off ill, I’ll have you know (having teeth out…)
And it seems that in my absence, the whole place has been going mental! Yes, I’m talking about the sudden arrival of Chuck Norris. Now, whilst I enjoy his beardy goodness as much as the next man, I have to dispute what someone said, about the K750i being Chuck Norris.
Because it isn’t…
THIS is:
Yep, it’s been officially announced, so I can talk about it, now. It’s called the JCB TOUGH PHONE, and I’ve seen one in the flesh, and had a fiddle with it.
Now, this next bit may come as a surprise to those who know me, and readers who have seen my frankly downright anal-retentive posts about gadgets and technology. I loves me gadgets, me. That’s true. I love shiny, technical things, and it’s a well-known running gag round here that I’m not happy with something unless it’s got more buttons than NASA.
So, I won’t like the TOUGH PHONE, right?
Wrong! I love it! Yes, I like gadgets, yes, I like high-tech toys that look like they should be in Tron, but you can’t help but love a phone that is so perfectly designed for the market it’s aiming at. No, it doesn’t have a camera… no, it doesn’t have 3G… no, it doesn’t have even a smidgeon of multimedia playback… and do you know what? I don’t care!
Because, at the end of the day, it doesn’t need those things. It’s designed for one purpose: to be as hard as nails. And boy does it succeed!
Now, say you’re not a builder but, say, a rambler, going out in the cold and the wind, braving the elements for your rambling fix. Then the JCB TOUGH PHONE will brave the elements with you. (note: you’re unlikely to catch me doing this, as I’m very firmly an urbanite. Countryside is something that happens on telly)
And, I’ve just heard, as I’m writing this, that some testing’s been done on the TOUGH PHONE. Well, when I say testing, I mean they drove an Audi SUV over it. Now, bear in mind… it’s a big’n, that Audi. So, we’re talking nearly two and a half tonnes. Over a phone! That still worked perfectly afterwards!
So, there you go, the JCB phone is designed to fit a very specific niche. Its not designed to be swanky. It’s not designed to be flashy. It’s designed to withstand a nuclear blast, and be hard enough to brain a whale. And as much of a gadget nut as I am, I’d have one. Because, let’s face it, when you’ve got one, and someone whines about your phone being a brick, you feel much more secure, knowing your phone could take their head off…
See? Told you it was Chuck Norris.
(side-note: Chuck Norris, though good, will never be as great as the mighty Bruce Campbell…)
Grab yourself the invincible, incredible JCB TOUGH PHONE, today!
November 27th, 2007 at 10:23 am
this phone maybe tough but it is nothing when copaired to the might of one of the almighty chuck norris’s roundhouse kicks
November 27th, 2007 at 10:26 am
chuck norris eats bruce cambell soup for breakfast mwa ha ha ha
December 13th, 2007 at 5:04 pm
Hi, I think this phone is JCB?
December 14th, 2007 at 11:59 am
It is, yep. Branded with the JCB logo, annnnnnnnnnd, it has a ringtone of a digger starting up. (Yes, that did make me grin rather a lot, that did)
So, yes, it IS the phone equivalent of a ruddy great yellow digger. And I love it because of that.
December 17th, 2007 at 5:17 pm
Yes – but why can’t you buy it pay as you go?
December 18th, 2007 at 6:59 pm
And the best part is Voda are doing contract deal on it. A phone designed to make calls from inside a Volcano is one thing. A phone that can actualy get a signal in a volcano is even better.
Agree with farmers mother, should be available on PAYG or SIM free atleast. Sadly there proably would not be a subsidy on a handset like this (compared to what Nokia or Samsung afford) from any network.
December 22nd, 2007 at 9:20 pm
Great phone – It seems such a long time since we saw ‘real’ tough phones like the older Siemens. The Nokia 5140i was OK, but nothing like the Tough phone.
