rugged | Android Central

Order Samsung Galaxy S8: AT&T | Verizon | T-Mobile | Sprint | Unlocked

rugged

Rugged phone ratings: Everything you need to know

16 Comments
Posted by Jerry Hildenbrand on 30 May 2017 1:30 pm
Galaxy S7 Active
Ever wonder exactly what the IP rating on your phone means? This reference has your answers. IP ratings are a way to describe the ingress protection of your phone. IP itself stands for International Protection Marking, but you might see it called ingress protection because it fits and describes exactly what it is. Phones like the Galaxy Note 7 are rated with an IP specification (IP68) to tell...

Samsung Galaxy S4 Active hands-on

42 Comments
Posted by Alex Dobie on 20 Jun 2013 4:42 pm
S4 Active.
A first look at Samsung's ruggedized, water-resistant Galaxy S4 Active Traditionally, if you wanted a toughened, water-resistant, life-proof smartphone, there were compromises you just had to live with. Usually you'd pay over the odds, and be left with a bulky, ugly-looking device running old software, with sub-par internals. But that's starting to change, and we've already seen devices like...

Samsung announces water-resistant Galaxy S4 Active

74 Comments
Posted by Alex Dobie on 5 Jun 2013 4:27 am
GS4 Active.
Ruggedized GS4 launching this summer, coming to the U.S. and Sweden first After weeks of leaks, Samsung has officially announced the Galaxy S4 Active -- a ruggedized, water and dust-resistant version of its flagship smartphone. The Galaxy S4 Active shares much of its internal hardware with the vanilla Galaxy S4, including a quad-core Snapdragon 600 CPU at 1.9GHz, 2GB of RAM, a 1080p (TFT, not...

Hands-on with the rugged Cat B15

33 Comments
Posted by Phil Nickinson on 20 May 2013 9:01 pm
Cat B15.
The one word you think of when you see those three letters. CAT. As in Caterpillar. As in construction equipment. Rugged. And that's translated nicely to the Cat 15 ruggedized Android smartphone. Available now for $349 after its unveiling a couple months ago at Mobile World Congress, it's billed as a durable smartphone for the active set, whether that's on the side of the mountain or atop a...

WSJ: Rugged Samsung Galaxy S4 Active coming in July

25 Comments
Posted by Jerry Hildenbrand on 26 Apr 2013 12:24 pm
Galaxy S4
Water and dust resistant Samsung Galaxy S4 Active could be on store shelves this summer A couple of days ago we told you that a Samsung executive let it slip that there was a rugged version of the Galaxy S4 in the works, and today the Wall Street Journal says the same. According to their sources, the water and dust resistant version will be called the Galaxy S4 Active, and we should see it...

Samsung Galaxy XCover 2 hands-on

3 Comments
Posted by Alex Dobie on 25 Feb 2013 6:01 am
Galaxy XCover 2.
Samsung gets a lot of stick over the build quality of some of its phones -- a common complaint of devices like the Galaxy S3 and Note 2 are that they're glossy, plasticky and cheap-looking. So it's ironic that the Korean manufacturer's come out with one of the nicest-looking ruggedized handsets we've seen so far. The Galaxy XCover 2, announced a few weeks back, packs mid-range smartphone...

Kyocera Torque hands-on

1 Comment
Posted by Alex Dobie on 24 Feb 2013 2:25 pm
Kyocera Torque.
We're on the ground at Pepcom's MobileFocus Global, where we've just had the chance to get some hands-on time with Sprint and Kycera's latest smartphone, the Torque. Announced in late January and coming to market on Mar. 8, the Torque is the Japanese company's first ruggedized Android phone. It runs a 1GHz CPU, a WVGA screen and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, pretty run of the mill stuff for a...

Sprint announces the rugged Kyocera Torque

4 Comments
Posted by Phil Nickinson on 28 Jan 2013 9:27 am
Sprint Kyocera Torque
Sprint this morning announced the Kyocera Torque, a ruggedized Android smartphone that sports LTE data as well as Sprint's Direct Connect push-to-talk service. The Torque sports a 4-inch display at 480x800 resolution, a 2,500 mAh battery and is running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. It's powered by a 1.2GHz Qualcomm MSM8960 dual-core processor, has 4GB of storage and 1GB of RAM, and can rock a...

Samsung reportedly launching Galaxy XCover 2 at Mobile World Congress

2 Comments
Posted by Richard Devine on 18 Jan 2013 4:32 am
Android Central
What we see here is reported to be the latest, rough and tough, rugged smartphone from Samsung. The follow up to the original Galaxy Xcover, the aptly named Xcover 2 has leaked out to the guys over at Sammobile and is reportedly set to launch at Mobile World Congress in February.  It's been a couple of years since the original Xcover was announced, and like its predecessor, the Xcover 2 isn't...

Samsung Galaxy Rugby LTE launched on TELUS

1 Comment
Posted by Simon Sage on 30 Oct 2012 10:33 am
Android Central
The extra-tough Samsung Galaxy Rugby LTE was launched in Canada through TELUS today for $49 on a three-year contract. It's fairly entry-level, but if you're primarily concerned about having a phone that can take a beating, specs won't really matter.  4-inch WVGA Super AMOLED display (480 x 800) 1.5 GHz dual-core processor Android 4.0 (ICS) 4G LTE smartphone 1850 mAh battery...

