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It's no secret that inflation is real, and it's reflected in the steep prices of modern smartphones. With some of the best Android phones costing upwards of $1,500, it's more important than ever to protect your investment. Investing in a good phone case is a start, but it's also wise to choose a phone that's capable of withstanding falls and other accidents, especially when you're spending a significant amount of money.
Bullitt, the rugged manufacturer behind CAT and Motorola smartphones, is no more
One of the only rugged phone manufacturers in the business is shuttered up, and tech giants might be to blame
It's bad news for Bullitt. The manufacturer's collection of rugged phones managed to withstand the elements, but not the cutthroat competition in the smartphone market. Responsible for extra-tough devices sold by brands like Caterpillar, Land Rover, and JCB, UK-based Bullitt has thrown in the towel after it struggled to establish footing against smartphone giants like Apple and Samsung.
Best Samsung Galaxy S24+ rugged cases in 2024
Give your shiny new smartphone the rugged armor it deserves
The Plus-size Galaxy in Samsung's S-series has traditionally been the middle child that's often overshadowed, yet undoubtedly the epitome of balance between luxury and affordability. The Galaxy S24+ continues this tradition, offering arguably the best all-round flagship Android experience for its price. Sure, the Galaxy S24 series flaunts its top-notch Gorilla Glass Victus protection, but let's be real: life happens, and we want our phones ready for anything.
Unihertz Tank review: 100 days on a single charge
The Unihertz Tank delivers up to 100 days on a single charge and better performance than most rugged smartphones
Rugged smartphones tend to only be good at one thing: being rugged. They can survive going through a window, but scrolling Instagram or watching videos on a decent display is often too much to ask. It’s that perception that the Unihertz Tank is seeking to change. It has all the qualities you want in a good rugged device without losing out on essential smartphone features.
Samsung's latest heavy-duty phone and tablet are finally coming to the US
Fans of user-replaceable batteries, rejoice!
Finding a rugged device is a lot harder than it once was. These days, most companies want you to buy their expensive glass-and-metal slab of a phone and slap it in a heavy-duty case rather than offering some specialized gadgets to meet the need. Thankfully, Samsung isn't one of them. The company is bringing its latest ruggedized phone and tablet to the US market, with pre-orders for one of the devices starting today.
Samsung's small, cheap, and rugged Galaxy XCover5 is now official and landing this month
Though market availability is something of a crapshoot
Yesterday we saw a couple of leaks for a new Samsung rugged phone, and whaddya know, here it is. The Galaxy XCover 5 is a smaller, cheaper entry in the tough-as-nails series, a fraction of the cost of the XCover FieldPro. And crucially, it's actually running a current version of Android.
Ruggedized Samsung Galaxy Xcover 5 shows off its armor in spec-filled leak
It's smaller and presumably cheaper than the last one, and hopefully running much more current software
You gotta love a phone that can take a beating. Samsung has made a few, from the Galaxy Active series to the more recent Xcover Field Pro. That last one made a splash with its high price and ancient software, but an updated Xcover 5 was leaked in a software update schedule earlier today. Just a few hours later, both photos and specs are available.
Samsung has a new rugged tablet with an S Pen and removable battery
The Galaxy Tab Active3 is available now
Samsung sells a few rugged Android devices under its 'Active' brand, but it has been over three years since the company released a new rugged tablet. Thankfully, businesses looking for tough devices now have a new model to pick from: the Galaxy Tab Active3.
Archos made a rugged 5G phone with a monstrous 8,000mAh battery
Tough on the outside, sleek on the inside
Rugged electronics are usually built with only one thing in mind: an exterior that can withstand extreme pressure and violent conditions. While these devices often cut corners when it comes to the interior, that doesn't seem to be the case for the Archos X67 5G that was released just today. It hides a massive 8000mAh battery and the mid-range Mediatek chip Dimensity 800 in its rugged exterior.
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Samsung has a solid lineup of rugged smartphones, but they usually get sidelined by their myriad of mainstream, lifestyle peers. Something similar happened when it revealed a brand-new adventure-ready phone on the hush-hush in Finland alongside four new Galaxy A and Lite models. The Galaxy XCover Pro appears to come packed with a bunch of rugged features making it sturdy yet usable in rough environments.