January 2nd, 2008 at 9:12 pm
Reply to Jame about this baing not availanle as SIM FREE – it will be from many places – Mobilefun – Expansys – Play etc etc at around £180 is very good
January 2nd, 2008 at 9:38 pm
My partner, who works with wagons and cranes and other such big toys, wrecks phones just by looking at them. A websearch found the XP1 and your blog – thought you might like this video we came across: http://toughestphone.typepad.com/bobs_blog/2007/12/kill-the-sonim.html
Off to buy a phone.
January 15th, 2008 at 1:55 am
Oh please tell me that you can get this phone in the U.S. This is exactly what my husband needs. He just broke one a month ago sled riding. Then yesterday he was cutting trees in the pasture and supposedly dropped it in the mudd. Likely story, he is to embarassed to tell me how he breaks them anymore. Twice in the toilet, once in the horse trough, once in the pool, I can’t remember how many on the floor. Please help.
January 15th, 2008 at 9:32 am
^ your husband seems like he may be better off without a phone
)
Anyway, in the USA I beleive the JCB Tough phone is called a Sonim XP1…
There is more info at http://www.sonimtech.com/features_xp1.html so if you do an American Google search i guess you will find some places to get it from?
January 15th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
^ You have a horse trough, and therefore horses?? Much coolness!
And yep, the Chew is correct, the unbranded version of it is the Sonim XP1, so that’s the one to keep your eyes open for.
January 19th, 2008 at 10:19 am
Ahhh this has made me chuckle & I love this phone – I know so many builders who go through phones smashing one after the other & then dorwning a few for good measure too so this sounds like the ideal phone for all those bricky’s, chippy’s & sparky’s out there!
I also think this should be available as Pay As you Go & SIM Free (as I said most builders I know phones don’t last to the end of the contract!)
January 24th, 2008 at 10:21 am
Just got a replacement phone from Voda and although they called it a jcb on the phone, when it arrived it didn’t have any jcb logos and was just called an xp1. I guess it doesn’t matter but does anyone know just how water resistant the phone is. As a sailor, if I dob in, how likely is it to survive?
January 24th, 2008 at 10:35 am
Hey Ago,
The xp1 is the exact same model as the JCB Phone, but obviously not branded as JCB.
If you take a look at this post http://www.mobileshop.com/blog/mobile-phone-news/more-updates-jcb-tough-phone-cheats-death-yet-again/ you can see there is a video of the phone being immersed in orangade. I think you will find that it is pretty damn water proof. I just dont know how well it will float if it goes overboard.
January 24th, 2008 at 10:52 am
Just an update,
You can now get the Tough Phone on Pay As You Go for £189.99
http://www.mobileshop.com/mobile-phones/pay-as-you-go/pay-as-you-go-mobiles.php/jcb/tough-phone/orange/PORANGJCBX0001
January 27th, 2008 at 7:56 am
hi, I own a sonim xp1: I thought it was the same phone rebranded, but now I notice the jbc has bluetooth… mine not!!
is it true?
January 28th, 2008 at 4:22 pm
Can anyone compare the Samsung Solid M110 to the JCB phone ?
January 28th, 2008 at 4:32 pm
Craig: Check the blog tomorrow afternoon and you may just find a review comparing the two
)
March 18th, 2008 at 4:22 am
No camera?
how much memory?
March 24th, 2008 at 3:51 pm
Sounds great fone and suspect will last longer than Samsung Solid M110. But why does it not have basic requirements of decent memory, or better still memory card slot; simple flashlight and a camera – half decent one please…? All of which (except decent camera) Samsung Solid has… Would get 9.9/10 with complete basic spec, but, as is, give it 7/10.
Yet to see if it will live up to Ericsson R310s I had (and still have yet).All rubberised and protected by goretex membranes and with that outrageous external antenna out the top shaped like a tongue!Anyway this phone was eaten by a cow (I`m a farmer) and I could hear it ringing inside the beast. Yep.. I got it back the next day and it still worked although the screen was badly cracked and, even after washing and disinfecting, you couldn`t read it anymore… Replacement – identical model and same canary yellow – was eventually chewed by a dog but still continued to work till battery packed up year or so later…!