Seidio Convert Extended Combo case review - bulk meets battery

6 Comments
Posted by Simon Sage on 22 Aug 2012 9:59 am
Android Central
The Seidio Convert Extended Combo case is a mammoth of a case with plenty of room for an extended battery and comes with a custom-made clip holster. The construction is as rugged as you could reasonably hope for from a smartphone case: first there is a hard plastic core, then a silicon skin wrapping around it, then, of all things another hard case along the outside. The whole package also comes...

Motorola Defy Pro tumbles onto Rogers today

18 Comments
Posted by Simon Sage on 20 Aug 2012 1:33 pm
Android Central
After a bit of a wait, the rugged Motorola Defy Pro is now available at Rogers for free on a two-year contract, or $274.99 if you're going month-to-month. As you might expect, the Defy Pro is just as tough as its predecessor, the Motorola Defy, except it has a QWERTY keyboard. The specs are about in line with the pricetag, which is to say that they're on the lower end. Here's a run-down.  2.7...

Sony Xperia Go launches SIM-free and on O2 in the UK

0 Comments
Posted by Alex Dobie on 17 Jul 2012 1:24 pm
Android Central
Announced a couple of months ago, the water-resistant Sony Xperia Go has gone on sale in the UK, and is now available SIM-free, as well as subsidized on-contract through O2 UK. The Go is the follow-up to last year's Xperia Active, which won critical praise for its unique, rugged design (which at one point helped it survive being run over by a Jeep). The Xperia Go is a little sleeker than last...

Kyocera Hyrdo Hands-on

8 Comments
Posted by Jared DiPane on 8 May 2012 2:18 pm
Kyocera Hydro
Earlier this morning at CTIA we saw Kyocera announce two new devices, the Kyocera Hydro and the Kyocera Rise. The aim of these devices was pretty evident, featuring 3.5-inch displays it was rather obvious that they weren't debuting some flagship devices, but that also doesn't mean that we should write them off without a fair look at them. First up is the Kyocera Hydro, their submersible Android...

Motorola Defy Mini heading to Turkey

3 Comments
Posted by Richard Devine on 3 May 2012 9:46 am
Motorola Defy Mini
Motorola are continuing the European onslaught with yet another device launch. This time around, the Motorola Defy Mini has been announced for release over in Turkey. The 3.2" rugged phone promises to be water, dust and scratch resistant and comes packing a Gorilla Glass display. We're not looking at a high-end device here, but should you be in the market for something rough and tough, the Defy...

JCB's ruggedized Android smartphone launches in the UK

8 Comments
Posted by Alex Dobie on 18 Apr 2012 10:21 am
JCB phone
British construction equipment manufacturer JCB is no stranger to the smartphone game, having worked with Motorola to launch the DEFY+ JCB Edition just a few months ago. And today sees the launch of JCB's own-brand Android handset, the JCB Toughphone Pro-Smart. It's not going to win any beauty contests, but JCB's going for ruggedness over looks with this device, which boasts IP67-rated water and...

Motorola DEFY MINI announced for Greece

0 Comments
Posted by Kevin OQuinn on 5 Apr 2012 9:15 am
Android Central
Motorola has announced that the DEFY MINI will be available in Greece in mid-April.  This follows their announcement that it will also launch in Italy this month, and has already been released in Brazil.  Spec-wise, this is a decidedly mid-range phone, but for someone that needs something durable it's a smart way to go.  As a reminder, it's packing a 600MHz processor, 512MB RAM, a 3MP rear...

Samsung Rugby Smart review

10 Comments
Posted by Jerry Hildenbrand on 26 Mar 2012 3:55 pm
Rugby Smart
The Samsung Rugby Smart is not a "superphone." It doesn't pretend to be one, isn't marketed as one, and we're not about to call it one. What it is is a very solid offering from AT&T and Samsung that fills the rugged, life-proof niche.  We've seen plenty of rugged phones get released that run Android, but so far most have been less that stellar offerings. That's where the Rugby Smart shines,...

Motorola launches Defy+ in the UAE

0 Comments
Posted by Jerry Hildenbrand on 19 Mar 2012 4:32 pm
Motorola Defy+
Motorola has released the Defy+ for the UAE, bringing the tough-as-nails phone to market for those who need a tough-as-nails phone. With a water resistant and dust-proof casing, and a scratch resistant Gorilla Glass screen, Motorola promises the Defy+ will be "life proof". A quote from Raed Hafez, managing director for Motorola Mobility's Middle East and Africa division, sums it up nicely:...

Sony Ericsson Xperia Active wins iF design gold award

2 Comments
Posted by Alex Dobie on 14 Feb 2012 11:28 am
Xperia Active
Sony Ericsson's ruggedized Xperia Active smartphone has walked away with a top honor at this year's iF (International Forum) design awards in Munich, and there were also nods for some other 2011 Xperia handsets. The Xperia Active received the top-level gold award in the telecommunications category, while the Xperia Ray, Xperia Mini Pro and Mix Walkman (a non-Android device) received product...

Pages