Rugged phones aren't generally very exciting. They're all big, boxy things, with plastic shells meant to absorb force from drops. Kyocera's new Verizon-exclusive rugged phone, though, is... well, it's a big, boxy thing with a plastic shell. But it also has a sapphire screen and an action camera.
Casio's Pro Trek line of smart watches started in 2016 with the WSD-F10, a bulky, expensive Android Wear device with aesthetics and a feature set slanted at the outdoorsy market. The company followed up in 2017 with the WSD-F20, a refinement on the concept. Now, Casio is back at it with the WSD-F30, which is less chunky, but still rugged (and expensive).
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- Evan Blass of @evleaks fame just dropped an image of the phone. Feast your eyes:
Samsung's Active line of flagships has been an AT&T-only zone for years. Since the first S4 variant launched in 2013, big blue has held exclusivity to the rugged flagship. (There was one Sprint S5 variant, but it wasn't called Active.) But the days of AT&Tyranny for the Active line are coming to an end. It looks like the durable IP-68 version of Samsung's flagship is headed to T-Mobile. At least, someday.
When you think of powerful phones, it's natural to imagine a phone with the pixel-pushing power to handle tasks like Daydream VR or some graphically intensive game. The Cat S41 has an entirely different type of power, however. The comparatively massive 5000 mAh battery can be used to charge phones with batteries that just can't handle the rugged use cases of the rugged users of rugged phones.The Cat S41 uses an octa-core MediaTek Helio P20 (MT6757), which is also found in the "super mid-range" Sony Xperia XA1 and XA1 Ultra, though on the C41 the P20 is only accompanied with 3 GB RAM and 32 GB storage. The 5000 mAh battery is touted as providing up to 44 days standby, or 38 hours 3G talk time. Being a ruggedized phone, the phone is drop tested to 5 feet 9 inches on concrete in addition to having IP68 and MIL SPEC 810G ratings. In contrast to the S40's 540x960 display, the S41 has a 1080p LCD with Gorilla Glass 5. Frustratingly, the S41 retains a microUSB port for charging instead of adopting USB-C.
Most of Samsung's mobile products are designed to be sleek and modern, but the Active series puts function ahead of form. You might call them clunky, but they can take more of a beating than standard Samsung Galaxy devices. There's a new active device today, and it's not a phone. This is the Galaxy Tab Active2, a rugged tablet aimed mostly at businesses.
LG first launched its X-series line of phones halfway through last year, and it's been continuing to roll new models out. The latest in this saga is the AT&T-exclusive X venture, which, as you might be able to tell from its name, is a rather rugged device. AT&T calls it 'stylishly resilient,' but let's be honest - only half of that statement is true.
Panasonic is still at it making tablets, adding another entry into its Toughbook line. Simply named the Toughpad FZ-A2, this rugged Android tablet packs in a lot of stuff for indoor or outdoor working professionals. Starting MSRP is $2,189 and it also comes installed with Marshmallow and Android at Work — because devices launching in 2017 with Android 6.0 is still a thing.
Kyocera, to the surprise of no one, has released yet another rugged phone. This one's called the DuraForce PRO, and its specs actually don't seem half bad. With the PRO, Kyocera is pushing the very aptly-named "Super Wide View FHD Action Camera" as the main feature.
This review is about 4500 words long. We do that a lot here at Android Police, and if you want an exhaustive breakdown of the hardware and software in the Galaxy S7 Active, then by all means, read on. But if you want the long and the short of it, here it is: the S7 Active is a Galaxy S7 with a permanent "tough" case around it and an extra 1000mAh of juice. If that sounds like a good thing, and good enough that the $100 premium AT&T asks is reasonable, then the phone is right up your alley.
Now that the primary Galaxy S7 series has regained its water-resistant powers, one might wonder why we need a ruggedized "active" version. And the answer is that, while the S7 and S7 Edge are some damn fine phones, all that delicately curved and exposed glass isn't exactly what you'd call durable. If the general tank-like construction of the Galaxy S7 Active isn't enough to turn your head, consider that it has almost exactly the same capabilities as its more mainstream brother (which is fairly unusual for rugged phones), plus an even bigger 4000mAh battery.