So do I go for jcb tough phone to replace my aging nokia 5100?
March 26th, 2008 at 10:58 am
Oooooooooooooh, I remember that Ericsson. Its antenna was possibly the funniest thing I’ve ever seen! And you’re right, it was a rather good phone, that, although I’ll pass on the seeing the ‘post-cow’ version, if that’s ok…
Since I’m in love with the JCB TOUGH PHONE, I say yes, but that’s just my opinion. It certainly beats the Samsung Solid on the fact that the TOUGH PHONE has a thick, steel skeleton…
Up to you, dude, but I reckon the JCB TOUGH PHONE rocks.
April 2nd, 2008 at 9:17 am
I am on my second one now, and quibbling with the reseller now on a full refund. The first one would not charge, I have had the replacement for a week, and now this one is dead too. To make things worse, I live in Thailand, so everytime I have to courier this thing back to the UK for replacement it is costing me a lot of money…… Do not buy it until JCB have sorted the problems out…
April 18th, 2008 at 9:26 am
Like Harry, I’m on my second phone due to a charging fault. This second phone also has charging problems with the battery bar graph being next to useless (logarithmic to the extreme).
I’m also noticing weird predictive text behaviour, where it intermittently blanks a whole word before you get a chance on earth to accept it. INFURIATING!!! And I’m a fast texter too
Sonim have ignored 4 polite emails and Phones4u refuse to change this second handset as I’ve had this one for more than 28 days!!!! They say I have to send it to JCB/Sonim.
The hardware is great but I suspect poor (and oddly unfinished in numerous places!!!!) firmware to be the cause of Harry’s and my problems.
April 18th, 2008 at 3:10 pm
UPDATE: I’ve spoken to JCB and they are aware of a known batch of faulty phones. They are shipping me a new phone via courier, within 2 working days!!!!!!
April 21st, 2008 at 11:26 am
Awesomeness on getting a new phone. JCB do give an excellent (and I mean properly outstanding, from what I’ve seen) warranty on it, so if you do have a problem, they’re the people to talk to!
April 21st, 2008 at 6:08 pm
I was so disappointed with my JCB phone that I sold it almost immediately and it left my tender care this morning on its way to the new buyer. The first major let down was the ringtone of a JCB starting up. The ringtone was advertised as being extra loud because of the loud speakers incoporated within the phone . I have good hearing and needed it to hear the phone go over the noise of my boat engine, if it had’nt been for the vibrating mode I would have missed calls. The next thing that disappointed me was the size -we are talking BRICK-but to be fair to Sonim the extra thickness all round may be necessary for the rough handling thats mentioned in the advertising. The next thing was “the easy to read, bright display “. This,I’m afraid , is far from the truth and someone with more time and money than me could take Sonim to court over this . I found operating the phone awkard to say the least but I do have a history of Nokia’s. I am so disappointed with the JCB phone as I thought this phone would be the answer to my problems of using a phone on a working open boat at sea .
April 22nd, 2008 at 8:17 am
Sorry to hear you didn’t get on with the phone, but in the interests of fairness to it, I should address some of the issues you had.
I’ve used the phone, and the ringtone seemed fairly loud to me, but it’s possible with it being the “engine note” ringtone, it was getting masked by the engine note of the boat itself. I shall ask my mate up the road who’s a sound engineer, but I’d put money on that’s what it was.
As for the size of the phone, to be fair, it is a big phone, BUT, it needs to be, because I’m sure it has a steel sub-frame underneath the shell, which is what gives it its strength.
Again, for the screen, sorry you couldn’t get on with it, but it was very legible on the one I tried. Still, if you’ve sold it on, now, then it’s sorted. What phone did you get to replace it?
