Anyone have a "rugged" smart phone?

[Paa Langfart]

I am pretty hard on my cell phones- I've always carried flip phone and my most recent 3 have been military grade tough against water and dust/dirt and drops.  I have to find something new and think it might be time to upgrade to an actual smart phone.  I am wondering if any of you out door work or outdoor a lot types have any experience with them and what to look for?

[Cullenator]

Ive been an iPhone fanboi since pretty much day one.  Ive paired that with a series of LifeProof cases over the years and whether it was recreation water sports (mainly white water with lots of submersion and impacts) or camping or general abuse Ive not been let down.

 

Probably more of an endorsement of LifeProof (I guess they are Otterbox now) than one of a particular cell phone mfg.

Edited August 26 by Cullenator

[PanthersATL]

16 hours ago, Paa Langfart said:

I am pretty hard on my cell phones- I've always carried flip phone and my most recent 3 have been military grade tough against water and dust/dirt and drops.  I have to find something new and think it might be time to upgrade to an actual smart phone.  I am wondering if any of you out door work or outdoor a lot types have any experience with them and what to look for?

Samsung sells tactical-grade phones

https://www.samsung.com/us/business/solutions/industries/government/tactical-edition/

I wouldn't go with a generic brand Android build if only due to potential lack of software /security support and upgrades

Question is whether you need a "military grade phone" or simply a super rugged case and screen protector for a standard phone 

 

 

[d-dave]

19 hours ago, Paa Langfart said:

I am pretty hard on my cell phones- I've always carried flip phone and my most recent 3 have been military grade tough against water and dust/dirt and drops.  I have to find something new and think it might be time to upgrade to an actual smart phone.  I am wondering if any of you out door work or outdoor a lot types have any experience with them and what to look for?

Here's my recent experiences with an iphone and my various android phones.  It's all about that case!

I've used cases from Spidgen, Otterbox, Peak Design, and currently Mous.

Here's some highlights of how I've abused my devices:

1. Installing a garage door, fell from ceiling mount, hit the ladder, and fell to the concrete.  Zero damage (iphone 13pro, Peak Design)

2. In a rental truck, out of my pocket, to the step, to the concrete in the freezing cold. Zero damage (Pixel 8 pro, Mous case)

3. On a ladder, someone walked by, knocking my phone off the tray, slamming into a wall, hard edge of a stage, and concrete floor.  Zero damage (Pixel 3 Spidgen case).

4. My wife's iphone in an otterbox case, chasing our kid, tripped, phone flew, hit a lamp post with a resounding impact (nice reverb), and back on the sidewalk.  Zero damage.

Point is, if you buy a good case, everything will be fine.  On amazon, look for actual brands, not just the cheap stuff.  Ask around some other forums of people who have the same phone.  I like the testing that CNet used to do and from Android Central.  A good case is worth it's weight in phone savings.  I'm so impressed by the peak design case that I wanted to get it when I went back to the Pixel.  Sadly it wasn't out yet.  The Mous faux leather case has been fantastic.  It's protected my phone from all my stupid stuff.

[Paa Langfart]

5 hours ago, PanthersATL said:

Question is whether you need a "military grade phone" or simply a super rugged case and screen protector for a standard phone 

 

I was wondering that myself

[LinvilleGorge]

8 minutes ago, Paa Langfart said:

I was wondering that myself

Don't get hung up on the "military grade" moniker. Industrial standards are the same. It's just a way of saying this device passes a certain protocol of tests. It's about surviving six foot drops, water, dust exposure, etc.

I worked for Motorola for several years when they were getting started in the smartphone game. Bailed when they were bought by Google.

[d-dave]

1 hour ago, LinvilleGorge said:

I worked for Motorola for several years when they were getting started in the smartphone game. Bailed when they were bought by Google.

That reminds me of the leather clad Moto X I had, after your time, but it was a while ago.  I loved the shape of that phone.  The leather, for being a little sticker, felt so good.  I kept my phone caseless just for that reason.  Sadly, my MIL's shirt trying rack(i.e. stationary exercise bike) killed it.  It's all be a slab since then.

I think as long as you can protect the edges (corners and screen to side) about anything will do.  Now I did drop a phone once while it was out of the case, and something in the camera would rattle.  It didn't last too much longer.

[Cullenator]

Why is it that we all think we are some kind on Hacky Sack pros when our phone slips out of our hand?

 

Like we imagine that we will gently kick it up in the air and gracefully catch it when we ultimately end up propelling it into a wall or cabinet at twice the speed it was falling....

[LinvilleGorge]

3 hours ago, d-dave said:

That reminds me of the leather clad Moto X I had, after your time, but it was a while ago.  I loved the shape of that phone.  The leather, for being a little sticker, felt so good.  I kept my phone caseless just for that reason.  Sadly, my MIL's shirt trying rack(i.e. stationary exercise bike) killed it.  It's all be a slab since then.

I think as long as you can protect the edges (corners and screen to side) about anything will do.  Now I did drop a phone once while it was out of the case, and something in the camera would rattle.  It didn't last too much longer.

Yeah, the X was right around the time I was bailing. I think that was the first device released after the Google acquisition.

I just knew that Google had no long-term interest in hardware manufacturer. They wanted Motorola for the treasure chest of patents. They sold it off to Lenovo.

[Brooklyn 3.0]

Have a Galaxy S24 with a tough little case. I feel confident it can take most anything. IMO, Samsung glass is better than Apple.

[d-dave]

17 hours ago, Cullenator said:

Why is it that we all think we are some kind on Hacky Sack pros when our phone slips out of our hand?

 

Like we imagine that we will gently kick it up in the air and gracefully catch it when we ultimately end up propelling it into a wall or cabinet at twice the speed it was falling....

I don't think of it like that, I think of it as "I'm going to break the fall with my foot."  I'm actually good at that!  Despite my streak of non shattering phone glass (I know it's going to happen again...), I still try to catch it with my foot when I can.  

I do have a funny story about students kicking their phones...

Middle schoolers are some of the most insane and irresponsible creatures on this earth (mine is a 7th grader).  I was walking across campus at the end of lunch, and these boys were throwing their phones at each other.  We have an outdoor area where kids can eat and be obnoxious turds.  OK...  Well, one kid yells "let's play kickball with it!"  So his buddy toss it to him, and he kicks the tar out of it.  The phone flew through the air (I stopped to watch) and it slammed into the side of the building.  The entire lunch area hushed.  Kicker went to his phone, and when he saw that it was COMPLETELY totaled, he got very upset.  Admin had to step in on that one...

Try that with a Nokia brick, and you'll have to call a mason   I remember mine well!

[LinvilleGorge]

12 hours ago, Brooklyn 3.0 said:

Have a Galaxy S24 with a tough little case. I feel confident it can take most anything. IMO, Samsung glass is better than Apple.

Samsung generally uses the latest l, most advanced version of Corning's Gorilla Glass in their top tier phones. Apple doesn't disclose but they're probably not. 

Now Samsung just needs to stop fuging up Android with a massive, cumbersome overlay. They basically try to Apple up Android.

[CRA]

with smart phones, I think the case > phone

I'm an iphone guy and it's hit the concrete probably 9,000,000 times.  Never shattered because of the Otterbox case.  I generally go with the bulkier ones just because of how rough I am with the phone. 

[Cullenator]

2 hours ago, d-dave said:

Try that with a Nokia brick, and you'll have to call a mason

And taking a trip to the local Urgent Care to see if your foot was broken.

Those things were made of Unobtainium