April 27th, 2008 at 8:53 am
Hi,
Wondered if anybody could help. I cannot get the jcb to download the phone book onto the parrot ck3100n nor does it give caller display, missed call, last call etc. do i need soft ware updates? is it not compatible, or is it the Parrot? phone logs onto the parrot as if it is a head set only.
any suggestions
April 29th, 2008 at 12:41 am
Hi Rolf,
I’ve seen a technote about somewhere saying that Parrot are working on a firmware update for release late in Q2 ’08 – I think the popularity of the JCB phone may have surprised Parrot, but they ARE working on it.
The functionality you are seeing now is just the basic bluetooth profile implementation – for me it will be worth waiting the couple of months for Parrot to get up to speed – others will need to make their own decisions. I will remind people of the 3yr NO QUIBBLE warranty with JCB.
I like my phones to be phones, my cameras to be cameras, and my computers to be computers.
-Rob
April 29th, 2008 at 12:43 am
re: the Parrot car kit…
See here:
http://www.jcbtoughphone.com/faq.php
Down near the bottom at the time of writing.
-Rob
May 3rd, 2008 at 8:29 am
That is great Rob.
I am happy to wait for that to happen.
I pressume I will be able to upgrade my existing phone software.
Thanks for your help.
rolf
May 3rd, 2008 at 8:03 pm
very good phone but could do with a camera on it
May 9th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
Dear sir, I saw this phone advertised as a tough phone. Now its yellow, I can put up with that, Its not very top of the range, again I can deal with that. Iam a mechanic and run my own buisness Iam fed up of having to constantly change phones. So I jumped at this phone. b4 this I had a nokia 5510. u know the one that is also very tough but doses not have bluetooth. Which being a mechanic and running my own buisness was getting icreasingly difficult.
Try this, put key lock on and then press and hold the on/off button. the phone switches off. and when you put the phone in your pocket it switches off, i suspect due to this reason. its incredibly frustrating. and I expected more from a £200.00 phone. I wouuld gladly pay £500.00 for a phone that works properly.
Do you know if sonim have an answer to this problem. I have tried 2 different hand sets and they both had the same problem.
The reception on the phone is also awful, I wonder if it will improve if i purchase the ariel. or is there some kind of update avialable. If you are in the middle of a phone call for more than 5-8 mins phone goes dead ???????
Any advice. Or should I just flush it down the toilet and continue on my quest
May 19th, 2008 at 5:58 pm
Hi
I recently watched a tv programm which put the JCB up against another phone and the other phone won hands down. It was a which guide type programm a bloke and a girl. Trouble is I can’t remember the other phone. My husband is a Swimming pool builder, spa installer,I wanted to buy the JCB for his birthday but have been put off..He has the old rubber nokia phone – we buy them second hand from the internet when the get too bashed up. He won’t move on from this type although I have managed to get him to try a few others (We have a drawer full) but he always goes back to the nokia. (he has enormous hands)please can somone help what was the other phone on the program” suppose I could try Which Guid ??
May 20th, 2008 at 8:08 am
Might it have been a Samsung Solid? That’s the JCB phone’s main competitior at the minute.
Have a look, and see if it looks familiar: http://www.mobileshop.com/mobile-phones/cheap-samsung-solid-deals.php
May 21st, 2008 at 3:48 pm
Had a 5140 great phone – no bluetooth , 5140i must have bluetooth – not so . bought a 5500 sport ( has bluetooth and a torch ) a poor replacement by any means . jcb – fantastic , great battery , bluetooth easy to use . However on the next one can we have a decent memory , torch and camera ( great for photographing accidents and pieces of equipment you cannot identify ) Well done jcb for a first atempt !
May 21st, 2008 at 3:55 pm
Talking of bluetooth the jcb works with my becker radio bluetooth my wifes motorola and my works parrot without any problem . Switch on the ignition and it logs on automatically to all three .
May 21st, 2008 at 11:16 pm
My JCB phone has just been delivered today after being ordered from price drop .tv and is already broken. Their demo shows the phone among other tests being blasted with a pressure hose after repeating this process myself to see if it was true water is now inside the phone and distorting the screen also it is completely dead and wont respond any ideas on what to do or where i can get a replacement phone or is this phone to good to be true
May 22nd, 2008 at 8:19 am
Philip:
I agree, the next one can be more high-tech, while keeping the same toughness as the original. Now, that’d be an awesome phone.
Chris:
To be fair, the JCB phone was never billed as water-proof, but water-resistant. Yes, I’ve seen it sprayed with a pressure hose and survive, but I’d think twice about doing it, if it was my OWN phone. Just in case, like.
I’ll be honest, the warranty is most likely not going to cover that, as it’s water damage (physical damage, not a fault), and because it’ll be classed as done deliberately. Worth a try, though, let us know how you get on.
May 22nd, 2008 at 10:02 am
li left my phone to dry out and was working fine this morning only got a bit of condensation on the screen but fingers crossed it will dry out in time hopefully i got away with spraying it with water but wont be trying that again just got to keep the guys from work trying their own demos on it cos they would probably throw it in a bucket of water or something just to see if it was as tough as it is
May 23rd, 2008 at 5:08 am
Chris
Have a look at the Duraphone Q800 tough phone so similar to the JCB Sonim you won’t belive it. The difference is in the extra features, eg bigger full colour screen, camera, MP3 & MP4 players, plus loads more. Have a look at the web site http://www.duraphone.co.uk for full details and follow the link to the water test.
June 17th, 2008 at 8:33 am
Hello everyone!!! I really would like to buy the Sonim XP1, especially now that it’s past it’s development stage so any initial problems the phone may have had woul now be sorted.. How much is the Tough Phone now guys??
June 17th, 2008 at 2:53 pm
I still have a 7 year-old Siemens M35, which I chuck around happily and still get batteries for at 1 euro a time! And it still looks like new except for the rubbery backing starting to peel off. Had thought of getting a Sonim to replace it with, as cd really do with handsfree and longer battery life (is it true talk-time is 10 hours on Sonim?) – but – how reliable are the electronics? Time will tell I suppose. Can someone who has used one tell me something please? I don’t like ANY new phones for texting, because – the space bar is usually the bottom central (or left or right key). And on my siemens it’s the top left key. This is of great significance for texting quickly and comfortably, as all the frequently used keys are within the top 3 rows of keys. Once you have to ‘reach’ down to the fourth row between each word, for a space – you go slower, and risk getting RSI I reckon – and it’s annoying. So – where is the space bar on the Sonim? If it’s at the bottom, I’ll keep my old Siemens for now – still have 2 spare batteries.
June 24th, 2008 at 11:58 am
where can i buy the JCB phone from? i have a contact already so i just want the handset i have looked all over and it is near impossible to get one i really dont want to pay over £100
June 25th, 2008 at 8:12 am
Well, keep an eye on our site, over the next few days, Jess, you never know what might turn up!
July 8th, 2008 at 9:06 pm
Well I have just taken delivery of my second Somim from Voda. As was the case last time, the SIM did not work in it, I suspect it is beacuse my SIM is several years old and looks a little bent and distort, but even so….Initial thoughts are not very great in terms of using it. Coming from the “Nokia rule” brigade the smallest things annoy me with it, like the tone for each button is the same, on Nokia its slightly different. It needs a torch. I can cope with out a camera. I am however going to sell it on E-bay and either look at the Samsung Solid or just wait for Nokia to produce a suitable replacement for my trusty 5140. COME ON NOKIA hurry up! PS if anyone wants to buy it (am I allowed to sell here?) then contact me if you / I am allowed to?! Also the carry case is a waste of time. Great design untill u find you keep catching it on your belt..
August 27th, 2008 at 11:37 am
My collegue got his JCB phone and we tested it as you would. Water test complete absolutely submerged and came out ringing.
JCB test, absolute fail!!! the thing cracked like a stick of celery. Indestructible my eye!
Another company fails to create a phone that will get through a year.
September 14th, 2008 at 10:09 am
Hi,
Just lost my trusty Nokia off the motorbike, it is probably intact but with the battery off if I could just find it.
I am in NZ and can’t seem to find the JCB tough or XP1 here, any suggestions.
sarah
October 18th, 2008 at 2:16 am
I hit my neighbour around the head with one of these! He’s still in intensive care! Hey! but the phone still works!!!
October 21st, 2008 at 8:46 am
That’s, erm, slightly psychotic…
November 25th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
[...] the JCB Tough Phone, it struck a chord with you guys, judging by the number of comments on the original post. As many of you are aware, the JCB Tough Phone was actually a re-badged Sonim XP1. Well, now, [...]
December 28th, 2008 at 11:47 am
hi my jcb phone is faultly would u have the number to contact jcb i would appriciate it thanks
January 9th, 2009 at 11:58 am
Well, the JCB Phone is actually made by Sonim, so it’s them you’d need to speak to. Your first port of call is via email, to: UK@sonimtech.com
Or, have a look on their support site, here: http://www.sonimtech.com/support.php
February 3rd, 2009 at 8:49 am
i broke one and they ain’t so tough after all
February 10th, 2009 at 10:07 pm
Just got my JCB and its deadly,Im a plasterer and dust was always a problem with all the other tough phones
February 15th, 2009 at 11:11 pm
How did you break the phone dave?Did you drop a house on it?
February 20th, 2009 at 1:01 pm
I am not happy with this handset!! i bought it for my hubbie for xmas and was dead impressed with it. though no you cant gt a signal with it. i have checked the sim card and nothing is wrong with that its the phone!! does anyone jknow how to get intouch with someone who i can send this back too cause he is fumming!!!!
please email me
thanks
July 19th, 2009 at 2:32 pm
how do u switch it on
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:40 am
A truly terrible phone.
As a vet i work in a very tough environment, i need a phone i can rely on.
We bought 4 for the practice. Disaster, there is always an echo on the line, worse the phone frequently just freezes up or even worse (particularly if you are on call for emergencies) just turns itself off.
A great idea, just needs to go across a good few more drawing boards first.
My advice, if you rely on your phone, this is not the phone for you
October 26th, 2009 at 7:38 pm
Sorry, the JCB phone, as tough as it is, needs a camera. I work in construction, and use my phone/camera to take photos of jobs constantly; often as proof that the job was fine when I completed. Absolutely no use whatsoever without a camera.
November 30th, 2009 at 10:27 am
where can i buy tough phone in the Philippines?
December 22nd, 2009 at 9:04 pm
Like the phone, but same as yourself a annoying echo received at the other end. Going to return it to Phones 4 u or send it back to Sonim. I’ll see how good the 3 year warranty is!
January 20th, 2010 at 10:00 am
Can I get one in Australia
JBC Or sonim
June 13th, 2010 at 7:36 pm
I’ve got one of these phones… rubbish, it has frozen on me, vibrating with a blank screen, sometimes with the screen lit and frozen buttons.
No camera.
No light.
No good for a construction phone it is basic but lacks the basics.
June 30th, 2010 at 9:36 am
wot does brain a whale mean?
June 30th, 2010 at 5:38 pm
Ah, well, it means “to bash in the head of a whale”.
March 18th, 2011 at 10:34 am
My OH has a JCB Tough phone and after 2 months it has broken and suprise suprise it is not covered under the JCB warranty, they arent as good as they make out & the service has been shocking, 2 weeks just to get a response from them looking at the phone!
May 8th, 2011 at 10:21 pm
Hi have had phone for bout 12 months, has been great but now battery not charging and once it dies i have to take it to a shop to recharge, the guy said the battery was fine, any idea why its not charging and what should i do? send it back? can’t find a battery supplier anyway.. help..cheers.